New Beginning : A Beautiful Ethereal Creature (Spirit Wolf Book #1)

by Jacqueline Hakitten

  “What you say doesn’t make any sense. How are those packs special?” Ismail demanded to know. “First of all, every single woman from those packs has long hair and we are the only one getting grey hair after we reach a certain age, and our services to Moon Goddess are fulfilled.” She explained further but I could see skepticism in Ismail's face. “How could it be that your mother gave birth to a son if what you say was the truth?” Ismail said. “My mother left the sacred circle created but those three packs and decided to live in another pack. She was still young when she gave birth to me and right after that she lost the length and color of her hair. She became grey and was grey-haired while she was giving birth to my brother. She lost her heritage after she gave birth to me. She gave it to me.” Hannah explained. Now I know what Maat meant before when she told me to ask her about my long hair. But I never understood before. Most of the women already had short hair when I saw them in our pack, but most of them already had children.

  “Any way we could talk about our heritage later. What is now more important is for you to understand that no matter if you agree or not, our duty is to protect this girl and during today’s ceremony you would see why. I hid from you one very important information when I was talking to you about her pack before. They were under the command of the sorcerer.” I heard every one of them gasp. Ismail looked like he didn’t finish his questions about the Silver packs but Hannah silenced him by lifting her hand. “Focus on important things Ismail and no I don’t want to hear that it is not possible that sorcerer was leading the rogues and small packs to attack those three sacred packs.” She said with the same power she had in her voice previously. Ismail didn’t speak again nor opened his mouth again. “How do you know that it was a sorcerer?” Lea asked her. Up to now she was quiet but seems this caught her attention. “Rei told me that during the attack she saw several pack marks on the wolves and also that the man leading them was not the wolf. I know she already had her wolf during the attack so even if Rei would not be sure about what she was seeing her wolf would be.” Hannah explained. “We couldn’t be under command of the mere human, no one would follow human into the battle. And no pack would attack our sacred lands voluntarily. Even if the Alpha would be blinded by the promised powers their mates would stop them. Moon Goddess made sure that every single she-wolf has this urge to protect those three packs and stop any other packs in their attempts to attack them, no matter if they had knowledge about the reason or not. The only option was that the sorcerer nullified these protective instincts and somehow got under his command the rogues and packs.

  “For what?” Philip asked. I could see the understanding and the realization in Lea’s eyes as Hannah was talking and explaining her assumption. Lea’s eyes locked with me. “Any sorcerer would go that far only for one thing,” Lea said and Philip turned his gaze to her same as the other two guys waiting for her to continue. “He wanted a spirit wolf,” Lea said, unlocking her eyes from me and turning to them. “He wanted her.” She said pointing to me and Hannah nodded.

  "Spirit Wolf is a bedtime story for the kids and even if he was real, it is a spirit wolf Alpha, a man," Ismail commented sarcastically. Both Hannah and Lea smirked on him. "That is the story told to a man to build their dreams and ego. Nothing else. The Moon Goddess is female so for sure the greatest gift she could ever give us, to her children is a powerful female." She said proudly. It is true that most of the men especially those with power always seek more power. To boost their egos. Because of that, I was so surprised by meeting Calen. He was Alpha but he has a strong sense to protect. He has a strong urge to be stronger only so he could protect the others. And he already shares his power with Elders. I could see that now. Maybe there is really some big scheme behind this all. I think we will see in the future.

  "It is not possible." I could again hear Ismail arguing. Now I know why even Calen was talking so bad about him. This guy was really a pain in the as*.

  "Well, believe it or not. You would see the truth soon." Hannah replied to him pressing on my shoulder which made me look up to her. She gave me a smile and winked at me. 'I think she wants us to make some nice show in the evening just to put this guy on his as*.' Maat commented on the expression Hannah was making at us. I am afraid she might be right but I was not sure how I could achieve this. 'How?' I asked her back. 'Oh, leave it to me. I think I have the perfect idea. Since I could show myself properly, I am planning to do it with my full powers.' Maat informed me and I was not sure if I should be afraid or happy.

  Chapter 22

  REI'S POV:

  Calen arrived shortly after the dark took its place and we were ready to start the ceremony. I have to admit I was worried and afraid. As a born in the pack I never had to go through this but I saw some of them. I know as the moon approaches Maat would be forced out and until then I couldn’t leave the sacred circle dedicated to the Alpha of the pack.

  "Everything is ready?" Calen asked after his arrival. Hannah and Lea had amused smirks on their faces knowing what they would witness today. Ismail's face was bothered and annoyed, visibly he didn't want to be here. I really didn't understand what was wrong with this guy. Philip and Peter were looking forward and I could feel their excitement. Calen was the only one nervous the same as me.

  "Everything is prepared." Hannah replied to him with a smile "But I guess we should wait a little bit until the moon would get higher. Like half an hour I guess." She added and our heads turned up to see the position of the moon. She was right. "Does it really matter if the shift is forced or voluntary?" I asked curiously. I thought that inside the circle I couldn’t lie anyway. It is like being in the pack and asked by Alpha so you couldn’t freely lie and take the fake vow so it shouldn't be a problem to shift myself.

