Page 11 of In This Iron Ground
“Oh, wow. And you’re all a…pack?”
“Yes. We are tied to each other with a pack bond. Us, here, is our main pack, but we belong to the wider Salgado pack.”
“And do you have like…a leader? An alpha?”
“Yes—though we don’t call them alphas,” Mia laughed. “I’m the leader of the pack. The Kephale.”
“Kephale…”
“Yes. It’s a word with an interesting history. It means ‘head’ in Greek, but has been translated in some texts as ‘leader’. Linguists dispute this, however, saying that it only means head, as in the head on your shoulders. I like that better, somehow…sort of takes away from the oppressive thinking of hierarchy…but anyway.”
“Wow. You must be, like…how is the Kephale decided?”
“It has to do with the quality of your Ousía—your spirit. Your essence,” Mia explained. Damien’s head spun with questions.
“Were you…born werewolves?”
“Except Cameron,” Mia said. Damien looked at the man in question, who smiled.
“You were…bitten?” Damien asked. Koko snorted as Hakan shook his head. Damien blushed.
“No. I can see why you would think that, but that’s all Hollywood. Being a shifter—a werewolf—is not infectious. It is not a disease or a curse. It is simply a quality of your Ousía. Most shifters are born, but a very few have conductive enough Ousía to be ritualized into being a shifter.”
“Conductive Ousía?”
“Yes. Although maybe we should save that for another day,” Mia said kindly. Damien nodded immediately, despite having millions of questions vibrating in his stomach and chest.
“This is so cool,” he couldn’t help but say.
A million times he had wished for an adventure. A million times he had read a fantasy book and asked the universe to take him there. He would bargain with it, tell it he knew it would be difficult, that it would be a trial, but that he could take it. Damien had never had good luck in anything. But this? This was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Cameron boomed a laugh at Damien’s enthusiasm.
“I felt exactly like that when I first found out. Quite a shock, let me tell you. You’re handling it a lot better than me.”
“Well, it’s just so cool! I mean…werewolves? I never would have…although I totally understand why it would be kept a secret. People can be pretty…scary,” Damien said.
For the first time during the dinner, Hakan turned towards him with focus.
“Shouldn’t you be saying that about werewolves? You’ve just been told we’re faster and stronger than you. That our senses are enhanced. Shouldn’t you be a little worried?” he asked, more curiously than unkindly. Damien frowned, thinking back to the first night with Mia. How she too had been surprised at his lack of fear.
“It doesn’t work like that. Just ’cause you can hurt someone doesn’t mean you’re more likely to do it. People’ll find ways to hurt others if they want to. Not having super strength and speed isn’t gonna stop them, and having super strength and speed isn’t gonna cause it. Your mom said that being a werewolf isn’t a curse, or a disease. It doesn’t affect your…soul. Your morals. That’s what decides if you hurt someone. So…yeah. No. You’re not that scary,” Damien said.
Hakan looked at him. The moment stretched and then, suddenly, the clouds parted. Hakan smiled.
Damien’s responding smile felt like a victory.
“Wait…are people angry that I know? Like, the rest of the pack?” Damien asked as the question suddenly popped into his head. The silence that followed was a beat too long. Damien’s stomach sank.
“No,” Cameron said. “Not angry. A little afraid, perhaps. But we have faith in our Kephale. She sees something in you.”
Damien looked at Mia. Her dark eyes were bright.
“See what?” he asked. She smiled.
“You,” she said simply. Damien frowned, but there was no way to argue against that.
If that was the reason why Damien was allowed in the Salgado house, it wouldn’t hold up for long.
