Chapter 21

The Elders lived on the other side of town. It was an estate complete with guards and electronic gates. It looked very fancy and Cobie couldn't stop staring. Erik drives down the street to what has to be the biggest house in the entire estate. He pulls into the driveway and kills the engine. 

"Calm down." Erik said, reaching over to cover Cobie's hand with his. 

Cobie turns to the Alpha and glared at him. "I don't think I like the fact that you've started to read me really well." 

"I pay a lot of attention to you." Erik says with a shrug like that was the best answer. 

"Let's just get this over with. I feel like I'm-" Cobie starts to say as he looks at the street. "Let's just go." He says after trying to find the right word to describe how he was feeling. The streets were quiet and so clean and Cobie felt like he was staining the environment by being there. 

Erik gets down first and made his way to Cobie's side of the car to pull open the door. However, the vet beat him to it. Cobie raised a brow at Erik. 

"You do know I have hands right?" 

"You should let me take care of you for a while." Erik scowls and slammed the door closed. 

Cobie stills at that. He stared at Erik, his eyes going from blue to a bright pink. In his entire life, no one had ever said that to him. Well, no one who wasn't blood related. Yet, here he is, standing in front of an Alpha who was pouting –though he'd deny it- because Cobie had refused to let him get the door.

"Chivalry isn't dead, Stuart Little." 

Cobie's eyes turn bright red and he's tempted to knee Erik in the dick. "Let's go in, McStupid before I do something to you that you won't like." Cobie snapped and walked past Erik. The gravel made a crunching sound under his feet as he made his way the door, with Erik right behind him. 

"I'm sorry."

"Save it, Bruno." Cobie replied sharply and pressed the bell. He doesn't look back and just stared at the large doors. It takes a few seconds before the left door was pulled open. Standing there was a man with grey hair and dark glasses, he had on a grey kaftan and flip flop. 

"Um...good afternoon." 

The man just looked at Cobie and then past him, to Erik. The Alpha stepped forward and stretched his hand out in a handshake. 

"Good afternoon, Harold." Erik said, giving a little bow afterwards The man, Harold, looks at them both before gesturing for them to walk in. Cobie stared as the man raised his hands and began to sign. 

"He says everyone is waiting." Erik translates and Cobie nods. It takes him a few seconds to look away from Harold who was still staring at him. What if it had been someone dangerous at the door? How was he gonna scream for help? The man himself just stared at Cobie with a bored expression on his face before disappearing through another door.

"It's rude to stare."

"It was the only thing I could do. That or ask a very foolish and somewhat offending question." Cobie said as he followed Erik down the hallway. The walls were lined with painting of wolves.

"Why is this house the biggest?" 

"It's for the three elders and their respective partners." Erik replied and Cobie was about to ask more questions but the words die in his throat when he sees the last two paintings. One was a painting of a wolf with different eyes. The wolf's fur was midnight black and took up the entire frame while the eyes were half red, half rainbow swirls. They looked exactly like Cobie's eyes. He stepped closer to the painting, the urge to reach out and touch it growing stronger. 

The painting beside it was a painting of someone on their knees, their head bent so low and something dark bursting out of the spine. Cobie wanted to touch it too. The paintings were calling out to him. It looked real.

"-obie..." 

Cobie looked away from the panting to Erik who was staring at him in concern. 

"You alright?" 

Cobie nods. He takes several steps backwards until he was back in Erik's space. "Who are they?" he asks. These couldn't just be random painting or just painting in general. It had to be something. Something more. 

"I don't know. The paintings have been passed down to each generation. Gabriel and I were told they showed the future." 

"How many years has it been since it was brought here?" 

"200 years."

Cobie mouth falls open at that. The paintings don't look like something preserved for years. It looked like something done a few days ago. He looks at the second painting and then at Erik. f he squints his eyes just a little bit and tilt his head to the side too, it'd almost looked like... nah! That can't be it. 

"We have to go now. We can't keep the elders waiting for long."

"Right."

