Chương 55: THE LORENTS’ PROPHECY

I knocked and popped my head into Dad's office. Aside that I got home later now that I was in high school, this was a regular occurrence for me. Sometimes Dad would ask me over for something. Sometimes Mum would just have had enough of me. And sometimes I would just go over on my own, just to see what Dad and Beta Lucas might be doing. Savy didn't ever do this, but I guess I was the one Dad had to babysit back when we were too young to be left on our own.

Mum also liked to make it sound like I was an insanely feral pup.

"I wouldn't say feral." Mum would try to console me when I pointed it out, "Maybe just spontaneous and prone to impulsiveness. You had a very big imagination." So I was very surprised when I grew older and my school started telling kids to read more because it helped us grow our imagination. My imagination was bad enough to constantly require adult supervision even before I knew what the word meant. But maybe because of all the times I had spent my puphood here, it was like just another after-school day.

"What's up, Dad?" I asked, smiling widely.

"Had a good day at school?" Dad asked from behind his computer. For the life of me, I didn't really remember. I shrugged.

"More like I'm happy that it's over." Dad looked like he was deciding whether to let that slide.

"So, you wanted me for something?" I asked before Dad took it on himself to lecture me on the benefits and privilege of education. Dad nodded.

"Alpha Lorent and his Luna visited us today."

"Mum told me. They gave me clothes." I plopped myself in the bay window. Dad indicated for me to come over to his side.

"Alpha Lorent also gave us some information about his son. I took the opportunity to ask him, in case, well, you know…" No, Dad, I had no idea. I didn't even know the guy's name.

"Do you know his name?" I asked Dad.

"I'm getting tired of calling him Alpha James' son." Dad looked confused, and then he realized I wasn't trying to be funny.

"James. His name is James Lorent the Fourth" Oh. That was obvious. I decided, maturely, not to comment on the number at the end of his name too. Because I was focused like that. And also because Dad was spilling far more interesting details.

"He also had a secret name," He gestured towards his screen (which was still his email inbox btw).

"He was also known as Rebel."

"Like, seriously?" I blurted out. What kind of email reports was my Dad getting in his inbox? This one already sounded like the makings of another Lorent drama? They should sign with Netflix.

"A few years before you were born…" my dad began, and for some reason, that alone signaled something bad. Let us not forget that "a few years before I was born", a lot of unexplainable bad things happened, but back to the Dad's story. A few years before I was born, the Lorent Pack was welcoming their Alpha and Luna's first pup, James Lorent IV. At the center of their town, there was a stone pavilion. On one half of the pavilion were large drums. On the other was an array of large bells.

As per custom, the birth of every Lorent Pack member was announced by either the beating of drums (a boy) or the ringing of bells (a girl). I had heard of this. I learned about it in Lycan Study Group and mentally pinned it as another over-the-top Lorent tradition. Anyway, at the birth of the Alpha's first pup, everyone had gathered at the Center Pavilion to await the good tidings. That day, there was a visiting warlock. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Back then, our packlands were friendly with the warlock lands next door. The warlock, often traveled the world, and would sometimes stop by our packs to visit. He was a powerful warlock, particularly renowned for water magic and prophecy. My Dad knew him personally. His name was Fount. Admittedly, even though Dad considered Fount a friend, he didn't know much about the warlock's personal life; they never talked about such things. But that was how a lot of men were like.

Fount often stopped by to meet Dad and they would discuss whatever topic that had been on their minds. I can't imagine what a warlock might want to talk about, but maybe Dad would've enjoyed talking about his usual pet topics like educational policies and border security. Fount was a very intelligent man who enjoyed vigorous debate. To my dad, it was a pity he was not a wolf. Fount was intelligent, but without wolf warmth or passion.

Unlike a wolf, like my dad, who wanted to change the world through education and build a safe and secure home for his pack, Fount had next to no desire for anything or anyone else. The warlock was only fixated on gaining more magic and more knowledge—and no matter how much he gained, he always seemed empty. My dad laughed tiredly as he recalled Fount's favorite question.

"What is love?"

"Poor man," Dad shook his head.

