Shortly after the pack meeting, Alpha Connor called me, my parents, Drew, Sam and Talia to his office to meet with the council. I guess my role as protector has officially begun. It is a little bittersweet. Every protector before me started this journey with their mates. The mate bound strengthens us and enhances our powers. We can also share our strength and gain strength from our fated mates. That’s one reason the moon goddess grants the protectors a second chance mate, if they are rejected. All the years that I heard about being the protector and how important mates were, I never thought I would be the one being rejected and have to start this journey alone. Well, not really alone. I will have my team and cousins with me. I know it’s not the same, but it is a start.
I’m brought out of my thoughts by the members of the council. They are some of the oldest and strongest members of the supernatural community. There are representatives from all species on the council, though not all of them are present for this meeting. The four that are here today are the ruling members. They are descendent from an original line in their respective species. You can feel the power coming from them as they walk into the room. I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with them.
The head council member, Barinel, addresses our group. He usually speaks for the council. Council Member Barinel is a shifter, but I’m not sure what kind. I know he is one of the oldest living shifter around. Some say he is either an original or the son of an original. This has never been proven or asked directly.
“Alpha Connor, thanks you so much for allowing us to meet at your pack. We are so excited to get started with this young lady.” Councilman Barinel says.
“I am honored for you all to be here Councilman Barinel.”
“Let’s not be so formal Connor, we have all known each other for years and we will work closer together. As always, you all in this room can call me Bari.”
“Thank you, Bari.” Alpha Connor says.
“Seleste, I hear that some of your powers have manifested.” Bari says, looking at me.
“Yes sir. Last night I started seeing the aura of those around me. I also could get small glances into the future of some of the people I came in contact with. I may have been much too eager with my gifts though and probably should not have told all the warriors that they will meet their mates soon.” I said with a smile.
Alpha Connor started laughing at that.
“So true Seleste, you almost had a quarter of my warriors ready to go on the hunt for their mates. Luckily, I was already planning to host a mate ball here next month.”
“Oh, excellent idea.” Council woman Paris said. “Seleste, will you be attending the ball? I understand your mate rejected you. We don’t want to rush or pressure you, but you will be stronger with your mate by your side.”
“No Council woman Paris. I am not planning to attend this year. It’s just a little too soon for me. Tamaska and I are still healing. I want to take a little time, focus on my training and preparing myself mentally for another mate. Rejection takes a lot out of you, and I need to recharge.”
Council woman Paris gives me a sad smile. “I completely understand.” She says. “Just something to keep in mind as we progress. Your strength and skill will increase once you have fully mated.”
“Ok.” Councilman Bari says, “Let’s talk about training. We have arranged for you to go to several different packs to train all of your gifts. The first pack that we will send you to is the Blood Moon pack. They have several elemental wolves there that you will be able to train with. Alpha Clark is also a strong fire wolf. You will learn a lot from him. He is a member of your protector team. His family has served the last 4 protectors, so he knows what is expected of him.”
“I knew his father and grandfather,” my dad says. “They were great men. I have heard great things about Alpha Clark.”
“And he has not found his mate yet.” Council woman Paris adds.
I just smile at her without comment.
“After your time at the Blood Moon pack, you will travel to the Mystic Coven to train with the vampires there. They are our allies and house the royal family. You will train with Prince Julian on telekinesis and teleporting. I’m not sure if you will be able to teleport. Not all protectors can, but I believe you will. Everything points to you being one of the strongest protectors since Fenroe.”
“Are you sure it will be safe for my daughter to live in a coven of vampires?” My mom asks.
“Absolutely.” Councilman Wilhelm says. Council man Wilhelm is a hybrid. He is part vampire and shifter.
“The royal family is our ally and Mystic Coven is their stronghold. Seleste will be perfectly safe. And also remember, her blood is poison to vampire and other creature that live off blood and she is immune to their venom.”
“I didn’t know that. I mean, I know that I am immune to the venom, but I didn’t know my blood was poison to them.”
“Well, we don’t let that information get out. Imagine if that became public knowledge how many people would hunt you down for your blood.” Councilman Wilhelm said.
“That makes perfect sense.” I say. “I’m glad that information has never gotten out.”
After you leave Mystic Coven, you will be hosted at Viper’s Den. They are the strongest bear pack. You will learn new forms of combat with them. They will also train you in surveillance and technology. They have a global network that is invaluable to us. You will work on developing a strong network for the protector team. There will be a couple of missions going on in between your training. In fact, Drew, Sam and Talia will go on separate missions while you are training. They will serve as your seconds and represent you to the supernatural community until you are ready to take the lead of the full team.”
“That sounds like a solid plan to me.” I say.
“Yes, that is a good start. We will also visit other packs to recruit warriors to serve on your team. I know you have worked with the warriors of this pack all of your life, but we do not want to take all of Alpha Connor’s warriors.” Councilman Bari says.