  Hannah smiled at me nodding her head. "Well, it is not a real difference." She said and welcomed me into the circle. I stood up from my place and went straight ahead inside the circle. When I crossed the boundary, I could feel the power radiating from the ground of this place. Despite being rogue I felt the power of the pack and the Alpha. It was an amazing feeling after all those years and I could feel Maat being delighted from this too. It had a strong effect on both of us.

  They took places around me in a circle with Calen in front of me. I could sense his Alpha powers radiating from his skin. "Take this." He was handing me a dagger. I remembered this part. I cut my palm and let the blood drop onto the ground mixing with the blood of Alpha. I could already feel the pack bond swirling inside of me as it was slowly taking its place.

  "Repeat after me." He told me and I nodded.

  "I Reina Elain Indegard swear," I repeated after him. "To take this pack as my, serve it, and protect it." I continued the vow after him. With the vow proceeding, the pack bond became stronger. I could already sense quiet taps onto my mind as the pack link was created. Maat was excited about the feeling and could wait until her turn to take the vow. And from her excitement, I could say she was planning something really big.

  "That I swear with my life and with my blood." I finished the vow. 'Hello princess.' I could hear Calen's voice in my head already. It was a strange feeling but already for the first time after those years, I didn't feel the loneliness deep inside of me.

  'It's nice to hear you inside my head.' I replied to him.

  I couldn't say more because Maat was already pushing me to give her control. She could easily take control while we were still in human form but she didn't push the transformation right away. Through my own eyes from the back of our mind, I could see Calen's shocked face. His eyes wide opened the same as his mouth. Maat turned our gaze and I could see my skin had the same silvery glow as her fur when the moon is close to the Full Moon.

  Now I understood what she meant when she said she had an idea of how to take away their breaths. I had to laugh inside our head seeing the face of Calen. Maat slowly turned to see the faces of them all. Except for Lea and Hannah, they had the same expression as Calen. It was comical.

  After she ha
d enough of her little show, she finished the shift and I knew we still had the same silvery glowing aura around us. "Calen, you need to shift." I heard Hannah instructing him. Same as I give my vow to my human Alpha, Maat is going to give her vow to his wolf so the pack could be sure that we mean it and we are not a spy. The packs started this vow with the help of witches as my mom told me. A long time ago it was easy to join the pack, you just needed to agree and the Alpha had to accept but no vow nothing so many packs were sending spies into other packs in order to destroy them. My mother told me there were a lot of fights, wars before in between packs for territory, and the control over the packs. With this kind of vow betrayal almost disappears since every new member who joins the pack is blood bound with the clan.

  I didn't need to see the Maat. As my glowing skin left them speechless now, I heard one gasp after another. I knew what they saw. I saw Maat a few times when she was looking down into the water. I saw the mirror image of her. Her partly translucent fur glowing silver as the Full Moon was approaching and getting black and dark as the New Moon was nearby.

  "See. I told you." I heard Hannah speak to others. "You knew about this? You knew what she was?" Ismail asked her and I could sense that he felt hurt and insulted. "Well, you could have seen it coming with her silver hair and golden eyes. She is particularly small compared to other wolves. But you didn't want to believe my story." I heard her say sarcastically. I am definitely in love with this woman and I don't mean it romantically.

  ~*****~

  CALEN'S POV:

  I arrived as soon as I could once the party started. I welcomed everyone in their new home and officially started the barbeque party but I already felt myself beside my mate. She would give her vow today and I would be finally able to mind-link with her. I could not wait for that moment.

  They were already there just waiting for me. I could see that something happened just from seeing Ismail's face. He was more grumpy than usual. "Everything is ready?" I asked as I entered the clearing. The eyes of everyone turned to me. "Everything is prepared," Hannah replied to me and I felt relieved. Soon it would be over and I could talk to my cute little mate whenever I want to. 'If she would not block us because of you.' Thoth said amused. It was not so amusing for me.

  "But I guess we should wait a little bit until the moon gets higher. Like half an hour I guess." Hannah added and I turned my gaze up. She was right. Around thirty minutes later the moon would come out from behind the mountain completely and its light would reach the sacred circle.

  "Does it really matter if the shift is forced or voluntary?" Rei asked and I was curious to know too. I thought it is necessary to make the shift forced so the wolf would submit too but honestly, I never asked the details. It is the first time for me to be present to such a ceremony.

  "Well, it is not a real difference," Hannah replied to her and Rei didn't wait for anything else and stood up from the place she was sitting at and moved right to the circle. It was simply made. We used the stones creating a perfect circle with them. Then I just stood inside the circle, recited the verses we had from witches and poured my blood onto each stone. It had to be done during Full Moon to create the boundary spell.

  I went to stand right in front of Rei and handed her danger. "Take this." She knew it was too surprising which means they either told her or maybe she already saw a ceremony. She cut her palm and let the blood drop down onto the ground inside the circle.

  "Repeat after me," I told her and she nodded to me.

