A Werewolf Fantasy

Her mother came into the room shortly after Danshak's departure. Erin still hadn't recovered from the shocking turn of events in the last couple of minutes since she woke up.

Either someone was playing a cruel joke on her, or she was developing some sort of mental problem. Or she was truly in a different dimension, even though that was most likely impossible.

"How are you, my dear child?" her mother asked. In this era, Bernice Brown had waist-length hair and was dressed in leather and fur clothing with a woolen quilt thrown around her shoulders. She even looked younger here than she did in the future, that is if this was really the past.

"Here, drink this. It will make you feel better," she said and offered Erin a bowl of broth that didn't smell so good.

"Um, thank you, but I'm fine," said Erin, trying not to wrinkle her nose at the unattractive smell wafting out of the bowl.

Her mother smiled. "I know you do not care for the smell of the soup, but it will do you good. Go ahead, take it."

Reluctantly, Erin accepted the bowl and she took a tentative sip. To her surprise, the soup tasted nice and it had small bits of meat inside, although she couldn't tell what kind of animal it was in particular.

"You were right. It does taste good," she conceded and took another sip.

"Danshak tells me that you are still feeling unwell," her mother began. "We thought a good night's sleep was all you needed to feel more like yourself after last night's festivity."

"Can you please remind me of what happened last night?" She asked. If she was going to get the full information about what her supposed husband was ranting about earlier, her mother was in the best position to fill her in.

"Well, as you already know, it was your mating ceremony with Danshak and you became sick as the night progressed. Your sister and I brought you here to your room to recover, and thankfully, Danshak was gracious enough to let you sleep here overnight instead of sharing the bridal tent with him. Not many grooms would allow that, you know. You should thank him for being ever so kind."

"I have a sister?" Erin asked in awe.

"Of course, you do," said her mother with an indulgent chuckle. "It appears that the strong wine from last night has not left your head. You never had the stomach for it, anyway."

"I wish I understand what you're saying," Erin muttered.

Her mother was quiet as she watched Erin drink the rest of the meaty broth. She finally broke the silence when Erin returned the empty bowl to her.

"Are you ready then to ride to Denai' Vena with your new family?"

"No, I'm not ready to go anywhere just yet," said Erin quickly. "I don't even know how I got here. One minute, I was in my bed sleeping, and the next minute I open my eyes and I'm in this strange place. Now, you look different, Devon looks different, and everyone here probably thinks I'm crazy or drunk or both. How do I get out of this place, Mom? Why are we even here? Why are we dressed like this? Tell me the truth, what's going on?"

"Why do you speak so strangely?" asked her mother with a look of bewilderment. "I think you should lie down, my dear. We may need to summon the medicine man to come and see to you."

"Believe me, Mom, I'm fine. I just need to understand what is going on. What's this place? Where are we?"

With a sigh, her mother said, "Very well, I will explain everything you want to know if it will bring your mind back to the present. We are in Quandagh, our village. Your father is the head of this clan which consists of four packs of werewolf families. Presently, our supreme leader, Vak Smallchief is here with his family to witness the mating ceremony between his middle son, Danshak, and you."

"And the mating ceremony happened last night?"

"Yes, it did."

"So, you're telling me now that our ancestor, Vak Smallchief, is now my father-in-law?"

Mother smiled. "He is not yet an ancestor because he is still alive, but yes, he is now your father-in-law. If you are up to it, you will ride with your husband and his family to Denai' Vena in the northeast and make your home there." Erin thought for a moment before speaking again. "Do I love Danshak?"

"Well, from your behavior towards him since your betrothal, it does not seem as if you do. You have spoken harshly about him many times, but I believe that with time, you might grow to love him. Danshak is a good man and a strong werewolf, you are lucky to have him as your mate."

"He doesn't seem to be fond of me either."

"I know, and that can change when both of you get to know more about one another," said her mother, optimistically.

"But if we don't like each other, why did we agree to be mated?"

"Well, that decision was not up to either of you. Your father saw an opportunity to become a member of Vak's family and he took it. He may not be next in line to become the supreme leader after Vak is dead, but he has secured our family a spot in the ruling clan. There is no higher position for a werewolf to attain than that."

This piece of information seemed even extra strange to Erin because her father hated politics and never got involved in anything that involved calculative moves and clever scheming.

He was a simple man who enjoyed running his small trading post in Fairbanks and doing the best he can to keep his family safe and happy. But this was a different dimension, and her father might indeed be a different person here. "So, how did Dad come about this opportunity that you mentioned earlier?"

"Dan?"

"No, Dad. I mean, my father. How did he get the opportunity to convince Vak to let his son marry me."

"Oh, that. Well, if you remember, Vak's brother, Nikjin Whitehound, is raising a rebellion against him. We heard that he sold his soul to the devil and in return, he was given dark powers which he used to create an army of beastly werewolves. He has plans to take over all the werewolf clans all over the north and then overthrow Vak, to become the new supreme leader.

"He wants to become the Prime Alpha even though he knows that he does not stand a chance, seeing that Vak has three sons. This is a monarchy, and therefore, the next Prime Alpha has to be Vak's oldest son."

"Wow," breathed Erin. This was a lot to take in.

"Vak knows he cannot conquer Nikjin alone and that is why he is rallying support from every clan throughout the north. Everyone knows that your father is a powerful Alpha warrior and Vak knows that too. That was why he sought your father's support, and in return for pledging his allegiance to Vak, your father asked that his second son be mated to you, our first daughter."

"Meaning this is basically an arranged marriage?"

"Yes, you could call it that, but you know this is a common practice among our kind, so it is nothing new."

"But what if Danshak isn't my true mate?"

"Oh, but he is. The supreme leader's shaman looked into your stars before the mating ceremony last night and he confirmed that Danshak is your true mate. This is destiny at work, Edvana. You were meant to be his wife all along. "Your mother-in-law was so pleased about the revelation that she gave you the treasured dream stone as a bridal gift. It was hers to keep, but she gave it to you instead. Good fortunes have smiled on you, my dear. I hope that your sister becomes as fortunate as you are when her time comes."

Ok, so in summary, Devon/Danshak was her true mate after all and she was now the daughter-in-law of her werewolf ancestor and the new keeper of the dream stone. In addition, she was expected to ride to the northeast with her new family to await a possibly gruesome invasion by an army of demon-possessed werewolves led by her newly acquired yet estranged uncle-in-law. What else did she miss?

"Can we go outside? I need some fresh air," she said to her mother.

"Of course. Come." Her mother held out a hand to help Erin get off her bed.

When they stepped outside, Erin had to shield her eyes from the brightness that was a sharp contrast to the dim interior that she had just come out of. There were many people outside including children - some were in human form and others. were in their werewolf form.

There were patches of burn fires in different sections, tipis set up at different points, and a longhouse on the right side of the expansive compound. There was no sign of civilization in this place - everything and everyone looked primitive. "What year is this?" Erin whispered in disbelief.

"It is the year of the wolverine," replied her mother matter-of-factly.

Even as Erin shook her head slowly in denial, she could see that the legend about the dream stone had been true after all.

The blasted pebble had sent her back in time and she was now in an era where she couldn't order a Starbucks coffee or a McDonald's double-decker burger or scroll through Instagram on her mobile phone, or enjoy any of the perks of modern life that she usually took for granted.

She was now trapped in a strange place with people who wore clothes made of animal skin and drank foul-smelling soup from crudely carved wooden bowls.

She took a step backward as if to return to the room she'd just vacated, but she lost her balance and fell into darkness.