L U C I F E R F U R V U S - C A E R U L E U S

227 MOON* & 1 WEEK

Ebony Brook was a beautiful place to be. With it's sapphire water and moonstone rocks, I could never imagine leaving it. Our territory was secluded by the forest and the brook, and it ran far and wide through Alaska. But it didn't come without cost. Our pack was strong, and we had to be, or we'd risk getting torn apart.

I stood on a wide and flat boulder that was oddly shaped like a cat lying on it's haunches. I liked the view from the top. It made me feel...superior. Even as I was skipping pebbles across the still river.

The water rippled as the pebble hit a rock on the bank across from us. It was azure blue with silver crests as it washed up against the smooth, gilded river rocks, tinted by the rosy dusk. It was winter now, and the flakes of snow covered the banks like icing sugar, making the rocks slick with frost.

Pierre Rubeus brushed away snow on one of the fallen logs and sat on it with his book. The cold bit at our noses, turning our cheeks and noses crimson and bleaching the rest of our flesh.

Time wasn't something that I always had to myself, but when I did, both Pierre and I would come to the brook. It was time well-spent. The quiet trickling of the brook was calming, silencing the shrieks of a girl my Father wanted me to have, and the shout of guards during my endless lessons.

Sometimes, Ivory and Elliot would come with us, but Ivory was often preoccupied with her own duties and lessons these days, and Elliot was reciting his speech. The Wait Moon was the most exciting festival of every month, particularly when the both the Alpha's twins and the Beta's successor were finally having their Wait Moon. They had to prepare their youths for the ceremony.

"You'd think that with a world so wide, you could get a mate from a pack all the way from another continent," Pierre shook his head. "But instead Lupa has to pick girls from packs around Alaska."

"I believe in hormones and science, not Lupa," I answered, as I flung another rock into the water, watching it skip twice to land on the other side of the brook. "Maybe I'd get a Russian girl. Black hair, blue eyes, curvy and busty. You know, like that girl - .....what's her name - ...from Onyx Fall."

There was a pause as I found another pebble.

"Besides, if this mate theory was real, how do you explain all the pairs living separately or leaving one another for another mate?"

"Lupa has her unfathomable plans," Rubeus replied, raising a brow. The light glinted off his blonde curls in stunning pinpricks of crystal, and droplets from melted snowflakes glittered off his lashes and brows.

He never seemed to approve of the girls I entertained. Too foxy, and too loud, he described them to be. It was rather ironic, since it was clear that he was envious of my courtship set-up with Hayes Saxum from Celestial Fang. That girl was a handful, but I wasn't judging Pierre's taste.

Alphas were much different from other wolves. During the Wait Moon, they had an option to choose their mates, or trade their mates for another to form alliances between packs.

Pierre's answer wasn't sufficient for me, but I kept silent.

Maybe it was Lupa's plan to plant absurd ideas in my Mother's head.

Absurd enough to make her abandon her husband with two children, and her pack.

Enough to make her find ghosts of gods living in the stars of the heavens. I gripped the rock in my hand so hard, it'd cut my fingers and palm as I thought of her selfishness.

Lupa had her unfathomable plans, that hurt in all their cruel, screwed-up, glorious wisdom.

"You're thinking about it again," Pierre said quietly, closing his book and gazing at me.

I could feel his eyes on my back, but unlike most, it didn't hold the weight of sympathy and disgust. The Alpha would never mourn for a runaway, whose punishment if she ever came back, would either be exile, or death.

"Nah," I lied, although my heart twisted as I brushed her face from my mind. "We should get back before dinner."

Pierre didn't answer.

He knew. He always knew.

~

"Son," He said, his voice always holding that deep, abyss-like timbre, that had stained his once warm voice since my Mother left.

I tipped my chin down coldly, acknowledging his greeting. I could see the disappointment in his eyes. I was well aware that he wanted a stronger relationship between the both of us - Alpha and heir. Just like the fathers and the sons in the other clans. 

But a weekend playing baseball with him, or even having a picnic was a ludicrous idea.

He destroyed that by himself.

My Father, the Alpha, stepped off the porch and into the cold, and I assumed that he was off for another pack leader meeting, along with Pierre's parents.

"Hey Lucy, Ruby." Ivory came out from the front door, greeting me with a hug and a grin. She fist-bumped Pierre as we passed her into the living room.

"You know the drill, boys; shoes off, weapons out of sight, get the plates and forks out," My twin said. We looked alike, most people claimed, but we were nearly completely different in personality and character.

Pierre and I followed her instructions as she put on a pair of mittens, taking out a bowl of lasagna from the oven, steaming and smelling absolutely delectable. I pulled out the chair for Ivory, before pushing her in, and then taking the seat at the head of the table.

I looked around, checking that we were all ready before I raised my glass of wine. "To Lupa," We said in unison, raising our glasses and drawing a circle across our hearts and a line down the middle.

