The sun was high up in the sky, shining brightly upon the kingdom. The birds chirped, flying across the clear sky as the tree danced to the rhythm of the wind.

The little boy was in of the balconies of the castle, watching as man and woman moved along the streets, talking with one another with smiles on their faces, and the little children playing and laughing.

It was a beautiful day to the boy. Well, that was until he heard his brother talking with a low voice from their father's private room.

Curious and concerned, Sasuke tiptoed over to the source of his brother's voice and peeped through the little opening of the magnificent door. Guards were not allowed around this quaters, so this was an advantage.

"Why, father? Why didn't you do anything?"

Sasuke saw his brother's back to him, facing their father as the older man sighed and removed the uniform he always wore for his meetings. "Itachi..."

"Shisui's dead!" Even though, Itachi's voice was cool and steady, the aura coming out of him wasn't.

Sasuke placed a hand over his mouth to prevent the sound that was going to come out, his eyes going wide. Cousin Shisui is dead? What?

Fugaku shot his eyes as he settled on a chair behind an enormous and heavily adorned table.

"You were there father, you could've..."

"Itachi, you do know that it is against our custom to have a human as your mate."

"The moon goddess..."

"Humans are weak. They would not last long if they were to give birth to any of our offsprings and that will mark the end of our race."

"What father? If the moon goddess has ordained..."

"We do not mate with humans, Itachi. It is a crime against our people."

"How is that a crime when the goddess has paired us up with who we'll end up with?! It is more like you people are going against the goddess' rules."

"The human had to be killed, Itachi." Fugaku growled. "The goddess made rules for us but that doesn't mean we don't have our lives to live."

Itachi stared at his father in disbelief. "You're sounding like Danzo now, father."

Fugaku snarled. "The human was going to bring chaos upon us, Itachi. You should know how humans are. If they know about our domain, we are finished. We are not supposed to have anything to do with them."

Itachi squinted his eyes in assessment, his voice still low. "Shisui committed suicide because you killed his mate. Do you have any idea how much he loved his mate?"

Sasuke's head became filled with questions. Cousin had a mate? A human mate? He was still young. I guess he was lucky. But a human? Did he go out of our domain to bring her or did she come through to ours?

"It had to be done."

"And father, do you know how feral we lycans get when our mates die?"

"Of course I know that..."

"But you did not do anything when the officials and elders were deciding, father. You were there but you did not."

"I am the king, Itachi. I have an obligation towards my people and listening to them is one of it."

"Shisui is dead, father."

Sasuke could feel his brother's grief and pain from where he stood. Shisui was their closest cousin and friend. He always had smiles on his face, making the best of jokes and bringing happiness to the atmosphere.

"I am unhappy about it, Itachi, but he committed suicide."

There was a short silence. It was as though the whole room had become a graveyard, until Itachi let out a sharp sigh.

He bowed his head slightly and turned around. "I have heard, father." He made his way to the door.

"And Itachi?"

"Yes, father?" Itachi answered but did not turn around.

"Do not cause trouble." Fugaku warned. He didn't know what his oldest son could do but he wanted to be cautious.

"As you wish."

With that, the door opened some more and Sasuke jumped back, swallowing a squeak.

He watched as Itachi stared down at him, pain and grief coursing through his eyes, and then he smiled. "What are you doing here, otouto?"

You always hide behind a smile, nii-san, all your pain and sadness. Sasuke straightened up. "I came to see you, nii-san. I heard your voice."

"I see." Itachi gave a closed eye smile.

Fake smile.

He ruffled his head and turned around.

"Where are you going? You just came back." Sasuke asked.

"Just going to get some fresh air." Itachi did not look back.

Sasuke stared at his brother's back as he walked off. He knew that his brother needed some space right now and also knew that his brother had suspected him to be eavesdropping but didn't bother to say anything about it.

Sasuke sighed. His brother must really be out of it. He, on the other hand, was still not over the shock of their cousin's suicide and was still confused. So without a second thought he walked off the other path, in search of his mother, the supreme Luna and Queen.

He found her in her sewing room, embroidering a pattern unto a wine coloured silky material.

"Kaa-san." Sasuke called as he neared her, nodding to the greetings of the maids around her.

