Enhanced senses

 The Water Relic, unlike the other three Relics, had always belonged to the Aqua Tribe. Its shape was that of a small blue heart that fit in the palm of the hand or could even be worn as a beautiful ornament on a pendant. But Natasha knew that behind this simplicity there was great power in this small item. She swallowed hard a few times as she confirmed that no one was around before taking the final steps and entering the room.

But at that moment, when she was two steps away from the room, her nose caught the scent of a human female inside the room where the Relic was. At the same time, her ears also heard a calm and slow breathing coming from inside. Startled, she took a step back before plucking up the courage again and returning to the entrance of the room and peeking at who was inside. It was only upon seeing the person that Natasha remembered who she was…

'The Great Elder!'

After remembering the lady who not many years ago had held the position of High Priestess of the Tribe. Natasha lamented her bad luck, if there were no witnesses she wouldn't mind going to the item, but now she would be asking for trouble... When trying to leave the temple hall bad luck struck her again, returning from the place where the contamination happened, the current High Priestess accompanied by one of her guards had blocked Natasha's escape path and with no choice she hid in a dark corner of the temple, near the Relic room and stood there without moving a single muscle.

After the guard stood near the entrance of the temple in a position of attention, the High Priestess went ahead passing by where Natasha was hiding without seeing her and going to the Relic room to ask the Great Elder for advice. She then narrated to her the whole problem of the current contamination while waiting for advice from the older figure.

Meanwhile, Natasha was hidden trying to understand parts of her new power as a Lycan, her increased sense of smell and hearing so good that she could hear someone's breathing even in her human form was something that excited her. When she first transformed into her full Lycan form on the next full moon, she was sure these senses would be even stronger, allowing her to hear even the heartbeats of her prey.

At that moment, it was these senses that kept her from getting into trouble, but now she was trapped here, she would be seen if she tried to leave the way she came in and she needed to find a way out. Unable to escape, Natasha focused her new improved hearing on the conversation between the two women in the Relic room…

"Their thirst for power is in the wolves' blood, Alphas are born to lead, and our coexistence with them has always brought similar problems over the centuries we have lived in these caves…" An aged and tired voice spoke.

"But what can we do, Great Elder? Do we hand over our last relic? If we do that, those who stay behind will barely be able to survive on the remaining lakes…"

"It was greedy Alphas who made us lose the other 3 Relics, whenever they wanted more power, we sent them on a journey to the Great Lake Arkon, which in the past was called an isolated paradise of our Tribe. But they never returned, just like the Relics that were sent with them, and now once again they want a migration. If they all leave, taking all the lycans in the tribe, our already scarce resources from hunting will disappear, and even with the Relic I can no longer see a future for our people if we remain here. The decision is quite obvious, but you as the High Priestess are the only one who can make that decision, as well as accept the consequences that will come with it."

"A mass migration then? The entire tribe migrating together, with all our resources to Lake Arkon? But the elderly and children will not survive the hard journey and the dangers outside… We are talking about a long journey that could last several months…" The High Priestess replied, looking with pity at the old Elder who would probably be one of the victims.

"Do not fear for me, I have already fulfilled my duty to the tribe and lived long enough, you have about two weeks to prepare, use the resources of our houses to create some carriages to keep the children safe during the journey… Now listen carefully to what I am going to reveal to you, this is an important secret about the Relics, you would only find out about it when I die and part of the inherited memories are passed on to you… In a situation of extreme danger during the migration you must use…"

While the Great Elder and the High Priestess spoke about the many important secrets of the Tribe's past, Natasha, who was listening to everything, was open-mouthed, despite the phrases treating the lycans as problematic, she considered herself more a member of the Aqua Tribe than a loyal follower of Alpha Borys. But when the Great Elder began to tell specific details about the Relics, her yellow eyes glowed in the dark as she realized that the secrets she had heard were extremely important and also her last chance to change her destiny…