Fang

Ten years ago.

The freshly made burn mark on my arm throbbed and pulsed, biting at my senses with a sharp pain. I wanted to rub at it and soothe the sting, but I was forced to sit still as it was examined by its maker. Once it was healed, the scar would be darkened with ink, permanently marking me as a Chosen.

I still didn’t know what it meant, only that it was important. An honor bestowed only to a select few, hand picked by the Moon.

The Oracle traced the swirling lines of the burn, each stroke of her finger reverberating through my body like a string pulled taut. She hummed with approval at her work, pleased with what she had created on my skin. No two marks looked the same, each design crafted by the Moon and sent to her Oracles through a vision. I didn’t know how much I believed in the Oracle, or in this Chosen stuff.

I’d come here seeking answers, and I would be leaving with a scar. And hopefully, my answers.

Silvery hair fell across her forehead as she leaned forward, obscuring her face, but Oracles didn’t need their eyes to see. Their earthly sight had been taken by the Moon at birth, replaced with something I would never know or understand. In fact, none of it made sense to me, but I was slowly learning. How to be a man, and how to act like one.

“You said you would tell me about my mate,” I said to her through clenched teeth. It was an active battle not to shift my fingers into claws, or even my jaw. Pain always sparked something violent inside of me. Clenching my jaw or tensing my muscles helped, as Oracle Pyke had taught me.

Her tracing suddenly stopped, but her fingertip lingered above where it had left off. “It is the same as I last told you. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change.”

“She will come to me as an enemy,” I repeated the same line she had given me. “But you haven’t explained what it means.”

Pyke gave a soft sigh, taking a step back to seat herself back into her plush chair. My muscles relaxed, no longer under the threat of her touch. I took a deep breath, easing back the emotions that had been threatening to rise. “Tell me what it means,” I said in a much calmer voice.

“Come now, Elwood. You’re still a boy!” She exclaimed. “Most wolves your age would still be focused on fighting and training, not their future mate.”

I glared at her from under my brow. “But I’m not like them, am I?”

Her skin was pallid and wrinkled with age, but she didn’t look nearly as old as she truly was. Like most of her oracle sisters, she would easily live another twenty to thirty years, despite already being in her late eighties. She sighed again, impatiently, but gave in. “No, you’re certainly not,” she agreed.

“I do not care for fighting boys that do not stand a chance against me. Nor do I care for training, when it does not apply to me. I care for my future.” I looked away from her, taking in the room.

It was all mismatched. Different colored furniture with no theme, knickknacks and decorations that simply didn’t go together. Or I didn’t understand it. From the corner of my eye, Pyke waved a hand in the air. “Nonesense. There is much to learn from them, especially if you are to be one of them. And rule them.”

I snorted. “I have never expressed a desire to be one of them, or rule them.”

She hummed, unbothered by my disagreement. She had learned well how to stand against my tempers. “The Moon has selected you, Elwood. It is your destiny to lead them.”

“And what has the Moon done for me, Oracle Pyke?” I accused her. “Cursed me to be a beast and outcast from the only life I’ve known? She has not come to me once. I do not believe in your silly stories about a Goddess in the sky.”

“Your speech is getting better,” she commented offhandedly. I snarled at her, but she didn’t so much as flinch. She knew I would not raise a hand to her no matter how badly I wanted to. “Work on your r’s, Elwood. Roll it, not growl it.”

“You ignored what I said.” Despite my anger, I did my best to follow her instructions.

“Better.” She nodded with approval. “She does not need to show anything to you. Is your existence not enough? Are you not proud to be different, to be more than your kin?”

“Don’t care,” I repeated. “I will believe when I am given a mate.”

“Goddess, child,” Pyke groaned with slight annoyance. She pointed a finger at me. “I expect an apology when you grow past this. Keep it up and you’ll be out of a mentor, for I will have died from your ignorance.”

I looked away from her, casting my sight downward. I’d forgotten all about the pain in my arm, but the silver burn seemed to suddenly grow with a vengeance. Death was. . . an uncomfortable topic for me. I was still grappling with the idea of it, and mortality.

“Elwood,” she said gently. “Even I do not have all of the answers. She shares what she wants, and it is almost never the full story. So, yes, your mate will come to you as an enemy. You must wait for her to do so, and you will know when it is her. You must not court or bed any other. This is the only mate the Moon has chosen for you, no other will be a match. Is this understood?”

“I have never argued, Oracle. Why would I care for another if there is one destined for me, and is my perfect match?” I asked, watching her lips twitch with the hints of a smile.

“You would be surprised,” she said idly. “But it’s important you keep this same attitude. You will be tempted, trust me in that. You may be a Chosen, but the Moon is sure to test you. Failure is not rewarded.”

I’d had enough. Pyke had gone into the stage where she only spoke with riddles, and I was tired of it. I’d let her burn a mark into my arm in hopes of new answers, but all I’d been given in return were the same responses she had prattled on about dozens of times before. If I didn’t leave now, she was sure to launch into another lecture about manhood.

I shivered at the idea.

“Are we done now?” I asked her, already on my feet.

She raised a hand to dismiss me, her head tilted to the side. When she did this, I knew she was having another vision. She claimed the Moon spoke into her ear, and the words turned to visions right before her sightless eyes.

Before I was fully out the door, she called to me once more. “She waits for you, too, Elwood.”

I slammed the door shut behind me.