Song: Gentle Rain at Night by The Relaxed Guy

His dazzling blue eyes were like the sea. I didn't like that. Because the sea was too unpredictable.

The wolf's entire body language said that he was prepared to attack. The raised haunches and curled upper lip. The sharpness of his ears flattened the longer we stared at each other. His bushy grey tail remained sticking up high in the air.

He wasn't backing down in the wake of my challenge. Sensing that he was of a higher rank, I came to the conclusion that he was probably an Alpha. Not the Alpha of this Pack. But someone simply born from an Alpha and Luna pairing who had no claim to a Court.

"Look, I don't know what your deal is," I said. "But I just need to speak with my cousins. We'll leave as soon as I speak with them."

His ears twitched and he flicked his tail. Out from the bushes emerged five more Warriors. Each and every one of them were just as alert and big as the wolf before me. In my wolf form, I was pretty small for being only six feet tall. These Warriors seemed to reach the maximum eight feet height for our kind.

My ears perked at the sound of a car door opening and I raised my hand. Drops of rain continued to fall. At my silent command, whoever it was froze and no one exited the car.

Who was getting out of the car?

Leo.

Don't let him.

They're looking at him funny.

Got it.

There was shuffling and a quiet whispering of curses before the door slammed shut. The SUV beeped as all the doors locked from the inside.

Do you need me to come out?

Not yet.

Just, watch my back.

"Bring me your Alpha and Luna," I commanded. The wolf gave out a low pitched whine, tilting his head to the side at the sound of my order. I wasn't a full Luna or his Luna. So he didn't necessarily have to listen. But the need to submit to someone of a higher rank was still a powerful urge for him to fight against.

His dubious eyes glazed over and I knew he was contacting someone through his Pack bond. Feeling a little better about the situation, I mind linked Pride to come out and be by my side. Right now, he was the only person I could trust to effectively watch my back in case things took a turn for the worst.

Which they did as soon as the car door opened and Pride stepped out.

The glaze covering the grey wolf's eyes vanished as he rose to his full height and growled. The five Warriors making up his posse followed suit, creeping out of the woods and onto the wet road.

They smelled the magick in his blood.

"He's a Hybrid." A brown wolf to my right snapped his jaws at me and I took a step back from their territory. "He's on our side."

My words meant nothing to them. Some Packs never let go of prejudices against the children of Werewolves and Witches. It didn't even matter that the Moon Goddess herself made such a pairing possible. For them, having a child with the race that once owned your ancestors was seen as the ultimate offense.

The grey wolf lunged over me and I raised my hands in self defense. A silver barrier met him mid leap, propelling him away from Pride. The brown wolf from before rushed forward and I gripped his neck. I slammed him to the ground and stomped on his stomach. A sickening crunch filled the air as a few of his ribs cracked under my foot.

He yelped, swiping at my pressing leg. I met the blow with another silver shield, holding him in place. "Stay down," I snarled.

The brown wolf continued to squirm underneath me. Giving him one last cracked rib, I leaned down and pushed the injured wolf back onto his Pack's land. Pride's large white wolf stood on my left, his ears flattened against his snow white head. His lips curled, revealing a few of his teeth in warning.

We stayed put on our side of the road. Both of us knew we couldn't cross onto their territory right now. The second we did, there'd be trouble between both of our Packs. And neither of our Packs needed that in the midst of a budding war with the Witches.

Now was the time to provide a united front. Not a fragmented one.

"Stop!" An unknown voice boomed. The advancing wolves halted, heads turning to the direction the voice came from. Emerging from the forest was a tall, lanky man with shaggy silver hair. Wisps of his bedhead styled hair covered the bright blue of his authoritative eyes. He was somewhere around my age.

His beady eyes swept over the scene. Leaning to the side, realization flooded his face when he noticed Leo in the car. Something wasn't right here and it was glaringly obvious. They knew something that I didn't.

"Venus Brightdoom?" I nodded and the man stepped closer. Pride pressed against my side, growling at the Alpha. The silver haired man simply quirked his lips into a grim smile at the action and held his hand out. "Alpha Jericho Lightseeker."

Jericho. A name related to the Hebrew word meaning the moon. Well, how sneaky of his parents to slip that one in.

We shook hands as I eyed the forest behind him. The rain was dampening the scents flooding my nose. Even so, I didn't smell or hear anyone coming in the distance. "Your Luna? Where's she?"

Alphas and Lunas always greeted visitors together no matter what. It was odd not to see her here with Jericho.

"My Mate's confined to the bed right now," Jericho replied. "Last month of a difficult pregnancy. I'm sure you understand."

