The Prophecy Of The Wolves I - The Beginning
~ Chapter Two ~

Jacques sat with Liliana on the bed in the guest room on which he had laid Liliana. He kept an eye on her to ensure she finished her drink as he tried thinking of where he should start with his life story.

Jacques felt so protective over her already, but he knew it was because she reminded him of the daughter he had lost all those decades ago. He took a deep breath and got comfortable at the end of the bed. “If you need a minute to gather your thoughts, that’s okay,” Liliana said softly.

Jacques chuckled as he relaxed against the footboard of the bed. “You’re such a sweetheart,” he took a deep breath. “Alright. To start with, I’m a vampire,” he rolled his eyes. “Which you already know,” Liliana giggled as he gave her a playful side glance. “I have been around for a very long time. Since the first days of the gods,” he explained.

Liliana’s eyes went wide. “You’re so old,” she said playfully.

Jacques laughed. “Sometimes it pays to be that old,” he clicked his tongue. “Anyway. The first few decades of my life were pretty normal. I was one of the strongest vampires, so that meant that I was a clan leader,” he let out a humorless laugh. “Back then, I was ruthless. My clan became the most feared one in the world. My word was the law. Nobody thought about trying to take me out or get on my bad side. The only person at that time who would try to reason with me was my brother, Michael. He kept me somewhat grounded most of the time. I won’t deny it, and I’m not proud of it, but there were times when I did things that I now regret. At the time, I believed I was doing the right thing. If I could go back in time and do things differently, I would,” he sighed heavily. “Moving on,” he cleared his throat. “I led my clan into a new era. It was an era where we were the strongest clan alive. I fear that I may have stayed on that same path if it hadn’t been for her,” he let a sad, wistful smile slip onto his face. “She was the most beautiful woman I had ever had the pleasure of meeting. She brought my soul back to me with one look from those mysterious eyes of hers,” he laughed. “She was my anchor. She kept me sane and prevented me from doing more things I could have regretted. She led us into a different era once she finally accepted me. I fixed the clan. I fixed most of the horrid things I had done before meeting her. We were still just as powerful, but now we had a conscience. She was my everything. I became even more in tune with my emotions and whatnot when she gave birth to our daughter,” he shook his head with that sad smile on his face. “Ana was her name. Her mother had already been my entire world, but I was a true goner once she was born.”

“What do you mean by that?” Liliana asked as she sipped the drink he had given her to heal her leg.

Jacques exhaled sorrowfully. “My world revolved around those two. Before them, I had no weaknesses. I was untouchable. After meeting my beloved and having our daughter, I had two weaknesses. The two of them became the only weaknesses I had ever had. No one ever threatened them or tried anything because of my reputation, but sometimes karma comes around and bites you in the ass,” he let out a dark chuckle. “This time karma came around for me,” he folded his arms on his lap. “Now, this was decades ago, but I lived through it and hope that no one has to go through the same thing,” he shook his head. “There was a titan named Atlas. As punishment for starting the first titan rebellion, Zeus damned him to hold up Uranus for the rest of his days for leading the rebellion against Zeus eons ago.”

Liliana’s eyes went wide. “You’re talking about the titan rebellion?!” She asked, slightly in excitement.

Jacques tilted his head slightly as he chuckled and studied her. “I take it you’re a fan of all the stories?” He questioned.

Liliana nodded in excitement. “I’m always trying to learn more about anything and everything. I love learning new things. It’s so exciting,” she said in a speedy tone as she got excited about it.

