Dominant Species Ch. 55-56

The moon had set, but the dawn was quickly approaching. Soon he would have to go back to his home or find another place to sleep, as the light was still too strong to bear. He stood up, his old bones cracking and protesting from too long spent on the pavement, when the door opened.

"Donald?" His mate stood there in the door, a long T-shirt covering her body. She was tired, and he could see the tracks where the tears had gone down her face before being wiped away. "Can you... can you stay with me?"

"Of course, Silvia." He watched as she turned around, walking slowly towards the bed. He linked a Pack member, asking for clothes to be brought to him so he wouldn't have to leave. He followed her in and tucked her in bed, leaning down to kiss her. "I will always be here for you, Silvia. You never have to ask."

He gently stroked her hair as she fell asleep. There was a gentle knock on the door and he got up to get the clothes, then checked to make sure Michelle was sleeping soundly before he stepped into the bathroom. He lit the candle and stepped into the shower, for once glad that the cold water could be put to productive use. He scrubbed the dirt, grime and blood from his skin as he tried not to picture how the light penetrated the loose shirt Silvia had been wearing. His mate had luscious curves, a body made for loving and bearing children, and he and his wolf couldn't wait to see it and touch it.

He cursed to himself, as he'd gotten excited just thinking about how he shouldn't get excited. Directing the cold spray on the offending member, he did math problems in his head until it had subsided. When he was truly freezing, he turned off the water and dried himself off. Quickly dressing, he shaved and brushed his teeth before leaving the room.

The sunrise provided a gentle light in the room, enough for him to see that nothing had changed during his time in the bathroom. He looked at Silvia in her bed, curled up on herself on the left side of one bed. The other bed was empty, and this was his next important decision. She had asked him to stay with him, but was she ready to share a bed with him? The safe play would be to take the other bed.

He moved to the other side of her bed and quietly slipped beneath the covers. He was on his side facing her back, and his wolf was pressing him to touch her, to hold her in her arms. He scooted over until he was close enough to kiss her shoulder, then he put his arm over her and gently pulled her back into his chest. She stirred in her sleep, moving her hips back to his and snuggling in to a spoon position before dropping back off to a deeper sleep.

He smiled to himself, the pull of the mate bond was working on her, and with that thought he drifted off to his own sleep.

He opened his eyes to find himself on a rocky hilltop, with fog moving between the broken stones. The full moon bore down upon him, the mist occasionally getting in between. He was walking with his wolf alongside him on the strange landscape when he saw them.

The woman was beautiful in an otherworldly manner; her hair was so white it almost glowed, her face was pale and clear, her eyes swirled with power. The dress she was wearing was loose and torn, it was a light material that shifted in the wind while barely covering her body. By her side were two white wolves, both male and female reeked of power and dominance. When she looked at him, her power overwhelmed him and he quickly dropped to his knees, his wolf lying down beside him. There was no mistaking who this was. "Luna..."

He bowed his head as she approached, soon her bare feet were in front of him and she had cupped his cheek with her hand, raising his head to look at her. "Walk with me, my child, we have much to discuss." She held out her hand and he took it, the hand was warm and sent tingles up his arm, he was instantly comforted as he stood up.

"My Goddess, so many times have I prayed for your help." He couldn't look at her as they started to walk along the clouded path, the three wolves following close behind. "There was so much I did not understand, now more than ever."

"The ways of the Gods are not always smooth. Yes, I am a Goddess, I have powers over the hunt, and over werewolves, but I do not control it all. What has happened was the work of the Sun God, not me. I have been doing my best to help and to save my people, but it is not easy. There is so much anger at the way the world has turned out, most of the Gods wanted a reset and they got their way."

"So all of this death..."

"Yes, and there will be more, and to prevent that and to keep my people alive I need you, I need people like you. You've seen what is going on up in the valley, there is true evil at work there. My people were not prepared, I was not able to save but a few when this happened. There needs to be a Pack up there, but right now I have no Alpha pair to lead it. That is why I have chosen you, and have given you a worthy mate. You need to be the Alpha that saves those people and makes them into a strong Pack."

He looked at his wolf, doubt creeping into his mind. "But I am not an Alpha, I am a Beta... I am strong, but I do not have the power."

