Sitting on the long metal bench in the change room after getting dressed, I take a deep breath. I don’t know what has gotten into Enyo. She’s always been aggressive, but her aggression seems to be getting worse. I lean over to the cupboard where spare sneakers are and put them on, then take another deep breath to calm myself down. I’m about to leave the locker room when the door swings open, and Catherine walks in with two other women. They walk over to the corner of the room, and I can hear them snickering and looking in my direction. I ignore them, open the door, step out, and find my way back to the gym. When I get there, I see Alpha Peter and Beta Jason in the middle of the room, talking to an older guy.
Alpha Peter stops talking when he sees me approaching and crosses his arms across his chest. I bow my head as a sign of submission and stand in front of the three men.
“Athena, I’d like to introduce you to our pack doctor, Doctor Shields,” Beta Jason says.
Doctor Shields holds his hand out, and I shake it. “Nice to meet you, Doctor,” I say to him.
I turn to face Alpha Peter, with my head lowered, “Alpha, I’m so sorry about earlier. I don’t know what Enyo was thinking.”
“You’re lucky you weren’t both killed,” Beta Jason says.
“Enyos’ outburst is why I’ve asked Doctor Shields to meet us earlier than this afternoon, Athena. Please come with us. We’ll take you to his office,” Alpha Peter says.
I nod and follow them out of the gym to an SUV. I climb into the back of the SUV with the doctor, while Beta Jason gets into the front, and Alpha Peter drives us away from the gym and back to the neighborhood.
#
A few moments later, we pull up to a small cottage with a ‘Doctors Office’ sign on the lawn, and I follow the men inside. They lead me past the small reception area and into a back office.
“Please take a seat, Athena,” Doctor Shields says.
Alpha Peter and Beta Jason sit on the couch against the office’s back wall, and the doctor directs me to sit at the large desk as he goes through files in a large filing cabinet. Finally, he brings three large manilla folders over to the desk and sits down.
“As I said to you last night, Athena, we were working on something before the packs were attacked. We were working with lycans who are like you,” Alpha Peter explains, as the doctor opens the first folder and hands me a piece of paper.
“Leo Watkins–Moonstone Pack
D.O.B.–3rd of June, 2001
D.O.D.–5th of September, 2016
I attended Leo’s first shift at eleven years old. He had difficulty shifting, as his wolf was quite large. It took him almost 12 hours to shift completely, and when his shift was complete and his wolf, Demi, came forward, his eyes were different. They were not yellow like your standard wolf. Instead, they were a deep shade of blue.
When he first attended training to become a warrior at thirteen, his wolf was unusually aggressive. As a result, Leo often had trouble controlling Demi, who attacked his brother viciously, almost killing him. Nevertheless, he showed a strength rarely seen outside of an Alpha pup throughout his pack training.”
“Wait. So, Leo’s first shift was before sixteen as well?” I ask Doctor Shields.
“Yes, everyone we have spoken to has shown the same characteristics as yourself. They all shifted early, their wolves were larger than usual, and their wolves’ eyes were not yellow,” Doctor Shields says.
“How many are there in total?” I inquire.
“So far, we have come across eight wolves with the same story,” he responds. “Five of them were members of the packs attacked down here, including Leo, and are deceased. Two are missing, and one is still alive and a member of the Red-River pack. So, you make nine,” Doctor Shields explains.
I sit back in the chair, stunned. Doctor Shields passes me more papers, and they’re all the same. Accounts of the different wolves they had worked with, all with similar stories.
“And these names match the ones that I gave you, Alpha?”
“Yes, Athena. As I suspected, every single name matched. There was Leo Watkins, Brent Minias, Lewis Bowman, Richard Stannis, Lila Haywood, Nicholas Teresi, and Dominic Farris. They had all visited our pack. The last one, Andreas Papatonis, I hadn’t met personally, but I spoke to him briefly after his Alpha had told me about him.”
The last page the doctor gives me is a description and history of me.
