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Chapter 31 – Unexpected
Poseidon arrived the next morning for training with his first-class warriors. Mateo and Xena were already out on the training field, while Stryker was busy unpacking more dart guns, courtesy of our Australian Crow family. Chris and Conner were occupied overseeing the construction of the bird nests.
I was currently waiting for Zeus and Hazel to join me at the small sandy beach along the shore of Lake Erie, in our territory. I was starting to wonder if there was something special about a small pack from Alaska that seemed to trace back to elemental wolves and asked Aunt Anabeth to do some research for me. My parents and Yia-yia joined me on the beach to help figure out what kind of elemental gift Hazel has. This was the kind of thing that my grandfather Dimitri typically did, but since he wasn’t here at the moment, I decided to give it try.
Zeus and Hazel stepped out of the tree line, followed by Wylder, Tymber, and Grandma Syble. A moment later, Demeter stepped out holding Lukas, and Eudora followed with Earl and Chip happily trotting at her sides.
“Looks like the parade has arrived!” Wylder grinned.
“You seem to be missing Grandma Dori.” I sarcastically replied.
“I can go back and get her.” Wylder laughed.
“Everyone except for Hazel, please stand behind my father. Zeus, you can stand beside me.” I waited for everyone to move into position and watched a nervous-looking Hazel staring at her feet and twisting her hands into her skirt.
“Her wolf is anxious.” Apollo whispered to me sensing her wolf.
“Hera, it’s going to be okay.” I called to her wolf. “You’re a special wolf, and we want to help. You’ve been marked as an elemental wolf by the Moon Goddess, and we want to help you figure out which element. We can help train and make you the strong wolf I know you are. Would you like to try it now?” I asked.
Hazel lifted her head slowly and her hazel colored eyes had turned into the blackened eyes of her wolf. Hera was on the surface now and she smiled, nodding her head. I could feel Zeus’ aura change with excitement as Zion came to the surface to support his mate.
“I’m going to try water first.” My mother said. “There’s a natural energy in all of the elements and an elemental wolf can connect with the energy, manipulate it, and move it to your will.” She pulled a flow of water from the lake and encircled it around Hazel. “Focus on the water… the way it moves and the energy that pulses through it. The water should call to you if it’s your element.”
I studied Hazel and her aura as my mother moved the water in an almost hypnotic state around Hazel. She formed a bubble around her and started closing it in, smaller and smaller. Hazel’s heartrate and fear seemed to soar, and I knew water wasn’t her element.
“Okay, so water isn’t her element.” I said and willed the water back to the lake before Zion could get worked up.
“Should we try earth next?” Demeter asked.
“You’re not going to blind her with dirt in the eye are you?” Wylder chuckled.
Demeter rolled her eyes, “no, but I just might with you!”
I asked Hazel to take her sandals off, and she did. I instructed her to close her eyes and feel the sand between her toes, to think about the trees in the forest line and the rocks nearby. I started floating rocks around her head, and she trembled with fear. Zion did not like seeing his mate in this state and a growl rumbled in his chest. I dropped the rocks and allowed the sand to open up and swallow Hazel's legs to her thighs. She let out a screeching sound and Zeus sprang to her.
“Relax Zeus, she’s okay.” I assured him as I allowed the earth to lift her back out. “I don’t think she has the earth element.”
“Two down, two more to go.” Wylder said.
“That’s enough for today.” Zeus snapped at me and hugged a scared-looking Hazel to his chest.
I smiled and mind linked Zeus, “Is that the first time you’ve been able to hold her that close in human form?” I asked and Zeus looked down at Hazel who was willingly pressing her head into his chest, inhaling his scent. I could feel a sense of calm wash over him as he realized his mate’s dependency on him for comfort. A smile formed on his lips, and he kissed the top of her head. I waited for a few moments so Hazel could regain her focus.
“You’re welcome,” I said through the link.
My parents did not miss the exchange between Zeus and Hazel either. My mother looked like she was on the verge of tears, and my father wrapped his arms around her. I met the eyes of my mate, who was smiling wide as she observed their embrace.
“Hazel, when you’re ready, I’m going to let Zeus move the wind around you both. Try to connect with the energy of the wind and air. You’ll be inside a wind vortex with him, the energy should feel calming and natural to you.” I said as she nodded her head and looked up at Zeus.
