C1 The Reading

Two things you need to know about me... I'm a werewolf and I have some special... powers let's say. You see... my kind are all born with some kind of ability. Mine is the ability to erase memories when I touch someone. When I was little I couldn't really control it and I had a really hard time making friends. Most of the time I would get way too excited and erase the kid's memories about me or their memories overall. At the end I was prohibited of playing with the kids until I got my power under control. Because of instanses like these I became defensive, I closed myself in my own world and I'm still avoiding touching others, even though now I can do almost whatever I want with my power. I can do a deep dive into someone's memories and erase something really specific. I'm waiting for the moment this will end and I will be in control completely. That will be when I meet my mate. Our mates are our perfect missing half. We complete each other in mind, soul and powers. Yes, it sounds romantic or whatever, but this is also the real world. I was terrified that I'll somehow be able to erase my mate's memories and he will never get to remember that he met his soulmate.

And the moment I will find out who I'm supposed to be spending the rest of my life with is way too close. The annual "reading" is right around the corner. Everyone, who turns 18 in that one year are supposed to visit their Salutary Elder. They are both the healer and the prophet of the pack. They will tell you in which pack your mate is. With that information you can travel to that pack and try to find your mate. To avoid... you know... deaths when crossing enemy borders, once a year every pack has sort of "open doors" day. Usually the women are the ones supposed to go seek their mate, but it's not weird for men to go too.

"Kenna? Are you ready? I'll go with you to the town hall." My mom popped her head through my bedroom door. I was so nervous about the reading. I was kind of hoping that my mate was still underage or something like that, so it'll be impossible to trace him. I wasn't ready.

"Yes." I said regardless of it.

I went out of the house, waved goodbye to my dad and my two younger brothers as my dad was teaching them to fight in the backyard.

"Good luck, kiddo!" My dad shouted as I got in my mom's car.

A weak smile appeared on my lips as I put on my seat belt. "Why can't we just run there..." I mumbled. I loved running in my wolf form. Whenever I got the chance, I roamed the woods.

"Honey, you can't show up naked on such an important ceremony." My mom was way too modest to actually be a werewolf, but she was actually really important to our pack. She could sense danger on a whole another level. It was a little bit like seeing the future, but not really, because she never knew what exactly was the danger. The closer the danger, the more clear it gets.

"Sure, whatever, I'm just not a fan of cars." I stared out of the window as we roamed down the dirt road.

Our town hall, as we called it, was the biggest building, where everything important happened. It was build on the highest point of the town, serving the purpose of a watch tower as well. It was huge, it was chiseled in the mountain, as when you went inside you basically got inside a cave, The walls were man-made at some parts, and the natural mountain stone at others. My pack loved to use our surroundings to build our houses, not disturbing the nature, rather merging with it. My home for example was merged with a huge oak tree. It looked as if the tree appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the house, but they somehow fit perfectly together.

"Welcome everyone. We will begin shortly." Our Salutary, Maeve announced. She was a sweet old lady and you wouldn't even suspect the immense power she possessed.

The hall soon filled with people. Some were excited, other looked annoyed. One by one we, we had to go in the front, where Maeve stayed on the podium. She then would cut a piece of our hair and cut our hand to get some blood. She will then put them in a small vessel and say "the magic words". We would then fall into trance, and she would guide us until we say where our mate is. Sounded easy enough, but some weaker wolves would pass out, there were some who didn't find their mate's pack and had a panic attack while under the spell or started crying hysterically. I guess it all depends on how hard you want to meet your mate.

It was my turn. I hopped up and sat in front of Maeve. She smiled and I nodded nervously. She grabbed a few strands of my hair and cut off a small piece. I then offered my hand, that was in a thick glove. Yes, I didn't want to touch someone without paying attention and do something stupid. She turned my hand around and made a little cut right above the glove. I shivered as the short pain shot through my body. She let the blood drip into the small bowl in front of her. Then said the words only people of her position knew and I felt my eyes closing on their own.

Everything was dark for a moment. I heard a faint voice calling me. I followed it slowly... then I started running. Faster and faster. I started hearing someone else's breath. First in my lift ear, then in my right. The faster I ran, the louder the breathing got. Slowly a forest started emerging around me. "You can't run from me!" someone whispered. The wolf running with me slowly started to materialize. I would see a paw, the end of a tail, a devilish smile with huge teeth. But I would never see the whole wolf, just parts of it. Out of nowhere I got surrounded by darkness again. I was hearing growling, unrecognizable whispers, heavy breathing even distant screams. "Don't be scared" I heard a distant voice. "No, you are scared!" said someone in my ear. Suddenly huge red eyes appeared and I screamed as they looked into my soul. They started changing colors from red to brown, to green and then back again. I was petrified when a single word appeared in my head - Bloodmane. That's when I opened my eyes in panic. I was standing on all fours, gasping for air. Maeve was still sitting in front of me with concerned look.

"Are you okay, child?" She whispered.

"This was terrifying!" I scoffed, as I felt the tears in my eyes.

"What did you see?" She asked as she gave me a cup of water. I quickly told her what happened and she gasped. "Bloodmane? No wonder your vision was so bad!" She helped me to get back on my feet and called my mom. "Elira, her mate is in The Bloodmane Pack." My mom gasped "From what Kenna saw, I suspect her mate is really powerful. She needs to be really cautious."

With that I nodded and got off the podium. My mom helped me to get in the car, as I was still dizzy. She didn't say anything the whole ride home. When we finally got to the house, we got in the kitchen and sat at the table. My father and brothers soon joined us, excited to hear what happened.

My mom crossed her arms elegantly on the table. "Kenna's mate is in The Bloodmane Pack." she spoke. My dad was shocked and my brother's postures stiffened.

"Kenna, baby, I'm sorry." My dad whispered, reached over the table and squeezed my hand.