Chapter 69: Luna's Influence

The Alpha's Hut, Wolfsback Summit, Unknown World...

Late into the night, Hermione Jean Granger found herself awakening as seemingly unintended tremors rocked the make-shift bed disturbing her rest. As she slowly came to her senses in light of the unwanted awakening, she noticed that Severus Snape had not been in bed with her. A swift node of panic filled her as she jumped up from beneath the animal skins completely forgetting her lack of clothing only to find him staring out of a small cut away space into the open sky. If she needed any further proof of the late hour, she needed to look no further than the black skyline and the seemingly twinkling stars in the vast distance muggle's referred to as "space".

As she watched him, her amber eyes filled with amply amount of concern and worry...she began to notice that all had not been well with her werewolf lover. To begin with, his exceptionally muscular pale form had been riddled with tension as every fiber of his being seemed to ripple with the intent to pounce as he gripped the not so easily damaged wall of the hut leaving deep razor sharp claw marks in it's interior. The now cautious witch couldn't help noticing that Severus' eyes had become a strange off-color yellow hue around the pupils and red veins running along his eyeballs seemed to sprout out of nowhere as if his blood pressure had skyrocketed.

For the most part she could tell that he seemed to be struggling against something, as he was locked in this position unable to move for quite some time. Slowly and carefully, Hermione moved toward the Potions Professor. He began to whimper and stare out into the open sky as the white pale glow of the moon seemed to barely graze him.

"S-Severus?" she said attempting to get his attention.

The Alpha were made no move to note that he had heard her despite having a keen sense of hearing before becoming moon-born. Hermione sighed noting that whatever this had been that had overtaken her lover it was something due to his beast blood. He had been wild an unpredictable given his status as a ruling hound of Hircine.

"Severus please." said pleaded his rather terrified witch. "I have to know that you're alright."

Another whimper escaped him as he appeared to note her pleas for a response.

"She calls to me." he said digging his shifting claws into the wall of the hut.

"Who?" asked Hermione almost desperate for an answer as the thought of the offending she-wolf Reka crossed her mind. "Who calls to you...Severus?"

"Luna." replied the seemingly entranced werewolf as his eyes shifted rapidly in the wake of this reveal.

Hermione let out a startled gasp as she noted his off color yellow eyes becoming like refined silver an indefinite reflection of the moon's glow in the sky.

"Severus?" said the young witch unsure how to approach this aspect of her lover's wolfish persona.

"She calls to me." he said again in a desperate tone almost as if he had been in agony. "I must go to her."

"Severus I can't let you go running off in this condition." said Hermione asserting her role as his controller despite being unsure how it would be possible. "There's no telling how many people you'd hurt."

Snape became aggressive as his eyes shifted from the white glow of the moon to a rapidly expanding crimson glow.

"NO FEMALE." he hissed. "LUNA CALL'S!"

"Severus don't." said Hermione not at all liking the aggressive stance he had taken.

"WANT OUT!" shouted Snape becoming rather insistent. "NO STOP ME...NO STOP ALPHA!"

The frantic witch had not known what to do as Snape scooped her up slammed her onto the bed.

"WITCH STAY!" he growled glaring rather murderously at her.

"I can't let you leave." said Hermione mustering her Gryffindor courage.

"NEED GO!" shouted Snape digging his claws into the makeshift bed and effectively shredding the animal skins. "NEED GO NOW...WILL HURT...WILL HURT WITCH BEAST NOT LIKE CONTROL!"

"Severus." said Hermione attempting to get through to his human side. "We have to go back to Hogwarts...we have a mission to finish."

"PLEASE." said Snape pleading despite his aggression as his tense body maneuvered between her slender thighs. "NEED GO...NEED GO TO HER...WILL HURT...WILL HURT WITCH...NO CONTROL!"

The pulsing blood beneath her veins had gotten his attention.

"NEED GO NOW!" he shouted breaking away from her and bursting out of the hut at speeds she had only seen him capable of when hunting.

"SEVERUS!" shouted Hermione in despair as he disappeared beyond the trees of the forest away from Wolfsback Summit.

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Morning...

The Alpha's Hut, Wolfsback Summit, Unknown World...

Hermione awoke to find herself in the care of the werewolf shaman as he went about seeing to her minor wounds in the wake of Snape's sudden pre-shifting rage. A wave of confusion hit her as she looked about the hut in search of her werewolf lover terrified of what he had done in the wake of such a strange and seemingly unyielding aggression.

"He isn't here." said the shaman moving about the hut as if he had not a care in the world. "Quite a dangerous one isn't he?"

The amber eyed witch arched a brow at this strange were-beast in an old mortal man's body. He seemed to know a great deal about his kind and about the Father of man beasts. From what she could gather he had been about the only traditionalist among the werewolf village and as such he had been sought out for counsel on the old ways of the werewolf during the reign of the previous Alphas.

"You could say that." replied Hermione deciding that the older were had meant her no harm.

"And therein lies the attraction." said the shaman with something of a smile.

It was strange to note that it was not in the least predatory, unlike the smiles of Severus and Lupin when in mortal form. The intelligent witch guessed that it was due to years of practice or the fact that this old were had no real blood-lust left in him.

The shaman stoked the flames of the hut's personal fireplace to keep the inquisitive witch warm as he prattled on.

"The Alpha is subject to a great many wonders as well as a great many terrors." he seemingly explained with a look of outright sympathy filed across his aged face.

