Call of The Wolf Part 1/3: The Lost Wolves

Chapter X: The Ritual of The Ten Wolves

Audrey woke up with a headache. She drank some water. After the headache was over, Audrey had one thing glued into her head:

"The Ritual is tonight. Be there, or you will forget."

That night, Audrey went to The Wolves Woods, a place she thought was just a dream, a place that she thought she would never see again, a Primal village. Audrey went to the Village of The Lost Wolves, she saw Alicia, but she was wearing what Audrey saw her wearing in The Dream of The Choice and The Dream of The Deal.

"Hi, Alicia!"

"Oh, Audrey, hi. I was just finishing up my portion of the setup for the ritual, how are you?"

"I'm amazing! Alex and I went on a few more dates after Karaoke night, and now, I'm his girlfriend!"

"Wow Audrey, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks. Hey, I never asked about you, do you have a thing for anyone here?"

Alicia looked around, then pointed at someone.

"You see him? That's MoonFang, his human name is Eric Miller."

"You like him?"

"Oh, I had a huge crush on him when I met you, back in 1976, but oh, how time flies."

"Why don't you ask him out," Audrey asked.

"He's never really noticed me, I bet he doesn't even know my name."

"Who wouldn't know your name?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're the daughter of the Lupa, of course, he would know your name."

"Ok, so he may know my name, but what difference does it make? Like I said before, he hasn't noticed me."

Eric turned and waved at Alicia. Alicia looked around to see if he was waving at anyone else, she saw that he wasn't, and waved back.

"Hasn't noticed you?" Audrey asked.

"Ok, maybe once or twice, but can you blame me? I've never liked someone like this before."

"Look, all you've got to do is talk to him."

"You were born on earth, I can't just walk up to him and tell him I like him."

"So don't. Be his friend, get him to like you."

"How?"

"Take him out to dinner, but don't rush it. After a few weeks, that would be a good time."

"It's that easy? How did you meet Alex?"

"Well, he introduced himself to me, but that's not the point."

Alicia looked at her watch.

"There are ten minutes until the ritual."

"That means ten minutes to socialize."

"You're not going to stop until I ask him out, will you?"

"Nope."

"Fine, but just because you convinced me."

Alicia went over to Eric.

"Hi, I'm Luna, but the humans call me Alicia."

"I'm MoonFang, but the humans call me Eric."

"Would you like to watch the ritual with me?"

"Why not, Luna?"

Alicia looked at Audrey. Audrey looked back at Alicia with a sly grin.

"Would all humans please make their way to the center of the village for the ritual," The P.A. said.

Audrey wondered how they got a P.A. system to work in The Wolves Woods, but she had to worry about that another time. She went to the center of the village where there was a stage. Standing on the stage was a woman that Audrey did not recognize. There were only about a dozen people who were there wearing human clothing, like Audrey. The woman on the stage started to speak.

"You have all been chosen, although you may not know what for. I am the village Lupa. You may be wondering if I am the goddess of the wolves, I am not. A Lupa is a female alpha. You all may already be acquainted with my daughter, Luna."

Luna stood next to her mother.

"Luna is the village chooser, she is the one who chose you all to be members of The Lost Wolves. You will all see her once more when you receive your wolf form. Are there any questions before we begin?"

"How are we supposed to believe this is true?" a man asked.

Audrey looked down so she wouldn't see what would happen next. She then felt like someone was watching the ritual. She looked to her left and behind her and saw a hill, but there was something strange about it. On the hill, there was a black wolf with a scar over his right eye as if it was dead, she then decided to pay attention to the ritual again.

"If you don't believe," Lupa continued, "You can leave right now."

The man left, not remembering why he was in the woods, or what the ritual was.

"Now that he's gone," Lupa said, "You may now go to the chooser's hut.

Everyone went to the hut in a single-file line. Audrey went into Alicia's hut first. Inside was a table with two chairs, one on each side. Alicia sat in one of the chairs.

"Please sit," Alicia said.

Audrey sat across from Alicia.

"So, how will this-"

"I require silence," Alicia said.

Alicia closed her eyes. She opened them.

"Give me your hand," Alicia said.

Audrey put her hand in Alicia's. Alicia put her right hand on Audrey's, then stared into her eyes. Audrey remained silent. The silence remained for a few minutes.

"I see a wolf of beautiful, white fur," Alicia said, "I see the beautiful NightHowl."

Alicia let go of Audrey's hand. Audrey looked at her arm, and on there was a tattoo of a silhouette of a wolf howl at the moon. Audrey exited the hut, and the choosing part of the ritual continued. After everyone found their wolf forms, they all went on their way back to the center of the village.

Boom.

There was a deafening explosion that came from the center of the village. All of the people ran to where the explosion was. As they got nearer, and nearer, Audrey could hear the fire crackling louder and louder. When they got to the center of the village, the meeting hall was on fire and mostly destroyed. Alicia turned into her wolf form and ran towards the meeting hall. Audrey ran to try to help, but the others wouldn't let her. A few other wolves ran to the scene. Audrey could not believe what she saw next. She saw Alicia and the other wolves create a stream of water from their paws, and put the fire out. This only made Audrey need to ask more questions to Alicia. Audrey found Alicia, who was turned back in her human form, only she was moving debris looking for something.

"I found her!" another wolf called out from across the wreck.

Alicia and Audrey went running to find Lupa laying on the ground covered in blood.

"Mom!" Alicia said.

"I saw BloodWolf's troops, they're the ones who did this."

"I'll make them pay, mom," Alicia said

"I know you will," Lupa said.

Lupa closed her eyes and died.