Jacques chuckled. “Well, you’re about to hear a story that most people don’t know,” he let out a slow exhale before he continued. “Now, the only way for Atlas to get free of his punishment was if someone voluntarily took his place. Back then, he still had a lot of connections. So, he had a very willing volunteer to take his place once they had a full plan. So he was free. He wanted to take over the world and bring it to its knees. He wanted everyone, including the gods, to bow at his feet while he reigned over everyone and everything. He recruited so many people and creatures to his side. He had a very massive army. His army could crush everything in their path with ease. There was no one to stand against him besides the gods. Those who hadn’t joined his army were too frightened to join him. That or they didn’t want to anger the gods,” he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “During this time, I lived peacefully with my clan, wife, and daughter. We were all happy and protected. Because of our reputation, we were left alone. My wife and I were raising our daughter to become the clan leader after me. Of course, we also let her have her own life. We didn’t start her leadership training until she was fifteen. We let her have her childhood so she could enjoy being a child. Of course, I never pushed her too hard. She knew it would be quite some time before she had to take my place, but she was excited about it. She wanted to make me and her momma proud. I let her have her own life, though. It wasn’t all about training to be the next leader. I let her get away with so much,” he chuckled at the memories flowing through his mind. “Not that she needed much training from me. She was a natural-born leader. Her mother and I were so proud of her. She was growing up to be a strong, powerful, beautiful young woman,” he exhaled roughly. “Things took a terrible turn when she turned twenty-five. Of course, she was still considered a baby in vampire years, but I knew how powerful she was. I also knew how powerful she could become, but I’m getting off-topic,” he cleared his throat. “Okay, so she had just turned twenty-five. She was gorgeous, just like her mother,” he shook his head to clear his thoughts with a small smile. “Atlas sent a messenger. He wanted me and my clan to join him. He wanted us as part of his army. Now there was no way that anyone like that would frighten me. I was fearless as always. So I turned him down. It was an easy choice for me. I didn’t want my clan, my family, to be a part of a war like that. If we went against him, we would most likely die. If we joined him, we would die or get cursed by the gods for choosing his side. So no many how many times he sent someone to try and convince me, I turned him down. Time and time again, I turned him down,” he sighed as that horrible night started playing in his head like a home movie. “He sent a messenger with an unmistakable message. He had someone murder my wife. She never had a chance. They came in the night while I took our daughter out for training and then some father-and-daughter time. Things were supposed to be fine. They were supposed to be normal. We ended up going home to a sight that killed part of my soul,” he sighed. “With my murdered wife, there was a not carelessly tossed onto her dead and mangled body. It was a simple note that stuck me between a rock and a hard place. It said, ‘Join me, or your daughter is next,’” he looked to the ceiling as he felt the tears gathering in his eyes. “Ana was so young. There was so much that she still had to do with her life. So I did something that I never thought I would do. I joined the war.”

“You joined Atlas to save your daughter,” Liliana stated as she watched him closely.

Jacques gave her a slight nod. “I did something before I joined him, though. Well, a couple of things. First, I knew that if I fucked up in any way while with Atlas, he would go after my Ana and my brother, Michael. So I had them both go into hiding. They disappeared. I was the only person on the planet who knew where they were. I told the clan they had passed away along with my wife. They believed it. I know it wasn’t the right thing to do, but I had to ensure she was safe. She was all that I had left. She didn’t judge me or blame me. She knew everything that had been going on, and she went along willingly. Ana knew it would be difficult for me to focus on my task if I thought she was unsafe,” he clicked his tongue. “Once they were safe, I got into contact with the gods,” he chuckled. “Apollo seemed to take a liking to me. So he brought me to the other gods. Because of what he did to my wife, I wanted Atlas dead. Not just back underneath Uranus, but I wanted him gone for good. Unfortunately, that was impossible. The gods said that there was no way that anyone could permanently get rid of him. Being condemned to hold up Uranus for all time was the best they could do because there was no one that powerful. So because of my grief and my concern for my daughter and brother, I made a deal. I would help them get Atlas back underneath Uranus. I would become their spy.”

Liliana’s eyes went wide as she finished her drink. She set it on the table and leaned forward, folding her legs and placing her hands under her chin. “What happened after that?” She asked curiously.