“Hold on. You mentioned last night that you knew I was different, Alpha. How long have you known about me?” I ask as I read the information they have on me.
“I’ve known about you since before the attack on your pack, Athena. After our pack was attacked, I called your father for help. I knew I could trust him, and I told him of my suspicions of why the packs were being attacked here,” Alpha Peter answers.
“And what were these suspicions you had?” I ask. I can feel rage slowly bubbling under the surface of my skin at the mention of my father.
“That the attacks had to do with these lycans specifically and that they were the targets. The only packs that were attacked were packs we knew had lycans like yourself,” he explains.
“Are you saying that it’s my fault that my pack was almost destroyed and why my father is dead?” I almost yell at the Alpha, and I feel Enyo stir from my sudden distress.
‘*What’s happening*?’ She asks through a yawn.
“The fault lies with the people who attacked us, Athena. After I shared my suspicions with your father, he shared them with Alpha Niko, and they started extra training for the pack, including the younger pups who hadn’t shifted yet. And in case you were the target, they also started your Gamma training earlier as well, correct?“ Alpha Peter asks.
I nod my head, trying to process everything. “They just didn’t tell me why they started my training early.”
‘*Did he just say we were the target, Athena*?’ Enyo asks, becoming increasingly on edge.
‘*I’ll explain later*,’ I tell her, not ready to deal with her yet. She tries to push forward and take control, but I push her back. ‘*I mean it, Enyo. Not now*,’ I say curtly.
“Your wolf’s eyes are beautiful,” Doctor Shields says.
“Thank you,” I say politely. “What led you to believe that these lycans were the targets of the attacks on their packs?” I ask, turning my attention back to Alpha Peter. “It could have been a coincidence that these lycans were members of the packs attacked.”
“As soon as Leo was killed, they stopped attacking and fled. Later, when I realized the packs being attacked were the ones that had been working with us, I tried to call the two remaining packs to warn them. But I was too late. Dominic had already vanished from the Black Mountain pack, and the Shadow pack had already been attacked. Andreas survived, but he hasn’t been seen or heard from in almost five years. No other pack in our area was attacked.”
“And what about…” I look through the paperwork for the page I had seen on the Red-River pack, “Nicholas Teresi?” I ask.
“He survived the attack. The last we heard, he was named the Gamma of his pack,” Beta Jason says. “He hasn’t been in contact with us for some time, though.”
“Why were you working with these other lycans in the first place?” I ask.
“Because of Leo. When we found out there were more like him, we started inviting the others to our pack. We were trying to find out why you’re all different,” Alpha Peter explains.
I hear a knock on the cottage’s front door, and Beta Jason excuses himself to answer it.
“Have you found anything to explain why we’re like this or why we were targeted?” I ask.
“While the visiting lycan were here, we traced their family histories to see if bloodlines had anything to do with why you’re different. Nothing came from that, though. However, that is something that the person who is about to join us can answer better than I can,” Alpha Peter says, as Beta Jason re-enters the doctor’s office with a woman.
“Athena, I’d like you to meet my Luna, Rachel,” Alpha Peter introduces her.
I lower my head as a sign of respect and shake her outstretched hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Luna,” I say.
“Rachel is also our historian and has some of the answers you are looking for, Athena,” Alpha Peter says.
Doctor Shields stands from his seat so that Luna Rachel can sit at the desk, and she opens the other two manilla folders the doctor brought over.
“Athena, I am so glad to finally meet you. Alex sang your praises when he was here, helping us rebuild. So, I feel like I know you already,” Luna Rachel says kindly. “Now I know you have a lot of questions, and hopefully, with the information in here, we can at least answer some of them,” she places her hand on top of the manilla folders.
“Thank you, Luna. I appreciate anything you can offer,” I say.
