The Moon Goddess' Chosen

Changing clothes and leaving the dress where she’d been told, she started the run to the cabin in the woods that was equipped to contain her. ‘Hurry, Katie. You don’t have much time left,’ the moon goddess whispered into her ear once more.

Katie found her guardians waiting for her at the exit. Aunt Marie was pacing about, her face worried, “You certainly took your time... Get over here...” she said, leading the panting hunter to the basement and getting her on the table. Uncle Tom stayed quiet and helped get the cold steel restraints onto his daughter’s arms and legs.

“I have something to ask you,” Katie said as they continued fastening the restraints.

“What is it, Katie? Did you have fun at the dance?” Aunt Marie asked.

“Oh, yeah, I had fun. Danced with Cole till the mate bond began to get stronger... If I hadn’t been a hunter, I don’t think I would have left his side,” she said, absentmindedly, trying to keep thoughts of the Royal to the back of her mind. Those were the thoughts that seemed to be stirring her wolf. “I wanted to ask what the conditions for taking care of me were.”

The two parents remained went quiet for a bit when they heard the question. They’d kept this from Katie. So much revolved around the girl. The other part of the Chase family lived in the capital of Lycaon and kept rogues away, however, they were here to protect Katie even though there were conditions to the way they achieved this task. Conditions that had been set by the moon goddess herself and one might just say that... they were selfish.

“Well, on the day that you were handed over into our care, we were given some rather drastic conditions. We didn’t even know that the moon goddess had that kind of power until we realized that this was a plan that Prometheus must have approved of. And if not, he was just turning a blind eye. The moon goddess asked that we dedicate eighteen years of our lives to raising and protecting you...”

“I don’t quite understand that. What does that have to do with...”

.....

“Well, if you would listen, then maybe you would understand what that means entirely,” Aunt Marie said. She might have spoken in a kind motherly tone, but Katie could see through someone scolding her even when it was that kind. The only difference was that this was easier to take, “Well, we sound found that we couldn’t access our Prometheus gifts unless it was to help you or protect you. The moon goddess stopped us from ageing or even giving birth for as long as you were in our care. Katie, for the past eighteen years, you have been our life.”

Katie had always wondered why she didn’t have siblings and yet the reason was her, “But that’s not fair. She robbed eighteen years from you just like that and you...”

“It’s not unfair, Katie,” the woman cut her off, “Katie, you’re special. In the past two centuries, there has never been an opportunity to end this war that was as great as the one that appeared on the day you were born. Do you know what will happen when you and Cole are finally united?”

“What do you mean when you say united?” Katie asked, her wolf inducing thoughts she’d otherwise haven’t imagined. She watched the wolf’s fantasies of marking her mate and making love under the moonlight.

“I guess marking each other would suffice,” Aunt Marie said, in thought.

“I doubt that’s all that will happen...”

“What do you mean? Oh, your eyes...” Aunt Marie exclaimed when she saw the sapphire orbs that her daughter had for eyes flickering bright and dim, “the moon will soon be out and when that happens, we’ll have to inform Cole to simply follow the scent his nose is picking up.”

“That way you still haven’t told him who I am. Is that how bad it is to trust the Royals?” she asked.

“No, that’s not it, Katie. Once the information reaches out there that the two of the Moon Goddess’ Chosen have been united, all hell is bound to break loose,” she said.

“Is that what made you guys detect a great danger?” Katie asked.

“Well, we are not sure otherwise it would have been that accurate... Wait, you can’t feel a sense of danger looming over you,” they asked.

“Not as exaggerated as what you guys made it look like,” she replied, chuckling right before a pang of pain went through her stomach, her eyes burning at the same time, getting clearer. Her heart started beating faster and she could have sworn that she felt her blood flowing through all her veins at the same time.

Aunt Marie and Uncle Tom stepped back from the girl. Her eyes were an intense blue and had stopped flickering, she was finally going to shift before their eyes. “We shouldn’t be here for this,” Uncle Tom said to his wife pulling her to the exit. The woman stared once more at her squirming daughter before climbing out of the basement.

Katie, on the other hand, was going through a myriad of changes to notice the adults leaving. Her wolf was trying her best to dull the pain, but the first shift was meant to be painful and there was no putting her past that. Quicker was going to have to be better. However, all these thoughts came to a standstill when her nose became sensitive. Through all the scents that wafted through the window, there was one that she couldn’t ignore even if she was buried at the bottom of a septic tank(not an ideal situation, though)

Katie’s didn’t know how she could recognize scents when she’d only now gained the ability to catch a scent. However, she knew whose scent had just wafted into her nose.

...................

“You think she’ll be fine?” Aunt Marie asked her husband.

“I know she’ll be just fine,” her husband replied as they sat in the living room of the cabin. “This place harbours so many memories.” The man looked through the cabin getting a memory of the girl from nearly everything. From the time she was only an infant that couldn’t walk. Memories of that baby crawling all over the place came to his eyes. He almost reached out as though they were real. The baby didn’t cry much which was something that kept them on their toes while giving them peace at the same time.

It was impossible to know if a child was hungry, uncomfortable or in need of being pampered if they never cried about anything. For this reason, his wife had set an alarm that would alert her to check on the baby every single hour of the day and night. They took shifts in the night and many times the child was fine. “Our first child won’t be nearly as easy to raise as Katie.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Sometimes, I think that child knew we were inexperienced parents,” Marie chuckled, “Remember the time when...” her voice was cut short when the cabin shook so violently as though it had been hit by an earthquake... They held onto the sofas for support while the tremors shook the room.

The turbulence shook the cabin for barely a minute before everything went quiet once more. A feeling of dread filled the two Chase hunters. They ran out of the cabin that now sat askew having been knocked out of its foundation. “There are no earthquakes in this region. What was that about?” Marie asked once they were out of the cabin.

“Hey, honey, come and see this,” Tom called the woman. His voice came from the side of the cabin that was raised. She came to see what kind of damage had been caused and lost all energy to use her words upon seeing the wreckage. A large hole had been ripped into the side of the cabin, looking straight into the basement. The chains that were supposed to hold their daughter lay on the floor of the basement, shattered, “That was no earthquake...”

“Call the Director... No one is safe, the plan has been compromised. If Katie gets to that festival, there is no telling what she could do,” Tom said from within the basement. Marie was dialling the number in her phone quickly. They were running out of time. Katie had broken out of the basement like it had no walls and vanished with barely a trace.

“Yes, Director Anthony, listen before you spiral off into needless conversation. Katie has broken loose. I repeat, she broke out... Get all hunters ready,” she said, panic in her voice.

“Is this the great danger that you sensed?” the director asked.

“It’s related to it, but not quite... Make sure Cole is on his way to her as well,” she added before hanging up. ‘Could Katie really let her wolf take over and hurt all those people?’ the woman thought. One look at the full moon was enough to shatter her resolve. They didn’t have time to make such negotiations when there were civilian lives in the picture. ‘Why then do I feel like there is something else that I should be worried about?’ she mentally questioned herself.