The Alpha's Mutt

I awoke in what appeared to be a garden of sorts. I could clearly smell the nature around me and feel the grass beneath my skin. I could vaguely make out the shapes of plants, but for some reason any clearer form was beyond my comprehension. Merely colors blending together like when you look too closely at a messy watercolor painting.

The image of the sky above was much sharper and more vivid. Yet it was merely black with distant lights dotted throughout its vast emptiness. This place felt both familiar and unknown all the same. I sensed that I was welcome, but also felt as though I should not be here. It was a strange sensation, and it was difficult to make heads or tails of how I was really feeling.

“Where am I?” I wondered out loud as I pushed myself up off the ground and straightened out the silver garments that I wore but did not recognize.

“I have brought you to my realm.” A musical voice spoke, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. “It was the only thing that I could think to do to save you. Once I was certain of what you intended to do, I had to act quickly.”

I looked around trying to pinpoint the source of the sound, but quickly realized that there was no one else there. At least none that I could see.

“Who are you? Show yourself!” I demanded.

I felt that I recognized that voice, but my recollections were vague, and I could not be certain until I saw for myself.

“As you wish, My child.” She responded.

And moments later, in a flash of bright light, a woman appeared one that I recognized from my dreams. The same long, silver hair that She always wore, dancing about Her as She moved. The image of the moon staring out from within Her eyes.

“Selene?”

“Yes, My child.”

“What happened?” I gasped. “How am I here?”

This did not feel like a dream as it had been before when She visited with me. This all felt very real. As though I actually occupied the same space and time as the Goddess.

“What is the last thing that you remember?” She asked, softly, Her voice cradling me in comfort as She spoke.

“I was taking down Master Belial, ending the war between him and the wolves once and for all.” I began as I struggled to recall the events that led to me waking in this strange place.

“And then…” Selene coaxed, encouraging me to remember.

“I was running for him. The witchpires were attacking me, but at the same time we were, sort of, working together. I pushed through the force field and used the witches’ magic to destroy us both. Belial and…myself.” I paused, letting my words sink in as they weighed heavy on my heart. “So…am I…am I dead?” I finally managed to choke out the question even though I was dreading the answer.

“Not quite.” Selene responded in Her ever-mysterious way.

“What do You mean?” I pressed.

If I was not dead, then what was I? How had I ended up here? And more importantly, could I get back?

“Come, child. There is much to discuss. And I have prepared us a picnic.” She chirped as She turned and began floating away in the opposite direction.

I had no choice but to hurry after Her, fearing what may happen if I were to be left behind. I had questions and She had answers. She was not going to get rid of me until I had heard every one of them that I needed to.

She led me to a small, white, wrought iron table and chair set. The table had been set for two with tea and cakes laid out for us to enjoy. The whole scene really seemed rather quaint. As if we were simply two ladies having tea in the back garden.

“Please sit.” Selene bid of me as She gestured towards one of the chairs.

I took Her offer and settled into one the chairs while She busied herself serving us tea before finally settling down Herself. She sipped at Her tea and gestured for me to do the same.

“It is a floral blend.” She explained. “I make it myself.”

“It’s lovely.” I complimented after taking a small taste.

I could hardly stomach any of it though. Not because it was unpleasant, rather just the opposite. Regardless, it was hard for me sitting here, enjoying tea and cakes as if everything were normal. Clearly something major had happened and now I was lingering between life and death. How was I meant to sit here as if it were any other day? But I stifled my discontent and tried to remain patient. I was in the presence of the Goddess of the Moon after all.

“How do you like My garden?” She asked as She gestured to the watercolor smears around us. “I created it just for you.”

“For me? What? Why?”

This had taken me by aback. Why would She create anything specifically for me? I knew that She had blessed me with gifts in order to defeat the threat of the vampires. But otherwise, I was a rather unimportant wolf. A mutt, of all things.

“Yes. For you.” She confirmed. “It is based off a painting that you made for Me when you were little. Back when you still used to talk to Me. But I doubt that you remember that. As you grew, you sensed Me less. The cruelty of the world robbing the magic from your life.”

“I don’t understand.” I complained, shaking my head in confusion. “Why would You, the Goddess of the Moon, ever come to spend time with me? I was no one.”

“I may have been forced to leave you behind on the earth. Unable to raise you as My own. But it did not mean that I did not care. That I did not want to be there. Even when you were not sure, I was always with you. Always watching over you. My daughter.”

“YOUR daughter?!” I scoffed. “There is no way that I am Your daughter. My mother was human.”

