The Fate of the Rejected Alpha

SELENE IS DECEIVED

"Today, we will finally have our god or goddess, the ruler of the moon!" Zeus speaks loudly so that everyone can hear.

The arena is close to the limit between the sky and the land and all the gods, even the ones of the underworld are present.

"My children, Mahni and Selene will compete for the title," Zeus pronounces with his chest full with pride.

Mahni and Selene, Zeus' children, are twins. They were born on the eclipse caused by the alignment of all the planets, which happens from millennia to millennia. For five hundred and fifty years they trained hard for this great day.

Mahni is sixteen feet tall, has silver hair and amber-colored eyes. His body is muscular and he has a square chin without a single strand of beard. His voice is deep and his presence is so dominant that people were able to feel it from miles away. However, kindness was never his concern; arrogant and spoiled, he always thought himself superior and the word love was never part of his dictionary. He is an extraordinary warrior, the hunt has his name as a description.

But Selene – she never stayed behind her brother, but always one step ahead of him. Mahni didn't like that.

Unlike her twin brother, Selene's thirteen feet tall. Her hair, just like her brother's, is silver, falling down in waves shy of her thin waist. Her eyes are blue, a dark hue, but one that conveyed tranquility and from her skin radiated a bluish light. She has a slim body, but with all the muscles defined. She's the best at hunting, at sports, at strategies. Her master had been Athens herself, Zeus' eldest and favorite daughter. Selene's fascinated by love; unlike her brother, she never wanted to be a goddess, all she ever wanted was to have a companion by her side.

But Selene was hiding a secret. In the mortal world, she found what she's always been looking for. Love for her came in the form of a human man.

He always looked up at the sky, while the stars shone and she watched him for days. His black hair that went up to his shoulders fluttered at the hissing of the night wind. His strong muscles from hard days of training, the dark color of his skin, his full lips, his beard and everything about him – she was, simply put, fascinated by the masculine beauty in front of her.

One night she decided to disguise herself as human and called him by his name:

"Lycaon," a sweet sound hovers over the calm whistle of the wind filling the young king's ears, as if the most beautiful of songs resonated in his ears.

"Who are you?" He asked. In his eyes it was possible to see how impressed he was with the beautiful woman in front of him. He had never seen anything more beautiful.

"My name is Selene. Why do you always look so much at the sky?" She takes a few steps until she's standing next to Lycaon.

"I miss the moon. It's been years since I last saw it in the sky. Count the months since the last time I saw it is practically impossible," he says.

The ancient moon goddess passed away, succumbing to the sin of greed. She wanted to be more than a mere moon containing only prominence during the night. Her service was only for the benefit of humans, without any recognition. She wanted to take Zeus' place, wanted to be worshiped, and so a war broke out and quickly came to an end; Zeus killed her in battle, her body fell into the abundant seas of the earth and made the waters salty. So that humans would survive, Zeus created fresh water among the hills.

The moon always played an important role, it was essential and when the ancient goddess passed away, the night sky was without its ruler. Zeus made a replacement star, but she also died a few years ago. Fortunately, it is not long before the new sovereign is chosen, and the sky returns to its times of glory.

"She will appear again," Selene says with conviction and Lycaon looks at her profile.

"Coming from you, I have no doubt," he says smiling.

They met every night for six months under the glow of the stars on the beach.

Selene sighed and counted the hours so she could see her beloved again.

But her secret didn't last long. Her brother soon found out and saw in that an opportunity to beat his sister. For Mahni, blackmail was nothing more than just something he had to do in honor of his success.

"Give up on the competition!" He imposes calmly as he walks with her through the gardens of white roses.

"No, I've prepared a lot for this day, and I'm not gonna–"

"I'll tell Zeus about your escapes to the human world, and I'm sure Dad won't be too happy about it," he threatened.

At that Selene's body stops moving and the air seems to get heavier. She disguises the slight shaking of her fingers and clenches her hands into fists.

"Are you blackmailing me?" she asks with a furrowed brow and her mouth compressed in a thin line.

"Of course not," Mahni jokes. "My dear sister, I'm just trying to make things easier for both of us," he smiles.

"I don't see how that can be easy," Selene says between her teeth with her jaw hardened by anger.

"When I become the god of the moon, I can intercede for you to be a human and thus be able to live beside your beloved," he says and Selene begins to take an interest in her brother's words. "However, you'll have to bring me a wolf."

His smile becomes dark and that makes Selene shiver.

"Why a wolf?" She frowns in confusion, and that amuses Mahni.

"On the day of the competition we'll have to gift each other and I want a wolf. Big and black. One different from all the others, much bigger and with red eyes. I want one. This way both of us will be happy," he declared as he looked at her, making it clear that he's not open to any other type of negotiation.

"Promise that I will be transformed into a human?" She sighs, giving up, and that makes Mahni smile even more.

