1 Seven Moons

Daybreak is just about to begin and I am already sleepy out of my mind. I want to go to bed and never wake up again. But noooo~ I have to be outside with the other priests-in-training, making sure the grounds are purified for the ritual.

Yawning, I can still see the seven full moons in the skies as the sun is just beginning to come up on the horizon, resulting in a clash of colours all around the skies. Red, orange, blue, purple. If sleep was not so appealing, I thought, I would have been a morning bird.

Then again, I don't like the sun. It is hot and bright and annoying at the same time. I just like early mornings and nights. I like anything from dusk to dawn that is it. I am not trying to sound so cynical, the sun just annoys me sometimes.

The air is cold and the winds are heavy. Our robes did nothing to help keep us warm though we sometimes have shawls on us, but I was woken up too early that I forgot to take it with me. The other Priests said that we would have to get used to the air to be able to build up resistance.

I can understand where that is coming from, we need to build up the tolerance for the cold but most of us are just sixteen to eighteen-year-old boys. I doubt we would be able to work as well if we turn sickly from the cold and the work.

I say sixteen to eighteen-year-olds, but most of our age is unknown to the common people. After all, we are all here for a reason and not because we happened to be here by accident.

I shall talk about that one day, maybe.

"Orion!" A boy with brown, messy bangs all strew over the front of his face came running to me, holding two long brooms made from the branches of the bamboos, we collected a couple of days before, and dried out twigs. "Here you go."

"Thanks," I said, taking the broom from him, yawning once again, tears rolling down my eyes from the constant yawning. "Why do we have to wake up so early for something that not everyone is going to see?"

"Shush. If they hear you, they will scold you once again, Orion." The boy said, looking around himself nervously.

The other boys around the area continued to clean the other parts of the place, the massive temple behind us and the stone pathways as well as the statues all along the marble railings. Some are more worn out than others with cracks and broken pieces scattered on the ground that some of the boys are cleaning up.

The day before, we were scrubbing the moss off the walls and the day before that we … I don't think that is all that important, so let's just skip it all.

This is Nova. I don't know his last name. Just like no one knows my last name, I might have forgotten mine too. The moment you enter into this place, your old name is discarded and you are given a new name and a new identity. You could say that is the main reason I am here, but I would never tell.

Well, if you asked nicely, I just might tell you, one day. Not now.

Though, it did not take a genius to know that many of the boys here are from influential families, powerful families. Boys that need to be 'reformed' or were chosen by the Temple because they exhibited the 'trait'. Ignore the 'reformed', that is not important at all and it is just a word used by the public.

And by 'trait', I mean that they are all Betas. Yes, I am a Beta myself. I am sure everyone already knows the hierarchy of those three Greek alphabets.

But, in case they don't … maybe I can try to give a bit of information every now and then. I'm not the best at these things but … well, something is better than nothing I suppose.

About my … group. People think the Betas are a pitiful group as they are unable to conceive like the Omegas and they are also not as strong or as powerful as the Alphas.

So, they are instantly doomed to a life of servitude. Though those from more prominent families end up in Temples, or, if they prove to be of use to an Alpha, they are taken in by them. That helped to keep them from dishonouring their family name and away from the life of servitude.

Because, goodness knows what will happen if powerful families have to be placed into a serving role like other Betas or Omegas. It would be horrible. A horrible tail.

I know it's tale, not tail. I meant tail.

That is a tail that has been told over the years about this place, this convent sort of place that I stayed in. It might be true or not, after all, rumours have to start from something. Though I can say that it is not entirely false but not entirely true either.

I am a little busy at the moment so I promise I will tell you about the true history of the place, what is true and what is just because of the passing rumours twisted over time.

It is quite interesting, I promise.

Huh? What about me?

*Chuckles*

Unfortunately, my life's story is not anything interesting in the slightest. I am not anything like the heroes and tales of old, strong, capable and kind. They are perfect in everything they do, hardly failing and always seem to make friends wherever they may be.

I really am sorry to disappoint.

I am nothing like that. I just had a dream where I was told that I should come to this temple by the Moon Goddess and I came, that is my entire story. When she came to me in my dreams, she glowed so brightly, I felt like I was going to go blind just from looking at her.

