Daughter of Luka (LGBT+)

Twenty-Two 🌑

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to make you afraid of me," she said. 

Before I could say anything to that, a new voice called out. Well, it seemed new at first, but I soon remembered it from the Full Moon Ceremony a few evenings ago. 

"Accalia...and you, you both should probably come with me," he spoke. 

I wasn't sure that there would ever be an appropriate time to freak out, but I felt it coming on any moment now. 

One of the man's hands reached for me and he pulled me along with him towards the cave, sooner than I had time to protest. 

Once we reached the cave, he pressed his hand against the door and it rolled to the side. 

The man, Accalia, and I all stepped inside and into the warm torchlight of the cave. 

I quickly realised that Yara and Uziel were there, too. 

Uziel? 

What on Earth was he doing here? 

I supposed the six-foot-five thing now made some more sense. He was a wolf. 

"Sorry about the scratch, Ophelia," he said to me, with a grin, "I hope it didn't hurt you too much." 

I rose a hand to where the scratch had previously been, but I soon found that it had faded away completely. Now, there was just smooth porcelain skin there instead. 

The under eyes of Yara were darkened, as though she had smudged eyeliner there. She looked tired. 

I didn't blame her. I felt completely exhausted. 

At least, I was sure that I would have felt exhausted if I hadn't suddenly been through the most shocking experience of my life, bar none. 

"Can someone here just explain to me what the hell is going on?" I asked. 

The man stepped forward then. 

"Ophelia, I'm Accalia's father, Luka, and I can," he told me. 

I gave a nod, prepared to listen to whatever it was that he had to say to me. 

Luka led me away from the main entrance of the cave, and into a separate part of it, away from the others. 

"Please, sit," he said to me. 

I sat, though my legs begged for me to run away. 

"Ophelia, I need to tell you something. You are a wolf. You have always been a wolf. I could sense it when I first felt your presence- at the Full Moon Ceremony the previous evening. A strong spell had been placed upon you by somebody to prevent you from becoming one- until you met your soulmate or had been scratched by one. The scratch was too recent for me to be able to say that caused you to turn into a wolf, so I have to assume that you encountering your soulmate is what has caused your wolf blood to awaken." 

"Uziel isn't my..." I trailed off. 

Luka's eyes widened slightly in response to that. 

"Uziel? Oh, no. He is not your soulmate. He already has a soulmate," he assured me, with a kind smile, "Yara. He was protecting her. As wolf mates, they are bound to protect each other. And Fenn's too young to be your soul mate, so I can only begin to wonder who yours is..." he paused for a moment, as his expression became much more thoughtful. 

"Who would have put the spell on me?" I asked. 

"I believe that your wolf blood must have been inherited," he said. 

My father wanted to hunt the wolves, so that led me to believe that it couldn't have been him. 

"By my mother," I said thoughtfully. "But why would she do that? Cast the wolf magic on me, I mean," I wondered aloud. 

"I suppose that she wanted for you to have a normal life, Ophelia," he said. 

I couldn't feel angry at her for that. 

Nevertheless, I had a feeling that my life from now on was going to be anything but normal. 

"She's gone now," I said, "She passed away awhile ago," I explained. 

Luka's eyes flickered with sympathy. 

"I can appreciate that must not have been easy. I am sorry for your loss, Ophelia," he said. 

"Thank you," I said, unsure of what else to say. My mind had become occupied with wondering about who my soulmate was. 

"As the leader of this tribe, it is my duty to help you," Luka said, "I am aware of that. However, I can tell that you must be shocked by all of this. Can I get you anything? Some food, perhaps."

My stomach grumbled sooner than I could turn the offer away. 

"Please," I said. 

A small smile became present on Luka's face and he nodded, before he set off to grab me some food. He soon returned to me with some of the cupcakes that I had seen Yara with earlier and a plate of meat and potatoes. 

Werewolves couldn't be vegetarian. That much should have been obvious to me. 

I immediately dug in and felt a little better after the first few bites. 

 Luka appeared to be fairly reserved. He left the room whilst I ate and then was quite quiet when he returned. I assumed that he wasn't too sure what to say to me, either. 

"Do you live here?" I asked, as I looked around the room to find a table and chair and bookshelf nearby. 

"We have our own houses, of course, but this is the Sanctuary of the Wolves," he explained. 

I gave an understanding hum in response to that, as I took another bite of chicken. 

"I should be honest with you, Ophelia...life has not been easy for us of late. Of course, it is never easy. However, recently, a sickness has been taking some of our tribe. We are what remains." 

I swallowed a little uncomfortably. 

"What's happening to them?" I asked. I supposed 'us' may be a more appropriate word to use now, but it was going to take me time to get used to this whole werewolf thing. 

Luka's expression became grave. 

"The sickness causes wolves to remain stuck in their wolf form- sometimes that's it and they're destined to a life as a wolf. Other times, they turn against their own kind. And in the worst cases, they die."