Dew

Flashback:

Dew’s POV 

I've watched Jenine grow into a beautiful young girl. It's been a long 23 years since we—Becca and I—escaped from Lupestone through the portal my brother had created. 

“Take care of her,” he had said and that I had done to the best of my ability. 

I had been there with Becca throughout the pregnancy. I was there in the hospital holding her hands when she put to bed. I was there when Jenine took her first step. I was there when she started school. I was there for Becca throughout Jenine's teenagehood and saw first hand the rebellion that came with that age. 

But I wasn't there when the accident happened. I wasn't there when Becca needed me the most and I wasn't going to let that happen with Jenine.

“Hey,” Jenine tapped my shoulder, bringing me out of my reverie. 

I had asked her to meet me at the garden park where she always hung out with her mum—Goddess bless her soul. Or God? 

Unlike us—werewolves—who had our dear ol’ Goddess up there, the humans seemed to recognize a male figure whom they revered. Unlike the Goddess, he didn't mate them and let them choose their partners themselves. Probably why I never got a mate.

“Come sit with me,” I gestured to Jenine, my hand rapping gently the empty seat beside me. 

Her inquisitive eyes settled on my face searching for answers. Answers to questions not yet asked but to which I had all the answers.

“Is everything alright?” she asked, taking her backpack off her shoulders. She turned to face me, her brown eyes peering into mine. 

I could see the hard red cover of the diary I had gifted her for her 20th birthday peeking out from her unzipped bag. 

It's been two weeks since Becca’s burial and her daughter deserved to know the truth about her. She deserved to know everything.

“Yeah it's all good,” I nodded, reaching for my bag. 

The brown envelope was still intact. I handed it over to Jenine with a flourish. 

Her eyes gazed into mine filled with questions. 

“Open it.”

I watched as she tore the envelope open carefully. She started rummaging through its content. I knew what was in them but couldn't think of a better way to disclose it to her other than this way.

“Hmmm,” I heard her mutter as she brought out the pack of pictures. 

The first was a picture of a girl about her age with long black flowing hair. 

She quickly glanced over it and went to the next one; a picture of the same girl but this time with wolf-like ears and a golden glint in her eyes.

“Ummm… what am I looking at here?” she asked in the calm voice that was particular to her very much unlike her mother's whose confident voice echoed and took over every room she entered.

“Just keep flipping,” I encouraged her, bidding my time. 

The dim evening sun caressed her sleek black hair gently as she tore through pictures after pictures, her back tensed. 

I inhaled deeply as the scent of the flowers hit my nostrils making me miss home.

“That's one mighty-looking wolf,” Jenine's voice broke into my reverie. Again. 

I nodded at her as she turned over to the next picture. She held it up to my face. The picture has a lady in it, barebacked with long flowing hair.

“That looks like the mark my mum used to have,” she said pointing at a mark on the woman's lower waist. 

It was a tattoo that Becca had used to cover up where her mate had marked her before we left Lupestone. Unlike other alphas who marked their mates on their necks, Adolph had decided to be freaky about it. 

I watched as Jenine's face creased with what I thought was realization. 

Finally! 

Her lips pursed as she paused. She started flipping through the pictures again but this time with purpose.

“These pictures are all my mum's?”

I nodded.

“I… I don't understand,” her voice stuttered as she turned her head up to face me.

“What do you know about werewolves?” I asked her, preparing myself to be blunt with the truth. This babying has lingered for long enough.

“I've read about them in novels. Werewolves and vampires. I know werewolves have an alpha and stuff like that.”

Good. This was going to be easy. 

“Your mum was a werewolf before she came here.” 

I paused to see what effect the words I'd said had on Jenine. Surprisingly, she looked unfazed. So out of character.

“I guess she was,” she shrugged, turning the pictures over one more time. 

Poor Jenine. She probably thought I was speaking figuratively.

“I meant it LITERALLY!” my voice deepened as my wolf stirred inside me. 

The change in my voice startled Jenine who turned immediately to look at me. I could see her eyes go dark, fear creeping into them like crawlers as she stared at my face, her mouth slightly open with shock. 

My glowing eyes dimmed back to normal. I withdrew my claws reaching for Jenine who was already up on her feet, ready to run.

My right hand covered her mouth to keep the screams from escaping her lips. My left hand held her in place. 

“Calm down,” I whispered coarsely into her ears. I could scent the fear that oozed from her body like burning incense. 

Thankfully, the park was already empty and there was no one in sight to call the cops on me. 

She struggled frantically to get out of my grip but to no avail. Seeing that I wasn't budging, she stopped struggling and tapped my hand in quick successions.

“Promise you won't scream or try to run?”

“Mmmm…” she mumbled through my hand.

“I'm letting go of you now. Don't try anything stupid,” I warned. 

Slowly, I removed my hand from her mouth, releasing her and stepping back. 

I raised my hands above my head and showed her, my head tilted a little to let her know it was safe. 

I gestured to the park chair we'd been sitting on and she carefully walked to it, one step at a time, her eyes glancing between me and the chair apprehensively.

“So you're telling me my mum was Luna to the werewolves in… what did you call it again?” 

“Lupestone,” I replied. “The Nightmoon pack in Lupestone.” 

Her brows narrowed in confusion. 

“Lupestone is the place, Nightmoon is the pack.”

“And you guys left there to come over here like what? 20 years ago?”

“That's correct,” I nodded.

