Prologue

               Tonight happened to be a rare Lunar Trifecta. The surroundings glowed with bloody color from the moon. The moon looks amazing that even the cloud is ashamed to cover it. The sparkling stars are worthless in their claim to beauty. In the eyes of a human, the vision is terrifying. Some of them even believe that such phenomena bring horror and misfortunes. But to werewolves like me, the red moon is a symbol of grief. It is the time of the Moon Goddess’s lament over her separation from the Sun King. The Earth Princess is the one who is being taken cared of by His Majesty while the jealous Moon Goddess is covered in the background. Sympathizing with Her sadness is my bewildered emotions at my abandoned destiny. The chilly breeze of midnight stroke my silvery mane. I focused my attention in front of me. There in the enormous podocarp conifer in the woods is my runaway human mate. She is bounded and bloody from the scratches of the ferocious werewolves. With every cry of pain, I felt the same because of the mate bond we had once shared.

“What are you doing? Are you insane? This is all your doing but you are blaming it all on her. Do you really want her dead? She is our mate!”, howled by my spirit wolf pounding at the wall of defense inside my mind.

               But I am deaf to arguments. My extreme desire for power blinded my conscience and morality. These was all planned by me, yes. I have made everyone believe she was the only one capable of killing Marina, the Beta and poisoning the Alpha King with wolf bane. It was easy for her to get accused because she is a human. The trial was held off when she escaped and an attack from human hunters hindered our efforts to search for her. She was already weak when we found her inside the dark forest. Thanks to my over sensitive sense of smell we were able to track her down. I brought an army with me to show my ascendency over my wretched human mate. Disgust is an understatement whenever our steaming romance in the past flashes inside my mind. It fueled my wrath more that I rectified her death penalty for her crimes.

“Amaltheo…!” she grunted the name of my spirit wolf.

               I trembled with fear when I lost control and the called wolf separated from my body effortlessly. This strange ability of my mate is what I fear most about her. She is just a mere human but she can summon my wolf out of my body, a fierce wolf with a mind of its own and defiant of me. I found no acceptable reasons for that and it frustrate me so much. I felt the weakness at the detachment of the strongest part of my being. With a sigh, I watched Amaltheo’s relentless attack on my companions. Several was lucky enough to stand near my mad wolf. They erupt lifeless with each strike of his gigantic body. He really is ferocious! I deeply regret I did not gag Allyssa’s mouth to prevent her from calling Amaltheo.

“Stop!” I shouted at the deranged wolf desperately trying to regain control of him.

               It stopped the aggression and glared me in the eyes. I was scared by the stare he made.

“I do not belong to you from now on. I will not serve you as my master!” his shocking statement after a while.

               I have heard about mate rejections a few times already but not a wolf on its own. It was totally out of a wolf’s character as protector and confidante of its master. My eyes fell upon my mate which I immediately blamed for what happened. I was stunned at what I saw and also heard the exasperated gasps of everyone who witnessed the event. The weakened human body rose voluntarily from the ground. Her fair complexion is now gradually being replaced by scaly skin. Her angelic face grows ugly with the lush oily hair that was dancing feebly in the air. Her perfect shaped-nose sank that now looked like the nose of a wild boar. The thin and blush red lips became puffy with sharp fangs. My chest ached when her snake-like tongue came out. I felt my knees soften and I fell to the ground. Her newly released wings fluttered and the trees around her bowed. She was huge and physically intimidating. I recalled the smaller versions of her, the ones we fought against with just a few days ago. Those formidable foes gave me goosebumps for several days. I could never contemplate them being connected somehow to my mate.

“I have not sinned!” she screamed emphatically. Her formerly charming green eyes are now horribly red giving an eerie visage.

“I, Allyssa Lausanne of the Oracle Aswang Clan reject you Amante del Fuego, idiotic werewolf of Irati Nardus Pack as my mate.!” was her spiteful words.

                An unexplainable pain from my chest was what I felt. My heart seemed to be breaking inside and my blood has become a stench of burning acid in every nerves of my muscles. I collapsed to the ground with her. The mate bond being broken is tormenting us both for disregarding the ordained destiny. Amaltheo approached her immediately, and relieved the pain she was feeling. In a moment, her condition improved. She regained her strength and casually threw a glance of pity at me.That’s all and they flew away together, my mate and spirit wolf leaving me helplessly behind. I am now a mere human without them. An overwhelming realization envelops my shaken figure. The sudden formation of dark clouds in front of me sent taunting images of my unforeseen tomorrow. Only my wailing could be heard in the dark atmosphere. For the first time after long years of stone-hearted betrayals I had committed because of selfishness and greed, I let the tears drown my mournful doom.