Erik leads him through another set of doors before he walks into the sitting room. The talking ceased immediately Cobie walked into the room. iI looked like a fancy dining room complete with a chandelier, a long wooden table and large windows overlooking what appeared to be a pool? Just like Harold. Everyone present seemed to be wearing comfortable clothes. 

"Good afternoon." Cobie greets and bows a little. 

The elders just stare at him but they nod when Erik gives them his own greeting. Cobie stared at each and every one of them. There were only ten elderly people in the room and he wonders if more would be joining or if some couldn't make it. 

"Have your seat." One of the female Elder says, gesturing towards the chairs. Cobie nods and takes his seat, falling into place beside Erik. He, unconsciously, reached out and took Erik's hand. The entire meeting was making him feel just a little uncomfortable. They were all staring at him.

"You're not a wolf." Another Elder speaks up.

The statement startled Cobie who nods in reply.

"He's of the sea." 

Cobie stiffened at that. His eyes widening. He leans away from Erik who was staring at him with a crease on his forehead. The urge to get up and run was growing stronger. He goes tense when three Elders get up from their seats and made their way to him. 

"No, he's a wolf. I can sense it." 

"But he's also a merfolk." 

Cobie gets up, he had a brief amount of time, he had more than three seconds to run but he was grabbed by the elbow before the thought even finishes in his head. He's pulled back onto the couch. Erik was staring at him with wide eyes.

"You're a merman?" 

"No." Cobie spits out instantly but his heartbeat gives him away. 

"I thought you were human." Erik said. He doesn't move away from Cobie and instead just reached for his mate's hand. "But you are also a m-"

"Don't say it." 

"Alright." Erik replies. He pulls Cobie closer and leans forward as if trying to use his body as a shield for whatever the Elders have to throw out. "I didn't come here so you'd insult my mate. I came because I needed help contacting the Addonexus."

The Elders fall quiet. It is broken a few minutes later by one of them. "You really want us to believe this veterinarian is your mate? Do you even know what mates are? It seems like you both don't even know what exactly is going on between you."

"You can't speak to us like that." Cobie snaps, his eyes turning red. 

The Elders gasp collectively. Five eyes turn bright red while others turned gold as they stared at Cobie. 

"One of colour." They all chorus.

"Why does everyone keep repeating that?" Erik asked as he glared at the Elders. 

"Your mother must have told you about the prophecy." Another Elder speaks up.

"I don't recall any prophecy." Erik replies, a small frown on his face. 

"As a child, he must have thought it was just another story."  

"Can you please give us an answer?" Cobie speaks up, his red eyes turning light blue. 

"Do you know anything about The Great Cry?" Another Elder ask. 

Cobie shook his head in response. It sounded familiar but he couldn't place exactly where he had of the words before. Erik on the other hand looked like he knew what the Elders were asking.

"The story of the Moon Goddess and how she punished us Wolves." Erik replies. He didn't know much about The Great Cry, just what was whispered amongst the wolves. But it couldn't have happened right? The Moon Goddess couldn't have walked the earth? She couldn't have punished generations of wolves because of something their ancestors did, right? 

"It is a punishment we wolves deserve." An Elder said solemnly. 

"Why?" Cobie asks, curiosity bursting through. Plus it was better to find things out from the source rather than the internet. A large percentage of what is on there was just crap. 

"How do we deserve this? She hid our mates from us if the tales about The Great Cry is true." Erik says, the frown on his face deepening. 

"Back then, leaders of packs were letting the power get to their heads. They expected their pack members to follow them blindly. They'd maltreat their mates, beat them up, spit on them, rape them and some even let other pack members have their way with them. Back then the secondary gender of the wolves were taken more likely than the primary. If you were an Omega you were maltreated and if you were human you were used as a slave and whatnot. In those days, the voice of the pack was not heard, the leaders never listened to them and thus after a while they stopped speaking out and instead followed the Alphas blindly. They turned a blind eye to whatever wrongdoings the leaders of the pack did and many say that was another thing that angered the Moon Goddess.." An Elder explains. 

