Blue Moon Rising

Young Volcanoes (Full)

5th day of full moon
“Are you okay?”
Hope looks over her shoulder and sees Jasmine by the door.
“Yes,” Hope nods, “can I help you?”
Jasmine laughs, “It should be the other way around.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like Ximm said, your brother left you under our care.” She says, “I don’t know if you trust us enough for that, but at least let us try.”
“I’m fine.” Hope reassures her.
“For now, yes.” Jasmine agrees, “But it’s your birthday soon, isn’t it?”
Hope gives her a questioned look.
“Your scent is changing.” Jasmine pointed out, sitting beside her. “With or without your wolf I’m sure it’s obvious to everyone that your scent is changing. Soon enough you’ be hounded by those unmated wolves, literally.”
Hope then reached for the necklace Chance had given her and held it in her hand.
“I’ll be fine.” She says.
Jasmine smiles hearing the defiance in her voice.
“I don’t doubt that for a minute.” Jasmine nods, “Us weres always had ways to protect our mate even when we’re far apart, and you being protected by the deity’s son, that’s not something to laugh about.”
Hope’s eyes widened, hearing what Jasmine was insinuating. No one had ever laid it so straight about her and Chance, not even them.
“But don’t forget that we still have our human urges.” Jasmine pointed out, “Werewolves are just as territorial and power hungry as any other being. So your heart may be protected by that amulet, but those maniacs outside wouldn’t hold themselves back to forcing you into anything.”
“Forcing…”
Jasmine nods, “Everyone thinks that being an alpha’s daughter is all fairy tale like, if they only know how harsh and small other wolves sees us.” Looking away, she shook her head her eyes darkened with disgust. “All we are to our male specie is a means to an end, a step up in the food chain.”
Hope turns to Jasmine and for the first time, she gave her a peek behind the outspoken alpha shewolf that she is. Jasmine caught the pity look on Hope and laughed.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Jasmine says, “It’s not like I was assaulted or anything. I’m too badass for that, don’t you think?”
Hope swallowed her nerves and asks, “What are you…”
Jasmine sighed, “As soon as we’re locked in that school, all pretences are shredded and like the dogs that we are, boys pees all over what they think belong to them. I could fight back, I have my wolf with me too. But you, you rely on others to protect you. I’m sure your parents and even Aunt Serenity will kill for you, without doubt, but they aren’t here.”
Hope frowns, she was seen as weak again. This time she has nothing to retaliate. She is physically weak, she is unable to protect herself, she will be overpowered and forced on her knees if needed.
“Why are you doing this? Aren’t we the ones causing all these problems?”
“Because I want to believe that if the time comes that Ashton is in trouble, someone would do the right thing and protect him too, to overlook his breed.”
Ashton? Hope wondered.
Soon enough everything fell into place, why Jasmine was always by his side, why Ashton protects her from other wolves knowing he was outnumbered.
Jasmine gave her a sad smile. “Normally, it’s the male who first finds out of the connection. But I guess I wasn’t as fortunate, neither was Aunt Lana. I always wondered how Uncle Aaron does it, you know, loving someone who doesn’t know that she is his mate.”
“You can trust me, Hope to keep you safe from our kind. So don’t worry about what’s outside that door, just worry about Chance making it back home.” Jasmine reached for Hope’s free hand, “To me, for my mate, you are the personification of your name.”

