Word Count: 1991

~Venn

The forest is smothered in milky pale fog this morning as I walk along the well-worn track.

I've been anticipating this day, and I'm grateful it's come around now. Alvera isn't entirely same — from my brother, from other Alpha...from me.

Today we take the next step in completing the necessary connection between Alvera so I can better protect her. Yet at the same time, I worry I'm putting her in more danger.

This is exactly what the Moon Goddess is asking of me. She wants me as close to Alvera as possible, so she can decide to take her from me when the time is right.

I'm already getting too close to her. Falling for her.

Our mate bond is shifting to more than just a base level connection that indicates our compatibility for each other. What I feel for her is real, tangible. It's spiralling out of control, and I've been too weak to push it off.

But once she learns about what the Moon Goddess wants from me, the decision will be made for me.

She'll never forgive me.

I glance ahead, my second in command brushing branches out of the way irritably, his ankles swimming in a dense layer of fog. We are walking to the site where the ritual will take place, where Alvera has promised to meet me after spending another night at the library.

After our night together, I know I must be truthful to Alvera soon. She needs to know that the Moon Goddess has granted us a rare bond that is nothing like she would have experienced in her human life otherwise.

"Everything is exactly where it needs to be," Zen says from ahead.

He walked down to meet me at the car after setting this all up. Soon I'll have to put my blindfold on so I don't risk seeing the item Alvera is choosing to sacrifice.

My sits heavy in my pocket. It's an old, worn ring. It's shape is moulded to the shape of my mother's finger, given to her when she was only young. When she died when I was a boy, I pulled it off her finger before she was buried in a common werewolf ceremony.

I've relied on it for strength since I got it, making it the closest material object to my heart. Yet, I feel no doubt about giving it over to be incorporated into a mark on Alvera's skin that will bind up forever.

"Perfect." I twist the ring absently in my pocket. "Does that include Alvera?"

"Your Chosen is with her sister, who is taking her to the alter." Zen looks back over his shoulder at me, grinning. "She will be blindfolded too, don't worry."

"Excellent."

I wish I could see her beforehand to double check that she is okay with this, that she hasn't had second thoughts. We haven't talked about our encounter a few nights ago, and I'm losing my mind.

I need to know she is okay. I need to know I didn't hurt her, didn't push her too far.

"Are you...are you certain this is what you want, Alpha? I mean that respectfully, of course." Zen falls back enough to fall into step beside me.

"Why would I not want this?" I ask warily, staring at the side of my face.

He scratches his jaw, grimacing. "The prophecy."

I blow out a breath. Zen is one of the only people who know about the prophecy and what is expected of me. He runs my programme where I'm changing humans to werewolves, which is going surprisingly well.

"What does that have to do with this?" I ask him.

"The more connected you become to your mate, the harder it will be to be parted from her—"

"First of all, Zen, you cannot refer to Alvera as my mate in her presence. She cannot be confronted by that when she is not yet informed on what it means," I snap. "Second, I shall not be parted from her."

Everything I am doing is to resist this prophecy. The Moon Goddess isn't pleased, but she's waiting to see what I can produce in return. I'm willing to sacrifice anything, at this point, over Alvera.

Including myself.

"I know we are having success with your human to werewolf hybrids, but trying to trick the Moon Goddess is ill advised," he states matter-of-factly, pinning me with a hard look.

My jaw tightens. Of course I'm aware, it haunts me every day.

"I am proving myself to her, not tricking her," I tell him. "She has not indicated this isn't pleasing her."

"What if it is you that ends up fulfilling the prophecy by killing her, Alpha?" Zen speaks cautiously, watching me carefully.

He knows Alvera is a soft spot for me, and that I find myself not thinking rationally when it comes to her. But that doesn't mean I would ever compromise her.

"I would never do anything to hurt Alvera. I'm completing this ceremony to protect her from Alpha's like Kalix that would eat her alive," I remind him coarsely, stepping over a thick knot of protruding roots.

"As long as you know what you're doing, Sir."

We walk for a while in silence, Zen stepping ahead while thoughts of Alvera pour through my head.

Suddenly, Zen's head jerks to the side and he curses. He grabs at the side of his neck, yanking something out of it to look at.

Just as I take a step toward him to see what's going on, something hits my neck, a stabbing pain shooting up to my temples. I grab at what has hit me, pulling it from my skin to examine it in my hand.

"Fuck," I hiss. It's a hypodermic needle, its contents having been emptied into my bloodstream.

Looking around, I pass my gaze through the dense forest, but the fog makes it impossible to discern any shapes amidst the trees.

Whatever we've been injected with burns through my veins like liquid fire, travelling through my. My head is going light, my vision mottling with black spots.