  I, your name, swear," I started the vow and she for the first time said her full name to me. Indegard. Where did I hear this name before? I needed to remember it and check it later because I was sure I already heard it but now was not the time to focus on it. "To take this pack as my, serve it, and protect it." I continued and she was repeating every single word. I could feel her excitement when the pack bond slowly started to grow inside her. "I swear to protect every single member until my last breath. I swear to never betray my Alpha and my new family." I continued and she repeated after me. "I would fulfill my duties as a member of this pack and I would not keep secrets that could harm the pack." We were almost finished and I could already sense her in my mind. The link between us was almost opened.

  "That I swear with my life and with my blood." I finished and she repeated the last few words.

  'Hello princess.' I greeted her through our mind-link.

  'It's nice to hear from you inside my head.' She replied to me. But then something had changed. Her skin started to slowly glow silver. I was staring at her shocked and completely speechless. What was going on? 'I told you she was special.' Thoth told me but I couldn't help myself to stare. She turned around and I followed with her to see the faces of others. Hannah and Lea were not surprised which brought me a question that they probably knew what was going to happen.

  Ismail was angry or maybe even pissed off. Peter and Philip were holding funny expressions with open mouths and eyes wide open too. Now when I think about that I think I might have a similar expression. Once again Rei stood in front of me. Her skin glowing silvery and her eyes started to change their color to cold ice blue staring right inside of me. I guess her wolf was in control and she started to shift. As a human Rei was already beautiful and mesmerizing but seeing now her wolf my mind went blank. I had no good words to explain how fairy and unbelievable she was. Her perfect silver fur was glowing silver just as her skin was just seconds ago. Her eyes were kicked with me and I couldn't move. This was the wolf of my mate. She was a spirit wolf. The same my mom was telling me about before she died. But how? Spirit wolf was supposed to be a male, an Alpha male. It didn't make sense. "Calen, you need to shift." Someone called me but I could not focus on the voice. I let Thoth take control over me so we could shift and take the vow of the semi-translucent wolf. She repeated the same vow Rei took before. I could hear the voice of her wolf inside my head the same as I was hearing Rei's before.

  "It is done." I heard Hannah say and saw that the red glow coming from the sacred circle was slowly disappearing. I was so focused on my mate that I even didn't notice the blood vow took its place and was accepted.

  I shifted back and quickly put on me shorts that I took with me. To my surprise, Rei shifted back with her clothes on. What the heck? How is that even possible? She chuckled when she was standing back there as a human and saw my shocked face once again from her being fully clothed.

  Chapter 23

  REI'S POV:

  “Leave us.” I heard Calen once the ceremony was over and I was finally once again part of the pack. ‘Good luck.’ Hannah linked me and I was not completely sure what I needed the luck but then I saw Calen’s face and despite knowing he was hurting I didn’t feel that I should apologize or that I did something wrong. ‘Thank you. I don’t think I need it.’ I linked her back. She left all together with others and only Calen and I stood there quietly for several minutes.

  “You could have told me.” He broke the silence. I looked into his deep blue eyes and felt the disappointment that was inside of him. “I couldn’t,” I replied to him with the sad smile. The truth is I wanted. I was thinking about telling him almost every night since I moved to the pack land and was sleeping right in the room beside him but I couldn’t. I didn’t know what I should tell him. Today I got too many new pieces of the puzzles about myself, my pack, my past, and my heritage and there were much more which I still didn’t know myself. So how am I supposed to tell him something that actually I didn’t know properly myself?

  I could feel Maat whimper inside my head from the pain that Calen was feeling. He felt like we betrayed him. “You didn’t trust me or why?” He asked me and his words were stabbing me into my heart like a dagger piercing right through my skin. “I did trust you and I still do trust you. But this is not about trusting Calen. I don’t have answers to the questions you have now in your head. From what I heard here before you arrived were too many pieces that I didn’t know. I still don’t fully understand up to now. All I knew
since we first shifted was that I am special, maybe strange. But I have been strange since my birth.” I tried to explain to him my own feelings and the reasons why I could share something like this. His expression didn’t change. I would even say he was holding more pain inside now.

  “You are not strange but you are right that you are special. But you could have to trust me more. You could have told me from the beginning. Now I understand why you never wanted to shift when we went for a run or hunt. Now I understand why you were hiding so much. But you should not hide that from me.” He spoke slowly but his pain was inside every single word that left his mouth.

  “When my mom hid me under the porch of one of the houses and covered my scent, she gave me exact instructions on what I should do to survive. One of the most important things she told me was to not trust anyone.” I told him and wanted to continue but he interrupted me. “I am sure she didn’t mean your mate. Mate is the ultimate power. Your mate would never betray you, never sell you, or hurt you. Your mate is the only person in the world who would always have your back. The only one who would stay by your side even if that means the direct road to hell.” He put a lot of emotions into these last sentences. Each word pierced my heart leaving the pain inside. ‘We should have told him.’ Maat pouted from pain too. She was right. We should have told him. ‘We couldn’t change the past, but we could fix what we had done.’ I replied to her and she nodded, still whimpering. I know that since she established the connection with her own mate she would feel through their bond. I am for now protected since my own bond is not strong enough due to me being too young. Maat was now suffering for both of us.