“It is true that I did exist in a human form during the time that I was with your father. But I was still very much Myself on the inside. You are not half human. You are a demigod.”

“A demigod?” I gasped, hardly believing the words that I was hearing.

“Yes. The offspring of a God and a mortal. When the witches discovered your abilities, they were not revealing a blessing. They were actually unlocking your demigod powers. It is part of the reason that you have always had such difficulty with your wolf. It is difficult for anything to coexist with the spirit of a God.” She explained as if it were all very simple.

“How is that even possible? How is any of this possible?”

“Well, the existence of a God is eternal and that can get lonely. The first time I got lonely, I created the wolves, so that they may run and play in my moonlight, entertaining Me through the long nights. The second time I got lonely, I took on a human form and ventured to earth, curious to explore it for Myself. I was hiking out deep in the wilderness when I came across your father. I had never been more enraptured by a creature before in all of My endless existence. He was perfect. He was strong yet agile. Fierce yet gentle. Beautiful yet rugged. He was the perfect specimen of manhood, yet he was all beast. I stood, motionless, as I watched him, captivated by the way that he moved.

Once he noticed My presence, he stopped what he was doing and stared directly in My eyes, and I was certain that for a brief moment, that My immortal heart stopped. He sniffed at the air and a smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts spread across his handsome face. He charged at Me with the speed and grace of only My most skilled wolves. He grabbed ahold of Me and pulled Me against his chiseled chest before uttering the single word that I never thought I would be the one to hear in all of My life…MATE.”

I had to admit that I was left in a state of shock by this story. I had heard a similar version of this tale only once before. My father rarely spoke of my mother, finding it too painful to do so. But the one story that he had shared was how he had found her hiking in the woods. Much further out than most humans dared venture to go.

He had shared his account while he was attempting to teach me about mates. Trying to explain how important that they were to each other and why it had been so hard for him to continue living after he lost my mother. At the time I did not understand. I did not realize what he was really trying to tell me with his words. I was too wrapped up in a story of true love as a young, idealistic she-wolf. I had missed the real meaning. In the end, he was merely trying to justify why he was going to die and leave me alone in the world.

“After I met and fell in love with your father, I had resolved to live the life of a human.” Selene continued with Her tale. “But sadly, the other Gods would not hear of it. They could not understand why I would give up My throne as the Goddess of the Moon to live a mortal life. And regardless of My desires, someone had to run My realm and preside over the night.

I fought Them for as long as I could, arguing that love was more important than anything else. But eventually I had to accept My fate. I was not meant to live a mortal life, no matter how badly I wanted it. I returned to earth to explain everything to your father. But before I worked up the nerve, I found out that I was pregnant with you.

I returned to the Gods. Surely your conception would change things. I did not think that They would permit Me to leave My child on earth unprotected. But in my excitement, I failed to account for how many of Them had done that very thing with Their own offspring. Centuries of demigods being left behind by their divine parents, made to fend for themselves. They agreed to allow Me to stay with your father until your birth. At which time, I would be forced to give up My human form once and for all.

My only solace lay in the fact that I was leaving you behind with your father. But My death had a more profound effect on him than I had expected. He never recovered, no matter how often I would visit him in his dreams, attempting to ease his pain. Nothing I did provided him with any sense of peace. If it were not for his dedication to you, he would have passed much sooner than he did.”

“Where is my father? What happened to him? Is he here with You?”

“He was here with Me for a time. But after I explained everything to him and he realized that I could not have possibly been his true soulmate, he eventually decided to move on. Becoming reincarnated in the hopes of finding his other half. He knew that I would watch over you for the both of us, like I always had.”

“You say that You were watching over me, but I have to admit that I find this hard to believe. My life was pretty terrible until recently and even then, it has still been filled with tremendous difficulty. One struggle after another. Why didn’t You help me then?”

“A hero’s path is never easy.” Selene admitted, shaking Her head. “Every demigod suffers a life of adversity, just think of the stories of Hercules, Theseus, Perseus, and countless others. It is what makes you worthy of the power that you wield. What causes you to step up in face of danger, sacrificing yourself for everything that you love. As I said to you before, many moons ago, you would not have been given this life if you were not strong enough to live it.”

“So, what do I do now?” I queried. “I struggled and I sacrificed. Do I just leave it all behind and move on to be reincarnated like my father? Do I stay here with You? You said that I am ‘not quite’ dead. Does that mean that I could go back? That I could return to earth?”

“That is entirely up to you.”