“Orion…why are we all the way out in the forest? I thought we were going to see some ruins.”
“We are, κουτάβι!”
“How much farther do we need to walk? We’ve been walking for over thirty minutes!”
“We’re almost there, so you can stop complaining. Besides, you were the one who wanted to go and see the ruins.”
Alex sighed. When he said that he wanted to go and see some ruins that were important to werewolves and their culture, he had no idea that they’d be going this far from the resort.
“Alright, we’re here.” Orion stopped and turned to face Alex. “I apologize for making you walk such a long distance, but I promise you that it will be worth it. The ruins that I’ve brought you to have been hidden away from the world for thousands of years thanks to Pan’s magic. Only a small handful of humans have ever seen these ruins, so you’re incredibly lucky to be here.”
Now Alex was rather intrigued. Ruins that few humans have ever seen? What exactly was Orion about to show him? He wouldn’t need to wait much longer to get an answer, as the white-haired man stepped out of the way, revealing what he had been blocking from Alex’s vision.
Before him was an old stone road that was lined with ancient buildings. The buildings showed the telltale signs of old age, yet they were remarkably well preserved despite being almost reclaimed by nature. Further down the road, Alex could make out what appeared to be the remnants of a fountain where the people who once lived here would go to get their drinking water. A few villas stood tall further into the ruins, but not as tall as the trees that protected the city from the sky above. Alex was in awe at the sight before him. Never in his life did he ever think he would be able to see such well preserved ancient ruins with his own eyes!
“Orion…what is this place?” the young man asked, shifting his attention to the man in front of him. Orion grinned and gave a slight chuckle.
“This, Alex, is the city of Lycaea,” the man explained. “It was built thousands of years ago by King Lycaon. It was home to hundreds of people, and it was a rather popular trading town thanks to its close proximity to the Alfeios and Lousios rivers. It is a place of great significance to werewolves, as this is the place where the modern werewolf was born.”
Alex looked at the buildings in awe as he began to walk down the ancient street. He looked peered in a few windows, looking into the darkened interiors of the ancient structures. “So those who were bitten or scratched by Lycaon lived here…and they had children who could control their transformations, right?”
“Exactly.”
“And once the ancient werewolves died out, the only way for a person to become a werewolf was through the transformation ritual, right?”
Orion chuckled. “Well I’ll be damned…you actually paid attention. Normally, people don’t bother to remember anything I tell them about werewolf culture.”
“Well I think it’s fascinating,” Alex responded as he walked inside what he believed to be an old shop. “I never knew that the history of werewolves was so complex, let alone that werewolves even existed before this trip. Out of curiosity, why do you keep this place hidden from the rest of the world?”
“Call it a precaution. We’ve seen how idiotic some humans can be. They destroy priceless relics and ancient ruins when attempting to get a good picture for their social media page. So, in order to prevent that from happening to one of our most sacred ancestral sites, Pan decided that it would be best to keep it completely hidden from the world. Even then, we still have pack members patrol these grounds since the resort owns the land.”
“Isn’t that a little excessive?”
“Eh, you can never be too safe, κουτάβι. I need to check something real fast. Don’t wander too far, okay?”
“Alright!” Alex walked out of the old shop just in time to see Orion round a corner further down the road. The young man decided to walk a little in the opposite direction, peering into buildings as he walked.
“It’s incredible how well preserved this city is,” Alex thought to himself. “I can only imagine how much some people would pay to see this place for themselves. It’s a shame that they-”
The sound of something falling over in a nearby building made Alex snap out of his thoughts. The young man looked towards the source of the sound, peering into the darkness of a nearby building…only for his gaze to meet a pair of glowing yellow eyes…
Before he could react, a large shape jumped out from the darkness and lunged at him, tackling the young man to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. Panicking, Alex looked up at his assailant. Standing on top of him was a large, feral wolf with grey fur. It bared its teeth at the young man beneath it, snarling aggressively.
“State your business here, human,” the wolf spoke, much to Alex’s surprise.
“I-I…uh…” Alex tried to find the words to explain himself, but he was too paralyzed with fear to do anything.
“πατήρ stop!” Both Alex and the wolf turned their heads to see Orion sprinting towards them. The wolf growled before getting off of Alex, moving towards the other man. The two of them stopped when they were only a few feet apart.
“Orion…what is the meaning of this?!” the wolf growled. “This human has trespassed on our sacred grounds! Why are you protecting him?!”
“Because I brought him here!” Orion snapped. He ran past the wolf and over to Alex, kneeling down to check on the younger man. “Are you okay, Alex?”
“Y-Yeah…I’m f-fine…” Alex stuttered, clearly shaken by the encounter. Orion helped him off the ground before turning his attention back to the wolf.
“πατήρ, you can’t just attack people like that, even if they are intruders!” The wolf growled and rolled its eyes in response.
“I was merely doing my job and keeping our ancestral lands safe from anyone who dares intrude! And besides, I wasn’t going to kill him! I was just going to scare him off!”
“Um…I don’t mean to interrupt…” Alex spoke up, making both Orion and the wolf turn their attention to him. “But…uh…how exactly can this wolf talk? And how do you two know each other?”
Orion sighed. “Sorry Alex, I suppose I have some explaining to do. This is Setith, my πατήρ.”
“What does that mean?”
Orion looked away in embarrassment and the wolf, who was apparently named Setith, rolled his eyes again.
“It means ‘father’, human.”