Parker

"How much longer are you going to meditate for?" Mickey presses.

I am sitting beside the stream beyond the clearing. It's a fairly relaxing place for me. The only thing that is not relaxing is my mate sitting on a log a couple of feet away asking if we're there yet every six seconds. Any time I forget, he's there to remind me that he's a couple of years younger than me. The dichotomy between my two mates is pretty disturbing.

Mickey is a hot-headed and slightly immature rebel and Kohl is a hot-headed and slightly more mature hall monitor. Mickey's words, not mine. Neither of them really understands that the two are more alike than they think. They're both ridiculous on an epic scale.

I can say that Kohl is usually quiet when I meditate, unlike Mickey.

Neither of them fully understand how connected I am becoming to nature. I was never fond of nature but I feel connected on a larger scale. I'm beginning to notice things I hadn't noticed before. In addition to my durability and enhanced physicality, I've started exhibiting a stronger psychic link to my mates and others in the pack.

It's strange but I was able to psychically arouse both of my mates from nearly a mile away. I had to deal with two horny wolves afterward. Kohl's advances were easier to deal with as we have an outlet. Mickey is still hesitant for obvious reasons. Mickey expects our mating to be some grand expression, which is frustrating, and I have this intense urge to jump him in sixteen different ways. I never knew he is a romantic.

But I digress.

I take in a deep breath. The wolf is pacing behind me. I sigh as I speak to him, "You can go, you know. I'm fine."

"I'm not leaving you out here alone. It's too close to the boundaries."

"Then stop talking."

Mickey snorts, "You've got a brass set of balls."

"How would you know?" I ask. Mickey goes quiet and I realize how snarky I sound. I open my eyes and stand to face him, "I didn't mean that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asks.

"What do you think it means?" I ask.

"Is this about us mating yet again? God, you're like a true wolf in heat."

"The question is why aren't you? Shouldn't you want to, I don't know, fuck me in the slightest?"

"I do. I just—do you really want me to just take you right here on the ground?" Mickey asks, "Did Kohl?"

"You're asking if Kohl fucked me on the ground?" I ask, "You're asking about me and Kohl? Is that what this is about? You want to be like Kohl?"

"You think it's easy sharing my mate? It's not a secret that you like Kohl way better than me."

"That's a fact?" I ask.

"Isn't it?" He asks.

"I've known him longer. When I met him, he didn't try to kill me. We have a different relationship."

"There's that, too."

"Mickey, in some weird wolf way, we can't bond until we f—mate." I take a breath, "Kohl and I didn't fully bond until we had sex. Mate. Whatever."

"So, you think if we mate...we'll be closer?" He asks.

"I don't know. But you can't assume things." I grin at him, "Everyone around here looks at me like the Luna, including Kohl at times, but you don't. You're literally the only person who thinks of me as a person and not some leader at all times. We have a different relationship and it's something I need."

Mickey's cheeks redden and I think it's adorable. Mickey wasn't my favorite person and he can be a true asshole fifty percent of the time but he's also funny, smart and sexy. He's surprisingly brave and he cares about me, despite himself. I'm not exaggerating when I say we have a different relationship.

I feel an odd sensation come over me. It's like a gust of wind but before I can figure out what the feeling is, I am pushed backwards. I tumble into the same stream I was reborn in, this time minus my blood on the outside. The water is cold and I am afraid when I can't keep my eyes open. I panic but it's of no use.

Parker

I open my eyes to find myself standing in the middle of a crowded Pantheon. I don't know how I'm aware of this as I've never been to the actual Pantheon in Rome. I'm undecided on if I care more about that or how I got to this Pantheon.

I look up to see that the ceiling is at least a mile above me. A small cluster of stars are shrouded by clouds, mimicking the night sky. It's breath-taking. The marble floors look to have depictions of people I can't identify. They appear to wear togas and silks. They are also predominantly white.

They are the Greek Pantheon.

"That is correct, child."

I notice a man with hooved feet walking towards me. He has the legs of a goat, a satyr perhaps. The man has a wreathe of vines and ivy dangling from his forehead as well as grape vines draped around his neck. His chocolate-colored hair appears to dangle beside the grape vines on his shoulders. I'm beyond shocked when I see that he, unlike the rest in attendance, is fully naked. It's a sight, to be sure.

The man saunters towards me, holding a chalice that occasionally spills over onto the floor but quickly dries back up. In all of this, he's the least curious.

"I wasn't sure you'd show!" The man says boisterously. He quickly hangs his arm over my shoulder, careful not to spill a drop of wine, "My manners! I am Dionysus! Or Bacchus. I have many names, not unlike those in attendance!"

"Oh, wow, this is—it isn't a dream huh." I say as I slide out of his grip. I look around at the festivities and realize that I seem to have caused a distraction, "I'm not supposed to be here."

"Of course you are, Semideus! We have been awaiting your arrival."

"Why?" I ask.

"You belong here, with your people. Away from the mortal turmoil."

"My people? Alright, my people look surprisingly like divine beings, one of which I am not. I don't have the clothes for it." My eyes land on him again, "Dionysus? I assume this is your event?"

"Mine? No. I supply the libation but this is a daily celebration."

"Of?"

"Our Godhood. Our divine perfection."

"Oh, okay, elitism right away." I nod, "That's—I thought that was a human concept and then I met supernatural beings and...it's just a thing."

"Yes," A tall, dark-haired man wearing battlements says appearing in front of us, "It appears the wars are still good and alive."

Ares. I don't need to ask. His glee at saying the word "war" is enough to identify him. He, unlike the others, wears only a triangular loin cloth. The cloth is thin and shapes closely to his body. He doesn't seem to mind. Honestly, he has no reason to mind. He's well-endowed.

