A SWIMMER, AT LAST

VALERIE I feel Nathan and Oscar chasing after me as I run. I push my legs to go faster so they won't catch me. As soon as I spot the sea, I feel a thrill run through me. I dive into the water, not sparing a glance back at them. I don't understand it, but whenever I am inside the water, I feel peaceful. It feels like home here. It feels safe. Nobody can hurt me here. I look through the water and see a large range of fish all swimming around. That alone makes me smile inwardly. I raise my head slowly above the surface. I look back and notice that I am far away from the shore. I can't see Nathan or Oscar anywhere. Looking around, I see a large rock sitting above the surface of the water at the centre of the sea. I start moving towards it and in a flash, I am beside it. I smile at the speed I now possess. I quickly climb onto the rock and stand on it, looking back at the shore. I gasp in shock noticing how much further I am from the shore. It's very far for a wolf to have swam. I doubt either Oscar or Nathan would have suspected me to have gone this far out. I can only just see the shore because of my new wolf vision. Great! Far away means they won't come here anytime soon. It will give me some time to think. I sit down in a meditation style, my hands cupping each of my knees and I look out at the waves. The waves would break against the edge of the rock and the salty water would splash over me. It is serene and it makes me smile. It doesn't take me long to start recalling the events of yesterday. The anger boils in my veins and I feel my claws starting to come out. I close my eyes and take in deep breaths, focusing on calming myself down. As I concentrate more on my breathing I feel the sounds of waves around me growing faint. I feel myself growing distant from the beach. I can only hear my own breathing and feel my heart beating inside my chest. Silence...that's all I hear around me. Complete silence! I keep my eyes closed and everything is dark to me. I feel myself drifting away from everything around me and I'm now in a strange world. The darkness around me vanishes and a few rays of light come into my view. It is white, or should I say silver? Everything shines where I am. There are white pillars with white moon flowers entwined around them everywhere. Where am I? I walked ahead a few steps and come to an abrupt halt when I stand before a statue of the Moon Goddess made of silver. I hear footsteps behind me and turn around. I see a man walk sneakily into the room. He takes a few steps then stops and look back to make sure no one is following him. He walks past me, not even noticing me. It is as if he can't see that I am here. I don't know who he is! 'Hey!' I call out to him. I get no response and he continues to move through the room. I reach out to him, but I can't touch him. I decide to follow him instead. My mouth drops open when he pulls out a white bag which he is hiding inside his shirt. He's sweating and he looks behind him again at the closed door into the room. As if I am not shocked enough by his actions, he shocks me more as he tries to lift the statue of the Moon Goddess and separates it from its place on the pedestal. His eyes turn dark and I realise that he's using his werewolf strength. 'Stop it! What is wrong with you? It's against our law! Stop it!" I yell at him, trying to hit him, but it just isn't working. He finally is able to pull the statue away from the pedestal and he slips it inside his white bag. He runs quickly from the room out the door with the statue stashed in his bag. I run after him and upon looking down, I notice that I am not in the same jeans and t-shirt Veronica had given to me. Instead, I am now wearing an off the shoulder white, knee length dress, with an ocean blue silk tie tied around the waist and a pair of white flat gladiators. My hair that I am sure has been tied into a pony tail is now loose. It has been ages since I last wore a dress. I envied all the other girls of my old Pack when they wore dresses, so I started hating them and stopped wearing them. I don't waste time checking on my appearance any longer. I run quickly after the man trying to get away after committing such a big sin. I watch him moving through the crowd of people casually, holding the bag close to his chest and trying to appear innocent. I walked close behind the 'thief', trying to get a hold of him, when suddenly he smashes into someone and falls to the ground, flat on his back, the bag still held tight against his chest. 'I'm sorry," a rough voice says. I freeze as I look up and see Mr. Jeremy Victor Austin, my biological dad's grandpa. My dad was named after him. There were photos of him all through my old home. He was admired a lot by my dad and mother. I heard that he was one hell of a strong wolf, but he had died a sad death. Where am I? The man gets up from the floor, holding the bag close to him still. The head of the statue is now visible over the lip of the bag from his fall, and of course Mr. Jeremy Victor Austin notices it. His eyes widen and immediately turn a deep black. The thief tries to get past him, but Mr. Jeremy Victor holds him in place with a fierce grip on his arm. 'Give that bag to me!" Mr. Jeremy roars furiously. Everyone present stops what they are doing and look towards the commotion. The room grows completely silent and the thief begins to shake in fear. He looks scared shitless. Mr. Jeremy yanks the bag from the man's hold and two men quickly come from the crowd and hold onto the thief for him. Gasps echo around the room as the crowd finally notices what is in the bag. 'Take him to the prison,' another voice roars. I am sure that it is the Alpha who has spoken by the way the crowd bows their heads at the tone and quickly leaves, leaving only the thief, Mr. Jeremy, the Alpha and the two guards holding the thief. I look at the Alpha and recognise him as Shawn's great grandpa. Have I just travelled to the past? The thief suddenly escapes from the two men's hold on him and yanks the bag from Mr. Jeremy's grasp as he runs past him. He runs out of the room into the forest and everyone runs speedily after him. He stops running when he comes to the edge of a cliff, and several Pack members surround him so he won't get away again. I realise, looking at the cliff that I am now in Silverstone Moon Pack's territory. How the hell did I get here? 