Destiny

ATHOS

The cold morning wind cut my skin while I ran through the forest. My paws tore the wet earth with precision, and the smell of wet leaves mixed with that of ageing wood. This is what I thought about when I wanted to run away: in the sound of the wind, in the freedom of my wolf. Here, in the middle of nowhere, I didn’t need to pretend I was ready to lead. Here, I was just... me.

I crossed the stream with a heel and stopped on the opposite bank, taking a deep breath. The transformation happened almost automatically - the bones spart, the muscles adjust, the skin and hair give way to human flesh. It Hurt. It always hurt. But I was already used to it.

Stand up, naked, with the cold nibbling on my sweaty skin. The first rays of sun filtered through the branches, slightly warming my shoulders. I ran my hand through my brown hair and closed my eyes for a second. Here, for a moment, there were no expectations, there were no looks at me. Just the silence.

- Are you running away from your obligations again? - I heard Kalen’s voice behind me. Serious, patient and always present. My beta. My best friend. And the damn conscience that I didn’t ask for.

I sighed before turning to him.

- I call this... strategic rest. - I sketched a half smile.

Kalen raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He was a few years older than me, but sometimes he acted as if he were my father. And considering how much my real father has been a ghost lately, maybe he was really taking the place.

- You have a training with the warriors in thirty minutes. - he said, handing me a change of clothes. - And after that, you have a meeting with the council. The old man wants to talk again about the peace treaty with the vampires.

- Because of course... there is nothing more fun than politics early in the morning. - I murmured, wearing the jeans and the black T-shirt he brought.

- You have to start acting like the future alpha, Athos.

- But what if I don’t want to be the future alpha?

He sighed, but didn’t answer me right away. Instead, he walked to the edge of the stream, bent down and dipped his hands into the water. Kalen was the kind of person who didn’t say anything without pressing twice. And maybe that’s what annoyed me about him... or what made me trust so much.

- We all have our role. - he finally said. - The question here is whether you will choose to be strong enough to honour yours... or weak enough to reject it.

Those words hit me like a punch in the stomach. Because I knew he was right. Because I hated that he was right.

- Sometimes I just wanted to be... free. And don’t carry the weight of an entire pack on your back. I wish I wasn’t the alpha’s son. The heir.

- No one is free, Athos. Not even the alphas.

Kalen got up and turned to me, his brown eyes analysing every detail of my face.

- Do you think your father was free when he had to lead this pack after the war? Do you think he chose this?

- My father... - I started, but stopped. I bit my lower lip and looked away. - My father chose to be nothing to me.

- He just doesn’t know how to deal with you.

- No. He knows. You just don’t want to.

Silence. The kind of silence that weighs on the air and forces us to face what we don’t want to say out loud. I took a deep breath and clenched my fists.

- I know I have responsibilities, Kalen. I know that one day all this will be mine. But... what if I’m not enough? What if I can’t protect everyone? - The truth escaped me before I could contain it. The doubt. The fear. What I hid from everyone, even from myself.

Kalen approached and put one of his hands firmly on my shoulder. - You’re forgetting who you are. You are Athos. You’re the alpha’s son. You are the strongest wolf of your generation. You are the leader that many of us already follow, even without the title. And, above all... you are my soul brother. And I believe in you, even when you don’t believe.

I closed my eyes for a second, to absorb those words. Maybe that’s why Kalen would always be by my side. He saw something in me that I didn’t even see. And that... that made all the difference.

- Let’s go. - he said, giving me a slight push on the shoulder. - You’ll be late for training and, if you continue like this, I’ll have to start calling you a spoiled prince.

- But you don’t even dare. - I replied with a half smile.

We walked together along the trail to the main clearing. Our village was hidden in the middle of the forest, between the mountains and the fog. With robust wooden houses, dirt paths and the constant smell of firewood in the air. Simple, but strong. Like our people.