"He traveled the world but still could not understand it. He could understand everything, but not that." So anyway, Fount was passing through that day and had come to the pavilion to experience the celebration. The Alpha was there. The Luna appeared; she looked well—picture-perfect even—radiant, with the baby cradled in her arms. Everyone was there to look at their Luna and her new pup.

Maybe it was nerves from the sheer number of people, or the Alpha's presence, but at that exact moment, when everyone turned to the drums expecting them to start rolling, the person standing by the bells accidentally rang one. It rang out loud and clear, reverberating just once, because the one who rang it hastily grabbed it, hugging it with his whole body to silence it completely. Oops. Awkward silence. The lead drummer took one look at his Alpha's face and immediately lifted his arm to start the drum routine.

And then Fount appeared on the pavilion, holding out his hand to halt the drums. At the ring of the bell His name would be Rebel His army so fearsome You will cower at his return Master to the ring of vampire Brother to the warlock's fire He will not take a Luna mate. The last Lorent Alpha will be his fate. My dad read the prophetic poetry to me from his computer. Alpha James had emailed it to him after their talk that morning.

In the email, there was this short request:"I hope you can suggest a different meaning to these words." Back to the flashback of the day Rebel was born—Alpha James was furious, he practically shifted and tried to tear Fount into pieces. Fount had not expected that, but he managed to escape back into warlock lands. After that, Alpha James declared warlocks to be in the same category as vampires: kill on sight. Fount never tried to return either. And everything went back to normal. The boy was named James Lorent IV.

The prophecy was hushed out. The rest of the Lorent Pack was told that the warlock had tried to set a curse, but because the bells did not ring fully, the curse was nullified. The man at the bells was hailed a hero for stopping the bell from ringing its full course, and eventually retired because from that day onward, the Lorent Pack only had male pups. Also, wasn't that around the same time our pack stopped having babies? Or when the Morning Light Pack's rogue attacks began?

That time "a few years before I was born."

"It really did seem like a curse," I told my dad. But it stopped as mysteriously as it started… after Jessica and I were born. At least things went back to normal for our pack. Well, there was still the rogue problem, although we soon trained the capabilities to handle them. And the weather—it was just getting more erratic. It was only the second week of January, but the snow was already gone. No one was celebrating, though, and definitely no one was going to start planting.

Experience taught us it would probably just snow again. Was the weather really due to the curse? I mean, that could be just climate change... But the Lorent Pack was still only birthing boy pups. Don't tell me climate change did that! But if it were a curse, why would Fount curse the Lorents - or us for that matter?

"Why did Fount curse us?" I asked my dad. Dad answered immediately.

"Exactly. There was no reason for him to curse us."

"It was a prophecy. Fount just said what he saw. He probably thought he was doing us a favor, even."

"But Alpha James sure didn't think so," I pointed out.

"No, but I don't think he can deny it anymore," Dad sighed.

"He should have just called him Rebel from the start." I made a face. Alpha James naming his son Rebel? Hahahaha.

"There is no point denying the truth," Dad told me.

"No matter how hard it is to swallow, truth is the bitter pill that leads to healing." Okay… and now Dad was going all zen mode again.

"Why are you telling me this, Dad?" I asked. Because I was quite sure Dad wasn't just pouring tea on our Lorent neighbors.

"I wanted to tell you first," Dad said finally.

"I will tell the others later, but I wanted to give you time to hear it before that, since it might… it might inadvertently be linked to your dreams."

"My dreams?" I repeated stupidly. My dad nodded.

"I won't tell you what I think right now. I hope you will think about it yourself, and we might discuss the possible interpretations later tonight." I swallowed.

"Okay… ah, but I wanted to share some ideas for, um… for saving… James." Now that I was using his name, it felt weird.

"Oh." My dad froze.

"So… do you really think he might be your mate?" I thought for a while.

"No? I don't know. I haven't really considered that. I just want to help them." Dad nodded.

"All right. We might hear out your ideas too."

"But not because he is my mate or anything," I reminded my dad.

"I'm not planning to endanger any one from our pack for him."

"Now, I must admit to being curious, but yes, we will also hear your ideas, Sam. We must remember to never withhold good from our neighbor, when it is in our hand to give it," Dad told me. I nodded and excused myself to do my homework, but oh… those words wrapped themselves around my heart, and I knew that the words my dad had lived by all these years would now be mine too.