'Give the statue back!' Mr. Jeremy growls at the now smirking thief. 'No, never Austin," the thief says, raising the statue high above his head. He throws the statue out with all his force but before the statue can make contact with the ground, Mr. Jeremy Victor Austin throws himself out and catches it on his back as he lands flat on the ground. The statue suddenly flies up from Mr. Jeremy's back and floats in the air. Light shine brightly from the statue and a figure appears from it. I know it is the Moon Goddess even though the light emitting from her is so bright that her face is not visible. The only thing I can clearly see is that she's wearing a white dress with an invisible hem, and holds a moon flower in her hand. 'Just like the moon flower that blooms at night and shrinks at day, you and your descendants will only be able to shift into your wolf at night, and will lose that power with the first ray of sunlight. For this shall be a lesson to all of your kind," she says in her angelic voice, throwing the moon flower from her hand on the thief and cursing him. Instead of being ashamed, the thief looks furious. He runs fast away from the cliff, the Moon Goddess and the pack, not once looking back. No one tries to stop him from running away. They have all fallen to one knee on the ground, their heads bowed down in worship. 'You have protected my statue with your life and for that, a child created by me will be born as an Austin when six bloods have been sacrificed. For this shall be to protect your kind." The Goddess throws another flower from her hand at Mr. Jeremy Victor Austin and blesses him and then, the Goddess just disappears! I reappear back in the room with the pillars entwined in moon flowers. Everything is fine, and then my mind begins to play tricks on me again. I can see the furious waves of the ocean rising and falling in front of me. My mom stands near the ocean smiling widely as she looks at the Moon Goddess, whose face is still not visible. The rays of light emitting from the Goddess are directed at my mother's belly. The image changes and the sounds of the ocean fall on my ears again as I look out at it. I see Mr. Jeremy kneeling on the sand with a dead woman. It must have been his mate. He closes his eyes and says, 'for the protection of our kind, I shall sacrifice my blood,' then he stabs a knife deep into his throat. Several more images appear before me. I watch my mom, a woman I don't recognise, Bram, Shawn's grandma, and then Zelia each saying those same words, and then stabbing themselves. 'No!' I yell in despair. They all died for me? This has been happening even before I was born? 'Yes they did," a voice says softly. I look behind me and see the Moon Goddess sitting in a silver chariot. Her face still isn't visible to me. Her voice is soft and silky as she speaks and everything around her is glowing brightly. She sits calmly in the chariot before me and I am sure she is smiling, even though I can't see her face. 'Why?' I ask as tears form in my eyes. 'Why only them?" 'It was what destiny had written for them. They were all cursed stars who were sent to earth, and in order to return back to their home, they had to do it," she says. I can understand that, or so I think. But the thought of them dying still hurts. 'You could have stopped it," I say, the tears now overflowing. 'It is destiny,' she says softly. 'Everything is destiny. The events that happened were all destined to happen. Nothing could have been stopped. No one can stop their destiny," she explains. 'Why do you think I asked you to leave the Silverstone Moon Pack?' She questions. Ah! Now I know where I heard her voice from. She was the voice in my head that had asked me to seek answers to all my questions. 'The Riverside Moon Pack needs you more than the Silverstone Moon Pack,' she concludes certainly. 'Why didn't I shifted into my wolf at thirteen?" I ask her curiously. 'You are my child Valerie. You were created by me from the energy of the tides. That is why you have a special connection with water. As soon as those six bloods were sacrificed you were able to shift into your wolf.' Zelia was the sixth blood. I realise now that I only shifted after she died, and that explains to me how she knew that I would be able to shift one day. She must have known it the moment she set her eyes on me! 'My temple has been destroyed,' the Moon Goddess says. I know about it. I saw the Riverside Moon Pack's temple in ruins. Before I can ask her why she didn't stop it like in the Silverstone Moon Pack, she speaks yet again. 'The evil has risen again, and I want you to destroy him and protect you kind." 'The evil?" I ask confused. 'It's time for you to go Valerie. You will find the answers to all your questions when the time is right, because no one can stop destiny,' she says calmly. I am about to protest, but the sounds of waves enter my hearing, hence disturbing me. I open my eyes and I notice that I am sitting on the rock in the middle of the sea. Looking down, I see that I am back in the same old jeans and shirt I was wearing. What just happened? Did my mind just play tricks on me? But it felt so real! 'Val,' Evie's voice yell in my mind. It is followed by a lot of different voices calling out to me. Oh no. I completely forgot about all of them. They must be worried sick. 'I'm coming,' I think. They seem to get the message because there are numerous voices responding asking me where I am, and some asking if they can come and get me. I stand on my feet and look out at the sea in front of me. 'Created by the energy of the tides,' the Moon Goddess's words echo in my mind. It explains why I feel so safe in water. It is because I have been created using the tides that are forming in the water. I know that most of my questions are still unanswered, but I also know I will eventually find answers to them. This Pack needs protection and I have to give it to them! I dive from the rock into the water. I pretend to swim in the water, enjoying the safety of it too much. I know I'll always be safe in the water!