Mikoto turned her head and saw her youngest son, a smile breaking down on her gracious face. "Sasuke." She gave one look at the maids and they all scurried outside, closing the door softly behind them.

Sasuke plopped down unto the large cushion next to his mother and studied the pattern on the floor vaguely.

Mikoto noticed his demeanor, worry instantly evident on her face. "Sasuke, what is wrong?"

"Kaa-san." Sasuke looked up and stared into his mother's onyx eyes. "Why should we be weary of humans?"

Taken aback by the question, Mikoto's eyes went wide before she exhaled softly and calmed herself. She was not expecting such a question.

"Well, it is believed that humans are weak and different. Weak in the sense that they do not possess our kind of strength nor that of the other beings, and different in the sense that unlike us, they do not shape shift or transform nor do they live like us. I have not really seen one but this is what I have been told, right from old."

Sasuke listened, suddenly interested.

The Queen continued. "There was a time, long ago when we found some of our kind outside the domain, dead." She looked away, staring out the window. "My parents were among. They were given orders by a former lord of your father's parent to hunt down a particular offender of the law. He had stolen one of the king's crowns." Mikoto gave a short dry laugh when Sasuke's breath hitched. "Still don't know how he thought he could get away with it. They all ended up outside our domain." She took a deep breath. "It was later discovered that they had been shot between the eyes, in their forms, with short silver objects."

A gasp went out from Sasuke. Silver? Their kind were vulnerable to silver, just as Vampires were vulnerable to sunlight and garlic, but only that theirs were deadlier.

Mikoto spared him a small smile. "It would later be known as a special kind of bullet human use, special because most of their bullets are made from somethings they call lead, rubber or plastic with copper coating. Since then, we have noted humans to be evil creatures. Our kind had died by their hands, not just by the silver bullets."

"Ooh." Sasuke frowned. That was scary, and they're deemed weaker than us?

"You know what I learnt, Sasuke?" Mikoto glanced at him. "I investigated about it and found out later that they were hunters in those parts. They must've been terrified of seeing creatures like us and acted on instinct, not knowing that their bullets could render them with an advantage."

"Huh?"

"My parents and the sinner, dead, and I do not blame the humans. Do you know why?"

He shook his head.

"It is because they were in their territory. We left our domain. We Lycanthropes are known for our pride, our lifestyle, and our territory. If someone who is not of us or a rogue wolf comes into our territory, we will have them executed, is that not so?"

"It is so."

"I was sad, but I did not blame the humans. I had wanted to destroy them but after making research and putting myself in their shoes, I thought otherwise. Since then, we swore never to have anything to do with them. They are dangerous."

"But weaker, right?"

"There is something about them too, Sasuke. We can not hurt them." She glanced at her son. "Once we lay our hands on them, our abilities are diminished, we suffer from a disease and we end up on a sick bed, but it is not fatal. Even the royal family can also be affected. It is the way Selene, the luna goddess has ordained for us. And also, people have different opinions on things."

"Kaa-san..." Sasuke wanted to press on, but remembered something more important. "Shisui is dead."

The shock could be seen on Mikoto's gracious features. "What?"

He lowered his head. "He committed suicide." Committing such a thing was a huge offence in their kingdom. The consequence: the dead sinner will not be allowed a befitting funeral.

Mikoto breathed out sharply, her hand over her mouth. "No no no no."

"It was said that he had gone feral after his mate had died, killed for being a human."

"No!" Her pain was so evident, it filled the entire room, but Sasuke was confused. Was it for Shisui or Shisui's mate?

"Kaa-san?"

"The poor soul he had brought just two days ago?" She stared into space. "He had gone feral."

So, it was both then.

"Kaa-san, I need to know about 'mates' and the word 'feral'."

She glanced at him, looking seriously into his eyes. "I will tell you, but first I need to know how you came about this information."

So, Sasuke told her everything he had eavesdropped on his brother and father.

"Eavesdropping is not a very good thing to do."

"But kaa-san..." That is how I got this information.

"We'll come to that later, let me first tell you how everything we lycanthropes are about, and how we came to be."

He nodded, ready to listen. Keeping his mother's soon scolding at the back of his mind.