On my throat is a mark that proves that I did meet her, the mark of the wolves, a crescent moon covered with the waves of the sea our king arose from.

The sea … is made… *yawns* … of ... zzzzz … zzzzzz …

Huh? I did not fall asleep, how could you accuse me of such? It is a crime to accuse someone falsely, you know that?

…

It really isn't. I wanted to be a little annoying. Now, where was I? Oh yes, Nova and the rituals … I think … wait … what rituals? Did we have rituals? It will come back to me eventually.

For now, on with the dialogue I suppose.

"You are off in your own world once again, Orion," Nova said, waving his hands in front of my face as I finally paid attention to him again. "Must you always go to that world whenever we are working?"

"That only happens when it is early in the morning. I think." I said, waving his hand away from my face, slightly irritated. "Besides, I have already been told that I needed a certain amount of sleep otherwise I cannot help myself from drifting off. I think."

"Well, I don't think so. You drift off in the middle of the night, right while we are talking and sometimes in the middle of practice." He mused, grinning at me as I continued to slowly fall asleep, leaning on the broom.

As though attempting to wake me up, a cold, chilly wind blew past us, sending goosebumps running up all over my body. "Curse this wind."

"Don't say things like that. You cannot curse." The boy said, holding the broom tightly in his hands as he continued to sweep up the fallen leaves off the grass. "Still … you are the one to be able to talk to people out of this world, I wish I had your skill, Orion."

"I can't talk to them exactly. I just know that they are there, that they exist and can hear my thoughts." I said, shrugging as I adjusted the cloth covering my mouth, hiding the scars that ran up from my lips to the lower corners of my eyes. "I do not know who they are though."

"Do you think they are gods and goddesses?" Nova asked, literally beaming with joy.

"I couldn't say so," I said, looking staring at the skies, the clash of colours turning from that chaos to orange. "I hope, perhaps someday, I will be able to hear them. Maybe they will tell me if I made a stupid decision or something like that."

"That would be interesting," Nova said, beaming up at me. This boy is something special, that I can tell.

I do not know what he will be or which family he came from or why he even is here, but I know that he will be something important in the future. That is the only reason I tolerate him.

You know what would be great? If he was part of the royal family and falls in love with me, becoming utterly obsessed. But, if he is royalty, that would mean he is an Alpha and he would not be able to be with me.

So, instead, he just gives me a comfortable position in the palace where I can just sleep and eat all day, living the rest of my life like that.

But that is not possible, there are no princes that would come here, they are too busy living in the palace, fighting for the throne or dead.

Oh right! I was walking about a sea, was I not? Well, that sea is on the coast of this kingdom and is entirely blood-red in colour. Every royal child, once they turned eighteen, would have to walk into the waters.

If there is just one child, this child will inherit the throne by default, but the thing about us werewolves is that we can't just have one child. There has to at least be four.

Mother Nature and the moon goddess blessed us with fertility and a strong libido, well … most of us that is. Don't worry about me, I do not care about it one bit but I digress.

The children and parents will walk into the waters and only those that are still deemed necessary will come out alive. Most of the time, just one person comes out and that is one of the princes.

He will come out wearing a robe made from the stars and a marking on his forehead of the moon in its purest form, this shows that the goddess is with the new ruler.

What if no one comes out? Then they will have doomed our kingdom for the next hundred years until the people have found the next ruler the goddess is happy with.

Though it is quite easy to find the person because all you have to do is to look amongst the Alphas. They are quite a few in number, but compared to the other two, they are the least in terms of population.

I always thought the goddess was biased with her choice because the people she always chooses were almost the same type. Kind but fierce leaders that are also extremely good looking.

But then, she chose me to go to this Temple that night and even placed her mark on me, so I stopped talking about her in a condescending tone.

Instead, I tell everything as facts, after I have confirmed them, of course. I do not spread lies or rumours.

Yes, the goddess has a type, I was able to confirm. And the goddess is very interested in people with deep b- Ugh!

A sudden glow from my neck mark knocked me to the ground, catching me completely off guard and startling Nova who helped me to my feet.

I apologise, it seems I have do not have the permission to tell you these things. Onto more trivial lore, I suppose.