Jayce
The air in Alpha Aaron's office was still charged, even though the initial gasps had ceased. The silence that had settled after High Priestess Astra's revelation was heavy, almost reverent. My eyes, and those of everyone else in the room—Alpha Aaron, Luna Alice, and of course, High Priestess Astra herself—were fixed on Isla. Her honey-colored eyes, now adorned with those silvery rings that vibrated like moonlight, were mesmerizing. A human. Touched by the Goddess. Never in the history of our people had such a thing occurred.
My wolf, for his part, kept restlessly moving inside me. A mix of awe and a protective possessiveness grew uncontrollably. My connection with Isla had been born long before I could see her, or before she could see the world again. When I heard what that bastard Ethan planned to do to her, a primal rage had invaded me. I felt her vulnerability, her fear, and something within me decided then that she would be mine to protect, no matter what. Seeing her now, enveloped in this divine light and with that unmistakable mark of Selene, only reinforced what my instinct already knew: Isla was special, and my mission was to make sure she was safe. A human, my Luna.
"Isla," Alpha Aaron's voice broke the silence. It was grave and filled with an authority that always commanded respect, but this time with a touch of bewilderment. "This... this is unexpected. High Priestess Astra, are you sure?"
High Priestess Astra nodded, her face impassive. "The Goddess's will is unyielding, Alpha Aaron. The mark is clear."
Luna Alice approached Isla, her face reflecting a mixture of astonishment and cautious hope. She extended a hand, as if wanting to touch Isla's eyes, but stopped.
"Can you... can you see us?" Luna Alice asked, her voice soft.
Isla nodded slowly, her gaze moving from one to another, pausing for a few moments on me, before settling on High Priestess Astra. She seemed to be calibrating each face, each expression. That enhanced vision was evident in the way her gaze swept over the smallest details of the room, of our faces.
"Yes," her voice was a whisper, but firm. "I see everything. And I feel it. The Goddess appeared in my dreams... she has given me a purpose."
There was an expectant pause. I knew she had had contact with Selene. I had sensed it, I could almost feel it in the air around her as she recovered; her crying had diminished all of a sudden and her mood had shifted to an apparent calm, though her nightly nightmares still broke her sleep.
"What has the Goddess told you, Isla?" Alpha Aaron asked, his voice now more urgent, with the desperation of a leader seeking answers. His gaze briefly shifted to Luna Alice, and I understood their anxiety.
The curse weighing on the Alpha descendants of recent generations was a secret, an issue exacerbated by the previous Alpha king's refusal to share information; he himself had died without an heir. In recent times, the birth rate of male Alphas had drastically fallen, often to only one son per Alpha, and only the luckiest had a son and a daughter. But in this generation... it was devastating. Almost all Alpha sons were stillborn or died shortly after birth. The future bloodlines, the future of our packs, was at risk. Alpha Aaron and Luna Alice had lost two pups this way, the scar of that loss still visible in their eyes whenever they looked at each other.
Isla took a deep breath. Her gaze, now so sharp, passed over Alpha Aaron's worried face, the veiled pain in Luna Alice's, and briefly paused on mine. I could feel her hesitation.
"She... showed me visions," Isla said, choosing her words carefully, as if she feared revealing too much. "She spoke of a balance that has been broken, of a growing darkness. And she told me that I am part of the solution. That my son... did not die in vain."
I could feel the incredulity and frustration building in Alpha Aaron. They sought concrete answers, solutions to their devastating situation, and she spoke of "balance" and "darkness." But my wolf, however, intuited that there was more to her words, a veil she dared not lift. I didn't know if it was out of mistrust or for some other reason, but Isla was not revealing everything. And in a way, I couldn't blame her. She was a human, thrown into a world that overwhelmed her, but that had now also marked her.
High Priestess Astra, with a small enigmatic smile, approached Isla. Her eyes, previously filled with the formality of the rite, now radiated deep understanding.
"You can call me Astra, dear," she said in a low voice, in a tone meant only for Isla's ears, though we could all perceive the warmth in her voice. "We have shared more than you think."
As Astra spoke, I noticed how Luna Alice looked at Isla. There was a deep sadness in the Luna's eyes, but also a tender compassion that ignited when Isla mentioned her son. Isla's words about her own loss resonated with Alice's silent pain. I could see a mutual recognition, a bridge of suffering that connected them, even if their circumstances were different. It was a nascent closeness, cemented in loss.
I felt a pang of pride for Isla's shrewdness, and a reaffirmation that I would be there for her, no matter what Selene had entrusted her with.