The warriors were already gathered at the training centre when we arrived. Men and women of various ages, all members of the Varkyn pack, the largest and oldest in the region. As soon as they saw me, the whispers began. It wasn’t fear. It was respect. The expectation. The weight of being the heir.

I took off my T-shirt again and went up to the centre of the training circle. - Today - I announced, letting my voice echo. - let’s train endurance and focus. The ability to maintain the wolf form even under the pain. Whoever fails... runs two laps to the village. Naked.

Nervous laughter echoed through the group, but they all knew I was serious.

The training started intense. The bodies moved in sync, and the roars echoed between the trees. I participated in each exercise. Not because I needed to, but because to lead, for me, was to be next to them. Feel their pain. Show that it doesn’t matter if you’re the alpha or the predictor - everyone bleeds the same way.

After an hour, they called me. The council was met. Another reminder that my title was waiting for me, even when I just wanted to continue running like a wolf through the trees.

I dressed again and went to the council house, where my father was waiting for me. With his expression, as always, it was hard, cold, impassive. He looked at me, evaluating me from head to toe, as if I were looking for a flaw. And, for him, I was made of them.

- Finally. - he said. - I thought you had forgotten that you are more than muscles and bravado.

- Good morning to you too, dad.

He ignored my comment and turned to the rest of the county. - Let’s start.

I sat next to him, fighting against the irritation that always invaded me when we were together. I’m his son. His heir. But for him, I was never enough. And maybe it never was.

My father’s words mixed with the murmurs of the other council members, but I confess that I didn’t pay attention to even half of what they said. It was as if his presence created a barrier between me and the rest of the world. I was there, sitting next to you, but I didn’t feel part of that circle. Not really.

- The vampires have been keeping at peace, but they continue to grow in the shadows. - said one of the elders. - There are rumours of movements near the southern border.

- We need to watch more often. - commented the other. - We can’t eternally trust a treaty signed by empty words.

My father nodded with a slow nod, with his fingers drumming on the wooden table. - Peace is fragile. And we, like wolves, know that any unusual smell can trigger chaos.

I wanted to say something. I wanted to give my opinion, show how attentive I was, that I knew what was at stake. But he didn’t even look at me. I was there as a symbol, not as a voice.

An old memory came to me without warning, like a wound that has not yet healed.

I should be ten years old. It was a full moon night. I was nervous, the transformation was approaching, and my body still didn’t understand what to do with that pulsating energy. I remember kneeling on the floor, shaking, afraid of eventually losing control. My father was there, a few metres away, watching me. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t touch me. He just waited.

“An alpha never asks for help,” he said when it was all over, when I could barely stand up, I was panting and covered in sweat and dirt.

That day, I learned that being alone was part of this legacy.

I returned to the present with a bitter taste in my mouth. - Do you really believe that vampires are still a threat? - I asked, finally. The silence fell on the room. And everyone looked at me.

My father turned his face slowly, his eyes stuck in mine. - Do you believe not?

- Well, they have respected the limits. For years. And... maybe it’s time to stop seeing them as enemies and start seeing them for what they are: a species as lost as ours.

He frowned. - Lost? Do you think we’re lost?

- I think we hid behind tradition so we don’t face what’s changing. The world has changed. We are the ones who don’t change with him.

My father got up slowly, and the room was silent. - Talking like an alpha is more than looking smart. It’s acting wisely. - He went around the table and stopped behind me. - Your heart is soft, Athos. And a soft heart can put our entire pack at risk.

I also got up, feeling the blood boiling under my skin. - A soft heart is better than having none.

For a second, I thought he was going to attack me. But all he did was take a step back, turn his back and say: - Meeting closed.

The counsellors began to leave in silence, avoiding the gaze of both. I stayed there for a few more seconds, my chest went up and down quickly. Kalen, who watched everything from the door, approached in silence.

- Well, at least you still breathe. - he said, in a light tone, trying to soften the atmosphere.

- Bad. - I grumbled. - He hates me.