Cobie's eyes widened in horror and before he could stop himself, he turned to Erik. Would he also do- no! He wouldn't. Though Cobie didn't know Erik that well, he knew enough to know that though the Alpha had his Hulk moments, he would never do any of the things the Elder had said.

"Some Alphas back then used to take the wives and husbands or even children of members of their pack and have their way with them. Chaos was everywhere, in every continent, in every country. Omegas were being maltreated, Betas and Alphas felt like they were gods. The air was thick with fear and the nights were loud with the cries of help." 

"So she did what she had to do." Erik adds and the Elders nod. 

"She cursed all wolves to walk the earth, searching for their other half." 

"The curse could only be broken by one of shall and one of colour. Only then can she be appeased."

"But Erik and I are mates." 

Erik's head snapped towards Cobie's direction so fast, the vet was almost concerned. He gives the Alpha a small smile before turning back to the Elders who were looking at the two of them. This was the first time Cobie had actually said they were mates. The first time he sed the words Erik,  I and mates in a sentence, so excuse Erik for being a little shocked. 

"That's what we are trying to understand." 

"I met Cobie a month ago when he moved here. We...um...had a few unpleasant meetings. To cut the story short, he rejected me." Erik says with a wince. Cobie reached out and stroked Erik's arm. 

"This was followed by days of throwing up blood, pain and drifting in and out of consciousness." Cobie adds. 

"And Cobie died." 

The Elders frown. They look at Cobie whose gaze immediately falls onto the ground. How did he not notice how clean the marble floors were? He takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. Though he had never said anything about that period, it scared him. He could have died that day and no one would have found him. 

Maybe being alone wasn't the right choice.

This, him being mates with Erik, was the blessing he never knew he needed. He's thankful.

"How was he saved?"

"He was saved by the Addonexus." Erik replied. 

"What the hell!" Cobie exclaims. "You've seen the Addonexus?"

"I told you, you know him." 

"He knows Toby?"  

"It was Toby?!" Cobie exclaimed, his eyes wide. He looked at Erik then at the Elders in the room. Toby was the Addonexus? Who the hell had he hired! The boy had mentioned something about his family moving from Nigeria to Astir for his safety, is this the reason why? Just how powerful was he to have brought Cobie back from the brink of death?  This was big news to him. 

"Toby was the one who saved you, according to Se Ju." 

Cobie doesn't know what to say. He rubbed his hands together nervously and looked at his shoes. What was he meant to say now? What was he meant to do? He had known there was something about the boy when he had filled out the application. Everything was just being slammed onto him with great force. Somehow the Elders noticed he was of the sea, then they tell him he is one half of a prophecy and what else do they know? What else can they throw at him?

"I'm sure you are feeling a lot of things right now." 

"You don't say." Cobie replies, his words dripping with sarcasm. His eyes a mixture of red and purple.

"We instantly knew you were of the sea because we know the tell tales signs. We know what to look for." A female Elder says. "Our dear Harold is also of the sea. So we know what to look for." 

"The prophecy is real and if you are truly mates that means you are halfway through to breaking the curse."

"We'll ask Toby to come and see you in the evening. The purification of our lands must be done before the full moon next week."

"We will fully accept Cobie as your mate when he bears your mark. As will the members of the Silver Moon pack. If you are truly mates you have to be linked. Right now you both are two halves of one, to be stronger you have to be one. Not halves. One."

"That doesn't make sense, I don't have fangs. A mark is meant to be permanent." Erik interjected.

"What kind of mark are we talking about?" Cobie asked, a little confused. His hackles rising by the word fangs.

"Exactly what you hear. It's a mark." The Elders continue.

"Don't think about it too much, it will happen when it happens."

Cobie has half the mind to just grab his hair and scream. Why were they all talking one at a time? Why did they not give direct answer? Harold wasn't a wolf but a creature of the sea? For the love of everything holy, Cobie wasn't sure what to expect next from the Elders. 