I didn't miss the slight edge to his soft spoken voice. Bowing my head in submission, I murmured my apologies and prayed for a safe delivery. Jericho shoved his hands into his grey sweats, looking at the whimpering Warrior at his feet.

"I didn't attack first-"

"I'm aware." Jericho nodded towards the grey wolf from before. With the help of a smaller she-wolf, they helped the brown wolf stand. "Take Evan to the Healers."

They flanked the injured wolf and escorted him into the forest. Jericho's remaining two Warriors glared at Pride like he was a speck of dirt underneath their claws. It made my blood boil.

Stay here.

I followed Jericho away from the tense wolves and the parked SUV. Leo's heated gaze never left my skin. It was comforting to have him watch me and I was grateful he stayed in the car. I didn't know what was going on here. But it meant a lot that he trusted me enough to let me fight my own battles and trusted my judgement.

"Why's everyone looking at him like that?" I asked. We stopped under the cover of a large green tree. Little droplets of water dripped onto our cold skin. The invisible line of his Pack's territory kept us separated. "Ever since we got here your people have been eyeing Leo weirdly. Why?"

"There's a bounty on his head." Jericho leaned against the bark of the tree. More dampness seeped into his darkening maroon shirt. "Flyers started going up earlier today all over the place. There's a pretty hefty price available to the person that can deliver him to the nearest band of Witches ASAP."

One down, six to go.

That's what the note from the Witches had said when we'd found Jack's body. I was wondering how they were going to pick us all off one by one. It wasn't like they could chase us all over the country and simply hope to kill us whenever we had a chance encounter. But after hearing this, now I understood.

A mob of greedy people would do anything for the right price.

The Witches were creating quite the army to take us down. And as much as I hated to admit it, I admired their wit. What formidable enemies they were turning out to be...

"Your Pack planning on collecting that bounty?" I didn't want to accuse him. Nor did I want to insult someone that was still a member of my family. But I needed to know whether Jericho was a friend or foe and I needed to know now.

"No," he replied. No signs of deceit lined his dark face. Only exhaustion lived in the creases forming over his rich melanin skin. "But, people are still pissed."

"About?"

"His twenty-first birthday started all this." Jericho held a hand up, silencing my protests. "I know how prophecies work, you don't have to remind me. And the Alpha King already made it clear that none of you are to blame for playing your roles. But not a lot of people care about that right now. They're angry and they're scared."

And Leo being the Lion must feel like quite the betrayal to them.

I understood their fears and I understood their anger. They were valid emotions to have. Nevertheless, it didn't change the urging within my heart to defend Leo. None of us chose this path. The stars and our own mothers had.

We were innocent in this.

"Here." Pulling out a thick wad of folded papers, Jericho handed me the browning sheets. "I knew you'd be coming to me eventually."

"Dion knew this was where we needed to go..." Of course he did. Only the Moon Goddess knew how long he and our ancestors had been analyzing the prophecies for clues. I never knew much about Witches and their ways. But I knew enough from old wives tales to know that Oracle's never revealed what it was they actually meant. That was always up to other people to figure out.

"Maybe he did. But that's not why I knew you were coming," Jericho chuckled. The lines surrounding his thick lips deepened as he smiled sadly. "My family's carried information regarding the Prophecy of Lost Hope since 1808. When Alpha King Dion the First died and the Oracle prophesied what was to come."

Be wary of the lion that you mistake for a lamb. For it will be the very last mistake you may ever make.

Those were the last words of Alpha King Dion the First. The first unified ruler of our kind as well as the first Werewolf to rise up against the abuse of slavery.

I didn't think it was a coincidence that the Oracle predicted the Werewolves' doom on the day we lost our first king. Like I said before, I didn't believe in coincidences.

"Why didn't my branch of the family know about any of this?" I tucked the paper into my back pocket and folded my arms over my chest. The rain was starting to come down harder. Taking with it my once dry clothes and body heat.

Jericho looked at me funny before saying, "The Brightdoom's did know about it. I mean, not as much as the Lightseeker's did. But they knew about the stars and some of their plans."

But they knew about the stars and some of their plans.

Biting my bottom lip, I closed my eyes and turned away. Twice now a wrongdoing had taken place in my immediate family. And on both occasions it'd happened to the same person.

"What is it?" Jericho touched the crook of my elbow. The warmth of his gift poured into me and I sighed at the comfort. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the brightness of his wet silver hair. Our hair and our gift tied us together. It connected us to the Moon Goddess too.

It was the only thing keeping me grounded as more and more of my life continued to be ripped apart.

"My grandma," I whispered. My vision blurred for a brief moment and I scolded myself for getting emotional. Sucking in a deep breath, I willed the tears away and met Jericho's concerned gaze. "All her life she talked about the stars. And all her life people thought she was just crazy. She must've known something about the past. Maybe she remembered an old story. She could've been trying to warn us and no one would listen."

