Later that night there was a meeting in the middle of the Salem woods. The meeting was usually a bonfire in a specially reserved secret place known only to the werewolves of Salem. There were three major werewolf packs living in Salem: the Silver Moon pack, the Dark Moon Pack, and the Crescent Moon pack. The Silver Moon pack was Roy's entire family, from his intimate to his extended, and since it was their family experiencing a crisis they were the only ones invited. The meeting would consist of the Alphas from the other packs coming to see all of them and discuss what would happen in the future. Melina came along because according to Roy she was already part of his family at least in his eyes. Al, at the time Roy had said this, had turned his head to mime gagging. Their father had no objection so there was Melina being helped out of the truck by her boyfriend. As they made their way to the bonfire, hand in hand, Melina thought back to what she had seen earlier on that day.
"How is his wife handling it?" Melina asked him
Roy sighed deeply. "Badly."
Al had been listening and ran up beside them. "Elena had drinking problems before she hooked up with our Uncle."
"He was the reason she got sober," Robbie interrupted as he joined up at Roy's side and earning him a mean glare from Al.
Regardless, Al went on to say, "anyway with Adrian getting sick and all...well it should be no surprise that she would turn back to the drink."
He snorted disdainfully. "Nowadays, she stays up all night boozing and leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Her boss is threatening to fire her, the kids' grades are slipping, and social services have been by twice."
"They have asked us for character references," Roy grumbled.
Al laughed harshly. "It's hilarious that they would expect to hear lovely praise of her from us."
Melina raised her eyebrow at that but Al didn't seem to notice. "They have already discussed taking the children away. Phil and Lupe are thinking about taking them in which does make sense. They are family after all and Phil and Lupe have no children."
Jose looked over his shoulder at his sons walking by Melina. "It would satisfy a lot of people. The kids would be able to stay in school, and finish their education."
"Why don't Phil and Lupe have children?" Melina couldn't help but ask.
It was as if an f-bomb had been dropped by an Evangelical preacher during the Sunday ceremony. The whole group went eerily quiet and the air seemed to fill up with awkward tension. No one glared at her which made Melina very thankful but also none of them looked up and none of them moved.
"What?" Melina finally asked.
Jose sighed deeply but it was Al who spoke, "Lupe had an affair and then a couple of nights after she confessed to it Phil got loose from his cage and attacked Lupe."
Melina gasped.
"That's why Lupe has the scars," Jose with his son, "that's why she is a werewolf."
"They have gotten over it," D said as if he was trying to defend their marriage. "But things haven't been the same between them. We kind of hoped that once Aradia healed Lupe things would get better but..."
D trailed away.
The whole group went silent once again not even Melina said anything as they went onto where the bonfire had already been lit.
Melina easily recognized the other two Alphas standing in front of the bonfire. They looked like two lethal guards, the way they surveyed the crowd and glanced from left to right so sharply. She also saw Roy's other relatives, standing nearby or sitting on the various logs that were laid around the bonfire. What really struck her was how miserable they all looked. They were usually a very happy bunch but now of all of them shuffled their feet and stared at the ground. Melina could easily guess what they were really worried about.
Roy clutched on to her hand tighter and pulled her to a log where his brothers had already taken seats. A few of the werewolves raised their eyebrows at the human in their midst but none of them said anything. Mysteriously, once Roy sat down so did everyone else. The crowd fell into a hushed silence.
A momentary dramatic pause passed before Adolfo, the Alpha of the Dark Moon pack, who stood in front of fire spoke. He was the one who stood on the left. He cleared his throat dramatically and then said in a very bold and imperious tone, "as we do with every meeting we begin this one by telling the story of the werewolf."
Castel, the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack who stood on the right, then spoke. "The story of how the first werewolf was born and how we came to be a people living right here in Salem."
Melina's eyes grew wide.
"The story of our people's origin began two thousand and seven hundred years ago in Italy. A wolf took pity on two human babies that had been abandoned in the wilderness. The wolf saved them by giving them her milk. The babies names were Romulus and Remus: two twin boys. Although the she-wolf cared for them deeply she knew she could not raised them properly so she brought them to a shepherd and his wife. Years passed and the boys grew as the foster sons to the shepherd and his wife but the boys knew they were destined for something much more. Romulus knew that he especially was destined for something great. He was the eldest of the twins and the one who suckled the most of the she-wolf's milk. By doing that, Romulus had inherited most of the powers of the wolf. As he grew, his powers developed until he was able to take on the form of the wolf itself. Although he was still a man, he could transform into a wolf as well. Romulus was the first werewolf."
Romulus, Melina thought, why does that name sound so familiar?
She racked her brain as much as she could but for the life of her Melina couldn't figure it out.
Dammit! She swore inwardly, I shouldn't have skipped school so much.
