Leanora stepped forward towards the fire, holding the ceremonial ceramics. The bowl in her arms contained all of the proper elements to call upon the Goddess. Nightshade, foxglove, even wolfsbane. All of these petals were harvested at the last moon for potency, and meticulously preserved for this night, and for this purpose. Each is more poisonous than the last, but all are needed as a tribute to the Goddess. To call Her forth to pick the line of succession, the wolves must first prove that they’re willing to put themselves at risk for Her honor.
Each of the young men gathered around the room had gone through years of training for this very purpose, and every one of them was fully ready to take on the mantle of Alpha, should the Goddess choose them. The Potential Alphas kneel before the flame, awaiting the decision of the Goddess. Surrounding them, the Potential Lunas form a circle, waiting with just as much training and much less patience. The Goddess chooses the Alpha, and the Alpha typically chooses his Luna immediately thereafter. While the unchoosen Potential Alphas will always have a home in the pack and typically become high ranking advisors, the position of the unchoosen Lunas is somewhat more precarious.
The impatience grew, and elders around the edges of the room started to mutter and shuffle on their feet, but Leanora knew she had to be patient and wait for the right moment. Something shifted in the room, almost imperceptibly, and Leanora stepped up to the fire and poured in the contents of her bowl.
The fire roared up, shooting bursts of green and red and blue flames up over the heads of the gathered potentials. Leanora grimaced in the growing heat, but didn’t back down. Somewhere in the room, a wolf coughed from all of the poisonous smoke pooling in the air, but the potentials held strong and steady.
In the middle of the fire, a flaming wolf appeared. She roared over the crowd, causing even the most experienced of elders to tremble.
She hopped out of the fire, with embers shining off the tips of her fur. She stretched her shoulders and stalked along the edges of the circle. One by one, she carefully inspected the potentials, walking calmly through their ranks as each of them grew more and more apprehensive.
Leanora stood by the fire, watching and waiting. She held back a cough. She couldn’t show weakness before the Goddess, no matter how noxious the fumes had become. It was a great honor that the elders had allowed her to call forth the Goddess, and now that she watched her, in awe, she couldn’t let them down.
The goddess walked through the potentials, looking for something, but none of them could say what. When she didn’t find it, she roared again and leapt over the heads of the surrounding crowd. Her fiery body instantly burns a hole through the wall, and she crashes through, sprinting out onto the street.
The potentials are bewildered and some follow her outside, but she’s already dashed away. The flames of her body marked her path, and her roar pulled dozens of Omegas outside to watch her run. She was cheered on by the gasps and applause of the townsfolk. Children ran outside to dance in the glowing light she left behind.
She raced through the town, and many wolves saw their Goddess for the first time, but even that commotion wasn’t enough to draw Darien out of bed. After a long day of patrolling, it was only by sheer force of will that he’d managed to eat before collapsing.
He covered his head with his pillow, trying to muffle the sounds from outside, but then he heard a crash and a weight settled on his chest. He threw the pillow aside in irritation, to find a flaming wolf standing over him. Embers floated and sparked around her, and she huffed down at him. Darien froze, but he was unafraid.
“Goddess,” he whispered, almost, but not quite a question.
“Alpha,” she said back, with a definitive edge to her voice. She raised her chin to him then hopped back through the wall to the dusty streets outside.
Without consciously deciding to do so, Darien stood up and followed her through the wall. She led him away from his home through the dark streets, and he followed her, his bare feet chilled on the cobblestones.
His neighbors watched and whispered, hiding behind closed curtains or openly staring. Some watched with fear, but Darien felt calm in the Goddess’s presence.
She stopped in the town square, miles from the halls where she was summoned. She walked around him in a circle, giving people time to gather around. Each loop she made gave Darien strength and warmth until she’s burned a small circle on the ground around him.
The pack watched her with curiosity until some began bowing to her. The clouds overhead clear, illuminating the crowd. She basked in the glowing moonlight for a moment before turning to Darien. “The pack is yours, Alpha,” she says, then bows her head to him.
Darien meant to ask if she was sure, but when he opened his mouth, a howl escaped his lips. It was weak at first, but when the Goddess nodded to him, he tried again, louder and stronger, until the people around him in the square joined in.
Each member of the pack joined the howl, unable to resist. With Darien leading they howled, following their basest instincts until the Goddess was satisfied with her tribute.
She circled Darien once more, dropping embers in the sky around her. Then she vanished in a poof of smoke, leaving Darien alone before the pack.