Jacques laughed. “Well, after that, I joined Atlas. I ensured that I was a part of every single one of his plans. I made sure that I became his number two no matter what I had to do. That’s what I did. I made sure that he trusted me. So I would pass any plan that he came up with to the gods so they could stop it. I knew I was alone and that if Atlas caught me, I’d die, but I knew my brother would take care of my daughter. Michael adored his niece and had promised me that he would take care of her if anything were to happen to me. I knew that being a spy would eventually lead to me being killed or worse, but I also knew that it’d mean Atlas would be recaptured and put back under Uranus. Ana wouldn’t have to worry about him. At least until she was much older,” he shrugged. “Things were working out well for quite some time. With me feeding the gods all of the information that they needed, all of Atlas’ plans were ruined. He couldn’t get anywhere with his plan to rule the world. He even lost a lot of men because of it.”

“Did he ever replace out that you were a spy?” Liliana asked as she moved closer to him excitedly to hear the story.

Jacques chuckled. “Let me finish my story, little one,” he said softly.

Liliana pouted but held her hands up in surrender. “Alright. I’m sorry,” she waved at him with a wide smile. “Please finish your story.”

Jacques chuckled again as he shook his head before continuing with his story. “As I was saying. Things were going well for quite some time. No one suspected me. No one questioned me. Everyone knew that there was a spy in the camp. Since I was the second in command, I could draw Atlas’s attention to other people. I wasn’t proud of it, but they were all there to destroy the world with Atlas,” he shrugged. “So I didn’t feel too bad about it. Over time though, he started to get suspicious. None of the people I had said were the spy gave him anything. So he started to suspect me. He got smart. I should have seen it, but I thought I was too smart for him. I thought that I had it all figured out,” he shook his head with a frown. “How wrong I was,” he cleared his throat. “He wanted to be sure that I was the spy, so he started feeding me false information. He started being smart about how much he shared with me. While he was doing that, he had someone looking for my daughter,” he looked to the ceiling as he felt his emotions eating away at him. “I should have hidden her better. I should have gotten a witch or warlock to help me hide her. I should have done something more to keep her safe. Michael had gone out because they needed blood. They had run out and were both hungry. So Ana was left alone. While he was gone, Atlas himself went after my Ana.”

Liliana let out a gasp as tears gathered in her eyes. She knew what was coming next. Nevertheless, she kept quiet as he took a minute before continuing.

“The things he did to her,” Jacques whispered. “I barely recognized her when he brought her body to me. When he laid her in front of me, my world ended. She was the other half of my soul. With her gone, I was lost. I was enraged. I was a broken man. I had lost everything because of him. So I attacked him,” he sighed. “Or I tried to anyway. He had so many soldiers that it was almost impossible to get to him. They threw me in the cells and had his pain manager torture me for my betrayal. One night I managed to replace a way out. I discovered a set of secret tunnels connected to the cells. They led me outside of his base. So I ran. I couldn’t even give my daughter a proper burial because I had no choice but to leave her body behind. Ana’s body had already been burned to ash, knowing how Atlas was. So I ran. I went into hiding until I was strong again. A warlock found me and agreed to help me recover. Of course, he disapproved of my one-person revenge plan against Atlas, but he helped me anyway. Once I had regained my strength, my anger came back tenfold. I wanted Atlas dead more than ever. I wanted him to pay for taking my family from me. So I started small. I started hunting down his men. His soldiers roamed the world freely until he needed them. Once he caught on, he started sending teams to search for me. Safe to say they never returned to him. When I wasn’t taking out his men, I was training. I became faster. Stronger. More vicious in my attacks. More powerful. I killed anyone he sent after me. Soon enough, I had taken out most of his army. He had sent a majority of his men after me because he knew that if I were around, any plan Atlas made would fail no matter how hard he tried. It was his mistake. I left him with little to no army. Once I learned this, I told the gods. They went after him and within no time got him back under Uranus,” he sighed heavily. “Those were the worst years of my life. I lost so much during that time. Once Atlas was back where he belonged, I left my clan. Michael took over in my place. I traveled the world to try and replace my peace once again. I only found a semblance of it. I knew I would never replace peace as I did with my wife and daughter. I did gain a friend, though,” he chuckled. “During my travels, I ended up in Erytheia. Orthrus was there protecting Geryon’s cattle if I remember correctly. He seemed to like me, and when I left the land, I brought him with me. He’s been with me ever since.”