No one but Rowena.

By dismissing Grandma's words as one of a nutcase, we practically threw her to the stars ourselves.

Mother always said that we made our own fate.

What a shitty way to find out that she was right.

"You're here now," Jericho said. Tilting my chin up higher, he placed his hands on my shoulders and straightened them out of their slump. I stiffened at the feeling of his hand on my lower back and stood up taller. It was oddly satisfying to see we'd received the same lessons growing up.

Lesson One: Keep your chin raised and eyes straightforward.

Lesson Two: Square your shoulders. No slouching.

Lesson Three: Stand up tall even when it hurts to hold yourself together.

Lesson Four: Be a better leader than you were yesterday.

"Listen now. Make things right now." Jericho released his hold on me and I remained poised. He was right. I needed to be a better leader than those that had come before me. "Fail to do so..."

"And the stars win," I finished. "I'll do my best."

"I know." Jericho's bright eyes sparkled as he leaned forward. "Wouldn't expect anything less from a legacy of the Moon Goddess."

Placing a gentle hand on my lower back, Jericho led me back onto the road. When we arrived Pride was dressed in brown shorts. Jericho's Warriors were still watching him in wolf form. I found Leo's soft eyes and smiled for his benefit. Turning to Jericho I asked, "About the bounties, is it only for Leo? Or for all of us?"

"Only Leo." Jericho nodded at the two black wolves. They immediately turned tail and ran into the forest. "The last line in the Prophecy of Hope, I have a theory-"

"It's Leo," I admitted. Glancing at my cousin, I found solace in our similar blue eyes and pushed on. "Turns out, a lot of us play a double role in the Prophecy of Magick. I'm supposed to sacrifice him in case things don't work out."

No matter how often I said it, those words still tasted bitter on my tongue.

"Makes sense why they're mainly targeting him then." Jericho glanced over my shoulder, peering into the SUV. "Can't sacrifice someone that's already dead."

"Then it's a good thing he won't be dying any time soon," I snapped. Jerking my head at Pride, I mind linked him to get in the car. Not gonna lie, but it gave me a bit of an ego trip to have everyone fall in line with my orders today. It made me feel like a real Luna.

I reigned in my anger and put aside my morbid thoughts of Leo dying. "We already lost one of us. We're not going to lose another."

We weren't quick enough to prevent Jack's death. But we would be fast enough to prevent Leo's. And, depending on what "fall" meant in the prophecy, possibly Reign's own demise too.

We just needed to stick together and stay focused.

Jericho walked me to the driver's side of the car. Once I was settled in, I rolled the window down and smiled. "Thanks. For everything."

Tugging on a lock of my silver hair, he grinned wryly. "No problem, cuz. Word of advice?"

"We're all ears," Leo said. His warmth neared my cold body and I could feel his heavy presence getting closer. Our shoulders brushed for a split second.

"Head down to Louisiana." Seeing the shock on my face, Jericho leaned closer and stuck his head inside. "I know. It's a full day's drive there. But if you guys trade off, you'll get there in good time."

"Why Louisiana?" Leo asked. "Is that where the Eight Orbs are?"

"No," Jericho replied. "But, it is the state with the highest population of White Witches as well as the second biggest Pack in the country. There's nowhere safer for the Six Stars than there. It'll be a good place for you guys to settle down and plan your next move."

The Six Stars.

That was the first time someone outside of our makeshift group acknowledged the loss of Jack. Now, the Seven Stars really were no more.

"We'll do that." Jericho squeezed my arm before vanishing into the green foliage. Leo handed me a sweater and I slipped the warm garment over my wet body. The scent of Old Spice with a touch of lavender filled my senses. Safe in Leo's sweater, I sunk deeper into the oversized fabric and made a U-turn.

This time, there was no argument to be had between Sky and Reign. No flirtations to sneak in with Leo. When I peeked into the rear view mirror, Pride wasn't anywhere near Flora. The entirety of his face was hidden by the arm draped over his face.

About what happened
back there-

It's fine.

Pride's cocky laugh filled my mind.

Just a little
good old racism.

Nothing I haven't
dealt with before.

What's that supposed
to mean?

Pride's dim eyes found mine and he shook his head. Don't worry about it, he thought.

No. Are you saying that-

He cut off our connection. I looked back into the mirror to find him lifelessly staring out the window. Watching the raindrops race down the window.

I pulled the sleeves over my stiff fingers and continued to drive. The longer I drove, the more I wondered just how much of what I used to know was actually true.

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QOTD: What are your thoughts on Pride's character so far? How do you feel about the new information Venus found out?