Zeus’ eyes swirled silver and the wind started moving. I focused on the earth element and held the sand and dirt down while blocking the wind from the others standing behind me. Hazel’s skirt and hair lifted up inside the vortex and she fought to keep it down. Zeus looked amused as Hazel laughed and squealed in fascination.
Demeter yelled something and a moment later, a black ball of fur dashed into the vortex, unaffected by the wind. Lukas took hold of Hazel’s skirt and pulled back trying to save her. His eyes swirled silver and the wind stood still. Everyone turned their focus to the pup who was yipping with joy and jumping around at Hazel’s legs.
“Zeus, was that you?” My father asked.
“It was all him. Looks like he has the wind element as well.” Zeus replied as Hazel reached down to caress the top of Lukas’ head.
“He has three of the four elements.” Yia-yia clapped.
“And Hazel doesn’t have three of the four, which only leaves fire!” Wylder said. 
“Do you want to be the fire test subject, Ginger?” I smiled.
“If it’s for a good cause, the fireman is at your service.” He grinned.
“Go stand over there.” I pointed to a spot in the sand twenty feet away. Fire erupted in the palm of my hand, and I launched it at Wylder. Before it could hit him in the chest, the fireball was knocked off course and landed in the water. I looked at Yia-yia and my mother, who could also control the fire element, both gave me a surprised look.
“Hazel, was that you?” I asked and she shook her head no.
I continued to watch her eyes for any sign of change as I ignited another ball of flames in the palm of my hand. I stepped closer to her, with the fire in hand, and she didn’t shrink away. She stared into the fire as if mesmerized by it. I willed it to dance around, and she continued to focus on it. Her eyes shifted from the black of her wolf to her hazel eyes, before they started glowing amber. Fire is her element!
“Hazel, see if you can make the fire grow taller in my hand.” I said and she never took her eyes off the flames.
“Feel the energy of the fire, the calming heat.” I whispered to her. “Try to move it higher.” I watched as the fire in my hand expanded a few inches higher. With a shocked look of understanding, her amber eyes focused again, and the fire lifted another ten inches.
“Shall we hit Wylder with it?” I smiled and she looked frantic, not realizing Wylder was fireproof. I aimed at him and the fire was extinguished before it hit his chest.
Lukas let out a yap and wagged his tail with excitement. His eyes had turned to glowing amber.
“He’s got all four!” Apollo barked with pride.
Wylder laughed and moved to scoop up my pup. “Looks like the little Lycan Prince loves his uncle Wylder!”
“Hazel, your wolf Hera is elemental. Using your elemental gift requires energy and draws on the strength of your wolf. It requires practice and training to master your element. It also takes time. The most important thing right now is to get you stronger and hopefully in time, able to shift. My great-grandfather, Alpha Dimitri has worked with all of us to help develop and train our gifts. He will no doubt want to work with you and Lukas on your talents.” I smiled.
“Oowwww!” Mateo’s hair-raising battle howl ripped through the air and hundreds of other howls echoed across the land.
“We’re being attacked!” Wylder growled.
“But it’s not the new moon yet?” Yia-yia said.
My parents quickly shifted and ran into the trees towards the pack house. Cia and Maverick snarled with rage, ready to fight.
“Yia-yia, you’ve got your lighter?” I asked and she nodded. I motioned for the boat sitting on the dock. “Get on the boat and take it out on the lake. Anyone gets in the water and Storm can fry them before they get close.”
Eudora grabbed Lukas and Hazel followed with Chip and Earl. Zeus helped them get on the boat and quickly untied it. Tymber wanted to fight with Wylder but reluctantly joined the others on the boat. Demeter refused to go, and I didn’t have time to argue. I nodded my head to Zeus and willed the water to quickly move them out into the lake.
Wylder shifted into Wolf and Zion quickly followed towards the fighting. Demeter’s wolf, Damia, dug her claws in the sand and took off into a fast run. Damia was also a black Alpha wolf, though she wasn’t big like the Theodorus males or my mother’s wolf. I willed a pine tree to catapult me into the air and used the air to quickly move over the forest that separated the main pack house from the lake. 
What I saw took my breath away. Hundreds of wolves fighting and thousands more running through the territory, led by Alphas. All of them wore a red scarf tied around their necks so they could decipher who was on what side. We had a total of fifteen hundred warriors in the Moon Realm with the combining of the two packs and it appeared we would also be outnumbered four to one.
“The smaller packs who aligned with Randall!” Apollo growled in my head.
