Chapter 39: How is he alive?

Dmitri

None of this was possible. The words kept repeating through his head as he stood frozen in place. Marcia's command held more strength than any he had ever felt, enough to stop him in his tracks.

His confusion was made even more overwhelming by the sight of Marcus sitting up, then slowly standing. When he had gotten between the lycans, he had taken a hit that should have killed him. Dmitri felt his claws tear through the wolf, slicing through tissue, bone, and even organs. There was no recovery from that point, even for Alphas.

Then Athena had bitten him, injecting a toxin that should have killed him even at full strength, and yet he stood next to his granddaughter, naked and covered in blood but unharmed. Wracking his brain to figure out what could have happened, Dmitri struggled. There was only one explanation, but even that was said to be impossible.

"Marcia," The quietly spoken word caught the attention of both mates. Marcia turned, ready to strike again, but Marcus quickly wrapped her in his arms to cover her naked body. While wolves were relaxed about nudity but were protective of their mates, Alphas were even worse.

Looking at his men, Marcus called for a blanket but was shocked when no one responded. He tried again, only to hear Jackson yell back, "We can't move, Luna's command has us trapped." This made him look down at the woman in his arms, wondering how she had this level of authority.

"Love, release them. They will not start fighting again." As he spoke, he nuzzled her neck, enjoying her scent.

"What do I do?" Her words showed her confusion at how she had frozen them.

Marcus smirked, his face still tucked in her neck, leaning into her. "Just think about how you felt when you told them to stop. Use that feeling and draw it back in."

Within minutes, all those present relaxed and were able to move once again. Jackson and Dimitri rushed forward to the couple, and another guard brought blankets. "What happened to Dmitri?" Marcus asked the question that everyone wanted to know the answer to. His memories of what happened after he joined the fray to protect his mate were vague and confusing.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to answer what he did not even know himself. "Marcia has come into her strength and aura, and it appears to be stronger than even my own. The prophecy speaks of a leader for all. As for what happened to your son, I wish I knew. You should be dead." The last words were spoken quietly with no inflection, causing a shiver to travel down Marcus's spine.

Marcia

By the time they got back to the pack house, it was eleven at night. Together, everyone was sitting in Marcus' office, too shocked for words. They had gathered together to discuss the evening's events and to figure out how they should move forward. Those who had not been present at the shift seemed to struggle with what the Alpha and Luna were telling them happened.

Small arguments were breaking out around the table as each member voiced their beliefs about what should happen next. While Marcia and Dmitri had tried to convince Marcus to go see the pack doctor, he refused, telling everyone that he had never felt better. When Jackson suggested delaying the trials, Marcus fought back, feeling the need for as many guards as possible given current events. When the twins suggested that the King leave, allowing the pack to calm down before they saw him again, all the senior leaders growled, knowing that they needed his knowledge in this unprecedented time.

The King had immediately excused himself to call an elder from the heart of the kingdom, hoping to learn more about what had transpired. As soon as he left Jackson, he again tried to convince them to remove him from the territory for his attack on Marcus, even though Marcus was the one who got in the way of the fight. After losing the argument a second time, he gave up, leaning back in his chair.

Now they were all waiting with bated breath for the King's return. Each hoped for more information they could use to sort out the events of the evening.

"I cannot believe that you are not only letting him live but allowing him to stay as a guest," Jackson muttered the statement again as he stood, beginning to pace back and forth across the room. Finally, he gave up his rant, sitting down on the couch to stare at Marcus, not subtly looking for signs of injury or distress but finding none.

Marcus dropped his head into his hands, preparing himself to explain the situation again. Marcia quietly rubbed his back in support as he looked for the words to talk to his Beta.

Before they could get into the same argument for the fifth time, the door opened, and in walked the King, looking dazed. It had been a crazy night, and his expression told everyone in the room that it was not over yet. He sat with a jolt and looked at Marcus, face blank of expression. "How are you feeling, son?" The question came out in a tone full of concern and a touch of guilt.

"I feel fine, but I will be much better if you can shed some light on what is going on. How am I alive and why do I feel so good?" While he had been projecting a calm facade, it was now cracking. Marcia scooted closer, wrapping her arms around her mate and pulling him close.

The King put his elbows on his knees, using his hands to support his head. "I called some of the elders in the kingdom. Most were as puzzled as we were, but there was one who was able to expand on an old fairytale from my childhood."

The King looked at all the presents and continued. "It is said that the first lycan was gifted with powers directly from the Moon Goddess. Among these powers were the aura to command all of her creations, unrivaled strength, speed, and healing, and most importantly, the ability to create lycans." He paused, letting this information sink into the minds of those in the room before continuing. "The story says that he was able to inject his venom into the person and then simultaneously heal them from any injuries and turn them simply by feeding them his blood."

