shoulder. “That’s what my mother called them, anyway. The old stories, fables and myths passed down from generation to generation. She said they were how Wolves learned to be Wolves. She loved telling them to us when we were growing up.”
It was her turn to frown, thinking back as far as she could. “Mom used to read me stories when I was little, but I don’t remember anything…wolfy.”
“Well, not everyone knows them anymore, so it’s possible they didn’t tell them to you. Taken as a compendium, the overlying message is that shifters are more powerful in numbers than on their own. Alone, we die. Together, we have a chance. We fortify each other. The more there are of us, the healthier, the stronger and the more resilient we become.”
“But not invisible?”
“No. Nothing can do that.” His expression turned distant then. She was about to grill him on what looked to be complete bull when he started talking again. “The most important story I was ever told was the story of the Four. Our origins. The Four weren’t shifters, they were Wolves, pure to the bone and Alphas to boot. The strongest of their kinds and ravenous. A white Wolf from the north, a black from the west. The gray from the east and the red from the south. Having fought their way to the middle of the continent, they immediately began to fight each other for dominance. The battle raged for days, but there was no victor.
“They fought until the fields had turned red with their blood, seeping into the soil, carrying their souls into the Earth, but the strength and the rage of the Wolves was too much for the Earth to take back into itself, so their spirits followed the path of their blood as it became one with nature.
“The Wolves were restless, even in death, still searching for something or someone they could possess and control in order to continue their quests. The trees had strength enough for the Wolf spirits, but trees couldn’t defend themselves. The stones were impenetrable, but had no will of their own and traveled only where others sent them. So they followed the river, and there they found Man, who had movement, strength and will, but who they believed was weak enough that they could take him over and use him as a vessel. Submitting themselves into his body, the Wolf spirits became one with Man, giving him their indescribable strength and their near invincibility, but Man had one thing the Wolves didn’t and couldn’t foresee—a thirst for power beyond their own.
“Once the Wolves came into Man, they found themselves trapped, for Man might have been softer, but he’d never give up control. So Man trapped the Wolf in his heart, stealing his strength for the times when it was most needed and using it to build a stronger place in the world. However, no matter if he walks on two legs or four, this new Man is forever changed, because his heart beats with the soul of a Wolf, who can never be conquered and never be destroyed.”
Lia had to work to keep the smile off her face. He made for a pretty good storyteller, but it wouldn’t do to tell him so. “That’s it? That’s the origin of the Wolf shifter? We bled until we died in the dirt, sank into the ground water and infected mankind?” She pushed the plate forward, so full that even her feet felt heavy.
“Pale’s mate, Jade, thinks there’s possibly some level of truth to it, actually.”
“His mate, the Sibile?” Lia blinked, shocked. “She’s real?”
“Oh, as real as you and me,” Tate replied dryly, taking a final drink of his coffee. There was a different kind of story there, she just knew it.
“The Sibile that makes rainbows and stars with her fingertips and heals any wound with a kiss? She’s real? ”
He choked, putting the cup down with a clatter. “Where the hell did you hear a load of shit like that?”
“It’s what they’re saying in the safe houses. That the Alpha mated a Sibile who does that. I never thought it could be true
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