"Long ago, before we came to existence, our beloved goddess, Selene, walked upon this very place we live today. It was this same place she created us; the lycans and warewolves. She protected us, cared for us and gave us freedom to explore the land. Which brings us to the next chapter of the creation: pairing. Pairing, in which case you find your significant other. We call them mates. If there is a situation whereby you have not met your mate, you do not have to search far and wide. Except she is not around you, you will pick up her scent and your insides will become more alert and active than when you are on a battlefield."

"Adrenaline will make your blood run hot and cold and you will not rest until you have marked her as your mate. If you do not, you become weaker. Your heart beat will become irregular and you will feel pains all over your insides like sores developing internally. That is the urge we get when we finally see our mate. It brings joy but it is also unbearable."

"And when we lose our significant other, we go feral. Feeling the pain of your mate leaving you for the great beyond can make one kill. Our hearts gets disconnected, decapitated. Our hearts gets destroyed. We cannot handle that pain, that is what we call going feral. Our judgement and vision are blurred by pain, grief and unbearable broken pieces of our heart. We can kill anyone on sight."

"Why then did Selene gift us with this painful result?"

Mikoto met her son's unwavering gaze. "We cannot question the decisions and the choices of the goddess. She is the one who created us and she can destroy us."

"But now, Shisui's gone.."

"Going feral is a very painful ordeal, Sasuke. One who has not gone through it will only laugh at one who is going through it."

"But I am not laughing."

She reached out and patted his head. "It is a proverb, Sasuke. It holds more meaning than it seems."

But Sasuke still had a question. This one he was curious about. "Kaa-san, if the moon goddess has ordained the pairing for us even before we can get to know the person and fall in love with the person, is that still okay?" He remembered Itachi saying how much their cousin had loved his mate. "Is it the same thing?"

She stared at him for a while, and hummed. "Love and pairing." She stared out the window again. "Love is many words I cannot describe. It hurts, heals, weakens, strengthens, kills, beautifies, builds and so on. Many people may define it as a strong emotion or feeling, which is partly true. It is much more than that and I cannot define it."

"Pairing, well, is the confirmation of your urge towards your other half. It blesses you with the same feelings of course but love is stronger, it is like a gift and a curse. It is mysterious. No one knows how or when he/she starts feeling that way. When I became mates with your father, the king, the feelings were there but it onlymodified when I fell in love with him."

Sasuke tried to keep a straight face. He has always been uncomfortable whenever his mother talked about her and his father's love story. The look his father gave his mother, even when she wasn't looking was enough.

"So, why be mates with someone you do not love?"

"That is how we were created, Sasuke. We may fall in love in the latter parts of our lives but it is never certain for sure." She was being honest.

Sasuke remembered one of their kind. "But Kotsu did not."

The Queen furrowed her brows. "Kotsu?"

"He found his mate but instead of taking her and doing the rational rites, he did not want to have anything to do with her. He had a lover, they said."

"They said?"

"I did not mean to eavesdrop, I promise." Sasuke quickly answered, innocently. "The royal guards were talking about it. I do not know the warewolf either."

"Aah, I see. He had a lover."

"Does this mean that loving someone is easier than the urge of pairing towards your real mate?"

"This wolf..what befell him?"

"I do not know. He fled the kingdom with his lover, after he had marked his mate and left her."

Mikoto raised an eyebrow.

"I find it unfair, kaa-san. Isn't it a loveless and merciless thing to your mate? You are bound by the mark, ending up together for a lifetime." At least, Shisui loved his mate. Was that why he had gone feral? Was the pain that unbearable that he could not handle it? Of course, mother had explained that part, but I did not expect it to be that severe.

Mikoto gave him a small smile but didn't answer his question, Shisui's death and Itachi's possible reaction to it was clouding her mind.

It was Sasuke's turn to stare into space, and after being silent for a while, he said.

"Well, I will not have anything to do with my mate if I do not love her, no matter the pain and restlessness I go through. For it will be unfair, even to her."

Whomever she is.

SELENE- a Greek goddess. Goddess of the moon.

Kaa-san- Mother.

Otoutou- Younger brother.

Constructive criticisms are appreciated.