The Gold Queen (Prequel)

***Mateo***

The fated pair…

My mind hadn’t stopped reeling since the Queen practically went into a frenzy, screaming at Sofia and I to reject each other for fear of what we would become: the Fated Pair.

–

“Your highness, what are you talking about?” my father questions her, a puzzled look on his face.

She sniffles as she wipes her face and glares at me. “This can’t be happening! I will not lose my daughter because of you!” She cries, only confusing us even more. “She can’t marry Mateo. She can’t!

“I would never hurt Sofia!” I cry, insulted that she would even think I’d hurt my mate.

“No, but you’ll do something much worse!” She sneers, getting in my face. “You’ll impregnate her and nothing on this Earth will stop what comes next!”

The king grabs his wife by the shoulder, clearly not understanding her outburst. “Ana, you’re not making any sense. “

The Queen collapses into her husband. “If they mate,” She sobs, burying her face in his neck as she wails. “Then there’s no stopping the coming of the Ivory Twins!”

The Ivory twins? What on earth are those and what do they have to do with Sofia and I?

“Honey, that’s just a story!” the Kings says, attempting to sooth his Queen. “They’re not real and even if they were, it would be a great honor!”

–

It took the King and the Royal Gamma several minutes to calm the Queen down and it was decided I should go home for now rather than stay with my mate. At home, Emiliano’s healing hands fix my leg and other wounds. I climbed into bed, forcing my eyes shut, but no matter how hard I tried, I tossed and turned in bed for hours, thinking about the Queen’s worries.

The Fated Pair.

Growing up, my mother use to lull me to sleep with stories of how Moon Goddess created us. Knowing I would not be getting any sleep anytime soon, I get out of bed and head for the family library in search of the book Mom use to read to me. Perhaps I’d find some answers there.

The Black book stood out like sore thumb in the book shelf. Its cover has a gold circular lock in the middle with vines wrapped tightly around it, sealing it shut. Mom said it was enchanted by the Faes and could only be unlocked by a Silver or Gold wolf. Every pack and clan had a copy of the book as it contained our history, our legends, our stories. After placing my fingers on the edges of the enchanted lock, the book flings open. The inside cover page has a drawing of two white wolves, each with a pair of purple and pink eyes and medallions hanging on their necks.

They were beautiful wolves and I stare at the image for a while, completely mesmerized by their eyes.

Could these be the Ivory Twins the Queen was going on about?

Only one way to find out…. Luis chimes in.

I turn the page to the first chapter and decide to skip over it as it was just a bunch of history. I skim through the pages until I come upon a chapter titled: The Creation. Intrigued, I start to read.

–

The Moon was a beautiful celestial being, watching over the earth from the night sky. The nights were quiet and peaceful, but as the years went by, Moon Goddess grew lonely. The Sun had his dragons who raced through the sky every morning and The Earth had her witches tending to the five elements. But the Moon? She reigned over no one.

On a cold, dark night, a young wolf lay asleep in his cave when the sounds of the weeping Moon awoke him from his slumber. He emerged from his cave to find the Moon crying in her loneliness, her large tear drops quickly turning into a storm. His heart broke as he watched the beautiful goddess cry, wishing he could somehow soothe her pain. And then it came to him. Without hesitation, the wolf ran to a nearby cliff with a clear view of the night sky and he howled a sweet song to calm her down.

At the sound of his beautiful melody, the Moon ceased her crying, wanting to listen to the wolf’s song. He sang for hours, the Moon clinging to his every note until the morning sunlight broke across the sky, announcing the coming of a new day.

Before departing, the Moon asked the wolf to return the next night to sing again and the wolf agreed, eager to please the beautiful Keeper of the night.

As promised, the wolf returned to the cliff at dusk the next day to sing his lullaby and from then on, the wolf would sing to her every night without fail, becoming her most loyal companion until the return of the Sun in the morning. It wasn’t long before Moon Goddess fell in love with the wolf who sang her sweet lullabies every night and the wolf fell in love with the beautiful Goddess who smiled upon him from the night sky.

And so, when the night came to an end and her duties could be handed over to the Sun, Moon Goddess would turn the wolf into a man and she would come down to the earth in her human form to be with her lover. At Dusk, the Moon would return to the sky and her wolf would sit on the cliff to howl his song to her.

One fateful night, Death God emerged from his dwelling in the Underworld to retrieve a soul and as he looked upon the night sky, he fell in love with the Beautiful Moon Goddess who watched over the world from the black heavens. She looked absolutely beautiful as she smiled down at a lone grey wolf howling on a cliff. When the dawn came, however, he grew angry to see the Moon descend to her lover sitting patiently in wait. The loyal wolf shifted into a man and the two lovers spent the day together until the Moon had to depart.

Jealous, the God of Death hatched up a plan to trick the Moon into being with him. He knew if he killed the wolf, the Moon would never forgive him. BUT… If she killed him instead, He could make her fall in love with him while he consoled her.

With his plan ready, Death waited patiently for dawn to come. When the Moon began to shift into her Human form, Death God snuck up on the loyal wolf and put him to sleep, stuffing his body into a tree and taking his human form. Perfectly disguised as the wolf’s human, the Moon and Death spent the day together.

