Mated To An Enemy

By the time Caleb had found his way back to where he had left Ashleigh, another firework had gone off, and the actors had returned to the stage.

Lily lay dead on the ground, holding a single lily of the valley in her hand.

Geri sat beside her on his knees, whimpering. His hand at his side, he leaned forward and placed his forehead to hers letting out soft sobs.

“Rise, Alpha of Winter,” a voice called to Geri.

Caleb glanced at the other end of the stage. Three women approached Geri, all wore Valkyrie helmets and plated armor.

“Are you… Valkyrie? Have you come to take my Lily to Valhalla?” Geri asked.

“She has died a noble death. We will honor her,” one of the women said, while another approached and lifted Lily into her arms with ease. “But you must rise, the battle is not done.”

“You must defeat Loki, or her death will mean nothing,” the other woman said.

“I will chase him to the depths of hell if I have to,” Geri said. “I will avenge my Lily!”

The three women carrying the body of Lily left the stage. Geri was alone with the single flower. He knelt forward and touched the small, belled petals.

“The Goddess cries for you tonight, Lily,” he said softly. “She has blessed this land with her tears. So here, where your blood was spilled, this land will be known as Lily’s Rest.”

The lights went down. There were movements and muttered words, a small laugh from the audience sitting closest to the stage.

When the lights came back up, Geri stood in full armor, with several others standing behind him. Some were in their wolf form. Across the stage stood the flamboyant Loki, who smiled and laughed and generally looked ridiculous. Surrounding him were others painted with leaves in greens, browns, and golds.

There were speeches and taunts, and melodramatic pantomime of Geri chasing Loki from the north to south and finally the great battle. At the end of it all, Geri was wounded but lived. Loki had died, and peace reigned across the world of man.

Caleb had only caught a few lines here and there. Primarily he was searching for Ashleigh. But, unfortunately, she had slipped away in the crowd, and he didn’t like it.

He looked back and forth, ducking between people and standing on empty chairs. But he didn’t see her anywhere.

“Are you really that worried?” Ashleigh whispered from behind him.

He spun around and caught her in his arms.

“I wasn’t sure where you had gone,” he whispered, burying his lips into her hair.

“Nature called to me as well,” she laughed. Then looking back at the stage as Geri gave his final speech, she added. “Aww, guess I missed all the good parts.”

The lights went down, and the squeal of the firework went up. Then, several loud pops, one right after the other, rang out. Caleb looked up to see a mix of colors. Red, purple, blue, green. It was beautiful.

“Hey,” Ashleigh said, drawing Caleb’s attention. “What did you mean when you asked why I thought the other Lunas had died?”

Several people pushed and pulled, laughing as they headed back toward the food and drink. Finally, Caleb looked around and dragged her to a slightly secluded spot beneath a row of trees.

“Well, I don’t know about Spring and Autumn, but Solana didn’t die. At least not when she left Summer.”

“What? How do you know?” Ashleigh asked curiously.

“Summer has always been great at keeping records,” Caleb smiled. “Some of our earliest are about Alpha Caelter and Luna Solana.”

“Like what?”

“Well, regarding Solana, there wasn’t much. There was some mention of her being called home. Some people interpret that as her returning to the place she lived as a human. Others assumed that she had gone to Winter and died in the battle. That returning home meant she wanted to die fighting.”

“Wow…”

“But no matter how you interpret it, I don’t believe she died, at least not before Caelter, because he never suffered her loss. The destruction of the bond, it was not something he experienced. Instead, he died of old age, having passed the role of Alpha to his son years before.”

Ashleigh looked away, feeling something akin to an itch in her mind, something scratching at her memory.

“Ash?”

“Huh?”

“I asked, what’s next?” Caleb said, looking into her eyes with concern. “Are you ok?”

“Yes,” she nodded and gave him a winning smile.

“Alright,” he said with a quick kiss. “So, what’s next?”

He looked around with excitement. Ashleigh laughed at his adorable expression.

“Well, you’ve seen the dancing and the bonfires, the tables and tables of food… we watched the play and the fireworks… The wild hunt doesn’t start for another hour, maybe two… so that would mean…Oh!” Ashleigh paused with a gasp. “Oh my goddess…”

“What?” Caleb asked, looking around with concern that something had caused the look of alarm on her face.

“Oh… that must be it… Oh! Caleb!!” Ashleigh squealed with excitement and grabbed his arms, jumping up and down.

“What are you so excited about?” Caleb asked with a chuckle, glad to know she wasn’t worried about something.

“After the show and the fireworks and before the wild hunt…” she said, looking at him like she expected him to finish her sentence.

He raised his brows, waiting, and then sighed.

“Ash, this is my first time. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh right,” she laughed. “Ok, well, before the wild hunt is the Mourning Call. It’s sort of like a scavenger hunt… except there is only one item, and it’s for all the pups who have received their wolf but only for a year or less.”

“Ok… and what is so exciting about that?” Caleb asked.

“The Mourning Call is a remembrance walk. It’s meant to represent Geri’s search for Lily before she was slain by Loki. The item that they are searching for is the same flower used on the stage tonight during the show.”

“That’s… pretty sad.”

“It is, but it’s not. The one who finds it is supposed to bring it back and give it to the Alpha, who then gives it to his Luna, completing the task that Geri was unable to. It’s supposed to bless the mated couples with a year of peace and boons,” Ashleigh smiled.

“Ok, well, that is a much sweeter take on it, but why exactly are you so excited? You are young but still about ten years too late on the cut-off for the hunt….” Caleb laughed.

“I don’t want to find the flower,” Ashleigh sighed, then her eyes lit up with mischief and excitement. “But this must be when he’s going to do it. I mean, it’s perfect. All eyes will be on him, and it’s romantic… it’s perfect.”

“Ash, please… just… speak English?” Caleb sighed.

“Axel!” she said excitedly. Then quickly looked around and quieted her voice. “He’s going to announce his Luna by giving her the lily of the valley!”