"Of course, my sister. Have I ever lied to you?" He asks, still smiling, putting his arm over his sister's shoulder as they return to their father's castle.

Hope blinded Selene and soon she found out that she shouldn't have believed the false words of her twin brother.

THE FIRST LYCANTHROPE IS BORN

"Don't let me down, Mahni," Poseidon shouts euphorically. It was he who taught Mahni everything, but even he didn't know how low his disciple would go to get what he wanted.

Again silence reigned and Zeus continued:

"Let's begin the first part," he says. He's facing the other gods with his back to his children. "As is the custom, the competitors will hunt for each other. They will descend to the human lands, and sacrifice two animals," he turns his gaze to Mahni and Selene. "I wish them a good hunt. You may go now."

And so they went.

Mahni hunted a squirrel to present to his sister. Small and dirty, for Mahni that was the perfect representation of his sister. Selene, on the other hand, went deep into the forest in search of the wolf. Her heart throbbed. She needed a lot of effort to accomplish such a task; but it didn't take long to find it. It was eating.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the size of the animal. She had never seen such a large and beautiful creature in the human world. It was surreal and she thought it was a crime to kill it. However, Selene was willing to commit this crime if it was necessary so she could live alongside her great love.

Taking a deep breath, she raises her bow and arrow, aiming at the distracted animal with its prey. The sound of the animal's howl was so loud that even the gods could hear it from above on Olympus and wonder what could have been the source of that sound never once heard before.

When Selene returns to the great hall, Mahni was already there waiting for her with a macabre smile on his face. Selene was strong and despite the giant size of the black wolf, she managed to carry it on her shoulders without a problem.

However, when she puts the wounded beast on the ground, another groan escapes its throat .The big black wolf decreases in size as everyone watches, gaping at the scene.

Finally, the big wolf shrinks to a human and Selene screams as she sees the beast take its true form: her beloved with her arrow stuck in his chest.

Lycaon looks at her and in his eyes she sees only love, but a love that was dying. Because of her. Selene did that, she killed her beloved, he was dying right before her eyes and that was tearing her apart.

Selene understood then what her brother really wanted. Mahni never liked her, and managed to hurt her in the lowest possible way. Selene always admired the wolves, always liked to hear the howls of the beautiful animals for the full moon, but agreed to kill one in order to be with her love. However, she was innocent, never thought that her brother was capable of such an atrocity.

Selene falls to her knees on the ground, the hatred in her chest growing to the point of becoming uncontrollable.

Her eyes turn red. She decides to take revenge, and for that she turns into a great white wolf. All the gods rise from their seats and watch Selene run towards her brother.

Mahni is taken by surprise and before he has the time to react or defend himself, Selene sinks her teeth into his neck. Mahni tried to free himself, tightly squeezing the great wolf's jaw, but his sister had always been stronger than him, and today that was clear for everyone to see.

Selene rips off her brother's head in front of all the gods and her coat, white as snow, was now stained red.

After, still in the shape of the wolf, she returned close to her beloved who agonizes on the cold ground. She lies down beside him and howls as loudly as she could. Then, everyone understood her pain.

Zeus, with his immense power, forces Selene to return to her normal form and she strongly hugs the human owner of her heart. Zeus loves Selene, she's his youngest daughter, and seeing her suffer like that makes him suffer too. Mahni's death was already something Zeus predicted, but even so he let his son's choices dictate his own future.

"You are now the goddess of the moon. Cast an incantation on him, and he will not die," he says softly to his daughter.

Selene then knew what to do; she was now the goddess of the moon, she had her own powers.

Closing her eyes and placing her hand on Lycaon's head, she said:

"You are now half man, half wolf, will be a species over human. Your years will be multiplied, you can live for up to a millennia. Your strength will be exuberant, all your senses will be a hundred times better than any human. It will be I who will dictate your destiny, the destiny of your children and so it will be forever, generation after generation. I will be your goddess. And from now on you will be the first Lycanthrope to exist on this earth. The first to be ruled by me, the first worshiper of the moon goddess."

As she said her last words, Lycaon closed his eyes and the arrow disappeared from his chest. His body was disappearing and he was no longer among the gods.

"Thank you for the gift, father," Selene says to her father.

With a grateful and suffering smile, her body begins to disappear.

Night falls, Selene rises in her full moon form and receives Lycaon's howls as if they were a beautiful song.

But as the years went by, she saw the sadness growing from loneliness in her beloved.

Love was something sublime for Selene, and she decided to create the perfect mate for her lycanthropist, even if it hurt her. But he would have someone to be his pillar, his helper, and they would be together for life and even death would not separate them. One will not be able to live without the other.

And so, on a full moon night, Zeus granted her the power to create a single creature. And so Selene created the first Lycanthrope female. With black hair and blue eyes, her smell was sweet to Lycaon and he would feel for her a desire like no other.