Hermione noted that the old were was speaking from a vast well of experience.

"The plant that was gifted to our kind for many a century was to enable an Alpha such as your Severus Snape to co-exist in this world through the mutual bonding of his chosen mate." continued The Shaman with a rather weary expression. "It is a plant of strange wonders...the rapid shifting of colors and the mutual benefits of health and development for young when eaten by the joined mates."

Hermione had suddenly been thrown through a loop.

"Rapidly shifting color?" she asked with an arched brow.

The Shaman nodded.

"It was once called "Flore vitae" in the ancient tongue." he continued. "A vibrant plant growing near a river among the mists of it's waterfalls...it was said to have numerous color shifts when presented with the presence of an alpha wolf and his chosen mate."

The description of the strange flora bloom the shaman spoke of was beginning to sound familiar.

"G-go on." she urged hanging onto his every word about this mysterious plant.

"Even in our circles it was said to be a rarity given how long it has been since an Alpha was chosen to rule displaying the will of Hircine." continued the Shaman. "It's appearance varies due to color change but when first encountered by the fated mates it was said to have become a vibrant shade of white with sprouted green seed pods."

Hermione's eyes widened as her naturally brilliant mind took her back to a plant of the same description.

"The Rivermist plant." she said in recognition of her mind's eye. "That's why it's so incredibly rare...it can only be seen by Alpha wolves and their mates."

The Shaman didn't seem surprised that she had seen such a plant given her relationship with Severus Snape.

"So...you have seen the wonder of the Flore vitae?" he asked despite already known the answer.

"I have." replied Hermione thinking back. "We found it months ago...before he really knew anything about Severus being an Alpha or that he and I were...to be mates."

The Shaman sighed.

"You must return to the flora and ingest it...both of you." he said. "Without it...Hircine's blood-lust and Luna's call will drive the Alpha mad with rage and he may end up harming you."

"Hircine and Dumbledore made a pact to prevent such a thing from occurring." said Hermione relieved for once that her Headmaster had meddled in her life for the greater good."I cannot be harmed by Severus due to the agreement."

The Shaman shook his head.

"Dear girl...Hircine made the pact under the assumption that you two would have eaten the flora and been bound through both beings." he said. "You are fortunate the were you share a bed with is capable of mortal rationalization...but it will only last for so long...sooner or later the beast will rebel and will not hesitate to kill you in a bid to break free of the confines of men...it already sees you as a restraint and you have no were-blood in you to stave off it's darker appetites."

"So what you are telling me is that...Severus could possibly kill me?" asked Hermione stunned that she had not so easily escaped the harsh truth that her lover was a dangerous monster set loose upon the land by a most unscrupulous wizard.

The Shaman nodded.

"You and the mortal wizard may be mated but that does not have any bearing on the beast within if you have not been properly bound to him via the flora." urged the Shaman. "The danger this wizard presents is most astronomical even to were-kind...his unpredictability was no doubt intended by Hircine which is why his was so highly sought after by the father of man beasts...a man living within the tight confines of control...between two dominating masters breeds the most vile of creatures ever unleashed upon the land...no doubt the father planned for his newest and most favored creation to rule more than just one realm of the world."

"A-Are you saying that Severus could possibly turn on everyone in the wizarding world?" asked Hermione stunned by the old Were's admission.

The aged werewolf sighed meeting her inquisitive amber eyes with his own weary gray orbs.

"I am saying he could quite possibly destroy us all if left to his own devices...and I am saying that as of now... he is not truly bound to you...not as far as the beast within him is concerned...this could lead to much more peril in the future if you do not get him returned to your...Hogwarts and ingest the flora...he must be made to feel your heart within his own to silence the call of blood before it gets too loud to ignore...he is more susceptible to ruin given his darker nature." said the shaman.

Hermione had been surprised by the second mention of her lover having a darker nature by this werewolf shaman.

"I am well aware that he was aligned to the dark one." said the shaman noting her surprise. "It is because of this that I worry for us all...he could very well become consumed by the power he now wields and lose himself in the blood-lust...if that should happen...all will be lost for every side in this war...there will be no stopping him."

"I won't let that happen." said the determined witch with her amber eyes blazing. "I won't lose him to the beast blood or anyone thing else Hircine, Dumbledore, or even Voldemort have to offer...I love him and he loves me...we'll get through this...well get back to Hogwarts and we'll both ingest the Rivermist plant."

The Shaman nodded in reaction to her determination.

"He has a wondrous mate in you little witch." he said. "Let us hope he can be salvaged by your very Gryffindor merits."

Hermione had been caught off guard that the shaman knew of her Hogwarts house.

He smiled this time like that of an amused boy instead of a weary old man.

"Ah yes...I know the vast corridors of Hogwarts as well as the intimate chambers of the Gryffindor Tower." he replied. "As I should given that I was once a student there...but that of course was so very long ago...ages more the like...apparently having pure wizarding blood and being bitten by a werewolf in my youth can attest to the time I've spent studying the old ways and looking after the young ones."

Meeting her eyes once more, the old shaman had given her a clear picture of how life could have been for Lupin if he had chosen to embrace the werewolf aspect of himself instead of hiding from it in shame.

"Good luck to you...little witch." said the shaman before taking his leave.

Hermione turned her attention to the roaring fire he had left behind to keep her warmed.

"Severus." she said with an exhausted sigh. "Where have you gone?"