"Huh!?..." I stupidly reply to the bombshell my dad dropped on my lap. To say I'm shocked is an understatement. I'm totally flabbergasted
"My mother was an original or did I not hear you properly?" I ask my dad again and he just nods back at me in return
My mouth is still half open with shock when I look towards Eric for more confirmation. I see he also has the same shocked expression on his face which further confirms to me, even without my dad's words that my ear is working perfectly.
"I am an original werewolf!" I say loudly this time, more to myself than for the benefit of my dad and Eric who are in the room with me.
Who would have thought that I'm a descendant of one of the original shifter families that I've talked shit about with Eric so many times? I had no clue! How would I have known when none of my family members deemed it fit to tell me! Not my mom when she was alive and not my uncle that I stayed with for fifteen whole years!
I saw my mom's birth certificate once and it says she was in her early twenties back then when she gave birth to me. I never realized she was older when she barely looked older than a high schooler
"How old was my mom when you met her?" I asked my dad
"Twenty"
"No, I meant her original age?"
"One hundred and eighty..."
My jaw dropped
"Holy moly! One hundred and what now!?" Eric exclaims.
"Yeah... That's because she's a first-generation offspring. Thor, who is second-generation, will age a bit faster than her and certainly a lot slower than ordinary werewolves like me."
His bad attempt at a joke was lost on me but Eric's eyes widened the more.
He turns back to me
"Your children will also be originals..." He continues to explain to me but I already know everything there is to know about them, except for the fact that I AM AN ORIGINAL! I screamed in my head
The originals are the creators of all werewolf shifters. In North America, there are five werewolf families that all other North Americans werewolves originate from...
House Howell
House War-cloud
House Irvin
House Thunder-hawk
House Denton
Each of these Houses had an Ultima and Suprema werewolves that are higher and stronger than every other wolf in a pack back then, including the Alpha and Luna. These Ultimas and Supremas were also very dangerous, especially when angered. If a human for example merely looks into the eyes of the Ultima or Suprema when they're angry, they have less than a twenty percent chance of survival.
The offspring that comes out of the Ultima and Suprema mating is the first-generation original werewolf. The first-generation original offspring, like my mom, would give birth to an original even if they got mated to non-original werewolves like my dad.
As a second-generation original, my offspring will be a third-generation original if I mate with an original, from the first, second, or third generation.
As third generations, though they will age slower than normal werewolves, my children will only be able to have an original offspring if they mate with a first and second generation. Their offspring will be second generation if they mate with first generation like my mom and third generation if they mate with second generation like me. Two third-generation originals can not produce original offspring.
According to history, before the Council was created in North America, each House was in charge of governing its territories. Once in a decade, all the Ultimas and their mate Supremas from all the Houses would hold a meeting to discuss law and order, and general well-being in the shifter society.
Many decades ago before Moon goddess started giving revelation powers to seer's, it was a full-blood moon night, as if nature knew what was about to happen. Except for House Denton that also knew what was about to happen, the Ultimas and Supremas from the other houses had no clue that the meeting would be their last meeting together, they never knew that the day would be their last on earth.
That night, House Denton along with their offspring, successfully carried out their well thought out scheme, to murder the Ultima and Suprema of the other four Houses. Immediately after killing the parents, they carried out the other part of their plan which was to trace and kill all their offspring scattered all over the world
House Denton's aim was to be the only family that can create original werewolves and rule over North America. Their plans were successful to some extent as many originals ended up dead while the ones not dead went deep into hiding.
Many decades later, they were all still in hiding, which was what annoyed me the most about them. None of them, especially House War-cloud who was renowned for their warriors have the guts to stand up to House Denton.
I turn my gaze away from Eric and back to my dad
"How come Uncle Elias never mentioned this to me whenever we talked about the history of your's and Mother's family? I stayed with him for fifteen years! Why would he hide such important information from me!?"
"He was just being careful. Telling the offspring who was not the chosen one or the one with the wrong mindset like you might mean death to the rest of the family members.
"Well, I don't have the wrong mindset, I was just telling the truth..." I deny his accusation but he just rolled his eyes upward at me.
"All these originals have their reasons for lying low so please stop judging what you don't understand!"
"Yeah, yeah..." I reply. Wondering if that statement was merely about the originals or if he was acting petty because of the conversation about him and my mom.
"What do you mean by the chosen one anyway?"
"After House Denton's betrayal, there was a prophecy that said some chosen offspring will rise, take back, and restore the glory of their various Houses."
"I guess he didn't mention that also because of his belief that I have the wrong mindset right?"
"Can you blame him? Especially when you're always making jokes and criticizing House War-cloud where he and your mother came from."
"Of course, I belong to House War-Cloud!" I murmur in realization.
Eric chuckles right then and I shoot him a glare that immediately shuts him up. Of all the Houses, House War-cloud was the one I dissed the most. I called them bunch of cowards so many times, even in the presence of my uncle. How funny did he think, just getting to know I'm an original from House War-Cloud sounded to me? Fuck! Remembering all that I'd said, I wouldn't tell me the truth if I was my Uncle.
"So why are you telling me now? I'm not one of the chosen ones and I'm sure you still believe I have the wrong mindset."
"You're going to b e the Alpha of the largest pack in the whole of North America tomorrow, it's high time you know your history. Now that you've known, let's get back on course to what we were talking about before."
"Yeah, you were talking about your suspicion about House Denton" Eric reminds him
"Yes...The case I said Drew and I investigated? About werewolves mysteriously going missing?..."
"Yeah?..."
"Those shifters were never found. There was no trace of them anywhere! It was as if they disappeared off the face of the earth into thin air! I'm not talking about just a few numbers of wolves here, I'm talking about communities! Counties! Thousands and thousands of wolves disappearing, you know?"
"That's terrible but where is the connection to House Denton here because I can't see it yet?" I ask
"It was around the same time that these shifters disappeared, we started getting other reports about strange creatures attacking not just small werewolves settlements but humans too at night.
"Strange creatures?'
"Yes! I don't have evidence to support my claim but I think those missing werewolves were somehow turned into some kind of hybrids."
"Hybrids... Isn't mating between vampires and werewolves now forbidden in both werewolf and vampire worlds
"I'm not talking about the typical vampire and werewolf hybrid that we all know. I'm talking about werewolves that looked like they had some kind of gorilla genes and whatever in them to make them more monstrous! I've never seen one of these monsters myself. All that we worked with back then were descriptions from survivors like Owen and then later you.
We never caught any alive or dead that we could observe. Since we didn't want to call them hybrids, the Council named them dark wolves simply because they only attack at night then but not anymore now..."
"Yeah, sorcery was used to cause the eclipse of the sun so they could murder my mother and Eric's parents," I say bitterly.
"I don't have concrete evidence to back my claim yet but I think House Denton has known about the prophecy of the chosen ones for a long time now. I think that was why they created the dark wolf armies in readiness for whatever it is that is coming"
"Wait!" Eric, who had a frown of concentration on his face while my dad talked, suddenly says and we turn to him.
"How can one tell who the chosen ones are?" He asked my dad
"According to your Uncle Elias. The mark, a red crescent moon, will appear on their body when they turn eighteen. The mark will be in a private place on their body so it won't be easy for the enemies to locate"
"Oh god, Thor! I don't think the dark wolves came for your mom and my parents..."
"Really? Why do you say that?" I ask
"I think they came for Thor!" He says to my dad before rapidly turning to me. "You were the one they wanted to kill, I think that was why you were protected inside the dome!"
"Me? Why would they want to kill me?" I asked in confusion
"Because I think you're among the chosen ones and they already know that!"