Rejected Luna's Return, Forbidden Bonds

Lyra POV

The darkness was complete. I could not see anything, even the outlines of the bodies of my mates beside me. My wolf was striding about impatiently, trying to determine what had occurred. Footsteps became more distinct and I knew that there was something under the Council headquarters of which we were ignorant.

Something big. Something they had always covered up.

Emergency lights, Owen said, in a search to discover back-up systems. A couple of seconds later, weak red lamps were switched on. They produced no more than enough light to expose the surface beneath our feet and the features of the people surrounding us.

And to have the opening in the floor astern.

Werewolves came cropping through the opening. Not prisoners or guards. Soldiers. They were armed and equipped, and of the type of organization which indicated that they had had a thorough training. One looked with an expression of respect and of terror at the same time on Lyra.

"What is this?" Dane said, and his hand reached to his side, where his weapon was.

The soldier who had arrived on the top of the stair climbed down and bowed. Actually bowed. To me.

Hello, Moon-beam," the soldier said. "We've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me for what?" I said, and I was not trying to be brave, but my heart was beating.

The soldier said that in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled. When the Council found out what your blood-line was capable of, fifteen years ago, they began to train us. They were aware that sometime one day, a Luna would arrive with your power. And when she did she would have needed an army that was loyal to her only.

The voice of Thorne reached through the intercom. I am sorry I deceived you, Lyra. But we were not able to tell the truth. It was necessary that we should see you sturdy enough to meet what follows.

"And what comes next?" I demanded.

"War," Thorne said simply. The battle that will change not only the whole world of the werewolves. There is something the Council has been concealing to the whole packs. It is something that makes Iris and her conspiracy look like a child game. And you alone can prevent it.

"Stop what?" I asked.

There was a long pause. And then did Thorne say in which all changed. Did you ever ask yourself how come that some werewolves are born to be powerful and others are born to be normal? Have you ever thought why the Council has to rule everything? We have been concealing the truth to all of you because the truth will ruin everything.

"What truth?" I inquired, though I knew I was not going to be pleased by the answer.

There are creatures of the world, Thorne said. Creatures that are not werewolves. Older and more dangerous creatures. And they are just beginning to wake up. Centuries have been passing and they've been sleeping, in the places which we believed to be safe. But the barriers are failing. And they will not be concerned with the werewolf society or the human civilization once they have completely woken up. They'll consume everything."

The men who surrounded us began to stir about. The way they made a clearance to a huge door, which I had not before realized was there. Beyond the door I had the stairs down into darkness deeper and colder than anything I had ever experienced.

Thorne said, we need you to go down there. We cannot get by without you knowing what we are dealing with. And we want you to make your decision whether you are willing to be the head of the war that is coming.

"No," Zane said, grabbing my arm. "This is another trap. We don't go down there. We don't trust any of this."

"I agree," Owen said. Thorne has already demonstrated that he can manipulate and be deceptive. Nothing that he says can be relied upon.

But Ethan was staring at the soldiers, at their armor and weapons and the horror-stricken reverence of their eyes. "What if it's true?" he asked. What in case there are creatures and the Council has been concealing it?

Then shall not going down there still be the solution, said Dane. "We find another way."

I looked at my four mates. I saw the hundreds of freed werewolves who were looking at me in order to be guided. I looked upon the soldiers who were awaiting my decision. And I noticed that it was the first time in a long time that I was here since I returned to the scene that I saw how my strength was.

It was not concerned with control or dominance or superiority over the rest. It was about choice. The decision I would take would bring impact to all these individuals. It would depend on my decision.

"I want proof," I said to Thorne. I want to have evidence to prove that these creatures exist, before I descend down there, before I think any of this.

"Of course," Thorne said. "That's reasonable."

The lights went out again. And this time, as they returned on, there was something standing in the clearing where the command center had been.

It was massive. It was composed of an appearance that resembled scales and bone and shadow blended. It had too many limbs and too many eyes and it hurt my brain only to look at it, my brain did not even know how to understand something like this. It was liquefied horror, and as I looked at it I was sure that all that Thorne had told me was the truth.

These creatures were real. They were coming. And the war the werewolf world was soon to experience was going to be one that they had never witnessed before.

The animal opened what could have been a mouth and there came a sound that was not words but was of earlier origin. Something that caused all the people in the room to scream without any intention.

And that is when I realized that it was practice to fight Iris. The actual fight was yet to be started.