MASON
Scotland 700 BC
Mother’s dark brown eyes crinkled at the corners. I reached up to touch the edges of her face but quickly remembered. I was too weak.
Always too weak.
Even to catch the tear that dripped from her chin onto the threadbare blanket. I shivered as a hooded figure quickly entered the room and shut the door.
My angel.
I wanted to touch her.
My mouth burned.
My teeth ached.
She sat down next to me and pulled my head into her lap; her face was worried, pale; her green eyes flashed as she whispered to my mother, “This is the last time.”
“I understand.” Mother’s voice cracked. “It’s the only thing that keeps him strong. If my husband were to find out—”
“He would not be Alpha,” the woman finished.
Alpha.
I wanted to be Alpha.
Leader.
“Born to lead.” Those were the prayers whispered to me by Da.
I shivered as something pierced my neck, and then the room tilted on its side as my vision blurred into a red haze.
It could have been minutes, hours — even days — when my heavy eyes finally opened. My mother was still sitting in the same spot. Her tears were dry, her expression worried.
My arms felt stronger, lighter than they had since waking up in this cruel magical world.
“Maither?” I reached for her. “Do not scared.”
“Be scared,” she admonished and then pulled me into her lap, rocking me back and forth. She smelled like cinnamon and smoke.
“Tell me the story again… of the Great Wolf.”
She stopped rocking me as a great sadness rested against my chest like a blanket of fire.
“Oh, Mas…” She sighed. “…’tis nothing but a faerie tale.”
“Please?”
She took a deep breath, and I knew it in my soul; she was about to tell me my destiny, as sure as the sun would rise and the moon soon after.
I was born to be the Great Wolf.
I closed my eyes as she spoke.
“Those who watch were sent to the Great Mountain to watch over the humans, to keep them safe from the Heavenliness, from what they could not possibly understand. They were given one job.”
I yawned.