Chapter 8: A Complicated Oracle
Previously....
"Caeso is one mean, evil, disgusting creature, and he has been building his army over the span of centuries, since the first war between worlds. Caeso has always had it out for me, and my death at his hands, is his deepest desire." ~Thyrius
Lyra(2022)
The kitchen table was silent as Lyra chewed on her pasta, an elegant chicken alfredo with mushrooms and spinach. Alana, of course, knew what she was doing in the kitchen, and she even made her some chai tea in a delicate tea cup. She stared into the foam design going over her most recent conversation with Thyrius. He had gotten up off the bed after his last sentence, sending her one last glance before walking out of the room, to who knew where.
She was on the last bite of her pasta, when a small woman appeared in the entryway to the kitchen. Her hair was a golden hue, and stopped just short of her shoulder blades in perfect waves. Her eyes were a bright emerald, and she wore a smile that put Las Vegas neon lights to shame. When her eyes found Lyra, she smiled even wider, if that were possible, and made her way over to the table. "Oh! You have to be Lyra! I'm Eleni, Gus' mate. I was hoping I would be able to catch a glimpse of the infamous Lyra." Lyra was in shock, she had no idea how to respond. She was friendly enough, but Lyra still wanted to keep her guard up just in case. "They said that I had to give you some space, but honestly the boys can kiss it. They can't keep you locked up and away from everyone forever, and I'm sure you could use another female around here to help with this enormous amount of information being flung at you from all angles." Lyra was confused, stay away from her? So, the people that lived in the house were avoiding her like she was avoiding them. Maybe it was to make her more comfortable here, or maybe it was to protect Thyrius' pack from her altogether.
She hated to admit it, but she was dangerous now. And she didn't know what emotion could set off whatever power that was inside her next. It was logical that a leader would want to take all precautions necessary when it came to a potential threat. "Who's Gus?" That was the question Lyra decided to ask? She mentally face palmed. Eleni looked confused for a moment and then recognition swept over her face. "Oh, sorry, he is Thyrius' beta. The one that trains the warriors and patrols. He is second in command to our pack and the territories we control." Eleni's eyes lightened at the mention of her mate and she was all too eager to catch Lyra up to date on him. It was endearing that she thought so highly of her mate, and the way she described his position told Lyra that she was incredibly proud of him as well. "Do you know where Thyrius went off too?" She asked Eleni. It wasn't too late, roughly 8:30 at night, but late enough to warrant some sort of concern for this mate of hers.
"Most likely in his office, Gus is on patrol tonight, so he wouldn't be with him, meaning that right now, Mr. Mate is on his own there." Eleni wriggled her perfectly shaped eyebrows suggestively, and Lyra froze. "Oh c'mon, you can't tell me you don't feel the bond's pull." Lyra raised her eyebrow in question to her statement. "Ahh, so he didn't tell you about the whole mate thing, just dropped that bomb and left?" Eleni didn't seem surprised. She shook her head before she continued. "He's got some demons on that subject, I won't go into that further, but there's probably a reason he's keeping certain things from you. Thy's a guy that likes to have all the information in front of him before he makes decisions, and there's probably something that's not connecting for him." With Eleni's words, Lyra actually felt quite a lot better. In that her anxiety had subsided a decent amount.
This world was something that she had only read in a book, and it was a lot for someone like her to take in. It made sense, the way that she had described him, and to Lyra, he was a true leader to those around him. Logic and strategy were historical amongst societies, and in the wolf world, she was sure that it wasn't much different to a monarchy. Lyra took her empty pasta bowl over to the sink and began washing it, when Alana came over instantly taking the bowl from her hands. "Nope, not tonight." Her soft voice gave Lyra some comfort, and she went back over to where Eleni was still standing. When she offered a small smile, Lyra finally asked the million dollar question. "Where is his office Eleni?" With a devious smirk, the petite woman took Lyra's wrist, and dragged her off to the stairs that led to a set of stairs at the end of a very long hallway off the kitchen. The stairs held a very ominous vibe to them. They were sleek, black, and totally the opposite of the glorious and elegant white walls that lined the interior of the place. The stairs led to a single door, painted black, with gold detailing around the four panels, and a gold symbol on the center. "Don't be nervous, even though he may have his hesitations with the mate bond, it's still there, and he won't hurt you. His instinct when it comes to you is to protect you." Eleni gave her shoulder a squeeze and made her way back down the hallway and into the kitchen again. Lyra gave herself a pep talk, more like she told herself to not be a coward, then descended the stairs, and knocked three times.
