Without a Wolf

12

I barely had time to absorb her words, and what seemed like her accusation, before the unmistakable sound of a large branch being snapped in the near-by woods drew my attention.

I turned my head towards the direction of the sound, my heart beating quickly in my chest. In the distance, beyond the serene garden, laid a dense forest. It felt ominous, the trees casting shadows on the ground beneath them. The leaves rustled and whispered, as if they held secrets that only the forest itself knew.

As I listened carefully, I heard the snap of another branch, and a shiver ran down my spine. It was as if something was watching me from within the trees, something that I couldn't see. The forest held a mysterious allure, but it also held danger.

I looked towards the forest for another second, straining my ears so that I could pick up any other sounds of movement. However, none came. I was left with only the sound of the wind blowing gently against the many trees. I gave up, resolving the sounds to my imagination, turning my head back towards Selene.

But, when I turned to face her, she was gone.

A shiver ran down my spine as I considered the possibility that Selene had just disappeared into thin air. I had never witnessed anything like this before. Was it magic? I stood still for a moment, listening to the silence of the garden. It was eerie, the way the birds had stopped chirping and the wind had stopped blowing. It was as if the whole world was holding its breath.

Suddenly, a gust of wind whipped through the garden, rustling the leaves and causing the flowers to dance wildly. I felt a sharp pain in my head, and I stumbled backwards. The pain intensified, and I felt like my skull was about to split open. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the pain was gone. The wind died down, and the garden was once again peaceful. But Selene was still nowhere to be seen.

I felt a sense of urgency building inside me. I needed to find Emeric, to figure out what had just happened. And I knew exactly where to go.

As I walked through the halls of the packhouse, my heart was pounding in my chest. I had to confront Emeric about what I had learned from Selene. The knowledge that he had been keeping such crucial information from me, information that concerned my very survival, made me furious.

As I approached what I assumed to be his office, the wolves stationed outside the door straightened up and stared at me. I could see the confusion and suspicion in their eyes, but I didn't care. I pushed past them and barged into Emeric's office without knocking. He looked up from his desk, surprised at my sudden entrance. His expression quickly turned to one of confusion.

"Gemini, what's wrong?" he asked, standing up from his chair. He walked quickly around the desk, holding both hands out towards me like he would have taken me into his arms if things were different. If Moon Goddess had blessed him with a mate who could love him, and not just a wanna-be human who was dying without her wolf.

"You've been lying to me," I let out once he had closed the gap between us, my anger rising. "You knew about my wolf. You knew about how I'm dying without her, and you didn't tell me. You said you were only trying to protect me. Didn't you think that information was something I needed to know?"

Emeric's face remained impassive, but I could see a flicker of something in his eyes, a hint of guilt perhaps. I was expecting shock, or perhaps even anger that Selene had disobeyed his direct orders to withhold the information about me.

"I did what I thought was best for you," he said, his voice measured. He crossed his arms as he looked down at me. "I didn't want to burden you with unnecessary worry."

"Unnecessary worry?" I exclaimed, my frustration rising even further than it had been before. "Selene said I'm dying. She said my body has already begun to shut down. That's not unnecessary worry, that's just necessary! I have the right to know what's going on with my own body."

"I understand your frustration," Emeric said calmly, though that glimmer of guilt in his eyes was becoming more prominent. "But you have to trust me. I have a plan."

"Trust you? I don't even know you! What plan?" I demanded. "What are you going to do about my wolf?"

"Selene is doing everything in her power to find your wolf," he said. His voice was firm, and the leadership that flows through his blood was evident in his tone. "And in the meantime, we will continue to work on waking her up. You just have to be patient."

"I don't have time for patience," I said, feeling my anger bubbling beneath the surface. "I need answers. And I need them now."

Emeric leaned forward, his gaze intense as his honey colored eyes stared back at me. "I understand that you are scared, Gemini. But I promise you, I will do everything in my power to help you. You are part of this pack, for as long as you wish to be, and we take care of our own."

I took a deep breath through my nose as his words fell through the air. "You're calmer than I expected you to be," I told him, focusing on inhaling deeply so that my panic would fade like it had when Selene was with me. "I thought you would be angry."

Emeric frowned, raising his hand to his neatly trimmed beard, stroking his chin. He didn't answer immediately, he spent a minute staring at me, looking at my face like he was trying to read me for clues.

"Why?" He asked me, catching me off guard. It wasn't what I had expected him to say.

"Because Selene defied you... she told me the truth, even though you told her not to," I explained, the words falling out of my mouth like I was struggling to find each word.

"Yes," Emeric nodded, but his face didn't tell me anything new. His features remained the same, impassive. It was only his eyes that hinted at his emotion. "She did. But you have to understand, Selene is not under my control. She is much older than me, much wiser. I don't consider her my subordinate. She is not even my equal."

"What is she?" I asked him, noticing the way he spoke about her. He respected her, it was clear.

"She is one of The Five," Emeric told me.

And though he didn't explain further, he didn't need to.