CHAPTER IV

"I'll let you take it in" said my father as he left the room, leaving me in a solitude I didn't know I wanted so much.

The battle my heart and head were fighting was exhausting.

He told me to run in search of her, to join in with what I so longed for; she told me to think coldly and not to throw myself into the void without knowing if there was a safety net at the bottom.

I reread the prophecy a number of times that became diffused in my head, I lost count after the tenth.

I, a being who used to be most illogical, is part of an even more illogical prophecy.

I could be completely sceptical and not believe the words in the book in my hands, but who am I not to believe it when I spend more time howling than talking?

324 years exactly marked the prophecy, 324 years of moons until I was born. 345 said it would be until she appeared.

My moon.

I could start rambling about what I was already sure was true but that would not be me, my logical mind said that it was true, and my heart whispered more and more strongly that it longed for the presence of its companion.

I rewrapped the book in that burgundy cloth and put it back in its place, leaving the 'Alphas Museum' shortly afterwards.

There was no member of the Council left in the basement, but I could still make out the incessant tapping of boots against the wooden floor.

"Michael dude, you make more noise than the woodpecker that lands on my window, man," Anthony told him.

"I'm nervous."

"Well, your nerves can disappear now"  I announced entering the room, visualizing only two of the three boys "Ricky?"

"His mother has called him and he has had to leave"  Tony informed me as he approached me and left me a quick hug which Michael joined.

"What happened in there? "asked Mike once as I settled down on the couch and they did it on the sofa opposite.

"They made me explain everything to them, contrasting with what you had explained to them"

"McHenstride came at you, didn't he?" Tony asked.

"He behaved strangely with me, which is strange."

" What did you do to make him feel so mad about you?"  asked Mike.

"In my first change, I decided to use his backyard as a playroom."

"You uprooted the apple tree, Matt," said Tony amusingly.

"Oops, my fault" I said like I was really sorry. No.

"Yes yes, I'll pretend to believe you. I'm going to get some water, do you want anything?" asked Michael as he got up and walked to the kitchen.

"Water too" said Tony.

"Same."

It didn't take long for Mike to return with a tray containing three large glasses and one of the jugs that had my father's homemade lemonade filled with water in the summer.

"Thank you"I thanked after receiving the glass of water from Mike, who nodded slightly.

"Well, now I do. What else happened in there?" asked Tony once Mike settled down next to him on the sofa.

"Dad, after the meeting with the council, made me go into a room that I did not know existed. This is where the legacies of all the alphas before me are kept"

" And ?" asked the blond man.

"He told me the story of one of my ancestors, Ienego Dunbar, who was a leader back in the 17th century. During Ienego's reign in 1647, Ienego took in a witch who was being persecuted by humans and let her take refuge in the territory of the herd and the witch gave my family the perpetual leadership of the herd and a prophecy."

"A prophecy? Can you recite it for us?"  asked Tony.

"I know it by heart after reading it so many times. "The moons will sail the sky for 324 years until the moon howls at its rightful owner, the one whose birth will change the course of the waters of destiny, the winds of history and the memories of the earth. His birth will be overlooked for 21 years when his true destiny will begin to be written after he loses his soul to the true love of his life, the hand that will control the unstoppable force of such a pure soul, his companion, his true companion; his moon. Moon, purity and wisdom will join the pure and noble soul of his companion, with whom he will reign over both the animal and human kingdoms."

"Is he talking about you?" asked Michael, who was just as sceptical as I was at first.

"It seems that way Mike, dad says that the prophecy is talking about me; even the date in which it is written and the years that the prophecy says should pass coincides with the year in which I was born, 1998."

" 21 years since birth? Too much of a coincidence to not be true Matt" Anthony contributed.

"What are you going to do after knowing this?" asked Mike.

"First I'd like to talk to my father more about this and then I'll see how I can deal with the situation."

"You know you have us here for everything Matty."

"Whatever it takes," added Mike as he sat on the opposite arm of the chair from which Tony was sitting and rested his hand on my shoulder in support.

"Thanks guys" I appreciated it.

The boys accompanied me well into the night when they received a call to end their free time.

"Dad, dinner"  I called when I paid the pizza delivery guy.

"What did you order?"

"Two extra-large relatives, half barbecue half four cheeses."

"Was it the usual one ?"

"No, this was a new one and he looked at me with an unbelievable face when I went out to get the pizzas."

"You swallow more than I did when I was just a newcomer."

"What am I going to do?" I asked shrugging my shoulders "Let's go to dinner."

We had dinner watching the NFL game, criticizing the stupid quarterback who wasn't passing.

"I'll give you more passes, drunk, please," complained my father.

"You can't get drunk, Dad."

"You know what I mean."

I picked up the pizza boxes and the rubbish bag I was waiting for at the door of the house and went to throw it in the container.

You know that feeling when someone is watching you, when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up to indicate that someone is not looking away from you; I was experiencing it right then and there.

My eyes made a quick sweep around me but I wasn't able to make out anything, at least not visually.

My sense of smell, on the other hand, distinguished something, a deep smell of rot and ammonia was etched into my memory.

I returned home at a moderately accelerated pace, I didn't know why but that smell didn't bring me any good omen; it was as if in the depths of my bones tragedy was announced.

Dad had already retired to his room when I got home so after locking the house door I followed the same path as my father.

The sheets felt heavy on my body, preventing me from falling quickly asleep; but in the end I did it.