"Oh shit..." Zen is swaying in front of me, bracing a hand against a tree trunk.

"We've been shot," I growl. "Where did that come from?"

Zen collapses, slumping against the trunk. I rush over to him, grabbing at his limbs but they are heavy and unmoving in my hands.

Fuck.

Being that Zen isn't an Alpha, he isn't capable of fighting whatever this is as long as I can. Regardless, I continue to shake him, but his eyes have rolled back and his lips are parted. At least he's breathing...

"Zen, you need to get up," I insist desperately.

Straightening, I ignore the vignette of darkness shrouding my vision as I storm through the brush, fighting to find who has drugged us.

Eventually I succumb, to the effects of the drug, falling to one knee, and then another. I lose consciousness before the rest of my body hits the ground.

~Alvera

The toe of my shoe hits a root and I stumble, nearly toppling over until Belle rights me again.

"I hate this blindfold thing," I grumble, adjusting the thick piece of fabric tied around my head.

This feels so foolish, being lead through the forest toward an altar. I'm not sure how much of the ceremony is going to be completed today, but at the very least, the first part will. I will then bear a mark that identifies me as Venn's Chosen.

"You're not supposed to see what you're sacrificing," Belle reminds me, gripping my bicep tightly as she leads me down the path, brushing branches away so I don't smack my face into them.

"Speaking of." I dig into my pocket, pulling out the necklace. "This is my choice."

I can feel the heat in Belle's gaze as she takes it from me. "Seriously?"

The bite of anger is more than just characteristic Belle behaviour. We share twin necklaces that have stayed with us since we were children, and now mine is going to be gone forever.

"It's the only thing I have that means anything to me," I explain. "Trust me, it's not like I'm eager to get rid of it."

She knows a surprising amount about this ceremony. I'm assuming Able has told her about it. Thankfully he has been strictly advised not to attend today by Venn.

"Whatever." Belle places her hand on the top of my head. "Lean down to miss this branch."

"Is everything set up?" I ask, my voice strained as I duck, narrowly missing the branch as bark brushes against my head.

"It is," she responds tightly. "One of Venn's pack members is leading the ceremony and ushering the magic."

I shake my arms, hoping the anxious energy leaves my body. I'm sure this ceremony won't change anything more than what has already been changed, but this is so unfamiliar to me it's unnerving.

"You know a lot about this..."

"I had it explained to me," she reminds me. "Someone needed to be here for you, right?"

I smile despite myself. "Thanks. I appreciate this."

This is the first sisterly thing that she has done for me since we fell out. I figured she would tell me to sort myself out, but she has been surprisingly receptive to helping me today.

"Now remember, you can't speak. You need to feel the magic, let it overcome you," she tells me. "Venn is sacrificing something great to be connected to you. This must be taken seriously."

"I know," I murmur.

My shoes suddenly hit a concrete slab that I'm guided to step into. The air feels heavy here, a metallic scent tinting the air. There is magic here.

"We are here." She grabs my arm, guiding it in front of me. "Take his hand."

My hand slides into Venn, his fingers tightening around mine. I release the breath I've been holding, trying to force myself to relax. This is happening now.

"Welcome Alpha and his Chosen," a voice says from beside me, making me jump. "Your guides have presented me with your tokens, and now you must feel your connection to this earth and to the Moon Goddess."

Something cool is suddenly pressed against my chest, made of some kind of metal. I'm not sure what it is, but it's clearly what Venn has chosen to sacrifice.

"The essence of your items will meld into your skin, into your blood and your soul. The intentions behind your offerings guides this holy process, unifying your bond for eternity."

The man starts speaking so to me in a language I don't understand. His words are tight and quick, flowing so quickly I can barely grasp onto them.

I can feel the magic rising from beneath us, foreign and insistent. It clouds around us, pressing against my skin, burning in my eyes.

A tingling sensation starts against my chest before erupting into an inferno of burning pain.

"Ow..." I yelp, but in an instance it's gone. The pressure of Venn's item being pressed against my chest has ceased, and the magic has melted away.

"It's alright," a voice murmurs in front of me. "It's done now."

I frown, my mind scrambling to make sense of that familiar voice that does not belong to Venn.

Pulling at my blindfold, I toss it onto the ground as my eyes adjust. After rubbing them a few times, I take in the man standing before, a fresh mark etched into his chest and a crooked grin on his face.

It's Able, and there is no Venn in sight.

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If you want to read ahead at any point, you can read this story 15 chapters ahead on INKITT and 10 chapters ahead on RADISH.

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The Night I Met The Alpha

~Midika 💜🐼