Liliana looked at him with those same wide eyes. “I am so sorry. You have been through so much pain, and you’ve been so alone,” she said softly.

Jacques sighed as he looked at her. “It’s alright, little one. At first, I wanted to be alone. There was a lot that I had to deal with and think through. Then the only one I needed was Orthrus,” he shrugged.

Liliana gave him a smile that brought light to his soul as soon as he saw it. “Well, now you also have me,” she said happily. “We’re going to be awesome friends.”

Jacques smiled. “Thank you, little one. That does mean a lot to me.”

Liliana leaned up on her knees and gave him a tight hug. “I know I’m young, and things could change, but I promise I will never leave you alone. I will always be with you.”

Jacques grinned. “You are such a sweetheart. Thank you, little Liliana.”

“Can I meet Orthrus?” Liliana asked with a bright smile.

Jacques chuckled. “Of course,” he let out a whistle, and they both listened as Orthrus answered his call.

Liliana giggled as the big, two-headed dog came running into the room. “Awe, he’s so cute,” Liliana squealed as she moved to the edge of the bed.

“Come meet Liliana, Orthrus,” Jacques said softly.

Orthrus walked up to where she was sitting on the edge of the bed. As soon as he was used to her smell and touch, she was able to hug him. “Oh, you are just so sweet,” Liliana squealed happily.

Jacques watched in shock as the two-headed dog surprised him. Orthrus didn’t move. He let Liliana hug him, and when she pulled away, he licked her face. She giggled and squealed until he pulled away from her. She wiped her face with the end of her shirt and smiled brightly. “Oh, you just want all the attention and love,” she pressed a kiss to both of his heads. Liliana pulled away and scratched both of Orthrus’s heads.

Jacques shook himself out of his shocked trance. “He has never done that before. He must like you,” he said with a smile.

Liliana gave him a bright grin as she continued petting the dog. “I love him. He’s so sweet and loving.”

Jacques shook his head with a small smile. “Alright. It’s time to get you back to your pack house. It’s already dark outside.”

Liliana nodded with a pout. “Awe, okay.”

Liliana stood up and took a step away from the bed. Orthrus let out a slight whine as he nudged her now-healed leg. Liliana looked down at it and reassuringly ran her hand through the fur on one of his heads. “I’m alright. Jacques already healed me.”

Orthrus made quick work of licking the blood clean from her calf. Liliana giggled at the feeling before pressing a kiss to his head. “Thank you.”

Jacques cleared his throat as he cleared his mind. “Oh yeah, he loves you,” he said with a chuckle.

Liliana gave him a bright smile as they made their way outside. “Come on, little one,” he said as he knelt in front of her. “Hop on. We’re a decent ways away from your pack house, and it’s already late.”

Liliana squealed in joy. “I love piggyback rides,” she said as she hopped onto his back and wrapped her arms and legs around him.

Jacques chuckled. “Hold onto me tightly, little one. We’re going to be moving very fast.”

Liliana closed her eyes and held on tight as he said. Within no time, they were at a small clearing close to her pack house. She slid off his back and tumbled into Orthrus. She giggled as he licked her face. She kissed both of his heads before turning to Jacques. “It was a pleasure to meet you, and I want to repeat it. Thank you for saving me from those hellhounds. I look forward to spending more time with you.”

Jacques leaned over and pressed a featherlight kiss to her forehead. “You will always have me by your side, little one. Always. “Run along,” he said, gesturing towards her pack house with his chin.

Liliana stuck her tongue out at him before running towards her home.

Jacques and Orthrus stayed with her until they were confident she was safe inside. Once she was, they made their way back to their home with their hearts feeling a bit lighter than before. They finally found a light to keep them grounded in the world. It was a surprise that it came in the form of a fourteen-year-old girl, but they were more than happy to have her in their lives now.