FIRST

Can you tell me about them?

chapter 16

Maximus POV

"Can you tell me about them?" Madeleine spoke up from her spot on the counter. our rough day had put a toll on her but where i thought i would see sadness, all i saw was a new fire in her eyes. As much as it scared me, i felt pride knowing she wasn't afraid. I hadn't mentioned it to Madeleine yet but i had done what i needed to do. i made some calls.
"about who?" I ask
"Your pack, i'd like to know about them, more about your life" She said timidity while she picked at the bowl of berries in front of her. letting out a breath i sighed and hopped up on the counter next to her. i guess there would be no home in telling her about them, my family. They're all too dead to know anyways.
"Where should i begin? the end or the beginning?" i asked her out loud, this would be easier for me if she told me exactly what she wanted to hear.
"The beginning, who they were" Madeleine leaned her head on my shoulder, waiting for me to start.
"Alright. There were 9 of us. an odd number to settle debates. i as the alpha was a tie breaker if needed. but you see, we were all very different people. the moon goddess had brought us from different parts of the world from a time where those parts were strangers in the night. Tansi was the first one like me i came across. She was from what you know as greece. When i met her, she was like a nymph out of water. i had been in my own village by the water, running errands for my mother when Tansi walked up to me soaked in water, her hair was cut short; right to the bottom of her chin. a hairstyle very uncommon for a women of the time. She laid her hand on my chest and i knew. We were much of the same. our wolves knew each other and we knew where we were going. I had brought her to my home only to tell my mother that i had somewhere to be and i left with me. it was that simple. Although today, it's still quite fuzzy with me why i had done that. After Tansi, I met Samson and Emory. Brother and Sister; Twins. They belonged to a tribe, both appeared out of the forest stealthy like snakes, barely covered by the cloth they bore and both caked in mud from head to toe. they were always the more rugged of the pack. They truly were animals trapped in the body of a human. They came with us, soon after we became four, we stopped having to travel so far and it only took weeks for the rest to find us...well me i assume. A natural Alpha male. One by one the rest filed in, docile and delicate Luella from Russia, with fiery red hair and pale skin that would make you think her a flower. She was more comparable to a venus flytrap-" I paused and chuckled. "...Ambrose and Cassio were led by Ysmay. They came to us in the middle of the night in wolf form. They had found each other while traveling. all from 3 different parts of the world. Ysmay from china, Ambrose; who would become my third in command, from a growing kingdom west of china, they spoke in an odd gibberish that would never cease to give me a headache. Cassio bore an Icelandic tongue with unnatural snow white hair and a pale face. he was skinny and tall and regal. He didn't speak much, Cassio was always more Bite then bark" I paused, reminiscing the moment i met Cassio, who always felt like a little brother to me. "But, i knew we were missing someone. I wasn't sure who, but we were a pack quite yet without a beta. I needed my beta-"
"Why couldn't you choose one of the others to be a beta?" Madeleine asked me, curiously.
"the moon goddess had chosen who she wanted and i had no means to disobey the one she saw fit to rule under me" I explained, this part was the hardest of my memories.
"So, as one, we moved back towards my home of Rome. Where right under my nose was my beta, Atlas. However, Atlas had discovered something the rest of us hadn't yet. The blessing of mates" I reached out my madeleines hand. "Atlas lived with his soulmate Krysia. they had been together since the moment Atlas had discovered he was lycan, the way he described it made us all wine for a mate of our own...but you can see how that turned out. We decided to stake our claim in Rome so Atlas could never be too far from Krysia". Over time, as our strength and trust in each other grew; we realized that we were the most powerful individuals in the entire world, the planet and i can't lie, it got out our heads" my head. i wished i could say to her.
"When did you start...you know...tearing down cities" the grimace on her face made my heart freeze, does this disgust her? does my past hurt her as it does me?
"Not far into our time together, 2 or 3 years maybe. within that time. none of us besides Atlas had found our mate, most likely because we stayed in rome, we didn't travel where our souls wished us to go because of me. i wanted to stay and since atlas wanted to stay, i made it so. The first town was pilgra. right outside of the capital city. the men raped their women, stole coin and threw out children. they were monsters. even more so than us" I paused, the scene of my hands caked in the blood of those imbeciles flashed in my head. the way their bones crunched beneath my teeth as i tore them limb from limb. It was exhilarating.
Madeleine looks almost happy with me for doing what we did, had she known how much i enjoyed it, she wouldn't be so happy.
I told her more stories, leaving out some gory details i deemed too much. But then she asked the hardest question of them all.
Breathing in deep, she asked "If you had stayed in Rome, and you thought the others hadn't found mates because you weren't where their mates would be. how come you never found me? especially in your place of birth, like atlas had?"
I asked myself that question time and time again. how didn't i find her, i mean, my soulmate. the other peace of my heart and although she's right in front of me, i can't help but to imagine how we could've been back then. in our- my own time.
"There was this one time, and for the past how many centuries i've always looked back at this moment. there was this day, it was a few days before the curse-" a blink "-we were in the market, Atlast with Krysia linked arm and arm and the others scattered about. I was speaking with a man about a wolf pommel sword and a flash went past the corner of my eye. A flash of long brown hair, much longer than yours now. almost to your arse if i believe- but anyways- yes the most magnificent curls and then she turned her head and i almost fell over at the fight of those eyes. they remind me so much of yours"
Madeleines eyes were open and tears could've leaked out if i gave it a minute but instead i continued on.
"They trapped me and i swore 'that's her' but then the man tapped my shoulder, eager to sell me the sword at a too high rate if you ask me and when i looked back, she- you- i suppose was gone. along with the swaying brown curls and that scent that drove me wild. I was planning on searching all day and night but then battle and then the curse. And next thing you know, time got in the way. I'm not positive it was you, but i would've given anything to find out"
When i looked back up at my mate, the only thing i could see were her tears as she sat up, plopped in my lap and just hugged me. a long hug, a little bit to make up for our time wasted.