"However," Castel said,"the times that Romulus was living in was filled with chaos and bloodshed. There was no political stability anywhere. Several tribes existed but there was no leader who could unite them. One day a Warlord tried to change that. He conquered all the other tribes and spread his violent campaign everywhere. Eventually, his army reached Romulus and Remus's home. The Warlord's soldiers killed their parents and attempted to take the boys as slaves. Romulus helped Remus to escape but Romulus himself was captured. He proved too independent to be a solider so he was sold to the gladiator games."
"Ironically," Adolfo said, "Romulus being sold into the games was the beginning of the end for the Warlord. He was able to listen to the pleas of the people and stir insurrection among them. He created followers and devised a plot to take over the Warlord's kingdom."
"When Remus reappeared," Castel said, "he too had created a group of followers. He plotted not just to overthrow the Warlord but to create a brand new kingdom. A kingdom made up of the seven small nations that surrounded the twins' home."
"Eventually they did," said Adolfo, "once they launched their coup and took vengeance upon the Warlord. The brothers created an empire so great that no other empire would be able to rival its importance in history. Romulus would used his brother's political ideas about democracy to organize their people and make the empire last for decades. He became the first of a long line of rulers. Romulus, our ancestor, was the first Roman emperor."
"Oh my god!" Melina gasped.
Everyone turned to stare at her. Roy still gripped her hand even though he looked kind of embarrassed.
"You guys are descendants of Roman emperors?" Melina inquired.
"Yes," the Alphas both said at the same time.
"That's..." Melina began, "that's incredible!"
The Alphas tried to hide their smiles as they continued with their story. It was Castel who went on to say, "Romulus married and helped give birth to the first naturally born werewolves. He had numerous wives and concubines so he was able to create many children with the ability to shift into a wolf. This is how he created a people: ours. Centuries passed with the existence of werewolves remaining a secret. After the Roman empire fell, as all empires do, our people moved on from Rome to settle in other places. Hence why our people are from Guatemala. Several of the Spanish conquistadors carried the ability of being a werewolf to the new world so when they settled in Guatemala and took native wives the legacy was able to pass on genetically."
"We were not naturally an aggressive people," Adolfo stated, "but like with every race of people there have been good ones and bad ones. Some who became warlords themselves."
"However," Castel interrupted in a very dark tone, "the warlords were the least of our worries. The enemy we truly learned to hate were the vampires."
"The vampires?" Melina repeated in a hushed tone.
"Yes the vampires," Castel repeated, "they were the people who were to be our first enemies."
"Naturally aggressive and deceitful," Adolfo remarked, "they were a people who lived eternally and were consumed with a lust for power. These were creatures that had descended from the first true demon ever existed. The succubus was the first fabled hidden creature written in human history."
Castel slowly inhaled and exhaled. "In folklore traced back to medieval times, a succubus is a female demon or supernatural entity that appears in dreams, in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus. Religious traditions hold that repeated intercourse with a succubus may result in the deterioration of health or even death. All succubi and incubi were bred from Agrat Bat Mahlat, one of the first four Succubus to exist. Agrat Bat Mahlat’s name is thought to translate roughly from Hebrew into ‘the daughter of illusion’, and she is also known as ‘the bringer of deception." After Agrat Bat Mahlat mated with King David she bore him a son Asmodeus who soon became the first king of demons. Agrat Bat Mahlat fed her son her blood, after an assassination attempt was made on him. For three nights, she fed him her blood. Upon the third night Asmodeus completed his transformation and gained numerous abilities different from his demon brethren. He could reverse aging by drinking blood, he could communicate with wives and other nocturnal animals, and take their form. He also gained telepathy, levitation, control over the weather, the ability to change into mist. He found himself the very first of a brand new species. Once he discovered he too could create other creatures such as himself the vampire race came to be."
Adolfo cleared his throat. "Eventually, it was discovered that the vampire was weaker during the day and by shoving a wooden stake into a vampire's chest it could be slain. Numerous other weaknesses were discovered and the creatures were hunted down. Until all but Agrat Bat Mahlat remained."
"She wandered for many centuries until finally she came upon the two brothers. They were just beginning to carve out their own empire and their own beliefs. Romulus and Remus were planning on being joint rulers but power breeds discord. Remus teased his brother during an argument about one of the palaces being built. In a fit of rage, Romulus pushed him and the stone that Remus stood on gave way. Agrat Bat Mahlat showed up as Remus lay dying in Romulus's arms, and offered to save him. Romulus agreed and so Agrat Bat Mahlat made the second vampire in the world. Romulus at first was thrilled to have his brother be alive until he began to realize that his brother had changed. Remus began to wander the nearby territories to devour innocent people by the hundreds. In desperation, Romulus transformed into a werewolf and fought his brother. Eventually, Romulus was victorious when he bit his brother while in the form of a wolf. A bite from a werewolf in wolf form is one of the few things that can kill a vampire. "
Castel was the one who continued with the story. "Before Romulus was able to do this, Remus had managed to turn a Carthaginian general into a vampire. A fallen general who had sworn vengeance on Rome. His name was Hannibal. An ambitious man who had dreamed of conquering Rome but was thwarted. However, becoming a vampire did not lessen his ambitions."
