My Alpha's Mark

98 Elders

Kacie

The long-awaited moment was here and I was finally going to get some answers. I turned my attention from the food to Viktor. I needed to know if they knew why I was like this. Were there others like me out there? I had hoped he’d bring back news of someone else like me that I could talk to.

The only other person I’ve met with control over something was Clara and hers were more like powers. When she was guarding me I didn’t think to ask about them. Now that I think about it, I doubt she would have opened up to me. She didn’t talk that much. Jake and I watched Viktor pick up his utensils and I waited anxiously for news.

“The elders said there was a pack that had special abilities,” Viktor said as he cut into his chicken.

“What? I mean, that’s something, right? I’ve never heard it!” I said. “Where are they? Who are they?” I asked. I had so many questions and this was great news. A part of me wished I had gone with him to see the elders but if I did Jake wouldn’t have happened. No matter how badly I wanted answers, I’d never regret how this all turned out.

“Before you get your hopes up, the last wolf with the power of flames was recorded a few hundred years ago. These wolves were from The Moon Stone pack. The elders didn’t know where they were located but they did know they were located in a dry hot area. Today, they think it would have been somewhere in Arizona.”

“A few hundred years ago?” I asked. “So… the Moon Stone pack…?”

“Is no more,” Viktor said. “And there’s no knowledge of another wolf being born gifted. At least, from what the elders know there isn’t.”

I sigh and with it my shoulders hunch and I lean my head into the palms of my hands. Well, there goes that. Any hope of meeting another wolf with a gift like me went up in smoke. Jake reaches over and squeezes my thigh under the table. I was counting on the elders for answers and now I felt like there weren’t any out there.

“Arizona isn’t far away from us,” I said. “Do we know how many packs are there?”

“There are two large packs in Arizona today,” Viktor said. “I can already tell what you’re thinking. We can’t just go there and ask to look around. We would need a reason to go there and at this point in time, we don’t have one.”

“So that’s it?” I asked defeated.

“No, that’s not it. I’m going to tell you everything they told me. What we do know is the Moon Stone pack members had a variety of gifts. Some could control water, some could bend the wind to their will, some had the power of sight, and more,” Viktor said.

“That’s so amazing,” I murmured in awe. Viktor nodded in agreement and I tried to find comfort in the fact that my bloodline had to run back to this pack. I didn’t have any memories I could call up from before I was a slave to Alpha Ken. Had I been loved? Had my parents had gifts? If anyone knew anything it would have been Ken. With him dead, I doubt I’d ever know. If I had this gift was there other descendants from the Moon Stone pack that inherited a gift?

Viktor’s voice cut through my thoughts. “They were believed to be a close descendant of the Moon Goddess or favored by the Moon Goddess. The elders weren’t sure which of these were true but these were the two things the people believed. Because of these special abilities, other packs flocked to their pack in hopes of finding a mate. Some found success and more people hoped to be blessed with a mate. Alpha’s would plan visits in hopes of finding a powerful mate that could strengthen their pack.”

Viktor sighed. “It became a problem when some were unsuccessful in finding a mate. Pack members grew upset, Alphas became angry, and the surrounding packs became greedy. When a few wolves were lucky enough to find their mate within the Moon Stone pack, some because jealous. The other packs got together and agreed to take what they wanted. These packs teamed up and a war was waged on the Moon Stone pack.”

I gulped.

“The Moon Stone pack fell and was picked apart,” Viktor said.

“Picked apart?” I asked.

“Despite having gifts, the Moon Stone pack was not a pack of warriors. They lived quietly among their own kind and welcomed the visitors that came in hopes of finding their mated partner. When the surrounding pack Alphas declared war, they had no hopes of winning. There were a few pack members who could control fire. They were the ones who tried to fight back when the surrounding packs showed up,” Viktor said. “They were the warriors of Moon Stone. They didn’t have any training or anything and their only weapon was their fire. The Moon Stone pack fell and the members were divided by their gifts. They were given to the surrounding packs as prisoners of war. Each pack received a variety of gifts from Moon Stone.”

“A variety of gifts? That makes me sick. They weren’t gifts! They were people… that’s terrible,” I said and Jake’s hand on my thigh tightened. Thinking of their pack being split apart and given away like cattle had me shaking my head in disgust.

“I know,” Viktor murmured. “I’m only telling you what I heard, My Queen.” My mate leaned over and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“I’m sorry. I’m not angry with you, I’m just upset,” I said quietly.

“I know if the Moon Stone pack hadn’t been split up, today they would have been a force to reckon with,” Viktor said. “There’s no doubt in my mind they would be the strongest pack in the nation.”