The Story

In life, we never have what we want. For example, there lived a king named Lycaon. He ruled over the land of Arcadia and had thousands of men and women under his command. His palace was filled with gold, fine foods, and elaborate artwork, but one thing he did not have was love.One day King Lycaon was hunting in the forest and he came upon a small lake. As he approached, he saw a lady sitting at the edge of the lake, singing.Her song was a song full of longing. Drawn in by her words, King Lycaon dismounted from his horse and approached her. When the woman turned to face the King, her incredible beauty struck him.

"My lady, your song is so beautiful but so depressing. Please tell me what you wish and I will do everything in my power to grant it. But first, what shall I call you?"

"You may call me Fortuna, my Lord. I am distressed because I fear I will never find a man to love. My father is too hard to please and he will not grant permission for me to marry anyone." The King had already fallen for the beautiful damsel and so he was quick to volunteer.Certainly, he would not deny a King! Come with me and I will make you the happiest bride in all the land. Fortuna knew of King Lycaon and what a great king he was to his people. She loved him for offering his hand in marriage but said she would only marry him with her fathers' approval.

"Who is your father?" King inquired.

"Why he is Jupiter, king of the gods."

"My heavens!" King Lycaon exclaimed. "I'll have to prepare the greatest feast in the history of man." King Lycaon proceeded to enlist all of his men and women to prepare the palace for Jupiter's arrival. He had drapes of gold hung from every rafter. Fine food was imported from every corner of the world, and he brought in performers from distant lands to provide entertainment.The King had prepared to host Jupiter over seven days. The very first day Jupiter arrived on a cloud from heaven. He was very regal in his purple robes and he carried a golden staff. The palace appeared dull next to his glowing radiance. Each day the King would try to engage the god and impress him with his wealth. He gave Jupiter great gifts of furs and perfumes, but Jupiter offered no more than a simple thank you.Throughout the proceedings, Jupiter would hardly look at the King. Feeling greatly insulted, the King tried all the harder to win over Fortuna's father, but the more he tried, the more Jupiter resented him. The next five days carried on in the same fashion — eating, drinking, and being entertained.If King Lycaon had one flaw it was his temper. When he was pushed, it didn't take very much to set him off. Jupiter knew of Lycaon's temper and didn't believe he was a good match for his daughter. To push the King past his limit, Jupiter insulted the King's mortality. He laughed at how puny and finite the King's life was.In retaliation, the King told his head cook to prepare a steak of human flesh, but to make it appear appetizing. In that way, he would get back at Jupiter by tricking him into eating the unclean meal.Fortuna was out at the market when the King had his next meal with Jupiter. The cooks served the meal as usual, but Jupiter immediately recognized the ruse.

"How dare you serve me human flesh! You have insulted me by trying to bring me down to man's level. In return, I will bring you down a level. For you will roam the world in the form of a wolf from this day forward." Instantly, King Lycaon transformed into a wolf. With a glance back, Jupiter threw away his blessing — believing Fortuna would flee once she saw the King's true form. "You have permission to marry my daughter, but I doubt that she will want you now that she can see the beast you truly are." Then Jupiter vanished to the heavens. King Lycaon was horrified at what he had become and ran to his chambers. Luckily, Jupiter's wife, Juno, was watching the whole scene unfold. She snuck into Lycaons chambers and made a deal with him. If he could control his temper, she would mend Jupiter's curse. 

"Yes! I'll do whatever. Just please free me from this wretched form!" Juno transformed King Lycaon back into a human but warned him that whenever he lost his temper he would turn back into a wolf and that he would not return to human form until he calmed down.With Jupiter's blessing, Fortuna and Lycaon were married and lived together happily for a few years. Until one day Fortuna insisted that Lycaon apologize to her father. Lycaon became enraged and suddenly shifted into a wolf. Fortuna was horrified to discover his curse and finally believed that King Lycaon was a monster. She fled from Lycaon's kingdom. Little did she know that she was already with child — the first werewolf child. With that, the mother wolf leaned back in her chair with a smug smile.

"But Mamma, what happens to the baby?"

"He's what our next story is about, Now hush as I tell you the sad life we had to deal with." The wind whistled outside the cabin and the mother wolf carried on with her... story. "You see my little Enigma. Years later the first werewolves were enslaved by humans as dogs. we worked hard for them plowing there fields, cooking their food, and doing any wish they wanted. My Grandpa and your great-grandpa were very young when a law came out to set us free. We had, of course, celebrated the event and as much as we tried we couldn't befriend the humans." The mother wolf stopped her story and looked out the window and into the night sky.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Her pup only a few months old looked up at her pawing at her mussel. The mother looked sadly at her son. He was born early and caused his twin to die early on birth. He was a gorgeous wolf with a dark pelt but sadly was born with heterochromia iridium. His midnight blue and lobelia eyes glowed with worry.

"Lets Finnish the story later, my enigma." Her pup nodded and went to lay down on the mass of animal fur on the other side of the cabin. "Goodnight, my little Alexander."

She looked down  at her sleeping pup and cryed in silance. Her son was born with the curse of Lycaon.

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