She waited for a few minutes until she heard a muffled "Who is it?" She couldn't back out now, he knew someone was out here. "Uhm, Me." Lyra said, and it came out more like a question, as if she was unsure it was even her. It was another minute until he answered. "Come in." Short, but soft. Not in the cold tone he used moments before. Lyra relaxed a little before placing her hand on the gold doorknob, and twisting it open. There was a reason she was down here, and she had remembered what Alana said about her book of shadows. She wanted it back, and wanted his reason for taking it from her bag. She kept her head down, not wanting to meet his eyes until she was closer. She knew she'd chicken out if she did. When she looked up she saw him, his head also down, but reading a stack of papers that piled at least five inches high. He had glasses on that framed his sculpted face perfectly. She could see blue flecks dancing in his gray eyes. She stared at him in awe, she was mated to a man, no, a god, when she was just this anxious, timid, mess of a human. This had to be a cruel joke the universe was playing on her. It had to be.
Thyrius only looked up when she cleared her throat nervously. He raised his perfect, inky eyebrow at her in question, and she cleared her throat again to speak. "I was speaking to Alana, in the kitchen, and she had told me about a book you had taken to your office, and if it is the one I'm thinking of, I'd like it back please." Her voice was clear, and confident, for once. And it felt good. Really good.
Confidence is key, child, and the more you have of it, the more your power grows.
The woman's voice echoed in her head and distracted her long enough that she only heard the last few words of Thyrius' sentence. "What was that?" She asked, embarrassed that she needed him to repeat himself. "I said that I had taken it because it looked like a book that was lost hundreds of years ago. I looked through it and my suspicions were correct. And that leads me to my question. How did you obtain this book, Lyra?" His eyes were narrowed when he was finished and he looked intimidating, and Lyra felt herself shrink down from the power that radiated off of him.
"I obtained it when I arrived at my cottage 4 years ago, and it was there, on the highest shelf among other old and dusty looking books. Each bound in different leathers, most of them myths and histories of magical creatures. All thought to be fiction, ya know, up until what, three, four days ago?" She kept the steadiness of her voice, finding the strength she desperately needed to continue, "I'm sure you saw the letter addressed to me in there. And some weird prophecy in that envelope. Maybe you can make sense of that? Creation of Leto? She's the goddess that created lycans and werewolves alike, and since you are one, you might know better than me what it actually means." She was sure that she had stumped him. He looked at a loss for words, and his intimidating expression twisted in confusion. Lyra could tell that he was definitely the alpha, and he was not used to others talking to him like that. It actually fueled her a bit more, but she held back. "I'm telling you right now, I had no idea any supernatural or mythological creatures were real until I met you, and for some reason the simple and productive life that I lived in that cottage has been completely uprooted and it is really messing with my head. I just want my book back, and I want to tend to my garden, and read mystery novels before I go to bed." Lyra was on the verge of another breakdown, but by the grace of her guides, she held a decent poker face amidst her rambling.
The confusion on Thyrius' face melted away, and was replaced with concern. His once stoic expression softened, and for a small moment, Lyra could see empathy in his stormy gray eyes. She could tell by the look on his face that he believed every word that she told him. "I know, and I'm sorry Lyra, truly I am. This is not how I wanted us to meet, and it was never my intention to throw you head first into my biggest problem. You must know, I was confused when I saw the book, it looked important to you, and I wanted to grab everything that you might have wanted, I didn't realize what the book actually was until we got to my pack's territory. This book of shadows belongs to the goddess, Hekate. The mother of witches. It was gifted to Hekate's original Oracle, and passed down through her coven until it disappeared, hundreds of years ago. No one knew where it had gone, only that a prophecy had been written, and the only one who knew what it said, had vanished with it." His voice was gentle, and kept low. Lyra knew he spoke with sincerity, and learning that she had a goddess' book sent a shock through her body. "The note that was left to you in the book, is the same handwriting as the one responsible for writing the prophecy." She was confused, she still didn't know who wrote the prophecy. "So.... who wrote it, and how do we find them? They have to know why I'm the one that has the book." Her question was simple, but she had a feeling that the answer would be oh so very complicated. And complicated was something that Lyra had been getting to know quite well these past few days.