But Lycaon, when he won his mate, did not treat her as he should, nor at the time of mating did he treat her well, and that made the moon goddess extremely sad. He stopped howling at her, his plans now was just to make his kind grow and take control of everything.

Then, in an attempt to make him change his behavior, Selene descends from the sky. In the same instant, the moon disappeared from the sky and she went to meet her beloved, who cries when he sees her after so long.

"My love," he says in tears.

"No," Selene interrupts him, speaking calmly and softly, "Your love is inside your den, feeding your brood. You should be there too."

"I–I can't love her," he says.

Lycaon's words make Selena sad. She created the female exclusively for him and he treats her that way.

A male's duty is to care for his female, that's what Selene wanted.

THE BOND BETWEEN MATES

GETS STRONGER

In Selene's eyes was visible the love and hurt blending together, but even then, she went according to justice, and as much as she loved Lycaon, she would never allow him to continue with that bad behavior that left physical and emotional marks on his mate's body.

"Pay attention. She's your mate and without her, you will not survive, as punishment for all the evil that you have done to her," she looks firmly into his eyes. "I will intensify the bond between you two and all the pain that your mate feels, you will also feel. If she is sad, you will get worse. Your role is to protect her and love her. Her role is to help you, love you and take care of your puppies."

"If I'm going to feel everything she feels, when she dies will I die too?"

"No, that depends on how you die. But even then, the longing can kill both of you," Selene says enigmatically.

His eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't be serious, that could only be a joke. But the goddess was speaking very seriously.

She approached him and placed her hand on his neck; the heat emanating from her hand ran through Lycaon's entire body making him sigh. He felt a silver light cover the region and his groan of pain did not stop her. When she withdrew her hand, the first letter of his mate's name appeared on his skin. He was left gasping in pain.

Lycaon knew exactly why he had become a werewolf, he knew that it was his beloved's twin brother who made him fall into this disgrace. Mahni even made a point of clarifying how one day he would die by the arrow of the woman who stole his heart.

However, Lycaon did not die and at that moment he swore that he would make the best of it.

His mate had eight cubs, four males and four females. He knew that too was the goddess' doing, that she made them to become mates. But still, the hatred he felt was too much. He was forced to live eternally to love his mate and even though she had been made for him, his heart already belonged to another woman and he had no room for anyone else.

Lycaon raised his cubs and told them several stories. Told them about Mahni and his sister, told them that the goddess of the moon is the one who will raise them.

Lycaon made divisions among his children.

When they reached the age of sixteen, they were set to face each other and the strongest one was elected and would inherit his place when he died. And as he expected, his oldest son was the strongest, earning the title of genuine alpha. The second oldest won the title of alpha, but head only of his family. The third took the title of beta, and the fourth had no brute strength like the others, was thin and weak, did not hunt and refused to kill anyone. He was the youngest son, he was submissive and very sensitive. Lycaon called him an omega.

The moon goddess watched everything from above. She didn't fully approve of Lycaon's regime, but she couldn't keep interfering with his life.

The genuine alpha's mate carried the traces of the moon goddess in her lupine form. With her white hair and dark blue eyes, she gained the name of genuine lunam and from her womb was generated the strongest lycanthropic of all species. She could only have one cub and was the second in command of all species, her dominance losing only to her mate's.

The alpha's mate was called velut luna and from her womb was generated all the lycanthropes of her pack, being able to be alpha, beta or omega. Her fur was white and her paws were black.

The beta's mate received the title of lunae. With her brown fur with a white stain on the back, she could only carry a child if the alpha dies and her mate takes his place, and so she would have to kill the current velut luna.

And lastly, the omega's mate was called luna cimex. Her fur was silver, her eyes gray and she was the smallest, almost the size of a common wolf. Her womb was dry. Despite having great beauty, she couldn't reproduce. Even though the omega couple were the weakest, they should be protected.

The years passed and Lycaon died at the conclusion of his millennium of life. He and his mate died together. His sons made changes to their father's regime, and the moon goddess was put in the background.

More years passed by, and the moon goddess was forgotten.

Lycanthropes became evil, hunted and ate humans, and this did not please Zeus at all. They made humans slaves, the omegas were servants and the luna cimex became prostitutes. Several packs emerged, but few still remembered the moon goddess.

She couldn't allow things to continue like that. One night when the genuine couple was mating in their lupine forms, the moon shone brightly and only the voice of the goddess could be heard:

"Get back on the right path, or your bloodline will end."

But they didn't listen to her warning and continued on their wrong path. So the goddess was forced to keep her promise, but no one could have known what she was planning besides that.

Dictionary

☾- Genuine lunam: Genuine moon, the genuine alpha's mate. Second in command.

☾- Velut luna: The alpha's mate.

☾- Lunae: Crescent moon, the beta's mate. Her womb is only fertile in the absence of the genuine or velut couple.

☾- Luna cimex: Moon error or moon's insect, the omega's mate. The lowest among the females with no noble value of any kind.