“I don’t know if I should be amazed or grossed out.”
“Be thankful, that’s what.” Jerry rolls his eyes at Aiden who had been whining about the dragon’s plan since they boarded the bus an hour ago.
“We are, Jerry.” Chance assures him, remembering the magic he witnessed earlier.
It was unlike the power he or his sister had. The feel of it was revitalizing, given that their wolf senses could all but smell the haze on their clothes, and Gary assured them that it meant the other wolves would most likely not smell their scent, Chance’s in particular.
“It’s a beautiful sight, a dragon morphing.” He added. “I can see why you are in tune with nature.”
“We may be blessed by the fire element, but we aren’t fond of destructions.” Jerry says, “In fact, the first thing a hatchling learns is that with fire new life emerges. Not that we go around setting things on fire, but we see our element as beautiful and pure.”
Chance smiled hearing the pride in Jerry’s voice.
Hearing the man said he would smoke their scent, Chance was expecting he’d be belching out fire. Instead, he witnessed Jerry become one with earth as he morphed into his dragon. Unlike werewolves, there weren’t any cracking bones, only the presence of the great spirit of old dragons cloaking him as he is moulded into one, solidified by earth and fire, move about by Jerry’s will.
“We aren’t like you wolves, we have no physical strength. We rely on our will, our trust that our ancestors will keep us strong and safe.” Jerry sighed, “I always loved grandpa’s stories of his days when he could freely fly across the sky along with his brothers their mates on their back.”
“Your brothers, do they morph like you?”
“No.” he sighed, “Dragon blood may be strong, but only one is produced every generation. My older brothers, well, they manifested the blood, but not the will.”
Chance frowned, realizing why there were no more dragons left.
“My mom once told me that our ancestors chose this cause dragons are too powerful.” Jerry continues, “They fear that one of their offspring might take this power and control the world, much like the vampires.”
“Your ancestors are wise to see that far ahead.” Chance cuts in. “Given a chance, I would choose to stay as a human rather than…”
Chance glanced behind Jerry, across them sat Aiden asleep, beside him Gary who had his eyes closed, resting.
“I love my family, in a different circumstance, I probably would have loved our wolves too.” He continued, “But right now, this power is simply a means to an end. It had introduced me to a world that I only read in books, it’s beautiful but the price of it… it just wasn’t worth it.”
Jerry watch as Chance look away, no doubt embarrassed of his confession.
The young man was wise, his words were well taught of and his actions always careful but sure. Then again, until recently he was a teenage human, dealing with school and girls, until he was thrown in the world of shifters- forced to be loyal to an alpha who had done nothing to earn his trust, forced to accept his mythical half without any knowledge of how to control it and there was of course the possibility of encountering his mate. A mate chosen by a deity he had no idea about, even if it was her mother who represented it.
Jerry had it easy; his grandfather may be one of the oldest of their kind, the go to person by young dragons when they are troubled of their powers. There was respect for their family, but it didn’t come with privileges like for the wolves.
Everything that he is now was due to his own hard work. At the age of 8, Jerry could already summon three Dragon spirits, but his family never forced him to be more, never forced him to be like his grandfather or to help out other dragon shifters. He had a normal human childhood which he balanced out learning about their ancestors.
Half way high school, he was already learning to camouflage with earth and control it, until he was able to engulf himself and take on the form of a dragon, controlled by 15 spirits. Even his grandfather was amazed by his will, but even then, he never forced any responsibility of the sort on Jerry.
During his first flight did he realize why he was given so much freedom? It was because of that feeling of pride that helped him rise above and flap his make shift wings. His dedication to learn the craft of their family, his determination to have a strong dragon of his own, powered by numerous dragons that had guided him through the years, all those feelings gave him the feeling of soaring, flying without wings.
He knows just how powerful he is, he knows that he is more formidable than his grandfather ever was. But his thoughts never dwell on the matter, because to him his grandfather’s presence alone resonated who was truly majestic between them as dragons, and he will happily bow down to him, no questions ask.
“I’m in no place to tell you that everything will be alright. That we could save the world and be heroes.” Jerry says, “What I can tell you is this, the fate of the world continuously changes, maybe we save them from this destruction now then later on be swallowed up by another catastrophe. But as long as one individual such as yourself continue to move forward and make a change, all of our future will shift with it. You still see the beauty in our world, you hold on to your power because it is important, in a way, you still see the goodness in everything that you are trying to push away. Maybe someday, the world can just simply be beautiful and your power can just be a reminder of how you were once weak but had lived until you are able to stand on your own and protect what means the most to you.”