"We also want to say thank you." The ten Elders chorus. "Thank you for helping us during the Berserkers invasion and for guarding our pack members." 

"Oh..." Cobie says. "Um... it was nothing. It was something that had to be done."

"Even though you didn't know us and had no right to help any of us, you still did and that says something about your character. It seems the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing when she created you both. You have our blessing." 

Cobie's cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. He couldn't resist, looking at Erik who was already staring at him. He slid his right hand to the side and placed it in Erik's hand. Erik immediately squeezed his hand and smiled at him softly.

"Thank you." Erik says with a bow. 

"I apologize if I was rude earlier." Cobie adds.

"It's fine." One of the Elders say. "Our Harold will see you out." 

Cobie stared at Harold who was standing near the doors, a small smile on his face. Cobie wondered how long the man had been standing there. He stared at the man, looking for the tell-tale signs the Elders had mentioned but he doesn't see anything. He looks at the man's eyes and he gasps. It was the eyes. 

Erik gets up, pulling Cobie with him as he does. Together they walk towards Harold who was still standing near the doors. When they got closer, Cobie could see it. Harold's eyes were the same as his.  Light blue with specks of brown in it. And for the first time in years, Cobie's mind drifts to his mother and he remembers her saying.

"Blue seas and brown rocks. We all have the sea in our eyes." 

The nostalgia hits him hard and he leans towards Erik a little. Harold who had been staring back at him, lifts his hands and began to sign. Cobie watched as his fingers moved swiftly but he couldn't understand what the man was trying to say.

"He says, it's nice to meet you and hopes to see you soon." 

"Oh." Cobie says. His eyes not straying from Erik. "I hope to see you soon. If you need me I'll be staying with Erik." 

Harold nods and gestured to the door afterwards. Erik gives him a small bow and Cobie followed suit. They walk out of the house in silence, the only noise was the sound of the gravel underneath their feet. Erik opens the door for him and shuts it once Cobie was safely inside.

"Are you alright?" Erik asks once he was in the car. 

"Yeah. A little startled but I'm good." 

"I would like to apologize on the behalf of the Elders. They tend to talk without forethought sometimes."

"It's fine."

"Do you want me to drive you straight to the house or do you want to go somewhere?" Erik asks, his concern laced in his words and strong in his voice. He keeps staring at Cobie who looked minutes away from crying.

"Would you mind taking me to your safe place? I just need to –" How does he put it? He doesn't necessarily wants to be alone but he does. He also wants to be alone with Erik holding him.

"Of course." 

"I know you have a lot of questions but can you just not ask any today? I will answer any question you have on any other day, just not today. today I need to think, to breathe, to just be." 

"Tell me what you need and I'll do it." 

"Can we go? Can you read to me? Read me something that would distract me for a while? The Elders said Toby would stop by at night and it's just," Cobie paused to check the time. "three PM. Can we spent the next few hours together alone?"

Erik reached over to take Cobie hand in his. He raised it to his lips and bent forward to press a kiss to Cobie's knuckles. 

"Anything for you, Precious."

Cobie stared out of the window for the entire drive. He stared at the trees and houses they passes, the shops and the hotels. He stared at them but he wasn't really looking. They were there but he wasn't seeing them. There was the familiar stinging sensation behind his eyes and he doesn't know how long it'd take before the tears roll out. It has been years since he had allowed himself to think about his mother. The three of them had been the happiest. He remembers being seven and how exciting he had thought the world to be. 

Cobie doesn't notice when Erik carries him out of the car, doesn't notice when they walked into the small bungalow. He simply held onto Erik and pressed his face in the man's neck when he finally crumbles. It feels like a deflated as he cried, his sobs shaking his body. Erik whispers quiet words into as he strokes Cobie's back. 

"You've got me now. You don't have to do anything on your own anymore, you don't have to be act like you're strong when you want to crumble, you don't have to run anymore, you don't have to be scared anymore. You don't have to be lonely anymore. You have me now. You have Silver Moon now."