Sliding open the loft door, I blankly looked at the man standing on the other side. He gave a gentle smile while looking down at me, and I glanced at the large duffel bag at his side.
"I've heard from Scott that you could use some help."
"Apologies, Dr. Deaton, but I don't think you can give me the help I need."
"On the contrary." He raised his eyebrows and gestured. "May I come in?" Stepping to the side, I let him enter the loft before sliding the door closed behind him.
"How is a Druid supposed to help me?" I questioned.
"Druids have been helping your kind long before we were helping the werewolves." Dr. Deaton replied while setting the duffel bag down in the middle of the floor. I watched as he crouched beside it and opened the bag. "Many things may have been lost to time, but there are still a great number more of things Druids still know of the Fenris. You lost your family and emissary when you were still a child, too young to learn what you needed to from them."
"So, what, you're going to teach me those things?" The man softly smiled while looking up at me as he pulled a few things from the bag.
"I'm going to try. First, we need to unlock your repressed memories to see what you do know. I will guide you through it, so as long as you listen to my voice, we can avoid anything too traumatic."
"If you mean the fire, I already remember that."
"Well, you only remember what you know you remember. There may be things you've forgotten that you wouldn't know that you've forgotten."
"....So how does this work?"
"I need you to sit on the floor while holding this." Dr. Deaton handed me a large animal skull with symbols carved deep into the bone.
"Why not the ice bath like with Isaac?"
"You're different from Isaac, Dakota. The same method wouldn't work with you, not with your body being so adapted to both extremely low and high temperatures." He chuckled while setting up a circle of sticks and dried plants.
"How do you know that this way will work?"
"I don't, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Now would it?" Shaking my head, I sat in the middle of the circle with the skull in my lap while watching Dr. Deaton finish setting up the circle.
"Now, I need you to be relaxed. Try to clear your mind." The doctor pulled out a match and began to light some of the sticks. They made a dark, scented smoke as they slowly burned.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out while letting my shoulders relax. Closing my eyes, I hyper-focused on the man's steady heartbeat to clear all else from my mind.
"I'm going to count down from ten. When I get to one, I want you to answer any question I ask as honestly as possible. Do you understand?"
"I do."
"Good." His voice was utterly calm as the scented smoke filled my nostrils. "Ten....nine....eight....seven....six....five....four....three....two......one." My breathing slowed as I sat up straight and heard the two beating hearts in the room and nothing more. "Is your name Dakota Lycaon?"
"Yes."
"Is your father Lucius, mother Mary, and your sister Lisa?"
"Yes."
"Did you ever meet me when you were a child?"
"....Yes."
"Good. Dakota, I want you to tell me your emissary's name."
"Greyson."
"Was it Greyson that taught you to control your shift during the full moon?"
"Yes."
"What else did they teach you?"
"Ash."
"Ash? What about ash?"
"Mountain ash."
"Greyson taught you about mountain ash?"
"Yes."
"What else?"
"....How to break through it."
"....How?"
"Greyson would take Lisa and I....put us into mountain ash traps....made us struggle....we broke out, or we were left there for hours."
"Lisa could also cross mountain ash?"
"....No."
"Why not?"
"Too weak. Greyson said she was too weak. Not enough spark."
"What do you mean by 'spark'?"
"Power."
"Dakota, what else did Greyson teach you and your sister?" The gentle voice continued to question me as two steadily thumping beats echoed in my ears.
"How to smell a wolf. Wolves not like us....tainted. More human. How to spot a hunter. Use our senses without turning."
"Did Greyson teach you how to connect to the Primal?"
"That's not allowed."
"Why is that?"
"It's too dangerous."
"And why is that, Dakota?"
"Too much spark." I felt my eyebrows knit together. "Mother could do it.... Father could do it.... Lisa could."
"Why couldn't you, Dakota?"
"Greyson forbid it."
"Why?"
"I would lose myself....be consumed by the wolf."
"Why would you be consumed by the wolf?"
"Why I can break the ash and they couldn't."
"....Did Greyson teach you about the Primal?"
"No. Also forbidden."
"Have you ever met a wolf from the Hale pack?"
"Yes."
"As a child?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Talia."
"You've met Talia?"
"Yes. Many times." My voice droned as memories of the woman flooded my mind. "She had tea with us. Promised we could live here so long as we followed the laws."
"Pack laws?"
"Her laws. Didn't mind them, the humans were too boring to bother."
"Did you ever meet another wolf from the Hale pack?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Lisa's friend. He came with Talia sometimes."
"And who was that, Dakota?"
"Derek. I would watch them play while having tea with Talia."
"Lisa and Derek were friends?"
"Yes. They met in school.... He was why Greyson taught us how to scent the too human wolves."
"Why did you have tea with Talia rather than play with Lisa and Derek? Was it also something Greyson forbid?"
"No. I preferred Talia's company. Her stories....they were more interesting than her pup and Lisa rolling in the grass." A gentle chuckle came from the man.
"I see. Now, what about your parents? Did Lucius and Mary ever say anything about you connecting to the Primal?"
"They also forbid it. They heeded Greyson's words."
"How did they train you to protect yourself without the Primal?"
"I was strong. Stronger than most- I didn't need to worry about not having the Primal. Unlike Lisa, I inherited our father's spark."
"But power isn't inherited."
"Different spark."
"What kind of spark?"
"I can't tell you. Can't tell anyone."
"It's okay, you can tell me, Dakota. What kind of spark?" The man asked, and I slowly opened my eyes as they burned a bright silver. "Why was it dangerous for you to connect to the Primal?"
"~Round and round, the circle goes: Alpha, Beta, Omega, prey. If you're too weak, you're led astray. Alpha, Beta, Omega, prey. The wolves hunt the prey, they die, they rot, they're stuck in the clay. Alpha, Beta, Omega, prey. The strong they rise, the weak they fall. Alpha, Beta, Omega, prey. The wolves that fall, to the Alpha they call. Alpha, Beta, Omega, prey. When the Alpha calls, to the enemy death befalls. Alpha, Beta, Omega, prey.~"
"I need you to answer the question, not sing an old Fenris rhyme. Why was it dangerous for you to connect to the Primal?"
"I've given you your answer, Druid. I'm forbidden from telling directly, it is now up to you to decipher my words." One of the heartbeats I heard briefly fluttered while images of Lisa and I running in the woods while singing that rhyme played in my head.
"Dakota....are you an Alpha?" The burning incense suddenly went out as the smoke cleared away, and a new symbol was burned onto the skull in my hands.