ACT (01) Proserpina

ALASTOR NYX:

Finally, Harry aimed a kick to his back but Alastor, as though already sensing it, suddenly dodged out of the way, causing Harry to trip on his own two feet, gracelessly flailing his arms about as he fell face-first to the muddy ground with a high-pitched, indignant shriek.

“What the fuck, Al? What the hell's wrong with you?!” Harry demanded, wiping, and spitting out filth, “Aw, gross! That just got in my mouth…”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Sean retorted, helping Alastor stand up, “...you just did try to kick our own alpha.”

Between labored breaths, Alastor clumsily got on his own two feet and embarrassingly, with Sean's help, his legs trembling a bit as he ignored anything and everyone around him but the one simple fact that he just found his mate and she just freaking melted into the shadows.

Good news?

It answers one question: well, duh! —no wonder he never found his mate after all this time. Alastor’s mate is not a werewolf or a normal human, after all… bad news? It brought out a lot more of headache inducing questions too such as: what was her name? Who was she? Where did she go? Why did she left? How could she left? Didn't she know?

But what is she?

She couldn't be a witch… the honorary daughters of Hecate aren't that aggressive to actually slay someone with too many witnesses no matter said transgressor’s slight, he didn't even saw her being accompanied by the usual pet familiar either and witches are rarely left on their own unless they could handle themselves or are old grannies.

He couldn't be sure, though... maybe she’s a hunter of the moon goddess, perhaps? Wait. No. No, Artemis, please no... because as much as the very idea greatly concerned him since hunters are sworn to maidenhood, Alastor reasoned out with himself that the hunters of Artemis travel as a large group and made it a point of staying away from werewolves, especially their affairs since their kind were treated as no less than beasts. Ugh, just thinking about the hunters made him feel a little annoyed.

Alastor had heard stories, had been told by Sean over and over again from his own experience what to expect upon meeting a mate for the first time, but never had Alastor imagined the intensity of his own reaction.

Never had he felt such a roller coaster of emotions being evoked by a single person who does personally nothing to him within a span of a minute.

It was spontaneous, frightening, maddening but above all, it was so enchanting—just find her damn it!—and he had never felt so cold, so alone when she turned away without so much as another glance and left him choking and breathless… quite literally.

“It... happened.”

His friends immediately stopped their inane bickering, simultaneously turning to look at him with wide eyes.

They knew immediately what he spoke of.

Harry looked torn, a strange mix of proud and incredulous while Sean just looked plain horrified. How long had everyone in their pack been waiting for this moment?

“Wait. Wait a minute. You mean miss gloom and doom back there?” Harry suddenly asked, laughing as he stood up, spreading his muddy arms widely with a shit-eating grin, “Congrats, man! It's a match made in heaven!”

“You mean hell,” Sean snapped, worriedly glancing where Alastor's mate is last spotted, looking like he expected her to pop back into existence.

Alastor wished she did.

“I'm so proud of you, buddy!” Harry was saying, slapping him on the back, “Come on, man, give big old, Uncle Harry a hug—OUCH!”

“You fucking idiot!” Sean yelled, snatching his hand away after slapping Harry across the head, “Don't you recognize her? The way she fought?!”

Harry scowled, looking completely unrepentant as he gingerly massaged his head, “Swords' really not my thing…”

Alastor excitedly turned to Sean, an excited grin automatically making its way on his lips, “Wait Sean, does this you mean you know her? Dude, why didn’t you just say so? You could have called her and introduced us! We’re friends, right?!”

Sean gaped at the two of them in disbelief, “Are you both for real? Please tell me you’re joking. Come on, guys. This isn’t cool.”

Harry just shrugged, “Eh.”

“For fuck’s sake, everyone saw, and we all recognized her! Why do you think the nymphs were so freaked out when she suddenly came so close to them? THEY COULD HAVE DIED!” Sean practically screamed the last sentence as he angrily moved his arm about, officially losing it by that point.

“Well, I don't...” Alastor snapped, annoyed and a bit put off with Sean’s freaking out, “…and I'm her mate, you know?”

“You know what? You're idiots. Both of you,” Sean groaned, putting a hand on his face, looking like he was seriously regretting his life choices, “…why, moon goddess, why am I always surrounded by idiots?”

“Maybe this is your karma,” Harry supplied, patting him on the shoulder and nodding sagely, “Maybe you were a real jerk in your past life.”

Sean swatted him away.

“Still are,” Harry chortled.

“But I gotta say, never seen anyone fight like that before. I mean, is she an assassin or something? How about one of those 'monster' mercenaries? Weren’t they supposed to be modern ninjas or something? Everyone's literally staring at her though, but I mean, who wouldn’t?” Alastor rambled as he scratched his head bashfully, still amazed by what he saw.

Then he noticed his friends staring at him.

“What?” Alastor asked.

“Oh no, Mr. Nyx,” Harry exclaimed with an exaggerated British accent as he pretended to take down notes in the air, “Do continue. We’d love to hear you simp!”

“Fuck you,” Alastor seethed, feeling his cheeks growing warm.

“Aw, love you too, man!”

“But don't you see, Alpha?” Sean demanded, “Those eyes, the shadows—hell, even that sword! She looked and acted like she might be... Proserpina.”

"Wait… the underworld's queen?" Harry blurted out.

“No moron, that's Queen Persephone,” Sean muttered, groaning tiredly under his breath, “...there's a difference. Proserpina is the daughter of Hades. She’s the goddess of shadows: keeper of death and heir of the underworld.”

“Wait. There's a new goddess—?”

“What the hell, Sean?” Alastor fumed, resisting the childish urge to stomp his feet, “Why the fuck didn't I know any of this?!”

Sean glared angrily at him, “Gee, I don’t know Al, maybe because you should try attending pack meetings for once, you dimwit?!”

Alastor bit his lower lip, guilty, “W-Whatever, man. Just… just pop my shoulder back in place right now!”

“What? Why?”

“Just be quick about it!”

Harry looked mildly concerned while Sean swore under his breath and tried to right Alastor's shoulder back properly. “Uh... hey Al, you're not seriously planning to follow her, right?”

Wrong question, Alastor snarled at him, “I just fucking found my mate Harry and now she's gone, gods fucking damn it, I will follow her to the ends of Tartarus if it means I'll have her back with me! She's mine–!”

Sean nudged him sharply, “Enough, Alastor… you know Harry meant well, but chasing after a goddess of the underworld seems like a literal death wish.”

Alastor faltered at that, a cloud of doubt suddenly surfacing. Sean’s right, his mate is a goddess of another realm... she could just have about anyone she wanted, especially with a face like that. What if Hades forbade her from seeing him? What if she didn't even like him? Or worse—what if she already had someone else in her life?!

“Okay, okay I get it... but losing your mate is a fate far worse than death, right?” Harry suddenly wondered out loud.

“You're not helping!”