by Bree Despain
Sirhan will travel with me to procure the rest of the stones from the slave woman. If I can bring them back to the pack, they will accept me as one of their own. With the moonstones, perhaps I can reclaim a life not haunted by the demon-wolf inside my head.
I can live once more….
fifth letter
Katharine,
I found him! I found Father Miguel without even seeking him out. Sirhan and I encountered a band of travelers on our way back to the village where I met the slave woman. Many soldiers guarded a carriage in the party so ornate it looked fit for a king. Our curiosity got the better of us, and we followed it for some time—only to discover that it was no king borne upon those gilded wheels but that murderous hypocrite, Miguel.
He is old now, but still just as vile. He threatens peasant girls unless they join him in his carriage, even though he still claims to be a man of the holy cloth. Seeing him, even from a distance, has awakened the beast inside of me. It calls for his blood, to avenge everything that has happened to me—to thee.
We have reached a fork in the path, Katharine. Miguel’s caravan heads east, but Sirhan and I must travel west now to make it back to the marketplace to free the slave woman and get the rest of the moonstones. If I do not find her by the new moon, she will be sold away.
Alas, tonight may be my only chance to stop Miguel.
I know I said I would not give in to the wolf again; however, I do not know if I am strong enough to walk away.
It is finished, Katharine.
I went to Miguel’s carriage last night when his guards were passed out in drunken slumber from the wine Sirhan provided for their merriment. I pulled the door open and yanked a young girl out of Miguel’s filthy hands and told her to run.
Miguel swore and started to shout at me to leave, until he saw my face. His eyes grew large with fear as he recognized me, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Brother Gabriel,” he stammered, trying to cover his piglike body with his discarded robes. “How did…?”
“Did thou think I would never find thee?” I said, and grabbed him by his throat. “I found the others, did I not? I made them pay for their sins, so why not thee?” I had no weapon other than my bare hands, but we both knew I didn’t need one. I could tear him apart in a few quick movements.
Miguel began to cry. He begged and pleaded and swore he would change his ways. I knew he was lying.
Alas, as I stared him in the eyes, I saw that no matter how vile he was, he was just an old man. A man I was about to murder. The wolf in my head wanted me to do nothing more than finish Miguel off, to satisfy my lust for his blood.
That is when I knew that I could not do it. I had suppressed the wolf for so many years, that I knew I could not let it free now. Even with a new moonstone, there would be no turning back for me if I gave in to the wolf at this moment. Brother Gabriel would truly never exist again.
I left Miguel in a sobbing heap on the floor of his carriage. I walked into the forest, fighting every howl of my inner wolf, forcing myself not to turn back and kill Miguel.
When I found Sirhan in the woods, he asked me what had happened.
“I could not do it,” I told him. “I cannot kill ever again—even a wretch like Miguel.”
“Then let me do it,” Sirhan said.
“What?” I asked.
“Run,” he said. “Run west as fast you can. Find the slave woman before it is too late and get your moonstones. I will take care of Miguel so thou can be free of him at last, and then I will meet up with thee again.”
I ran, Katharine—faster than any human has possibly run. Yet I could still hear Miguel’s screams, even though I was miles away. They sounded like the screams of those women and children in that fiery church—only this time I was not compelled to stop them.
For what Sirhan has done for me, I will forever be in his service.
I ran through the night and into the morning and found the slave woman before she was sold to a new master. I freed her from her chains and carried her into the hills, escaping the guards of the slave auction. When we were safe, she handed me a small bundle of stones that pulsed with heat. I held them to my chest and let every awful feeling in my heart wash out of me.
The woman bowed to me in a way that seemed even more ancient than Sirhan and the elders of his pack. “I bid you farewell, Gabriel,” she said, even though I had never told her my name.
“Where wilt thou go?” I asked her.
“Back to my people.” Her violet eyes seemed to glisten as she stepped closer to me. “Oh, one more thing, Gabriel,” she said, and touched her lips against my cheek. The feel of it made me clutch the moonstones even closer to my body. “Marie says that she will never stop waiting for thee.”
I watched the woman disappear into the trees, while I pressed my hand against my cheek, holding her kiss there as if it had been from Marie herself—knowing that my beloved still awaits me in heaven.
sixth letter
Editor’s note: This letter appears to have been written recently, sometime between the events of THE DARK DIVINE and THE LOST SAINT.
My dear Katharine,
Many centuries have passed since I started writing to you. I live in a new world called America now, and Sirhan has been the alpha, or the father, of our pack for many years. We live mostly in peace, using our moonstones to help us stay grounded, and we stay away from the public eye. I have dedicated every day of my life to trying to atone for my sins—for the things I did under the influence of the wolf, knowing full well that it would never be enough to save me from the werewolf curse.
But Katharine, news of a girl has reached us—a teenage girl who the others have started calling the “Divine One,” because it is believed that she has cured an Urbat of the curse. Truly cured him. Freed his soul of the demon completely—and he lives, so we know the cure actually worked!
Or at least that is the story.
My moonstone has brought me peace, has helped me keep the wolf under control, but for the first time in my long life as an Urbat, I feel a real hope that I may be able to rid myself of the curse forever. That I may actually be able to keep my promise to Marie.
I do not know if the rumors are true, but if they are, this girl may be in great danger. She does not know the power that she wields in the minds of the Urbat—and other creatures who might see her as a threat. Even Sirhan and my own pack are a danger to her now. Perhaps even I am.
Desperate people can do terrible things.
I pray she stays safe… for the sake of us all.
Your loving brother,
Gabriel