I noticed Eudora’s parents on the rooftop with a dozen other vampires firing the tranquilizing darts Stryker unpacked this morning. Each dart found a wolf and each wolf dropped like a fly. The sky lit up with lightning as Zeus and my mother fried wolf after wolf. Cia stomped her paws and sinkholes opened up.
I turned to the north and locked on the waves of wolves still running towards us. My eyes lit up with fire and I waited until they cleared the tree line to greet them with Pappoús dragon fire trick. I used a stream of warm air to spray them with Apollo’s internal fire. Those in the back of the mass who tried to hide in the trees were pummeled by the trees as branches pounded them into the ground.
Xena remained in human form and led a group of warriors with silver scorpion whips. It wasn’t the traditional method of fighting they were expecting but all the preparation for the hunter's attack paid off. The attacking wolves couldn’t seem to get close enough as the whips tore chunks out of their faces and flesh. They moved in trained formation, twisting and turning together as they cracked the whips. Bloodied wolf after bloodied wolf dropped, some even tried to draw back from the onslaught.
Stryker walked around on the battlefield with several dart guns, and a team of young warriors, picking off the wolves with red scarfs, while Mateo and a group of first-class warriors circled to protect them. Manolo was one of the fastest wolves I had ever seen, he ripped out the throats of his opponents before they even had a chance to register what occurred.
“Ares, I need fire!” My mother called through the link.
I sent a ball of fire down near her and she used it to continue setting fire to the charging wolves from the south. Demeter stood in front of the western woods, that led to the lake and continued hurtling rocks and boulders at the attacking wolves while tripping many up with vines and roots. I turned my attention to the east and recognized one of the Alphas from the smaller packs that did not pledge loyalty to the Kingdom. He was leading a charge behind him, and I dipped down to engulf his warriors in a rain of fire.
Yelps and howls filled the air along with the smell of burning fur and flesh. I landed in front of Alpha Alvin, the little weasel, and allowed the ground to shake beneath my feet. He stopped in his tracks and fear radiated from him as he saw the flames in my eyes.
“SHIFT!” I commanded.
“Please, your majesty—”
“I AM NOT YOUR KING AS YOU REFUSED TO SWEAR LOYALTY!” I roared at him. “I DO NOT PROTECT TRAITORS BUT I MAY SHOW YOU MERCY.”
“It was Randall. He threatened us.” Alpha Alvin tried to plea.
“So you banded with the other traitorous packs and attacked with your warriors. Do you think they deserved to be forced into death by your foolish decisions? What will happen to their mates and offspring when they don’t return?” I growled.
“Please. Have mercy.” He cried.
“So Randall thought he would weaken the pack before the new moon so the hunters could pick us off more easily?” I asked, though I already knew in my core this was true.
“Our warriors also cannot shift during the new moon. We have four thousand combined between the eighteen packs. Randall thought he could finish you before the war tomorrow night.” He quaked.
“You may have the numbers, but you do not have the talents. You have sentenced your traitorous warriors to death.”
“It was all Randall, he promised—” I didn’t let him finish. Alpha Alvin dropped into the hole I opened up in the ground beneath him. His scream was muffled as I closed the hole around him and buried him alive.
A loud howl rippled through the air and the ground rumbled. I recognized the familiar howl of Pappoús wolf, Dom.
Another howl filled the air but this one sounded different. It was more of a feral and ferocious animalistic howl. The pitch didn’t exactly sound like a wolf and it piqued Apollo’s curiosity. I quickly shifted and ran towards the direction of the new sound, unsure if it was another predator or surprise from Randall.
The cracking of lightning rippled through the air and the earth quaked beneath our feet. A few warriors with red scarfs rushed at me, Apollo wasted no time setting them on fire and leaping over their roasting carcasses. On the west side of the territory, stood Demeter behind a tree in shock. My eyes locked in on a large beast covered in black fur. At first glance, I thought it was a wolf who had been genetically enhanced to fight against us. Then, I realized he was quickly tearing and shredding through the wolves wearing red scarfs. He was fighting against them.
Blood pooled around the feet of this massive savage as his long claws cut wolf after wolf down. I watched as others looked on in shock. Though the beast resembled a wolf, he was no ordinary wolf. His ears came to pointed triangles, his muzzle was shorter, his abdomen was muscled with very little fur. He walked on two legs and possessed claws as long as carving knives.
Apollo confirmed what I was thinking when he uttered a single word… “Lycan.”