“There is one young warrior from this pack that Tamaska says needs to be on my team. When I looked at his aura last night, I saw something in him. He will be a vital part of the team in the future. Right now he is a young warrior in the pack and has not become an elite warrior yet, so it will not hurt the pack for him to travel with us.”
“I think I know the one you are talking about. I saw you dance with him twice last night. I am fine with you recruiting him. I will want him to also come back to the pack quarterly to train with our warriors.” Alpha Connor says.
“Well, that’s all I have for now for you, Seleste.” Councilman Bari says. “We have you travel plans already arranged. You will leave in two days. You will fly in the council’s private jet to Blood Moon pack. We are keeping all of your travel plans under wrap. The only ones aware of this schedule are the ones in this room. The pilots of the jet will not know the flight plan until just before takeoff and they won’t know that you are the protector.” Councilman Bari says, then turns to San, Drew, and Talia.
“Sam, Drew and Talia, you all will also leave in two days on the jet with Seleste and her warriors, but you will go to meet up with Alpha Blake of the Crescent Moon pack. There has been a little unrest in South America and the Caribbean Islands. Alpha Blake has some contacts in both areas. We need to know who the leader of this unrest is and what they are trying to accomplish. The intel we have so far is that there is a mixed group of shifter who think that they have years before the protector is back on the in action. Everyone felt the shift of power from Seleste on her birthday, but they are assuming the protector was just born since they did not feel the shift when Former Gamma True passed away. You all will also work with Councilman Pruitt. Councilman, do you have anything to add.?”
“No Bari, I think you have covered everything. You all need to be to our private airfield before 6am Tuesday morning. If we have any new information, we will provide it for you then.” Councilman Pruitt said.
The four council members stood up, said their goodbyes, and left. We all just sat there for a few minutes, taking everything in. My mom was crying silently. I think it just became real to her that her only daughter is growing up and about to embark on a new journey without her or dad with me.
“Mom, I will be ok. The council has taken every precaution to protect me until I can use all of my gifts, but remember, I have trained to fight and protect myself since I was a small pup. I will be ok. Besides, I’m you daughter.”
My mom looks at me and smile. My mom, dad, and I get up to leave. I want to spend as much time with them as possible. This is not like my previous training trips. Although I agreed to come back here every three months, I will not be spending a lot of time here. I will only be here for a day or two at the most. Maybe later down the road when I am completely over Trevor, I’ll spend more time at the pack, but for now, that a hard pass. In just one selfish act, everything has changed. The pack will never be the same. I still love this pack and will do everything in my power to keep this pack strong and flourishing, but I don’t know if this will ever be home for me again. I don’t know if it the future I’m sensing, but there is this part of me that feels that my time here has come to an end. I don’t even feel that the gamma position will stay with my line. I believe it will go to Mona and her children. There is this sense that I will serve another purpose in a different pack in the future. While I don’t know what that means at this point, I am sure that it will be revealed fully in time.
I come out of my thoughts as I remember that I need to meet with Warrior Peace before we leave. The sooner the better so that he can get prepared to leave. Alpha Connor will need to speak with him first and give him permission to be absent from the pack for extended leave. Warrior Peace will travel with me for all of my training and will also train to be a protector guard. He will be one of my personal guards. Knowing my dad, he is going to want to lay the law down for this young man who will work closely with me and who will be in charge of keeping me safe.
“Alpha Connor, after you speak with Warrior Peace, can you send him to our house? I want to let him know what will be expected of him and let my dad put the fear of the goddess in him since he will travel with me.”
Everyone laughed. They knew I was telling the truth. My dad is very overprotective of me. I am his only child as of now. My mom still young and I am still hoping for a sibling. So, moon goddess, can you arrange a sibling for me, please? My mom needs another baby or two. Mom will skin me alive if she knew I was praying for her to have more children. Tamaska even laughed at that.
“Hey Seleste,” Talia gets my attention as I am walking out the door.
‘Yes?”
“I just linked Rose about us leaving. She wants us to do dinner tonight or tomorrow night so that everyone will have the chance to say bye. Trevor is also leaving for the Royal Academy in a couple of days. It will be the last time we will all be here for a while, so what do you say?” Talia says.
“Ok, I will play nice for the sake of my friends. I’ll be there, just let me know when.”
We all leave Alpha Connor’s office and head to our different locations. I, for one, am exhausted. It has been a long, emotional couple of days. Tamaska is still dealing with the pain of breaking the bound. She took most of the pain so that I wouldn’t have to suffer. My wolf is awesome that way. So now, I’m going to do her a favor and go lie down so that she can recharge a little. I will go to our special place tonight when the moon is high so she can get a boost from the mood goddess.
I am so excited about my future; I am looking forward to all of my training. I’m glad I will be away from here during the mate ball. When I am ready, I know the moon goddess will send my mate to me.