At dusk, the wolf awoke and realized he was late to see the Moon. He ran to the cliff and when he saw the Moon wasn’t there, he ran to his cave hoping she was waiting for him.

What he saw, however, shattered his heart. In his cave, he found his lover with another man. His heart could not take the pain of the Moon’s betrayal and he died of heartache.

Distraught that she had been tricked and that her true love was dead, the Moon begged Death to bring her Wolf back. But he could not. Unable to bear the loneliness again, the Moon placed her Wolf in the stars, creating the Lupus constellation to keep her company throughout the nights.

In the days to come, the Moon’s belly swelled with life and she gave birth to a pair of twins. The first resembled Death himself, with sickly pale skin and no heart pumping b***d throughout its body. The creature had a craving for b***d and would devour any being that crossed it’s path. Horrified and angered that her one time with Death God had resulted in such a wicked child, Moon goddess cursed the pale creature, condemning it to sleep during the day, just as her lover had been forced to sleep on the day she was tricked. This child would forever be known as the first Vampire.

The second child was both human and wolf, just like her lover, with fur of liquid silver and eyes as beautiful as the sparkling night sky. She bestowed upon this child the gift of healing so that he could heal others as her lover had healed her. A child born of love, the Silver Wolf would forever be the favored creature of the Moon.

Not wanting her child to ever experience the pain of trickery and loneliness that she had endured, Moon Goddess gave the little silver wolf a mate, a partner with whom he could spend the rest of his life with. She then created an unmistakable bond, one felt through scent, sight, and sparks so that her son could never be tricked by a fake lover. This is how the Mate Bond came to be.

Upon hearing the news of the lover she lost, Sun God gave the Moon a vial of his light for her use as she pleased in consolation. She took the vial and saved it for a special occasion. When she learned that her son would soon have a daughter with his mate, Moon Goddess gave the light to the pregnant she-wolf to drink. When the child came, she had golden fur and an affinity to fire. The first Gold Wolf was born.

As the centuries passed, the world filled with werewolves of all shapes and sizes, all of whom sang to the Moon each night. Moon Goddess was never lonely again, her lover glistening in the sky and her children singing from below.

–

I slump back in my chair, still baffled by the concept of the Fated Pair and the Ivory Twins.

As I begin to flip through the pages in search of more answers, I hear the door to the library open and look up to see me mom with a flashlight in her hand.

“Aren’t you a little old to be reading fairytales?” She chuckles as she takes a seat beside me.

“Aren’t you a little old?” I snort and she smacks me over the head with the flashlight.

“Te mato! {I’ll kill you!}” She says as I burst into laughter. “I brought you into this world, I can take you out! Now, what are you reading?”

After I get over my laughing fit, I push the book towards her for her to see. “I want to know what the Queen was talking about. Who are the Ivory Twins and why is the Queen so afraid of them?”

My mother glances at the book and flips through it until she comes to another page.

“The Vampires grew bitter that the Moon favored her werewolf children over them but they held a special grudge against Silver wolves,” she sighs, pointing to a gory image of a vampire and a silver wolf caught in a brutal fight. “So the vampires sought the help of the witches. They told them that the Sun and Moon had created a far more powerful and superior race of elemental beings with the Gold wolves and that they (the witches) would pale in comparison to them. The witches were infuriated. War broke out instantly, the witches and vampires teaming up against the wolves. Death God was also resentful that the Moon never fell in love with him and he sent an army of demons to join the battle.”

“So that’s why Witches, demons and vampires are our mortal enemies?” I ask.

“Precisely.”

“But that still doesn’t answer who the Ivory Twins are and why they’re important.”

“I was getting to that,” My mother exasperates in annoyance and I shut my mouth to let her finish. “Seeing that her creations were being targeted, every 150 years, Moon Goddess mates a Gold wolf and a Silver wolf together, the Fated pair, to conceive a powerful set of twins known as the Ivory Twins.”

My ears perk up at this.

“These twins will possess incredible gifts, such as control of the elements, among other powers and their purpose will be to protect the Silver and Gold wolf race from the those that seek to destroy them.”

“So Sofia and I … are the Fated Pair?” I wonder aloud.

“Yes,” my mother shrugs. “You and Sofia will produce the next Ivory Twins.”

“But why is the Queen so worried-“

“Mateo, when these twins reach maturity, they will have a power unmatched by any other creature. Do you understand what that means?” My mother asks sternly. When I shake my head, she g****s. “It means that one day, your two little pups will become the biggest targets in the supernatural world, Mateo. Those Vampires, witches, and demons will stop at nothing to finish what they started and that means getting rid of the twins.”

It was all starting to make sense. The Queen was not afraid of the Ivory Twins nor did she hate me. She was afraid of the possible war with the Vampires and the Witches.

“Do you agree with the Queen then?” I ask, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. “Do you think I should give up my mate for the sake of the Kingdom?”

Seconds crawl by as she thinks and the room starts to feel crowded and small.

“I think…” my mother finally breaks the Silence. “I think what is meant to happen will happen,” She sighs. “And no amount of planning will stop what’s to come. There is no guarantee the Twins will bring on destruction, just as there is no guarantee that they won’t.”

She gets up from her chair and brushes my hair with her fingers. “No one can make this decision for you, Teo. It’s up to you to decide what you want your fate to be.”