“Now, as Peter has said, we believe the attacks on our packs were focused on lycan like yourself. I believe it’s because of this,” Luna says as she hands me a small, old-looking piece of parchment with what looks like writing in ancient Greek. “As you know, Athena, all packs are taught about our ancient heritage. How it dates back to ancient Greece and to the Goddess Selina. This parchment that I found when I was younger has writings on it from the philosopher Plato, who believed that our wolves are human souls reincarnated into our lycan counterparts. He believed that some of us are even blessed with incarnations of ancient warriors or even gods and goddesses.”
“So, you think Enyo is the incarnation of some great warrior?” I ask incredulously.
“Enyo? That’s your wolf’s name?“ She asks, and I respond with a nod.
“The waster of cities… Interesting…” Luna Rachel trails off, a faraway look coming across her face. She then stands abruptly and heads over to the bookshelf in the office. “You know, in Greek mythology, Athena and Enyo were both daughters of Zeus. However, Enyo was a Goddess of war and destruction, bringing fear to anyone against her on the battlefield. While Athena was a Goddess of both wisdom and war, among other things. Almost like the opposite of what Enyo represented, and she was even feared by Enyo’s lover, Ares…” Luna Rachel trails off again as she flips through a book, looking for something.
“Honey, you’re getting off track,” Alpha Peter says to her with a chuckle.
“Hmm?” She looks up from the book and realizes everyone in the room is watching her. “Oh, right. Of course, I apologize.“ She says as she places the book back on the shelf and sits back down. “To answer your question, no, I don’t think Enyo is the literal incarnation of some ancient warrior or goddess,” Luna Rachel states.
“Then what are you saying?” I ask, getting frustrated.
“We think what Plato is talking about in this parchment is not literal incarnation, but the embodiment of great power. Lycans have always been powerful, especially over our werewolf counterparts. But in this parchment, he goes on to mention special lycans, chosen and blessed by Selina herself, who had the same unique attributes that you have. Lycans who show a strength that is rarely seen and could even be stronger than an Alpha. He even specifically mentions the lycan counterparts as having different colored eyes,” Luna Rachel explains.
“Not everyone knows about or even believes in this part of our history, Athena. Those who are taught this just see it as a myth. So, whoever is behind these attacks not only knows about it, but fears what you could become,” Alpha Peter says.
“All I’m supposed to become is the Gamma of my pack! If my father hadn’t died, I’d be there now doing that!” I say, my frustration getting the better of me.
“There are stories across our history of warriors and Alphas stronger than any lycan anyone has ever seen. I believe they were chosen by the Moon Goddess. You pack is one of the oldest, largest, strongest, and dangerous in the country. Imagine what Alpha Niko could have done if you turned out to be a chosen lycan and his Gamma. He could have been unstoppable,” Luna Rachel explains.
“Was. We’re not any of those things anymore,” I say sadly. Taking a deep breath, I ask, “And the others like me?”
“The others probably would have become warriors because of their size and skill, or chosen to be their pack Gamma, like Nicholas Teresi,” Alpha Peter says.
“If I’m so dangerous, then why did they wait so long to attack my pack?” I ask. “The hunter told me they watched us for three years before they attacked.”
“They took losses in the attacks here, and you were the daughter of the Gamma of the Blood-Moon pack,” Beta Jason says. “They may have needed more warriors before they attacked Blood-Moon.”
“And I must say, Athena. So far, you are the most impressive out of all the lycans we’ve seen. Gamma Alex told me you were the biggest and strongest out of all the warriors in your pack, including your new Alpha. This morning proved that.” Alpha Peter says.
“Then why am I still alive?” I ask. “Why didn’t they continue attacking until I was dead?”
“That, we don’t know,” Beta Jason says. “We can only assume they underestimated your warriors.”
It’s quiet for a few moments while I contemplate everything they’ve said.
Then Doctor Shields breaks the silence and says, “there is another characteristic that you all share that we haven’t spoken about yet.”
“And that is?” I ask.
“Your crescent moon marking,” Alpha Peter says. “All the other lycans had it, too.”