Calliope's Wolf - Book 1
Chapter 14

A month went by slowly for Calliope. She spent all of her free time trying to find control in her wolf form. It was hard, and there was no progress. Theo was the only one allowed to be in wolf form near her. Even when her parents visited, Calliope couldn't shift near them. They didn't want to risk another incident.

Theo would train with her for a few hours each day. But it seemed he didn't need to teach her. She knew how to throw him off balance, how to avoid his attacks. It's as if her wolf has done this before.

But what confused Theo the most was how her wolf still didn't speak, not to Calliope and not to him. His wolf began to speak when he shifted the first time. From what they could find in the histories, other Great's wolves started to speak at the time of shifting. But Calliope was the youngest ever to shift. One of the youngest to ever start showing gifts. Perhaps she was still too young. Perhaps.

She could still train with others regarding hand-to-hand combat training, but Riley remained her primary partner. There were no issues of Calliope losing control when in human form.

Regarding her gifts, she had absolute control over her visions and her ability to freeze people. But no other gifts emerged. It wasn't uncommon for a Great to have only two gifts, so as far as they could tell, that's all she had.

But today, there was to be no training. Today, there was to be a meeting of the Elder council. The elder council consisted of 12 members, each a prior Alpha or Luna; each one was voted on by their pack and other packs in their region. They all have done something of merit during their leadership and were examples to others on how to lead. Every three months, the elders meet with Theo for several days.

When they met, they passed on news of sun wolves, internal pack struggles, and any other issues that might be plaguing their regions. They would work together to come up with ideas and solutions. The elder council didn't rule in their regions but were considered advisors. But if needed, Theo would step in to lend a hand.

Theo waited outside Calliope's door. He wanted to escort her to the council room to introduce her to the elders. He felt a hint of nervousness. He took a deep breath and tried to push it away.

Calliope finally stepped out of her room. She wore a long, dark blue dress. The sleeves were long, flowing down her arms, but the fabric was see-through. Across her waist was a silver belt. On her neck was the necklace he gave her years ago. She has since shortened the chain and wears it so all can see.

Theo offered his arm, which she took. He led her down the halls, but he didn't speak. He was lost in his own thoughts.

"You're nervous," she whispered, breaking the silence.

"How can you tell?"

"I can feel your heart racing," she answered.

Theo took a deep breath and exhaled it loudly.

"We say nothing of your gifts or your wolf, understand? I don't want to make them afraid of you, not until we understand your wolf further." Theo instructed.

Calliope nodded. She understood that she needed to control her wolf. That it was dangerous to shift in front of others. They finally arrived at the council room. She saw a large, round table. Theo took her to the two empty chairs.

"Alphas and Lunas of the elder council, I'd like to introduce you to my mate, the Great Luna, Calliope," Theo said with a smile. Calliope gave a small wave as she took her seat. Theo sat down beside her.

"Where is she from?" one of the Lunas asked. "She looks young."

"I'm from the Riverbed Pack," Calliope answered. "And I am young. I'm 15."

"Riverbed?" an old man said as he leaned forward on the table. His name was Ezra. "That's my region. Why are we just now finding out about you?"

"For her safety, I didn't want to make anything public until she could shift," Theo explained. "I hope you can understand. I lost my father in the last war with the sun wolves; I didn't want to risk anything happening."

"So why come forward now? You can't mate or mark one another yet?" Someone else questioned.

"Did you not feel the surge of energy a month ago?" Theo growled. "When she shifted, thousands of wolves knew. She is safer here now that she can shift."

"So what are her gifts?"

"Can we get a demonstration of her wolf?"

The questions just kept coming. Theo grew irritated and hit the table.

"Silence, you flock of geese!" He yelled. Calliope touched his arm, and he sighed. "At this time, I don't wish to disclose her gifts or show off her wolf."

"I'm still learning them. Learning everything, really," Calliope interjected with an innocent smile. "I'm still young, and these things take time."

"Of course," Ezra replied while looking around the table. "You're still a child, after all."

"OK, now let's talk business," Theo said as he unrolled a map. Calliope helped to place paperweights on the corners. "Anyone got news on sun wolves or rogues? I'm sure with the energy burst, there has been something."

"I've had rogues try to sneak onto pack lands," an elder Alpha replied. His region was in the west. "It's like they are just testing the borders. They run as far in as they can before being chased out. They don't seem to want to fight."

"My region has seen small groups of sun wolves," another chimed in. Their region was just to the north of the previous Alpha's. "They seem to come and go from the outer territories."

"Any news of human villages being attacked or women gone missing?" Theo asked.

"That's the surprising thing," the Alpha answered. "None of our human villages have been attacked, and no missing girls or women."

"There were dead sun wolves found a few days ago on the far east edge of my region," an elder Luna said. Her region was the furthest region to the east. It wasn't unusual for her region to have issues with Sun Wolves. "But no wolves were dead, and from what the local Alphas said, no wolves fought them. It was barely within our borders. It looks like sun wolves were fighting each other."

"An internal power struggle, maybe?"

"They need a leader," Theo replied. "And either they are still trying to find one, or one was just found."

"What would a leader do for them?" Someone questioned. "They are scattered about. Sightings to the west and northwest, while some lay dead in the east. Them killing each other is just dwindling their numbers."

"Which is why I want the word spread about keeping extra eyes on your human villages. I can't have a repeat of strings of mass murders of human men and kidnapping of human women. To keep their numbers dwindling, we can't let them add to their population." Theo ordered. He placed some markers down on his maps. He looked around, focusing on the outer territories. "Any region with a pack bordering the outer territories needs to go out and scout. I want to know what the human population is doing out there and if there have been sun wolf sightings. If they aren't getting women from our lands, I want to know if they are getting them from elsewhere."

Everyone nodded and began to take notes. For sun wolves, mating with humans was the only way to grow their population. Children born through humans would be sun wolves, their wolves able to stand on their hind legs. But, if a child were born through a moon wolf and sun wolf, they would be another moon wolf. This was why it was imperative to watch and guard the human population.

After several more hours of talking, Theo called it a day with the council. He led Calliope out of the room, followed by several other council members. A few remained, including Ezra, the elder Alpha for the region that Calliope was from. The remaining elders gathered in a small circle.

"She has to be a decoy Great Luna," one whispered. "He has to be hiding the real one somewhere. Maybe the energy burst we felt was a baby being born?"

"No, I can feel her; she has the aura," another interjected. "No... she must be giftless. That's why he didn't want to discuss her gifts or show us her wolf. She must not have a wolf or gifts."

"Maybe not yet? Maybe when she turns 18?"

"So why the energy burst?"

The group was confused, but they were skeptical. They were being lied to, but about what they didn't know. But some wanted to find out. Ezra especially. He knew of Calliope. Ezra was not just from the same region as her; he was the former Alpha of the Moon Valley pack. He was Jaxson's grandfather.

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