Luna laughed to herself as the wolves chuffed. "Where do you think that power comes from, Donald? I give it to those who I deem worthy to have it. You have demonstrated with your entire life, not just the past few days, that you are worthy. You didn't seek power or land or glory, you sought justice; and when hard decisions came, you always placed the Pack above your own desires. You are exactly what is needed."

She placed her right hand on his chest and chanted a few words, her hand began to glow and then it spread to his whole body. He felt the power, his wolf was more powerful, the Alpha influence coming to rest inside of him. When the glow stopped, he fell to his knees and held tight to his wolf. It took a few moments to collect himself before he could stand.

He looked at his Goddess, and one question that had plagued him forever came forward. "Luna? I don't mean disrespect, but I'm fifty years old. Why did you wait so long to give me a mate, and then it is a human who isn't ready for me?"

She looked out, her hands gently scratching the ears of her two companions, as she thought about how to answer. "Sylvia is your mate, but she's actually the third woman I've paired with you." He froze as the implication came in. "Your first mate was a warrior in a pack in Colorado, she was killed in a battle months before your scheduled visit there when you were twenty-two."

"Wait, you're a Goddess, how did you not save her? Or know that she would die first?"

"Yes, I am a Goddess, but only the Goddess of Fate knows the future. When I pair wolves together, I make the best match I can, and then try to influence things so the two meet. Most times it works, other times it doesn't." She wiped the tear from his face. "I then paired you with a child in a Cascade pack; when she grew up, she fell in love with another man and never sought you out. Last year she killed her wolf." She looked at the moon. "She took a large dose of wolfsbane, so that as a human they could be together and have children. As you can imagine, this displeased me but since she was human she was no longer one of mine, and there is no going back from what she did."

Donald was crying now, he had sat heavily on the ground as his wolf rubbed against him, howling his pain and loss to the moon. His whole life, two mates taken from him before he even met them.

Luna sat at his side and placed her arm around him, the two white wolves pressing up against their backs from behind. "I was going to find another, maybe one who lost her own mate, when all this happened. There was so much death, so many wolves died in that first couple days. Then I saw you on the road to Salmon. Did you ever wonder why you didn't recognize your mate's scent when you first smelled her on the men who attacked her on the road, but you did when you found her in the car?" He nodded. "It wasn't until I started to look at her that I knew she would be a good mate. She was so strong in the face of things; I know she is a mess right now, but there is steel within her. She is passionate, loyal, everything I was looking for in a match for you. Since her husband was killed, I put the bond in place between you and you know the rest."

"It's so difficult though, she resists the pull."

"She's in your arms now, isn't she?" Luna smiled. "It is different when I put the bond with a human, since they don't belong to me and they feel it differently. I have been doing this a lot lately, as you have seen. It was important that we bring humans in, to rebuild our Packs and allow us to survive the coming years. Now with Silvia, she doesn't understand everything, but the bond will do what it must. Treat her well and with patience, and she will rule by your side." She got up and pulled him up after. "It is time for me to go, Donald. I will help you as I can, but your future is very much in your hands. You have the right ideas and instincts, so think of the people of the Bitterroot Valley as your Pack and you will do the right thing."

He stood there as she walked away, the two wolves by her side, as she was swallowed up by the mist. The darkness came, and when he next opened his eyes he was looking at Silvia's hair in front of his face. He smiled, his wolf content with her in his bed. He rolled to his back and looked at the ceiling as his mind processed the dream. He had never expected the Goddess to answer, much less what she had told him. It changed everything, and he was starting to get excited about the prospect of being the Alpha of a large pack with her by his side.

His thoughts were interrupted by Silvia's nightmare. She started to toss and turn, she was begging the men to stop, to leave her alone. He reached for her and this just caused her to scream and fight him. He gripped her wrists, holding them to his chest as he called her name and finally she woke up. "Donald?"

"You're safe, love. I've got you." With that, she rolled over and buried her face in his shoulder as the emotions poured out. He held her tight as she told him of that night, finally letting go of the guilt from her assault and rape. It took an hour for her to get it all out, but she finally fell asleep in his arms. "I love you, Silvia. I always will."

The sound was so soft he could barely hear it, but he did. "I love you too."