Chapter 35 Chapter 35
~ Brendan POV ~
It all began the year the same year my older brother, Hadeon, had turned 18. That year, he was supposed to get his wolf, but as he was growing up, he felt no indication of power or connection to his wolf spirit. When he found out he couldn’t shift on his birthday, he was devastated, and we all were for him too. He was the first in our bloodline not to have a wolf.
Since he was also the eldest child of my family, my parents worried that my younger sister and I would also have the same fate. Until my birthday…
The day I turned 13 should’ve been a regular day for us all; there were no expectations of me just yet, not until my 18th birthday at least. Hadeon was coming to terms with his absence of power, distracting himself by playing hide and seek with me. I was hiding in the bushes in the forest when I heard his footsteps approaching.
“You’re hiding in the damn bushes again, aren’t you, lil’ bro?” Hadeon said with a joyful chuckle.
As he got closer, I crouched lower, balling myself together and squeezing my eyes shut. I imagined the shadows protecting me from his sight, but then the power appeared so rapidly that I could barely contain it.
My hands felt heated from the power, which only made the coldness of the shadows pooling out of me more apparent. I watched as the shadows formed a barrier around me from Hadeon’s sight. He pushed the bush apart, opening to get a better look within, only to see nothing but darkness.
After waiting a few minutes, I removed myself from my hiding spot and followed far behind him back to our family home. It was then that I noticed more changes within me – I could hear my family from a greater distance, and I could see them too, it was so clear as if I was right beside them.
“Has anyone seen Bren?” Hadeon asked.
My mother turned her head towards him, her eyes delayed to follow suit as she was engrossed in her book. Her brows furrowed, “Weren’t you playing hide and seek with him?”
“Yeah, but he wasn’t in any of his usual places, even his ‘super secret’ spot he thinks no one knows about.”
A huge grin grew on my face once I realised what was happening. It was my wolf. I was already beginning to connect with my wolf spirit. It was not exactly common, but not uncommon enough to call it rare either.
I came running behind him, beaming. “I’m here! Mum, Dad, you’re not going to believe it,” I exclaimed, jumping up and down, “I have shadow magic!”
Dad stood immediately, and Mum put her book down in shock. My whole family stared at me, confused. The only one who didn’t seem to care was my little sister, who only cared about playing with her toys.
“Are you sure, son?” Dad asked.
I nodded. “Look, watch.” I held out my hand and thought about hiding again, just as I did when I was playing with Hadeon, then it poured out of my hands again like a cloud of smoke that I could bend to my will.
Mum became teary-eyed as she approached me and hugged me tightly. “Look at you, I can feel all that power radiating off of you. I’m so proud, dear.”
“I’ll get you set up for training immediately.” Dad smiled proudly, “That is a tough power to master, but it is a great gift, boy. Make sure you train hard.”
Holding my chin up high, I couldn’t hold back my smile, “Yes, sir!” I looked over to my older brother, whom I admired and always sought approval from, but instead of a face of happiness, he looked hurt and full of sorrow.
✧ ✧ ✧
My world had shifted. A year went by, and I was being trained continuously to better my power. Before I knew it, I had become one of the best younglings in years to have mastered my power so young. My father and the warriors of my pack were setting me up to be an important asset to ensure our pack stayed safe and secure.
The master shadow wielder who trained me told me that the strength I would hold once fully developed, when I gained my wolf, would be so powerful that I could likely shield Nighttide all by myself. I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or hyping me up to motivate me, but it was something my father loved to brag about to everyone, even my family.
After I had turned 14, my training was part of my routine–school, homework, train. I had no time for a social life; I didn’t mind it most of the time, but I also wished I had just a little time for some fun.
Hadeon saw that in me, too. The past year, we hadn’t been as close. I was busy training, and his duties, being a wolfless man, ended up being directed elsewhere. My father had gotten him a low position within the council, and it allowed opportunity for him to progress higher in the future, representing the wolfless.
One day, both of our days off had aligned, and he noticed how lonely I looked, and he had an idea.
“Hey,” he whispered, knocking at my bedroom door, “what are you doing today?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged, flicking through a textbook, bored after completing my homework already.
He walked over and snatched the book from me. “Let’s go out.”
“Where?”
“Just on a little adventure out of the pack. I was planning on surprising some friends at a neighbouring pack. Why don’t you come along and have some fun?”
My brows furrowed. “Don’t we need permission from the Alpha to leave? We can’t just go; the shadow barrier is there.”
“Well, it’s a good thing my little bro can command the shadows better than anyone else then, isn’t it?”
It didn’t take much convincing from Hadeon to get me out with him. He ensured we’d be out for a couple of hours and back before anyone knew it, and my shadow power would conceal us so no one would ever know. The real seller was the opportunity to learn more about the history of the pack we were going to, which was something I enjoyed learning, especially during my training. It allowed me a break from all the strenuous workouts.
An hour or so later, we were in the depths of the forest beside the barrier in an area of the forest where guards rarely came to monitor – they had no need, no one could bypass the barrier. The smoky clouds huddled and swirled together so beautifully; I could watch the shadows dance all day long.
Hadeon shivered. “Don’t you feel cold this close to the shadows?”
I smiled and shook my head. “No,” I hummed, dragging my fingers through the wisps of shadows that broke away from the wall. “It feels cold against my skin, but my body warms up when I use the power, so it complements and balances the temperature quite nicely.” It was inviting for me; it was an extension of me.
“Sounds really cool, brother,” he smiled weakly, rubbing his arms to warm up.
Clearing my throat, I held my palms a few inches from the barrier and opened a tunnel big enough to fit us through but small enough so no other shadow wielders should be able to sense it. My brother passed through first, and I followed after, allowing the shadows to close softly behind me.
He jerked his head forward. “This way, we’re meeting a couple of friends of mine who will give us a ride to the pack.”
“More people are coming, too?”
He grinned, “Yeah, is that okay? Sorry, that’s more of us you’ll need to sneak through the borders. Can you do it?”
“I don’t know…”
“Oh, come on, please!” Hadeon held up one hand and pressed the other over his heart, “I promise it’s only three more people and that’s it. From what I’ve heard from Father, you’re way more powerful than warriors with their full abilities. How will you really know if you don’t test it?”
A lump formed in my throat. “I guess.”
“Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise, I’ll keep you safe. You’re my brother after all.”
Swallowing the lump away, I exhaled, “I can do it. I’ll do it.”