"He helped the vampires to become an organized people and became the first Sovereign of all vampires," Adolfo said bitterly, "however, establishing his own hierarchy was not enough for him. He dreamed of conquering another race of people so, in place of the Romans, he would have the werewolves."
"The next thousand years that passed were like a nightmare," said Castel, "as the vampires waged a war upon us. A war that we could not afford to lose."
Melina clutched Roy's hand tighter. "Slaves? They tried to make you their slaves?" she whispered to him.
Roy nodded solemnly.
"There were many battles but since our enemy was immortal the war seemed impossible to end," Adolfo said in a forlorn voice.
"Yet," Castel remarked, "we as a people were able to organize ourselves and create an army. We took on the vampires and finally forced them into a stalemate. Although we were tempted to destroy them, we chose not to and drew up a treaty. In exchange for our freedom, the vampires pledged to leave us alone."
"Years passed," Adolfo concluded, "and although we now live side by side with vampires the treaty still stands. Not just to prove how much power we have, but that that the vampires cannot and will not conquer us."
"More importantly," Castel added, "it serves as a dramatic and wonderful point in our history when we the werewolves of the world united to defeat a common foe."
A hallowed hush fell over the group, as if the empowerment of werewolf pride had enveloped them
Once Adolfo and Castel had finished their stories, they had gone on to announce that Adrian was not for long for this Earth. Whether he lived or died was irrelevant because either way he could not be the Silver Moon pack Alpha anymore. However, the position of Alpha for the Silver Moon pack could not be vacant for that long. At the beginning of the summer, tournaments would begin to help decide the next Alpha. It was mandatory for all the werewolves in the entire Silver Moon pack to compete. Therefore, come June the Morales brothers in addition to their cousins, both male and female, would be forced to fight for the right of leadership. The right to kill the loser had been banned in Salem a long time ago. However, other extreme violence was allowed. So Roy could look forward to fighting not only his brothers from eldest to younger but watching them battle others as well.
"From this point on," Adolfo decreed, "all the werewolves of the Silver Moon pack must train night and day in order to compete in the tournaments."
There was an awkward shift in the crowd.
"What about our jobs?" Someone muttered.
"And what about school?"Another murmured.
Castel shrugged, as if it didn't matter. Adolfo, however, answered both of their questions. "It is not a requirement to win the tournaments. Only to participate. You can train around your usual work and schedule but be warned that that may take off the edge you have. For every minute you do not train to win, you are more likely to lose in the grand battle."
"What's so grand about it?" Roy muttered, "I don't know about you but I do not relish the thought of fighting my own brothers."
Melina stayed silent.
"Or my cousins for that matter," Roy continued, "most especially my father."
This got Melina's attention. "They force you to fight your own father?!"
Roy nodded bitterly. "When they saw all the werewolves of the Silver Moon pack must fight they mean all. From our parents, to our aunts, uncles, hell even to our grandparents!"
"What about babies?" Melina couldn't help but ask. "You can't fight them."
Roy reluctantly chuckled. "No we don't fight them but they are the exception. Everyone else though..."
He trailed off, shrugging, and looking more forlorn than ever.
Melina couldn't blame him and wished there was something she could say. A few awkward and painful moments passed as she racked her brain.
Until finally all she could say was, "I wish Aradia was here."
Roy snorted. "Huh! Why?"
"Because," Melina reluctantly admitted, "she would know what to do about all this. She would figure out a way how to avoid bloodshed. She would figure out a solution that could satisfy both you and the other Alpha leaders."
Roy nodded in silent agreement but couldn't help but point out, "but she isn't here is she? She can't help us."
Melina turned to stare out the window and into the night drenched landscape. As she did, thoughts flowed through her mind. Thoughts and memories of Aradia laughing, her helping out at the club, her going on and on about promoting tolerance, and how things needed to change. Melina smiled as she remembered Aradia throwing her long red hair back with her green eyes sparkling. She remembered Aradia smiling so sincerely whenever she did something. Melina remembered how alive Aradia made everyone feel whenever she was around. She remembered how if someone fell Aradia would be the first to pull the person to their feet. She remembered Aradia thanking Melina for her fashion sense and her help with the club.
She briefly closed her eyes and remembered Aradia smiling at her. She remembered her goofy but sincere smile and her shrill voice calling her, "sis!" Most of all, Melina remembered how much she missed her.
In that split second, Melina opened her eyes and knew what she had to do.
"Stop the car!" She shrieked.
Roy's truck screeched to a stop on the side of the road. "Jesus!" he cried, "what the hell is..."
"Turn it around Roy," Melina commanded, "we are going back to town and we are going to find Aradia!"