Athena A Love Of A Thousand Years

Athena Denvers.

North Region. Silvaton Wing. April 26, 3055.

Evening.

The world has changed now: North, South, East and West. Countries of the earth are now divided into regions. Cities and towns are now carved into wings. Everyone classed by the portion handed to their wing. Everyone valued by the creature they were born as. Every family a house. Mine is the 'House of Denvers.'

In the past, our world was divided into three strata. Werewolves. Vampires. Humans. With the werewolves as the highest in the hierarchy. And the humans as the least.

But something happened.

A thousand years ago, a human, a woman, was aggrieved by the death of her husband. The death of Officer Cross Athens. She was broken that her husband was killed by vampires. She was broken that the system never prosecuted his killers, even if his death was duly avenged.

No. That wasn’t enough.

She wanted more. She sought to flip the hierarchy. She sought for humans to take over the world. So that vampires and werewolves could forever be hunted for their blood, just like humans were hunted for theirs.

And so, she succeeded.

Seleste Athens sought the help of dark witches, who helped her reach the Pyramid of Hierarchies, locked away somewhere in the goddess’ chamber. She stole the pyramid. Flipped it. Bound the powers of the moon. And as a result, the goddess’ eyes could no longer see her creatures. She could no longer protect us. And the humans became lords of the realm. They turned the entire world into destruction. Savagery.

Now, werewolves and vampires are hunted for their blood. For their fangs. Now, the humans, guarded by dark witches, rule the world.

And our world waits for a crusader. One who would dare to brave their forces and reach the guarded Pyramid of Hierarchies rumored to be hidden somewhere in the North. Washington Wing.

The rain falls heavily now.

My wolf tears through the woods with my patrol team, paws pounding against soaked earth. We dodge a barrage of bullets slicing through the air. Shot at us by the android sentinels stationed across every forest. Sentinels, built to hunt us. To flay us.

'Where do we go now, Beta?' Imelda Portier, one of my gammas, cries out through the mind link.

I ignore her.

All my senses locked on one thing, survival.

We either dodge these bullets or we die.

And our blood, our fangs, get harvested. Turned into life-prolonging elixirs. Courtesy of the dark witches.

Five of us went on this mission. To steal a healing elixir vial from the health station not far from our werewolf and vampire settlement. A vial needed to save our cubs. Our young, who caught cold recently.

The memory slams into me. Our eyes glowing inside the shadows. Bodies low between the trees as we watched the stationed guards patrol.

'Do you think one vial of the healing elixir would be enough?' Daniel Falcon, another gamma, hissed beside me, voice low. “With how weak our powers and immunities have become… we should take more. At least with your witching power, you can multiply it.”

I ignored him. Even though he was right.

We have become weak. Powerless. Ever since we lost the goddess’ protection.

And the only way back, is the pyramid. Find it. Flip it. Return it. But who would dare? No one wants to be bled dry. Fangs ripped out.

'Focus on the task.' I hissed at him through the link. 'Medura said one vial would be enough. And one vial will be enough.'

Medura, the oracle, leader of the healers.

The old woman who knows my greatest secret. That I am not just werewolf. That I am a descendant of a hybrid. Descendant of Scar Denvers, formerly Scar Icegard. Mate to Emerald Ford. That I am both vampire and werewolf.

In seconds, I released my power. The guards dropped.

‘Humans.’ I scoffed through the mind link. ‘They can never resist a dose of witchcraft.’

A quiet chuckle slipped through me as I signaled the team forward.

We moved through dead trees. Over broken earth. Until we slipped inside the building.

My power guided me straight to the elixirs.

Rows and dozens of healing blood. Our blood. Vampire blood.

'Take more than one.' Daniel hissed through the link.

I ignored him again.

My focus split between holding the entire building under my spell and switching one vial.

If I lost concentration, they would wake.

Then Daniel reached for two extra vials. At the exact moment I made the switch. The alarm screamed.

BLARE! BLARE! BLARE!

‘What have you done?!’ Imelda snapped.

My concentration shattered. Gunfire erupted.

‘Androids!’ I shouted through the link, snatching the vial between my hands.

We ran. We ran like prey.

Now, we are still running. Bullets chase us through the forest.

'Try not to get shot!' I bark through the link.

I pass the vial to a delta.

'Keep running. You’re almost through the settlement shield. I’ll hold them back.'

I stop, turn, while the others run and pass through the shield.

I face them.

The shield, is an invisible barrier. A magical dome from the white witches, my mother’s clan. Behind it, we are hidden.

Safe. My father, Abe Denvers, a hybrid.

My mother, Avril Colby, descendant of Charmaine Laine. It's from her that my powers come. That’s why I can do this. Use my witchcraft.

“Surrender, werewolf, and you might be set free!”

A human voice. Not a sentinel. Light slams into me. I snarl. Focus my gaze and my powers. The guns magically twist. Metal warps and explodes.

Fire bursts across wet ground. My wolf roars in satisfaction, then static.

A frequency cuts through my ears.

‘Shoot the wolf down. No mercy.’

I freeze.

The light finds me again in the darkness. Panic spikes in me. I run for the barrier. Just a little further.

Then a gunshot. Pain detonates in my back.

A scream rips out of me, raw and broken.

I crash. Roll on the ground. Pain burning in me. Quicksilver. Wolfsbane. I know this pain.

I’m dying.

Blood floods out of me. Thick and metallic. My vision blurs. My wolf dissolves. Bones shift.

My skin returns.

I lie there, naked, bleeding. Fading.

Then an engine roars close.

My eyes crack open. A figure steps into the light. A man. I smell him first. Human. Cinnamon and metal.

“Get her up. We’re returning to the health station.” Boots crunch against wet earth as he walks away.

“Yes, Zeus,” another voice replies. “But what about your brother’s command? Kill all werewolves on sight?”

Zeus pauses.

Pain tears through me as hands grab me, roughly, lifting me.

My body barely responds. Then his voice again, cold and final.

“This one… is my prisoner.”

Prisoner?

My fading mind latches onto the word as darkness drags me under.

Not dead.

And somewhere deep inside me, my wolf doesn’t howl in fear. She growls.