Epilogue II

Asher Ulrich

I couldn't seem to forget that scent. It smelled like freshly laundered clothes from right out of the dryer, so crisp and light.

When I met Alpha Drew Long-Drago earlier, the fragrance seemed to envelope me, invading my senses and stirring emotions I have never felt before.

It left me with a fuzzy feeling, like sunrises and butterflies.

I shook my head and smirked. I couldn't believe I was thinking about sunrises and butterflies.

"You should have followed that scent, Asher," my wolf, Midnight, said. "Aren't you curious whose scent that belongs to?"

I took a seat on the wooden bench under a huge oak tree whose leaves had turned to bright orange and red, signaling the peak of autumn. Grabbing a book from my bag, I sat there, hunched over, and pretended to be studying.

"And risk getting hurt or abducted? I don't think so," I answered my wolf. He grunted, believing 'being cautious' was the politically correct term for wuss.

"How in the world can you make a name for yourself if you can't rely on your instincts or yourself, Asher?" Midnight asked, his British accent more audible. After a year being here, he's adapted the accent quite well to my utter dismay. "Sure, let's hide behind Mommy's skirt, the famous High Priestess of Lupa!"

"I knew you wouldn't understand," I said annoyed. I had hoped Midnight would stop there, but he went on, taunting me.

"Oh, I understand quite well as a matter-of-factly, Asher Ulrich. You're chicken and don't deny it. I felt your heart racing when Alpha Drago spoke to you. I hear you call out in the night. I know all your deepest darkest secrets. Including the worst secret of them all... that you are a coward."

"Enough, Midnight," I warned him.

"Excuse me? Do I hurt your feelings when I call you that?" Midnight chuckled, then abruptly stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood at attention. He sniffed repeatedly, his nose in the air, then growled loudly. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" I asked, puzzled. I inhaled deeply trying to find a suspicious scent from all the mundane things surrounding me. I couldn't find anything unusual, so I inhaled deeply again. That's when I picked up a rather putrid scent.

Based on my mother's journals, a dark witch or mage was the most probable source, but I remember she distinctly described the smell to be of rotting fish. This scent had corpse stamped all over it.

I inhaled deeply again and closed my eyes, hoping to pick up a stronger scent, but to my disappointment, the smell was much fainter than before.

However, there was that characteristic fragrance of newly laundered clothing that I liked so much. It seemed to be intertwined with the corpse smell... Could it be someone was masking their scent with one of Auntie Amelie's formulated fragrances?

Midnight had stopped growling, but he seemed to be searching for something.

"What is it, Midnight?" I asked, curiously.

"That scent... I can smell it."

"What scent?"

"That scent from Alpha Drago," he answered. "Yet, that scent is intertwined with another being... a monster... a bloodsucker."

I smirked. Midnight was either being overdramatic or was trying to frighten me again.

I wasn't a coward, I was just... forever anxious. Constantly looking over my shoulder, wary of every newcomer, dreading every knock on my door...

It has gotten to the point that I fix my flat exactly the same way every day, so I would know if someone has rummaged through my things. Midnight thinks I've gone cuckoo, but I was alone, blending with the humans, with my parents and sister a continent away.

My mother was a brave woman. She was raised as a human, oblivious of the people who wanted to kill her, not knowing the great powers she possessed. When it was time to make herself known, she embraced it, hoping with her powers she could make a difference. It nearly destroyed her, almost killing me and my sister... after the darkness of Ula latched onto her being.

"Ula..." I heard that man's voice whisper again. It seemed to be flowing with the wind. "You can not escape me..."

The tree's leaves began to fall, but before the red or orange leaves touched the ground, they became black with rot. As I helplessly watched my surroundings begin to rot, I felt something drip from nose. I quickly looked down at the book I was pretending to read and I saw black ooze jiggling on the page...

"Asher! You're spacing out on me again!" Midnight yelled angrily. "What is it this time?!"

I blinked my eyes and the world was right again. I let out a huge sigh of relief. I saw visions of decay and despair every single time I thought of the word U-... Well, the family of wolves who hate the Lupas with a passion. 

"Just a vision," I said, trying to shrug it off. Midnight never saw the visions I had of the world rotting all around me and I never described them to him. I knew if I did, he would stop calling me chicken, but I didn't want him getting spooked after hearing all the stories of my mother's battles against *you know who*.

