Chapter 3

"I was fortunate to serve in the house of the Head Alpha. His son, Aurelius..."

I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth. Mentioning his name brought the image of his face into my head with his smile on his face.  The same smile he wore when he rejected me. 

I cleaned the tears gathering in my eyes, inhaled, and continued speaking. "Aurelius told me he loved me and promised to make me his mate at the time of my shifting."

"The night before the day I would shift, he approached me and raped me. I was weak till the morning, he rejected me from being his mate and asked his bodyguard to throw me out of the castle."

"In shame, I ran out from the pack to the wilderness and I shifted..."

"And that was when you got attacked by rogue wolves before I came to your rescue," Tyrion added. 

"Life here is a new world and a new order. This life is what I see as a better future for me and Casper, and I don't want the past to ruin it."

"Knowing who you are and what you've been through won't ruin you unless you want it. Casper is a child of hope, but he isn't the only hope for you. This community is yours, you are one of us, and that is hope for you, Casper, and for everyone else..."

"You don't have to forget what happened to you or deny everything. The lie can't save anyone, but there is something that saves. The truth and growth. Grow with us, grow with the truth about yourself."

"And how will this growth help me?"

"You know what made us like this? Individual power. Everyone was taught that they all have power. And that power is the power to stand for themselves and protect themselves and others. You don't have to be an alpha to be strong. As far as we can breathe and howl, we are powerful."

"Please, teach me to be strong. I want to defend myself and my son."

"No. I will teach you to be strong, to defend yourself and everyone else." 

For weeks into months, Tyrion gave me books ranging from philosophy to the history of the Lycans. I was amazed when he revealed he had taken them with him after leaving his pack. 

Lycans outside our settlement in the wilderness faced a social condition worse than that of the Lycan region. Life there was a survival of the fittest. The weaker lycans starve because their games and resources were forcefully taken away by stronger lycans. And the ones that could feed were those who were able to fight for themselves. Some omegas and other weaker lycans died because of this. 

I met Tyrion alone in a room with some hunters in the settlement. As I got in they all stood up and greeted me honorably in unison. 

I was confused and turned to Tyrion, and he smiled. "They now know who you are. The Lycan princess." 

I furrowed my brow lightly and glared at Tyrion but he kept a smiling face. I exhaled and rolled my eyes, "Whatever. Not that it matters anyway. Gentlemen, please I would like to speak with Tyrion privately for a minute." 

"Alright, you can go ahead, my lady." 

They left and I went down quickly and adjusted close to Tyrion. "What was that about? Why are you telling everyone that I'm a Lycan princess?"

"Because that's who you are, and you are already acting towards it. You think I don't know that you have been providing refuge for lone wolves and rogue wolves outside this community?"

"I was just trying to help."

"That's what leaders do," Tyrion replied. He stretched his arms and held my hand lightly. "Look, Ryanna, the very day I saw you after you were attacked I knew you were something special. It was like a feeling, and it became clear when I saw the birthmark."

"The birthmark doesn't change anything."

"Yes it doesn't, but it proves what you already have in you. Look! You are doing what we Lycan wanted without knowing it. When I started this settlement I wasn't a great hunter or an alpha. But right now, I am in the place of an alpha to these people because I gave them a peaceful home."

"Yeah. You did that to me too. You are a good leader."

"That's where you get it wrong, my dear. You are the leader. There are things I can't do, and I can't expand them. I can't build them into a city or a nation. I can just keep it like a camp. But they need you to take them out of this wilderness."

"But why should we leave the wilderness? We are happy here, but the Lycan region is not a good place to be. Here is freedom and safety." 

"That is because the wrong people are in the place of authority. The Lycan everywhere, both in the wilderness and in the Lycan region needs you. They need freedom too."

"We all fled to survive. I did, you did, and everyone around here ran away too. But running away to have a good life isn't the best way. True redemption is standing firm, and fighting for your freedom and peace."

"So, why don't you lead us to take down those alphas?"

"That's not my destiny. My destiny is to give a home to wandering lycans. I know what the moon goddess has set for me, and that is to get to you."

"Me?" 

"Yes. You, Ryanna. There is a reason why you were still alive when everyone from the Pelagus bloodline was wiped out. When other female lycans were killed in the wilderness by the rogue wolves, you survived." 

"I might be lucky..."

"No, no, no. Don't say that, Ryanna," he turned his eyes away from me and shook his head before gazing back at my eyes. "I know luck when I see one, and I also know when things are divinely orchestrated." 

I lowered my head and stared at my feet. Why is the moon goddess putting me through this? I am just a common Omega. 

I could remember the first time I began to heal from the past. The peace I saw in the face of everyone in the little community. They were free. I could remember the fear in the faces of the lone wolves I once bumped into by a lake. 

I raised my head, "So what do you want me to do?"