Ten

Kira sat quietly for a few minutes before heaving a sudden sigh of relief. She couldn't be more grateful that her unplanned journey to finding a spiritual mother wasn't a failure and although she still felt very nervous and creeped out by her, she had definitely expected her to look even more scary.

Kira had so many questions to ask and she could not contain her excitement as questions start to pop in her head and her curiosity suddenly peaked but just when she was about to throw questions at the old woman whose eyes had not left her for even a split second, she realises her throat was way too dry and she had trouble actually speaking up.

As if reading her mind, the old woman walks towards a jar of water and fetches her a cup to her surprise and this made Kira slightly nervous as she suddenly started to sense something odd about her.

"You are thirsty my dear, I can tell and it's because of the place." The woman said, confusing Kira.

"The place?" Kira raised her brows in a questioning manner. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"If you are as observant as I believe you are, then you must have noticed the obvious difference in my environment and yours. This isn't your world my dear and regular werewolves are not supposed to be here, so for this reason, you'll probably feel thirsty, fatigued and nauseous every five minutes." She explained.

Kira's eyes widened in shock. "Wait a second, you're telling me that I'll be thirsty every five minutes?" She asked in total disbelief and the woman nodded her head in confirmation.

"We'll isn't that just great! Thanks for the water by the way." Kira replied, gulping the water down her throat quickly so she could stop sounding like a dying person.

The old woman clapped her hands and dim lights suddenly started to illuminate the room.

Kira sighed tiredly, even with the light, she could barely see anything. Taking a look at the mud hut, she could see all kinds of strange objects placed around.

"What is this place and why is it so different?" Kira asked.

"Also why does it feel so empty and what's with that terrifying bird?" She added.

The old woman chuckled lightly. "You seem to have way too many questions to ask. I wonder when you will get down to the one that brought you here." She replied and her words hit Kira as she remembered what her true purpose was.

"I can already sense your troubled heart Kira dear. You are exactly like your mother. Always after peace."

Kira's eyes widened. "You knew my mother?" She asked.

The woman smiled, "Yes I did my dear. Quite well I must add and I knew you even before you were born." She replied, confusing Kira.

"Really? How though?" She asked.

"Let's just say we met when your mother was pregnant with you. Now I understand why the moon goddess linked your fate and mine. It's exactly what happened with your mother." The old woman replied.

"Since you say you are who I came in search of, that means you are the path seeker right?" Kira asked and the woman nodded her head in confirmation.

"Then why?"

"Why exactly is everything turning out this way? Why does my life partner have to be decided by the moon goddess and not by me? No scratch that, I already know that she gets to choose not me but my constraint is why do I have to be fated with someone who I've always been taught to despise?" She wondered in confusion.

The old woman sighed, she knew she would have to do quite a lot of explaining to make Kira understand that fate always has a purpose.

"The moon goddess knows what's best dear and every decision that may seem unreasonable to you has its benefits in the future." She stated firmly.

Kira scoffed, "If I may ask, define the future benefit for me cause at this point, I don't understand the future you all keep referring to! Just how does being mates with my rival make things good for the future?" She questioned aggressively, clearly unable to comprehend the words of the old woman.

"As far as I know, mates are rarely ever people we know or like. One of the many purposes of having a mate is to find a new and special connection my dear and that is why they are rarely ever your friends." The spiritual mother replied calmly.

Kira furrowed her brows in confusion. "Meaning?" She asked.

"Your mate is always someone you'd never really think or expect. You may see it as a mishap but the moon goddess sees it as a blessing." She explained.

"Well blessings be damned!" She exasperated with an eye roll.

"You might want to calm down and listen to Kira dear." The spiritual mother spoke calmly.

"What you consider bad is good. You do not see the future but the future awaits you. The moon goddess never chooses wrongly and only she knows best." She added.

Kira laughed hysterically. "The moon goddess knows best and yet you refuse to give me an actual reason why I have to deal with this." She hissed.

"That's because you haven't asked a question yet my dear."

"What are your actual questions?" She asked, making emphasis on her every word.

"Speak to me and let out what it is you want to know." As the spiritual mother spoke, her voice raised slightly and every word she spoke were said in such a powerful and commanding tone that sent a shiver down Kira's spine.

Kira could feel beads of sweats form on her forehead as the words of the spiritual mother scared her. The sudden change in her tone and the serious look on her face scared Kira more than she'd like to admit.