"Those *visions* are becoming more frequent, Asher, but what baffles me is I don't see these visions you have. I can see everything else, so why can't I see these particular visions? It's as if you aren't in your body... like someone else is controlling you. It's alarming," he croaked.

"And you call me chicken," I remarked coldly. "Anyway, what were you saying before I spaced out?" I needed to change the subject or he would hound me for information.

"I believe that bloodsuckers are real," Midnight answered. "I can smell the blood."

"My father swears that vampires aren't real, Midnight. He said he went to Romania personally to find out if Dracula was real and he came up with nothing," I said.

"Well, Dracula is real, Asher, and he is currently lingering in this school near the one who smells like newly laundered clothing," Midnight pointed out. "It's strange though, bloodsuckers and wolves don't normally, uhm, what's the word... congregate."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is... the scent from Alpha Drago is clearly wolf, a she-wolf to be exact. And this she-wolf has a monster-sized bodyguard. I mean, HUGE. Somewhere here, there is a large bloodsucker keeping watch on a very special she-wolf," he explained. "If you want to know for yourself if bloodsuckers are real, find the she-wolf who carries the scent, Asher."

My eyes narrowed, a plan working in the back of my mind.

"She is the key."

________________

Anya Ulrich

After my mom, High Priestess of Lupa and doctor, Hope Ulrich, left me on the steps of Juliard, where she believed I was going to attend school, I quickly left, heading towards a small apartment in Soho, New York City. Aunt Maria was there waiting for me.

Last year, while in Oxford, I had applied to a different school and was accepted. But I knew my parents wouldn't allow me to go there on the mere basis that they believed this school did not exist.

"Anya, are you sure your mother knows nothing about this?" Aunt Maria asked me as I closed the door behind me.

"Does she know you're here?" I asked her.

"No. I wore gloves and made sure she never touched me. She'll kill me knowing I'm helping you," she said disapprovingly. "But you've kept your end of the bargain and a promise is a promise."

"Aunt Maria, all your life you wanted to go to Juliard and dance, so here's your opportunity. All you have to do is keep looking like me and when the end of the semester comes, I'll come back and no one will discover our secret."

"For four years? I don't know if I can keep lying to your mom," Aunt Maria said. I took her hands in mine, giving her reassurance.

"No, just two. After my sophomore year, I get my own ring. Then I'll tell my parents," I told her. She shuddered knowing my parents would be very angry.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have told you about Moon Haven Academy," she whined.

"It's not your fault, Aunt Maria," I said, giving her a hug. "I have the Lupa's manipulative touch. Anyway, it's not all that bad. I'll be close to Asher. If I need someone's help, I'll run to him."

"I'm surprised you didn't tell your twin about your plans," she said, frowning. I rolled my eyes. It wasn't time yet.

"You know how he is. He's always competing against me, since I'm the daughter of Lupa. Asher believes he's a nobody. He doesn't feel that being Alpha of Dark Moon Wolf Pack is a great responsibility. This is why I need to go away, so he can find himself while I go do what is needed to make the Priestesses of Lupa great again. I need to learn to channel my magic. I need to go to Moon Haven Academy for Mages."

I took off my wig to reveal my dark hair styled in a crew cut, then I lifted my shirt to show my aunt my chest binder. It was uncomfortable, but it did its job.

She sighed, tapped her foot, and magically turned to look like me, but with long light blonde hair. Her eyes, however, were still the same chocolate brown. Well, all she needed to do was wear amber colored contact lenses to resemble my golden eyes.

"You still look like a girl, Anya. I suggest hiding your gold eyes-" I raised my hand and took out a contact lens case from my pocket.

"Don't worry. I sent them a picture of a boy with dark hair and dark eyes. Have you gotten all the clothes I asked you to buy?" I asked. "My flight leaves soon."

She pointed to the black spinner luggage set aside at one corner of the small apartment. "All set... including boxers, socks, undershirts, pajamas and male cologne. To open, turn the dials to 1221, your birthday." Then, she handed me an envelope with all my necessary documents. "Oh, I'm going to miss you. Send me a message when you get there, Avery Urban."

I coughed and in a deep voice I said, "I promise, Anya."

*And the saga continues*. *Watch out for it*.

Sheila ❤