“Why? What happened?” 

“It's a very long story Jen,” I said. “I'll explain everything to you when we get there.”

“When we get there?” Jenine's eyes squinted as her brows knitted together. 

Her fingers toyed with the length of her hair as she stared at me. 

“When are we ‘getting’ there?”

“Tonight.”

“Tonight?” her face creased again. “That's too sudden. You can't just expect me to leave my life here and go someplace I've never been to before just like that…” her voice trailed off.

“You won't miss much. Not like you have any friends here to miss or something,” I shrugged. “Besides, your wolf hasn't emerged yet and it was supposed to on your 18th birthday. This place does something to our kind. It makes us weaker. Your mum wouldn't have died if the accident had happened in Lupestone.” 

And I was right. Becca was a very powerful Luna who was well revered—if not feared—not only in the pack but the whole of Lupestone. 

“We leave tonight Jenine,” I said, getting to my feet. “And we leave fast. Don't be late.”

Jenine came to meet me at the park as we had agreed with her denim bag slung over her shoulders. It was night already and the half moon gazed upon the earth with its celestial gleam. 

“Follow me.”

I led Jenine through the park—my own bag slung over my shoulder—to the end of the park. 

We slithered through the wire gauze, the shrubbery and into an open field. She said something about not knowing that part of the park existed. 

We walked in silence as the light from the moon cast long shadows behind us from our frames. The moon goddess must be in a very good mood. 

The abandoned house was still there intact, looking more creepy and forlorn than it had first looked that night. The night Becca and I had first left Lupestone. 

I led Jenine into it through the door that was a hurricane away from falling from its hinges. 

Years ago, I had led ‘mother’ out of Lupestone through this goddess forsaken house. Several years later, I'm leading ‘daughter’ back into Lupestone through the same damn house. The irony.

“That sign said to stay out. What if we get caught?” Jenine pointed out at the sign that had hung weakly over the door.

“There's no one here, believe me.” 

I had already listened before we got to the house and it was perfectly still. The only scent I could get from the old house was that of decayed wood and dust and the grasses around the house. Jenine had a lot to learn about werewolves. She had absolutely no idea about our superhuman strength, speed, sight, sense of hearing and the trait that made us so special; our sense of smell. I would explain everything to her when we got home.

“This way,” I whispered, leading Jenine down the stairs into the basement. 

The floorboard creaked under our weight as we felt our way down stealthily, the dim light from the moon passing through the weather-beaten roof illuminating our path.

“Do you have any friends waiting for you on the other side?” Jenine's voice echoed in the basement, her curiosity getting the better of her. 

“I have… a cou… couple…” I heaved trying to move the large table that stood at the center of the room. 

The table screeched across the stone cold floor as my wolf came to my rescue helping me move the damn furniture. I growled in relief as my glowing eyes strayed to Jenine. 

“You’ll have to get used to this,” I said when I saw the look on her face. The same look she had had when she'd wanted to run in the park.

I signaled Jenine to move back then proceeded to draw a circle on the floor with white chalk. I had everything I needed with me in my bag. 

I could feel Jenine's eyes on me as I brought out the blue crystal ball from the bag placing it gently in the middle of the circle. 

“How did he do it again?” I muttered, my brows knitting trying to remember how my brother had done the spell.

The guttural sound of my wolf's growl filled the entire room as I chanted the spell the same way he had done it, my voice rising steadily as I did. 

I could feel the energy pulsating in the room, its hum vibrating through the still air. 

The first spark shot out from the orb in a flash and I heard Jenine let out a low shriek. 

“It's working,” I thought as I continued chanting. 

The sparks from the orb cackled into a bright light, its intensity enveloping the whole room as it transcended. I could see and feel the electricity cackling as the portal started forming in place over the crystal ball on the ground. The air whooshed around as it formed, turning the room into a disarray of flying papers and dirt that lasted only a minute. And then everything was still.

“Your eyes are gonna pop out their sockets,” I said to Jenine as she stared into the black hole that now hung in the room, my voice a low whisper. 

The portal was now in place. A soft whooshing sound came from it as the air from two worlds collided as if daring the other to cross over. The intermittent sparking at the edges gave me a little concern but other than that, the portal was up and ready to be used.

“After you,” I teased. 

I could feel Jenine's cold glare at the back of my head even without looking at her face. 

“Ready?” I cooed, taking the first step towards the unearthly space of void that seemed eager to gulp us into its bottomless belly. Only its belly wasn't bottomless, it led to Lupestone. 

The goosebumps formed on my skin as a nostalgic air hit me from the portal when I stood close to it. 

The soft hand that was Jenine's slipped into mine and I turned to see the nervousness clinging onto her face like mistletoe in hair. 

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered, squeezing her hands gently and pulling her with me at the same time into the portal.

Blinding light and strong wind hit our faces as we stepped into the portal, Jenine's hair flowing in the rush of breeze. 

Nostalgia washed through my body as the rushing wind lingered on our faces, making me close my eyes. Soon the light was gone as quickly as it had come and with it went the wind with a crack.

The air stuck in my throat as my eyes fluttered open, my knees feeling weak all of a sudden. My head swirled as my eyes blurred. I could feel my wolf whine helplessly inside me.

“It… it can't be,” I croaked, my voice rebelling against my will to speak out. 

The portal was gone but I was still in the basement of the old house. And Jenine? She was nowhere to be FOUND!