"Why is he of all people my mate and what is this future that I have to prepare for with him?" She voiced out in a calm tone that almost sounded like a whisper.

The spiritual mother heaved a sigh before sitting on the wooden chair opposite Kira.

"Kira, I want you to look closely at my palm. The answer you seek will show itself to you and if you really are as intelligent and as understanding as I expect, you will understand." She said,

The spiritual mother stretched her hands forth and Kira looked to see what the spiritual mother had wanted her to see.

The first Kira saw was a weirdly shaped set of teeth and then blood drooling at the side of the mouth of whoever it was that had such weird teeth and the next thing she saw shocked her to the point where she could not help but gasp in absolute shock and horror. The many dead bodies of her kind was definitely not something she was expecting to see.

"What is all that?" She asked, still trying to phantom everything she had seen.

"That is exactly what will be the fate of your kind my dear and the moon goddess has decided to prevent it." The spiritual mother answered.

"I am confused. Please enlighten me." She requested.

"Good. That is what I expect of you."

"The time is nearer than ever Kira. What you just saw has been seen by thousands of Alphas from different packs and yet they do not know when or how to react to it. It is said that the era where the werewolves will meet their end is near and they will be sent to extinction by the creatures cursed by the sun."

Kira's eyes widened and she could feel her heartbeat even faster. She rubbed her sweaty palm on her jeans trying to understand everything the spiritual mother just said.

"Creatures cursed by the sun?" Then it clicked to her as she remembered the words of her aunt. Her aunt had told her she didn't know much about anything but that they were creatures who were cursed by the sun just as they were supposedly cursed by the moon.

This led Kira to her second question. "Creatures cursed by the sun just like werewolves are supposedly cursed by the moon right?" She asked and her spiritual mother smiled.

"I'm glad you're not completely oblivious dear."

"But if we are cursed by the moon, then how come we get stronger on every full moon?" Kira asked, she sighed.

"There is so much that you do not know my dear Kira. When there's a full moon, the werewolf curse becomes active which is why we get stronger. At that moment, we are like hungry lions on the loose as we do not have the ability to control the depth of our strength. Remember that with power comes a great responsibility and with even more power comes a greater responsibility but a lot of time, power is misused and corrupted and this is why the power bestowed to our kind by the moon is considered as both a blessing and a curse that cannot be avoided." She explained.

Everything was starting to dawn on Kira. Her aunt was right, she was far too naive to understand anything. At this point, she doubted she was ready to walk this path if she couldn't even figure out why the moon could be considered as a curse to their kind.

She just wasn't ready to be an Alpha as the responsibility was starting to seem way too much for her to handle.

"It's not too much to handle my dear." The old woman said to her and Kira knew then that she could read her mind.

"You are never given challenges that you cannot overcome. The moon goddess does not want our existence to come to an end which is why she has decided to help us. The Silvermoon pack and the Redmoon pack have surely been rivals for a long time and over the years, wrong information has been passed down from one generation to the next forgetting that there are always two sides to a story and that generational tales can easily be manipulated to fit a narrative."

"The moon goddess put you both as one to bring peace and harmony because she knows that together you both can overcome anything. You may not understand now but the evil is within and together, you'll both end it before it grows even more powerful."

Kira still felt slightly confused by everything she had just heard. The fact that she had seen the dead bodies of so many of her kind affected her in ways that she couldn't even express and it scared her to think that she now has the responsibility of stopping the absolute destruction of her kind but if truly, she's fated to take part in saving her people then absolutely nothing would stop her from going for it.

"So, what do you suggest I do?" She asked.

"I would love to tell you everything Kira and I would love to direct you to the fullest but this is not my duty. My duty is to tell you the future, explain your fate in subtle details and then leave the rest in your hands." She replied and in a flash, she appeared beside Kira, placed her hands on Kira's shoulder and she squeezed them lightly.

"I trust you will do the right thing my dear and let me be kind enough to tell you this. Your mother Celia, had a beautiful heart and she loved and protected you even when she was told that your birth would be her death. Listen to her words, 'do not be afraid my child for my spirit still lives within you and I will always be with you.' Farewell then dear Kira and remember, you cannot change your fate, you can only deny and delay."

Everything immediately got back to normal and now Kira was standing in front of the tree with a claw imprinted on it. She sighed as everything felt more like a vision and less like actual reality and this made her feel slightly nauseous and confused.

The birds chirped and she looked up at the sky. She smiled a little before muttering a few words to herself.

"I know exactly what to do." She muttered under her breath before making her way back home.