ALPHA: Heir Of The Four

Chapter Six | Part I*

"Essentially, all werewolves today descend from the Original Four and the clans they eventually created due to the rising number of werewolves: Air Clan, Fire Clan, Water Clan and Earth Clan. All four of these clans lived in solitude, apart from not only humans but from each other, yet they lived in peace and in harmony because they were still very much 'one' entity. No one element better or worse; no one element stronger or weaker. They managed to maintain that peace for decades. They were not beasts to fear nor demons to be killed. Once they proved to Luna that their nature could be controlled-when they were able to maintain a balance between their human side and their wolf with the help of Luna's grace-she lifted the curse and granted them the freedom to shift at will. And, for a while, they continued to maintain peace and harmony, but, as the saying goes, 'all good things must come to an end'."

I rose from the couch and walked over to the window that overlooked the city. "The four clans eventually grew to hate one another. Each one tried to conquer the others for power and this ultimately led to war. Specifically, the First War. And it was this event in our history that was ultimately responsible for over half of the werewolf population's existence today."

I stopped there, hinting to Ava-Rain that everything from this point on was going to get a lot more detailed and gruesome. I was going to be painted in a very different light—a risk I had no choice but to take—and, as a result, I was only going to give Ava-Rain plenty more reasons to run away and never look back. "Do you want me to continue? And I mean, do you really want me to continue, Ava-Rain? There isn't a lot of sunshine and rainbows but a whole lot of death."

"Really, Caleb? I'm not five. I don't flinch at the thought or mention of blood. I don't duck under my covers at night during thunderstorms and I certainly do not pray every night for a life full of 'sunshine and rainbows'. I do not cower at the mention of death, okay? Continue," she demanded.

A smirk tugged at my lips at her candor. I watched the sun descend slowly over the horizon and marveled in the unfailing promise of darkness that was soon to come. Hours ago, when that sun sat high and shined bright, I was reveling in the knowledge that Ava-Rain was going to be in my life for an indefinite amount of time. Now, I could only wonder if she was going to mimic the setting sun and desert me.

"For starters, you should know that the First War, happened many, many moons after the time of the Original Four. It began on a night of a full moon and ended on the night of the next. It is credited as the First War, not only because it was the first of our kind, but also because it was the first time in our history that our connection to Luna had been severed. The four clans wanted one thing and one thing only: power. But they knew that to gain power-ultimate power-they needed each other to achieve it. So they went against nature and forced elements into becoming one, which proved to be an act of disobedience that resulted in Luna's loss of power over her children. Plans and promises were made, territories were marked and alliances were formed. Air and Earth clans solidified into one, as did their rivals, Fire and Water, and the old ways of mating ceased.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but the elements have always been associated with traits and meanings. Air—the yellow—is often connected to thoughts; earth—the green—to stability; fire—the red—to desire; water—the blue—to emotions. So, naturally, whichever element a wolf was bred from, the trait associated with that element is heightened. So you can imagine the power birthed from the mixture of thoughts and stability, the Air and Earth clan. Think, a solid mind, the ability to assess situations logically. They were mentally powerful, and those able to successfully push their elements to achieve what we call the 'ultimate balance'—when a wolf reaches its full potential by mastering control over its element to the point where man, wolf, and element are synonymous—they were able to enter their opponents' minds. They believed this to mean ultimate victory. If they were able to enter the minds of their enemies then they could control them. Immediate defeat, right?"