The room was silent as all those present absorbed this information, eyes shifting between the King, Marcus, and Marcia rapidly. "The problems started with the people who were chosen to be transformed. Many were good and true, working together for the good of the world, but he made some mistakes. He chose a few selfish and greedy people, and these changed lycans used their powers with selfish and evil intent.  Before long, some of his creations were ruling over others out of fear and bloodshed. Seeing the chaos that they caused, the Moon Goddess stripped the first of his abilities, banishing him from her kingdom."

Marcia paled thinking of the destruction out-of-control lycans could cause. The King took a deep breath and continued. "She wanted more creatures that honored her love of the wolf and human spirit, not these beasts she saw. To this end, she created werewolves, giving them less power than the original creations, lycans had, because she now believed that the power corrupted them. Over many generations, the power of the lycan diminished, as did the evil of the first few. As this happened, the shifter world expanded into what we now know, and the mistakes of the past were forgotten in the pages of time."

The King's head turned quickly, meeting the eye of each person present, ensuring that he had their attention before he finished the story. "It was said that when the world needed them, she would relinquish the powers to a new lycan leader, who would use them to reform the Moon Goddess's kingdom. They would gather all shifters together in peace, ruling all with love and protecting them from the evils of the world." He turned and looked at Marcia and Marcus. "You are the reborn, the White Lycan, and you have already started to choose those you will shift into the next royal court. May the Moon Goddess guide your hand in your selections."

You could hear a pin drop in the room as they all listened to the King's final words, everyone afraid to speak. Like normal, Jackson was the first to speak.

“So what you are saying in our human Luna, who we adore and want nothing more than to protect, is in fact, the strongest creature walking the face of the earth? Oh, and our Alpha is changing into a lycan, an immortal species that is seldom seen outside of their kingdom due to their strength and small numbers? And this is all happening when the werewolf world is in turmoil, and we might be being hunted by other packs?” With a mix of fear and awe in his voice, he turned to the couple on the couch. “You two really do not do things small, do you? You do know that there are other ways to keep things interesting, right?”

His rant and subsequent attempt at humor seemed to break the spell everyone in the room was under, and people started to react with varied emotions. The twins' faces broke out in matching grins, with Mackenzie jumping up and racing over to where Marcia sat. Wrapping her arm around Marcia's neck, she pulled her close. “Don’t think this means that we will not still try to kick your ass on the training field, in anything we will try harder. Finally, an opponent worthy of our skills! Woohoo.”

Even Travis smiled at his daughter's words. Looking at his Alpha, Travis asked the question that was at the forefront of his mind. “Sir, with you changing, and I still have questions about that, I feel we should delay the rescue trip to the Dauphin Pack. We need to know what is going to happen to you and sure up our defenses before we risk more.” The words carried concern and a hint of fear at the thought of the new situation.

“No.” The growl from the Alpha was stronger than anything he had ever experienced, and Marcia placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him. Everyone but the King and Marcia drew back, lowering their head in submission. Marcus was unintentionally using his Alpha tone on them, but the mating and the beginning of the change gave it more power than it had previously. “The council is sending the clean-up crew on Monday; it must be done this Sunday, no delays.” His words were spoken with a finality that made it clear to all that the decision was not open for discussion.

The sound of a throat clearing shifted the focus back to the King, who was sitting in the corner, looking slightly amused at his words. “You do know who commands the clean-up crew, do you not?” The words were said with a touch of amusement as the King looked around at the crowd. “It is not typically the way we do things, but would you be willing to send your men with mine for a joint mission? I can promise that you will need to send fewer forces, and the ones that go will be safer.”

The idea of joining forces with the strongest shifters in the world should have scared Marcus, but instead, it made him smile. It looked like he was going to have to play along with the King from now on; he was his grandfather-in-law. Looking at Jackson and Travis, who both linked their approval for the plan, Marcus stood. “Thank you, King, we will take you up on your generous offer, and the team will leave Sunday morning after the guard and  Luna ceremonies.”

The King smiled and let the Alpha know that when he had called the elders, he had also called for his team, and they would be arriving by morning. The clean-up crew consisted of ten members, a mixture of different types of people, each with their own unique abilities. They were known to be deadly and merciless. They would arrive at first light to help protect his granddaughter and the pack during the festivities before heading off on their mission.

The doctor was the next to speak, having been thinking about another issue since he arrived. “Your majesty,” he bowed toward the King with respect, “Do you know anything about this transformation? Has a wolf ever become a lycan before? When will it happen, and how?” Once he started speaking, the questions crashed from his lips like a tidal wave, each more concerned than the last. He could not treat what he did not know, so the information was vital.

“I wish I knew. Because of his wolf spirit, I have no idea what will happen, but I would have expected it to have started already.” Every person in the room turned to stare at Marcus at this.