"Hey" a firm husky voice called out. "What exactly do you think you are doing?"
Lira winced once she heard it. "Kyren" she drawled out. "Hi, what are you doing here?" Lira got up and turned around to face him, nearly bumping into his broad chest.
He cocked a brow. "I asked you first."
"I-I train here" Lira answered blinking rapidly.
"You train here?" Kyren chuckled, flashing his pearly white teeth. "Out in this hallway leading to the exit?" he closed the distance between them. "You're not trying to escape, are you?"
"Of course not," she replied quickly. "This is simply um… a new form of…Why'd you come here after showering?"
Kyren brought his fingers to his damp onyx hair turned his gaze away. "Father sent me here."
Lira straightened her back and smoothed out her hair. "The Alpha wants to see me?"
"Yes actually," Kyren mumbled as he grabbed her wrist. "He came to the temple. Follow me."
The temple of Selene at Ironwood pack was the biggest one dedicated to Selene in the world. Lira always thought it was beautiful, the high ceilings, stained glass and old effigies never ceased to amaze her.
They turned and entered into the hallway behind the altar.
"You probably haven't noticed but this isn't where guests are received." Lira said in a sardonic tone.
"You probably haven't noticed but this isn't just any regular old guest." Kyren said in the same tone.
Lira rolled her eyes and then widened them once she noticed that they were turning at a familiar corner. She faltered in her steps and hesitantly said, "Kyren…"
Just then a smiling tall willowy figure appeared at the end of the corner.
"Traitor!" Lira hissed and turned to run, but Kyren already had a strong grip on her forearm.
"Thank you Kyren dear." Donna said in a sweet voice. "Don't struggle too much child. You'll need the energy for the extra training session you'll get as punishment for your truancy.
Just then, two well-built pages appeared and dragged her away.
"NOOO!" Lira cried out. "I'm so tired."
"She's not taking this seriously." Kyren sighed trying to ignore Lira's promises of vengeance.
"On the contrary, she's taking this more serious than me even. Priscilla is just…concerned about her not having any visions yet." Donna answered softly.
It was hard to tell what her exact feelings were on the matter. She always spoke in the same soft sweet voice, whether she was upset or not.
Donna was the head priestess for the Temple of Selene and she had been since Kyren was a baby. She was an old werewolf with long gray hair and light blue eyes.
He was certain no one had ever seen her wolf form.
"I think what happened today occurred because of yesterday's events." Donna said pointedly.
"You'd think it would make her more serious." A gravelly voice scoffed from behind them.
"Hello Priscilla." Donna gave a slight smile while Kyren nodded in her direction.
"I should catch up with the pages. They're new here so the Moonborne might try to trick them," Priscilla said.
She bowed then scurried away.
"What happened yesterday?" Kyren asked.
"Her son turned into a zombie wolf."
Kyren froze. "Did he get bitten? Our warriors-"
"No no." Donna waved him off. "He died during the new moon when he lost all his magical energy. He was buried outside and came back the next night."
"How many casualties?"
"None. He was quite weak. He died crawling to his house. Lira couldn't detect any magical energy in him, but we burned his body just to be sure."
They stopped in front of a large oak door. Donna knocked and the door opened immediately.
A large hulking man with a scar running from his left brow down to his cheek filled the doorframe.
"Alpha David," Donna bowed.
"There's no time for pleasantries, Your Grace." Alpha David replied. "Everyone is waiting."
*************
Lira let out another sigh as Priscilla started on another tirade of how the Moonstone broke and the prophecy.
Priscilla was pacing back and forth in the temple gardens and occasionally pointing at Lira. It was going to turn into a lecture soon.
"You should avoid all Alphas. I hope you haven't started anything with that Kyren boy." Priscilla said pointing an accusatory finger at Lira.
"No Sister Priscilla."Lira replied in a monotone voice.
"If you become strong enough, you can rise without him falling."
Lira blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Just travel on your own. Fix the moonstone on your own. Too much is at stake for you to prance around with alphas, or any boys for that matter."
"Yes Sister Priscilla." Lira said resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
"Work more on channeling your powers. The sooner you get your first vision, the sooner you can fix the Moonstone." Priscilla nagged. "Have you tried lighting up the totem today?"
"Yes. Twelve times ma'am." Lira replied with a tight-lipped smile and her fists clenched behind her back.
"Well, do it twenty more times!" Priscilla threw her hands in the air. "If only you were a little bit stronger; if only we trained you harder…" Priscilla sank down to the ground and held her head in her hands.
"Sister Priscilla…" Lira whispered and got up.
"It shouldn't have happened to Nathan." Her voice quivered as she spoke and she started to sob.
Lira decided to leave as she noticed her sobs becoming more ragged. She walked to the vestibule and stopped right before it, turning to give Priscilla one last look.
Just then, her heart leaped into her throat. Priscilla chest was heaving, but not from the sobs. Groaning guttural noises were coming from her and the pores on her skin started widen as thick brown hair grew out of it.
She was shifting into a wolf but not in the usual way. It seemed painful. Her eyes turned wild and white foam dripped out of her mouth.
Lira froze and her heart dropped down to her stomach as she watched Priscilla, or what used to be Priscilla staggering towards her.
"St-stay back" Lira stammered out through shallow breaths. She was surprised that she managed to even say a word before the beast. She was sure Priscilla could hear her heart hammering through her chest.
Lira looked around wildly, hoping that someone, anyone would be nearby but the place was empty. Just as she thought she could shift and run, she felt a splitting pain behind her right eye. She cried out and fell to her knees.
She then saw Kyren, shirtless and covered in his own blood. Right before her eyes, he melted into a puddle of water that solidified into ice.
"K-Kyren…" Lira whispered as everything went dark.