- No. He fears you.

I looked at him, confused.

- He’s afraid of what you represent. Because you’re different. Because you can change everything he built. And because... you are the son of the woman who was distinguished to him, but not of the woman he loved.

I stood still. The words had hit me even harder than I expected. I knew there were old stories between my father and my mother... but I never understood them. To be honest, I never wanted to understand them. Until now.

Maybe there was something more in the past than I imagined. And maybe... my connection with vampires was written even before I was born.

***

The night fell silently over the forest, like a thick cloak of shadows and mystery. After the meeting, I didn’t go home. I followed alone, guided only by the restlessness in my chest and by the distant sound of the wind between the trees.

It was on these nights that I felt more wolf. More free.

I transformed without any effort, letting my muscles lengthen, my bones snap and my skin giving way to the dark coat like the night itself. The world has become clearer, the sounds have become more vivid, the smells have become more intense.

And I ran.

I ran until my paws burned against the wet ground, until my lungs burned, until my mind was completely empty. Only instinct guided my steps. The pain was disappearing. The weight, the name, the legacy... everything was left behind.

When I finally stopped, I was in an isolated clearing. A small lake reflected the moon perfectly. I walked to the shore, and turned back with a heavy sigh.

I sat down, naked, feeling the cold grass against my skin. I rested my elbows on my knees and faced my own reflection in the water.

What did others see when they looked at me?

The heir.

The next alpha.

The symbol of strength.

But inside me there were more questions than answers. More wounds than scars. And a void that neither the pack, nor the title, nor the victories could fill me.

That’s when it happened.

A smell.

Sweet. Hot. Wild and at the same time... pure. It wasn’t a common perfume, it didn’t come from the village. It was something new. Something that hit me so hard that I almost lost my breath.

I got up slowly, my heart was racing. That smell...

Companion.

The word emerged inside me, instinctively, as if it had been whispered by the universe itself.

My wolf growled, restless. She was close. Very close.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, I was trying to identify the direction. Did your smell mix with that of wet leaves, old wood and... blood? No, it wasn’t fresh blood. It was something more... old. Familiar. But masked.

I took a step. And then another one. And when I was going to run, something stopped me.

The clearing became strangely silent.

And then I heard. A soft sound. A whisper... no, a song.

A voice.

Her voice.

I walked slowly, as if each step was a thread stretched between the past and what still doesn’t exist. When I crossed the last row of trees, I saw her.

Sitting under a tree, with blonde hair illuminated by the moon, she caressed a small deer that rested on her lap. His eyes - even in the distance - looked like a calm but deep ocean. Blue, with a brightness that was not common.

My chest tightened.

It’s her.

And even though my instinct screamed for me to approach, I stayed there. Property. Enchanted. Lost.

So she raised her eyes. And he saw me.

Time has stopped.

And for a moment, everything ceased to exist. The past, the future, the pack, the blood, the wars... only the two of us existed. Me and her.

But then she frowned slightly. As if... something was wrong.

She got up slowly, resting the deer on the floor carefully. Your blue eyes stared at mine, and I saw something there... fear? Conflict.

And then she said:

- This... it can’t be.

Her voice was soft, but firm. It had the weight of someone who carries a secret that should never be revealed.

- You’re mine... - I started, with my hoarse voice. - Companion.

She took a step back.

- No. I’m not.

- I felt it. The smell, the connection... is real.

- I can’t be your companion. - she said, with her eyes now shining brightly.

And that’s where everything changed.

His eyes - blue like the sky - turned red like blood.

Vampire.

The shock pierced me like a sharp blade. But more than that... a certainty was embedded in the depths of my soul.

She was different. And yet... she was the one my wolf needed.

- Who are you? - I asked, with my voice now lower.

She hesitated.

- My name is Destiny.

And then he disappeared into the forest, as fast as he appeared, leaving me alone in that clearing. With an out of step heart. And the certainty that nothing else would be the same.