I said it flatly, an obvious disbeliever, Pierre said it quietly and nodded his head in approval, while Ivory bowed her head and whispered a prayer. She was a devout believer, as feral as she was.

I never tried to talk to her about my faith. I knew that she would react rather violently to it. The females in my family were all warriors, all seekers, and all complete and utter followers of Lupa. It was amazing how they could work so well with us, cynical males.

Elliot burst down into the dining room, throwing his arms around me.

"Hi kid!" I laughed, ruffling my little brother's hair and setting him down. "You're late for dinner."

"I know, but I was preparing something special!" He chirped, squealing as he tried to smoothen his curls. He was adorable, with golden curls and light blue eyes, looking just like a cherub.

"Ohhhhh, I think I know what it is." Ivory grinned and petted his head as he walked past and climbed onto a chair beside Pierre.

"Same here," Pierre laughed.

Elliot stuck his tongue out at them both. "No you don't, because I kept it a secret."

Elliot was ten, and the baby of our family, but he was just as precious and included as the rest of us.

"So, how was your day?" Ivory asked, with a mouth full of food as she stared at me. Unlike me, she wasn't very big on manners and etiquette when she was in front of people she was comfortable with.

Ivory had it pretty hard. She kept with the boys mostly, and after having learned from us and with us for so many years, she had grown used to our ways, and the other girls shunned her. It was obvious, as much as the females tried to keep it on the down low. 

"Good. Did some read up about the Ancient signs, submitted an essay about it to Ardus. Mm-" I paused abruptly as I swallowed. The dinner was superb. Ivory was always the best at cooking. "This is good, Iv."

"Thanks," Ivory raised a brow, her lips quirking in a smirk. My compliments were rare, but well-deserved.

"Ellie?"

Elliot's mouth was dirty and smeared with lasagna sauce, and Pierre chuckled at that, as Ivory reached over to cleaned his mouth.

"I drew a picture, and worked on my secret project," Elliot answered confidently, beaming at me.

"Let me guess, a drawing?" I asked.

"Maaaaaaybe." My little brother scrunched his nose up as he pulled a face.

"A lego structure," I guessed again.

Elliot hummed cheekily as he shook his head from side to side vaguely.

"How about you, Ruby?" Ivory asked, ignoring my brother and I as we mucked about.

Pierre liked the nickname that Ivory called him, no matter how much he grunted or pulled faces at it. "I had to write back to the different pack leaders on arranging marriages between the packs again. This is confidential, but there was one asking for me to father their daughter's son," Pierre grinned. He only ever seemed so carefree with us.

Or more specifically, with Ivory.

"Pine Crater," We said together, breaking into laughter, Ivory rolling her eyes in expectation. The Pine Crater pack was known for their promiscuity and "fun" parties every Friday night.

My eyes lit up as I recalled something that happened years ago. "Do you remember that god awful moment when one of them proposed to you on your 104th? I remember he called you...."

"Don't you dare-" Ivory scowled, even though she was grinning along as she thumped the hilt of her steak knife against the table.

Pierre nearly choked on his water as he remembered it. "Oooh, was it-"

"The star of my eye!" Elliot piped up.

"No way, was it- Butterfly princess?" I interrupted with excitement.

"Guys!" Ivory protested.

"Ah yes, I believe it was. Butterfly princess and goddess of fate?" Pierre agreed eagerly over Ivory's complaints.

"Butterfly princess?!" Elliot giggled, snorting with laughter and thumping on the table with his fist.

I guffawed and reached over to slap Pierre on his shoulder. "Oh God, do you remember how he said it? "My dearest princess, oh you are the most precious butterfly princess. I wish to fly into the skies with you and buy you flowers - Oww!"

Ivory grunted and kicked my shin under the table, laughing along with us, her face flushed, and her brows furrowed.

"Childhood." Pierre chuckled, as he took another mouthful of lasagna. "That boy was a rather perverted one though. His words had double meanings."

"Like 'flowers' can have any other meaning," My sister punched him playfully on his arm.

Pierre smirked. "I could think of a million other meanings." It made him receive a dig in the ribs by my sister, and a playful warning look from me.

"What meanings?" Elliot asked, his face clouding with confusion, and we broke into laughter at his innocence.

I helped to slice another chunk of lasagna and put it on Elliot's plate. "Nothing that you need to know yet, Ellie. Now eat up. You need it to grow big and strong."

It started to rain outside, the droplets pattering against the window, dousing a small fire that someone had made to keep themselves warm. I peered out of the window behind me, between the ripples caused by the rainwater running down the glass outside, and looked at the moon.

It wasn't full tonight, but I knew it would be soon. The dark, evening clouds covered it mercilessly, but they couldn't drown out it's silver beam, that beckoned to me.

Little did I know, that the moon would be strangled by that very darkness, in the weeks to come. It was only a matter of time.

A vital, priceless element, which none of us had.