Nine wolves, along with me and Clara, arrived in a town bustling with nightly activities. On the outskirts, I climbed down from my husband's back. Everyone had reverted to their human forms.
I saw four men and four women. They all looked quite young, maybe Nikolai being the eldest among them.
A tall guy with a sneaky face asked, "How did this happen?"
A short man chimed in, "Chill, Giovanni, give it some time to sink in."
My husband replied, "Is this all that's left of our pack?"
"Yeah, the rest died trying to break out of prison. It's all your fault, Nikolai!" said a short, chatty woman, "just because you saved us doesn't mean you can waltz back into the pack. You left us. You used to be the Alpha, but now that you're a Rogue, don't expect us to just accept you back."
"I apologize wholeheartedly for my past mistakes. But now, I've returned with powers long-lost to us. The Great Father has no reason to exile our group anymore."
"Maybe not, but he still has reason to exile you. You're not an Alpha anymore."
"If I'm not leading this pack, then who will?"
"Obviously, Giovanni. He was a Beta, but since you left, we've promoted him to Alpha."
"Really? Did the Moon Goddess approve?"
"The Moon Goddess has been dead for a long time."
"No, she has reincarnated into this mortal body," Mr. Nikolai looked at me.
Suddenly, everyone turned to look at me. "Me?"
Wait, what? Me? Since when did I become part of this alpha-omega frequency debate?
"Are you sure the Moon Goddess has reincarnated into this woman's body?"
"Check for yourself. Let her touch your forehead, and you'll feel the Ancestral Core belonging to werewolves within her. Thanks to her, we can shift into our wolf forms."
The short, chatty woman grabbed my hand and touched her forehead with mine. She paused for a moment. I had no clue what was going on.
"It's true. This person has the Ancestral Core. But I sense another soul besides the Moon Goddess."
"About that..." now my husband was puzzled to say, "Giovanni, can I talk to you for a moment?"
The two tall guys stepped aside under a tree. They were deep in a conversation that made absolutely no sense to me. Bored by waiting, I decided to play with Clara. The two of us laughed together while watching funny videos on social media.
Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Nikolai and Giovanni returned to us.
"Well, there's a complicated situation here," Giovanni said, "for now, we have no choice but to accept Nikolai back as our Alpha."
"What? That's impossible. He's already become a Rogue; we should be kicking him out instead of making him our leader. Besides, his wife passed away two years ago. An Alpha without a Luna is nothing."
"You're mistaken, Nerfi. The Luna you're talking about has been here all along."
Giovanni glanced back at me.
Suddenly, everyone turned to look at me again, except my husband.
I walked closer to Mr. Nikolai, seeking protection in case these eight people decided to attack me.
"WHAT!!!" They all shouted in utter surprise. I found myself screaming involuntarily too.
Nerfi, the most energetic one, bombarded with rapid-fire questions, "It can't be. How did this happen? What have you done, Nikolai? How can a Luna appear from a regular person like her? She's from the east. How could she become part of the werewolf?"
Unconsciously, I found myself clutching my husband's hand again, seeking comfort. Then he said, "Relax, Nerfi, I don't quite understand it either."
Giovani stepped forward to clarify, looking into my eyes intently. "It seems there are two souls reincarnated into this woman's body."
"What!" This time, I exclaimed in shock. "What do you mean?"
"Um, how do I put this... Somehow, within your body, there are two souls reincarnated as one. The soul of Nikolai's late wife, who passed away two years ago, and the Moon Goddess who also died on the same day."
"But this is impossible. How could this happen? A Moon Goddess and Luna reincarnating into the body of an ordinary woman from the East? It's hard to believe."
"Believe it or not, that's the reality now. Nikolai, do you sometimes feel Heat and Hate simultaneously when you're with this woman?"
"Yeah, ever since I first met her, I can sense a scent from her body that drives me into uncontrollable Heat. I even had to cover my nose when near her to keep my desires in check. But at times, there's a smell on her that I absolutely hate, like the stench of a dead animal."
"That's normal because you harbor a deep hatred for the Moon Goddess. From the beginning, she was the cause of your wife's death. We should go to our old headquarters in the cave on Mount Tâmpa. I have some old scrolls there that might provide guidance for our current situation."
"Alright then. Look at you, Giovani, you haven't changed. My trusted Beta can always be relied upon."
"After all, this is who I am. Let's get out of here."
The nine people there transformed back into their wolf forms. Clara and I mounted the same ride as before, my husband. The eleven of us shot off very quickly back into the forest just in front of where our car was parked earlier. About five meters to the right, it turned out that there was a cave tightly closed by branches.
Giovani said that this place had once been their emergency shelter for werewolves a few years ago. Nerfi made a torch from a dry stick that she had found in front of the cave's entrance.
Giovani approached a corner of the room and carefully retrieved a wooden box. He opened it to reveal several ancient scrolls that were incredibly old.
"Let's see, this is the legend of the death and resurrection of the Moon Goddess. There's no need to read it, we've witnessed it firsthand. After death, she will reincarnate into the human body of her choosing."
My husband read another scroll, "the burdened soul, at times when a dead soul reincarnates into the body of a mortal creature, there are rare occurrences where two souls can incarnate into the same body. This usually happens when both souls die simultaneously and in the same way."
"Well, the Moon Goddess and your wife died simultaneously for the same cause. Got it, I've found the document we're looking for. It details various signs and ways the Moon Goddess can reincarnate again, the writing is lengthy and largely irrelevant. Well, I've found something interesting. When she reincarnates into an ordinary mortal body..., oh no."
"What is it?"
"It's Nikolai, you should read it yourself, I can't."
My husband took the paper from Giovani's hand. "When the Moon Goddess lives in a mortal body, that body must remain pure and free from impure actions. Sexual relations are forbidden, as well as any acts of carnal desire. Intimate romance with a partner is prohibited; if defiled, she will depart from that body. What! What is all this?"
"There's more to it, read it to the end."
"If the Goddess leaves the body she inhabits, it will result in the owner of that body going insane or, worse yet, dying."
Mr. Nikolai dropped the paper from his hand, unable to finish reading the remaining sentences. He looked at me with despair. I was at a loss about how to respond to this situation.