Explains why his list of children spans generations and throughout the world.

"The epicenter of a war, wrapped in skin." Ares says appraising me, "Are you happy to be here, with others that match your greatness?"

"No. Yes! I have absolutely no idea how I got here or what's going on. Can someone explain?" I ask.

"You were called here by blood. You are, however, welcomed here." Ares explains, "The one Semideus of Hecate. A rarity. You reek of war."

I can't help but notice that his loincloth twitches as he sniffs the air. I should be disgusted by this but I'm used to people sniffing the air around me and getting aroused. I'm curious as to why Gods find my smell arousing. I have to wonder if it's just Ares' twisted lust for war.

"The bloodshed in the name of your protection...it's intoxicating."

"Ares," A darker-skinned woman in a flowing, rippling pale blue dress says heading towards us with a large man accompanying her, "Temper yourself."

The woman comes to stand in front of me. She presents herself in a regal manner. Her eyes, a deeper blue than her dress, seem calm like a river. Her curly hair flows down her shoulders and back, situated by a large crown that looks to be made of seashells. She's a mother of some sort, I can feel it.

The large man at her side is wearing a ceremonial wrap, showing off a body that almost mirrors Ares' in muscle. The man is wearing an iron crown sturdily on his head. He has multiple tattoos, all of which are glowing with electrical energy. The man's tattoos start at his hairline and travel down his body in a stretch of tribal symbols. It's magnificent.

"Well, Yemaya and Shango, we were told the African Deities were unable to attend. Urgent business." Dionysus says taking a drink of his wine, "I have to ask why."

"We were sent as emissaries. We have had a long-standing treaty with your Pantheon to participate in your festivities, as you have ours." Yemaya answers. Her attention turns to me, "However, the appearance of a Heks Godheid is a rarity. How are you?"

"Okay, don't take offense to this, but I grew up in America where they don't readily connect us with our own culture. I've gathered you're Gods of Africa. I just have no clue which ones."

"Hmmmph, mortals." Shango says, "I am Shango, ancestor of the Thunder and War. This is Yemaya, mother of the lifeblood."

"The Orishas? The African Pantheon. Makes so much sense." I nod, "I'm going to side-step the question of how I got here and just go with it." I take a deep breath, "I have to get back home. My friends are going to be pissed at me, as is."

"You are free to go at any time; you are not a prisoner. But you are among friends." Yemaya says softly, "Your rightful place is beside us."

"That's your interpretation." I reply, "I have a life and a family, two in fact, as well as friends. We don't get to have parties every day. We have real-life shit going on down there but it's good to know you really just don't care."

"We are aware of what is happening. We are not allowed to intervene in the mortal world, not intentionally." Yemaya explains, "In previous centuries, our influence has led to the ruins of nations."

"How can you see all the chaos in the world and not act?"

"Because when we enact our will upon humans they become reliant on it. They ask and beg that we send them blessings. They believe in our will over their own." Shango answers, "Isn't that what humans want? The illusion of their own will."

"Illusion?" I ask.

"Some actions are certain, cannot be changed. Others are malleable. They can be manipulated or negated altogether." Yemaya explains.

"But the war you're heading towards cannot be avoided. The war is certain." Ares smiles.

"With the vampires?" I ask.

"That is a battle. A misguided battle." Shango says, "All is not what it seems. What appears to be is not always what it appears to be."

I know they're speaking in riddles because they cannot tell me what they mean. This conversation is mired in a hidden meaning. Some larger deity is holding them accountable. Even they have rules, it seems.

"What am I supposed to do?" I ask, "Go back with that knowledge?"

"You could stay, protect yourself?" Yemaya asks, "If it meant that none of it would ever come to fruition for you, would you abandon them?"

"My mates?"

"The animals." Ares snaps back.

"If the war is certain, I would never abandon them."

"Even if you are the obsession of the war?" Ares asks. I am silent. Ares grins, "You crave the war. The obsession. It gives you purpose that you never felt before."

"That's not true."

"There is no prophecy nor is there a great destiny. You are but a demigod, like all the others. In the end, the mortals will be their own downfall. If you could avoid that, live here with us forever, be young, would you choose otherwise? Or would you choose like the other demigods?"

I think about what they're saying. I'm a God. I'm powerful but I'm not truly destined for something greater. They classified me as a rarity but only because of who I descend from. It's not about me. It's about Hecate. The obsession with me has brought conflict upon everyone I've ever met in differing ways.

"When you put it like that," I say thoughtfully, "I'd never turn my back on them. I'm not some special deity? Fine. I'm just a nobody in the grand scheme of things? Why not. Giving up on people who won't give up on me? Not a chance. I have two families. My wolf family and my human family. Leaving them to whatever inevitability isn't an option. If they go down, I go down with them."

"Then, so shall it be." Yemaya says with a warm smile, "Once you leave this place, it is unknown if you will be able to return. For reasons unsure, our connection will be severed, possibly forever. Are you sure?"

"I'm quite frankly sure about nothing anymore. I just follow my heart now."

"One final parting word," Yemaya says taking a step in front of me, "Everything that is certain is not certain. Be wary of those whose intentions are not rooted in a place of strength. When the time comes to make the choice we all know is coming, remember that you are more even if you are less."

I open my mouth to ask Yemaya about her words but she presses her finger to my temple. I close my eyes and suddenly I feel as if I am drowning. I flail my arms about, gasping for air. I have a flashback to the night my powers awoke and I'm terrified.

I feel a pair of strong hands pull me from the river. The hands pull me over onto the ground. I can feel someone pressing on my chest. It takes a few seconds before I sputter up water and the same hands pull me towards his chest.

"You're okay," Mickey says kissing my forehead, "The fuck!"