* The media pic is of the Moon wolf.
Nordin looked thoughtful as he examined Anex. He had no idea the Master at Arms was such a history junkie. Only someone with a deep love of wolf genealogy would know anything about the Moon Wolf nowadays. She had become an obscure part of their creation story after the passage of thousands of years and the dawn of the post-modern age.
"It would explain much," Ruuni offered soberly.
Alpha Troy pulled his eyes from Penn, a very difficult task having never seen a vision as spellbinding as this in his life, and turned to Nordin and Ruuni with an uncomfortable feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. "What would it explain exactly?" he asked them with a strained and almost angry look on his face.
Ruuni and Nordin exchanged a look and Ruuni nodded to Nordin to continue. He glanced at Penn for a moment more. She was oblivious to their conversation as she eagerly awaited the pups' arrival. How would this news affect her? Would she welcome it? Would she accept it?
He looked back at Alpha Troy and knew he was going to have a difficult time accepting such news. Nordin sighed, feeling uncertain about whether to continue or not. His heart sank a little for the wonderful young man, who he knew was half in love with the extraordinary she-wolf. If she truly was the Moon Wolf, which Nordin was almost certain she must be, this would not end happily for Troy. Nordin's heart grew heavy as he contemplated the Alpha's future without Penn. But, denying the truth would serve no one, least of all Penn herself. So, Nordin exhaled a pensive breath before continuing to expound on his knowledge of the Moon Wolf.
"The Moon Wolf, according to our creation story, was the Moon goddess' faithful friend and companion. She was subject to no one but the Moon goddess herself. The Moon goddess, grateful for such a fierce and faithful companion, blessed the Moon Wolf with a litter of pups, whom the moon wolf raised here on earth in the light of the moon." Nordin paused a moment to gauge how Alpha Troy was responding to this mini creation lesson.
From somewhere behind him Anex spoke up and said, "I read somewhere that we are all the descendants of the pups she bore."
"That would make the Moon Wolf the first Alpha wolf among us," Alpha Troy offered sagely.
Anex let out a low whistle and grinned half in awe and half in pleasure from the thought of it. "That alone explains so much about her, doesn't it?" he offered enthusiastically.
Of all the people standing around that night, Anex was the only wolf who had seen and observed Penn in her birth pack. He knew more of her story than anyone else, and understood the injustice she had suffered. He also had been easily won over by her from almost the beginning because he'd felt there was something regal and powerful about the she wolf. He'd become her biggest advocate (and dare one say fan) in the pack almost from the very start.
Anex, practically bursting with excitement, continued. "It explains why Penn had been an outcast from the beginning in her birth-pack. The Moon Wolf is the Moon goddess' messenger. She's not subject to any wolf, Alpha or not."
Penn was a puzzle he'd wanted to solve from the moment he laid eyes on her all those years ago. And now, everything was making sense. Finally, with great certainty and conviction, he proclaimed, "She doesn't belong here. She belongs with the Moon goddess."
That statement changed everything for Alpha Troy. He, who rarely displayed any violent or aggressive emotions and was the picture of reason and calm, let loose a menacing growl that shut Anex up right away and drew concerned looks from all the elders. Troy had never felt so angry at one of his own pack members or so shaken to the core by something someone said as right then. It was like a switch had been flipped in his inner most being and all the rage he'd learned to suppress as an alpha wolf and as the Alpha of this pack was roaring to the surface. It was frightening but exhilarating at the same time.
Anex and the others quickly turned their full attention to their Alpha. They corporately felt his Alpha power wash over them, pressing them physically, emotionally and mentally into submission to his will, as wave upon wave of his heightened testosterone washed over them, filling their nostrils, overwhelming their senses, and making them all too aware of his rising temper. His temper was something they had never seen before. Not one of them. Not in all the years they had known him as Alpha or as the pack's First Beta.
"She belongs with us," Troy seethed at Anex, whom he had an overwhelming urge to beat into the ground. The feeling was altogether unlike him, but Troy didn't feel it was misplaced. "And no one," he said through clenched teeth as he looked at the others there, "is to ever say otherwise," he declared in the most authoritative tone he'd ever used on them.
The doubt in their eyes fuelled his sudden rage and he let loose another low growl showing his extreme displeasure. How could Anex or anyone else think she belonged anywhere else? It was as clear as a full moon on a cloudless night that she belonged in Orthos, with the pups, with him. Hadn't the Moon goddess herself lead Penn to them - to him? How could anyone who knew her doubt for a minute that her place was with them - with all of them?
Troy would never force her to be his mate. He'd never compel her to become an official Orthos member and abide by pack law. He didn't even dream of demanding she live in the pack territory. However, he wouldn't let anyone tell her she didn't belong, that she wasn't one of them, that this wasn't her home for the rest of her life. He'd kill the first person who tried to drive her away.
The thought both angered him and crushed him. And, the more he dwelt on Anex's words, "she doesn't belong here", the more violent his feelings became. So, Troy wasn't the least shocked when his fangs descended and his claws protruded from his fingers leading to a partial shift. He was more wolf than man at that moment, and ready to tare apart anyone who disagreed with him.
Penn, feeling a significant alteration in the atmosphere behind her, and afraid for the pups, turned her nose to see what the matter was. She could sense no intruder, smelt no strange scents, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Except, she could feel waves of anger rolling off of Alpha Troy as he glared at the faces all around him. And those faces, were turned to the ground. Not a soul could look him in the eye. They stood like submissive statues before their agitated Alpha.
This level of aggression was mild compared to what Penn was use to seeing from the alphas she'd known. So, she wasn't the least bit concerned for the elders or anyone else. And, she hadn't know Troy long enough to know what was normal behaviour for him versus what wasn't. Consequently, she had no way of knowing that this display was highly unusual and quite frightening to the Orthos members there.
Still, she acknowledge that an overwhelming need to comfort him, to appease him, to calm his fear, was welling up inside her at the sight of his fangs and claws. The only trouble was, she had just caught the scent and sounds of the pups running toward their location and she didn't want to pull herself away from Mia's side. Being beside Mia when the others arrived was paramount in Penn's mind.
The best she could do for Troy, and it wasn't much at all, was stand to her feet, shake out her coat excitedly and give him a happy bark indicating that the children were coming. Perhaps the small distraction would break the building tension behind her and all around him.
Troy heard her joyful yip and turned his furious eyes to her right away. The moment his eyes found hers, all his aggression and aggravation melted away. He felt his fangs and claws retract immediately and the ferocity inside his chest subsided like an ocean wave that had been undercut by an equal or more powerful counter wave. In the blink of an eye, his peace of mind was restored and his temper was in check. She was happy and that was all that mattered.
Troy grinned at her and told the others in a calm voice, "The pups are nearly here."
No one dared say a thing. They just turned to look and wait with him. But everyone was silently relieved to see he'd come back to himself and the domineering Alpha they'd just witnessed for the first time since he'd take up that position, had disappeared. It was as startling a transformation to them as Penn's physical transformation was, but with none of the accompanying awe and wonder.
The truth was, they were his subordinates, even the elders, in every way and his to command as he saw fit. However, they certainly preferred his usual calm, reasonable and inquisitive leadership style. No one liked a domineering boss under any circumstances. None of them, not even Ruuni, had guessed he could even display such visceral resentment. It shook them all a little, if they were honest, because it was the first time any one of them had truly been afraid of their Alpha.