Her Alpha Mate 45

Freya:

I could've sworn I smelled waffles. It was faint, but it was there and very welcome. It reminded me of home, and that made me feel better about being here, wherever I was.

With difficulty, I jerked my eyes open. Fortunately, the sunlight didn't blind me, so I was able to open my eyes fully without much pain. My eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.

"Oh, honey, you're awake."

A straw was pressed to my lips, and I stared at it suspiciously, refusing to drink anything this person offered me. A soft, bell-like laugh rang out before a woman leaned toward me so I could see her face.

She'd luscious black hair that fell in long curls to her lower back, and piercing silver eyes that eyed me with amusement.

"I wouldn't poison you, darling. Now drink up, it's only water."

I hesitantly took a sip, but when I realized it was really water, I gulped it down in seconds. The woman smiled kindly at me, put the glass down, and helped me sit up. I looked around cautiously and was startled to realize that I was in some kind of palace.

Everything seemed to be made of white marble or some kind of white fabric, and the walls and ceiling were covered with some silver decorations.

I turned my attention back to the woman and looked at her closely. There was something awfully familiar about her.
My eyes swept over her features again and her smile widened, "You know who I'm, darling. Think about it."

The moment the words left her mouth, I knew exactly who this woman was.

The goddess of the moon.

My she-wolf respectfully bowed her head while I stared wide-eyed at the Moon Goddess. Cautiously, I opened my mouth,
"Hi....ma'am."

I'd no idea what to call her. Was I supposed to be afraid of her? Why was I being so casual about this? I could barely comprehend myself and forgot to understand the situation.

She let out another bell-like laugh, "Call me
Diana. These formalities aren't necessary when I've brought you here. Now here, you must be hungry."

With a snap of her fingers, a tray came floating into the bedroom and landed gracefully on my lap.

So that's where the smell of waffles came from.

"Eat up, darling. We've a lot to talk about.
And before you ask, no, you're not dead.
I just took you from the earth."

My eyes widened, "What do you mean..."
She disappeared in a storm of silver glitter and moon dust. My mouth dropped open as the glitter and dust fell to the ground where she'd been standing.

What the hell was I doing here? Why had she taken me? What had happened to Zack and the pack? Was everyone alright.

My head was buzzing with so many questions that I was starting to feel dizzy. I realized it was probably because I was hungry, and I began to devour the waffles.
They tasted just like my mother's waffles.

I wonder if they switched recipes or something.

When I finished eating in record time, I stopped by to see how my wolf was doing.

'I'm fine. Miss our mate though.' Aurora said.

'I know you do. I miss him too. We'll go back to him soon.' I replied.

'Why would she take our mate away from us? We've our pack to protect and besides, we haven't even mated yet.'

'I think we've much more pressing things to do than mate. Let's just wait and see what the Moon Goddess says.'

My she-wolf puffed and stretched her legs before turning around and giving me her tail. Well, I guess that was the end of our conversation.

Suddenly there was another whirlwind of glitter and moon dust and Diana was in front of me again. She eyed my empty plate appreciatively.

"Good, you're done. Perfect timing. Now come along, I know you must've lots of questions. We'll talk in my throne room."

Wait, what was I even wearing?

I peeked under the covers and discovered a white silk dress. Carefully slipping out of the sheets, I stood up and let the dress fall to my knees in little waves.

"Come, my darling. We don't have much time."

I followed Diana through the door into a large hallway. On the walls hung portraits of various women framed by silver flowers. She stopped in front of one and pointed to the picture. I glanced at it to see that it was a portrait of her.

"Here's my portrait. Yours will be right here, next to mine," she smiled and tapped the empty space next to her portrait.

My eyes widened in shock.

Had she said my portrait?

She noticed my puzzled look and nodded, as if to tell me I'd understood her correctly,
"You're my successor, Freya."

My mouth flapped open and closed like the mouth of a fish. I was her successor? I was the next moon goddess?

I'd to sit down.

"You look pale, sweetheart. Come on, I'll ask
Autumn to bring you some more water," she said, turning and walking back down the hall. I stumbled after her, still trying to figure it all out.

We reached a double door and a guard hurried to open the door for us.

"Thank you," I muttered to the guard as we entered the throne room. At the far end of the room was a large throne, lavishly decorated, and small thrones lined the rest of the room.

I assumed that was where her subjects or people sat.

"Have a seat," Diana said, pointing to the throne next to hers as she gracefully sat down and crossed her legs.

I sat down and opened my mouth to ask questions, but she raised her hand to signal me to stop.

"Let me explain everything to you first. If you have any questions after that, you can ask."

I pursed my lips and nodded.

"You know, a long time ago, when I had just become Moon Goddess, the first thing I had to do was choose my successor. I chose you because fate had told me you would be a strong, beautiful she-wolf with a kind heart, the perfect leader." She sighed, "And when your grandparents performed a ceremony in my name, I took it as an opportunity to declare you my heir. I am sure Margaret told you how the golden blood came to be, didn't she?"

"Yes, she said you created the blood so you could give it back to those you liked."

"That's right. But in your case, it was a little different. Not only was I pleased with your grandparents, but I had to give you a special gift that set you apart from all the other wolves so they would recognize you as a leader. When I found out that no one had yet been blessed with the golden blood, I immediately jumped at the chance to give you your gift, which is probably unusual, because the moon goddesses before me gave the wolves their gifts when they turned twenty-one."

"So...." I broke off, "Does anyone on Earth know that I am your successor?"

She shook her head, "No, and I would prefer it stay that way. Power can send people into fits of insanity."

I nodded slowly, wondering if I should ask the question that was on my mind.

"Go ahead, ask your question, Freya."

"Why am I here?"

That was the only thing I did not understand.

She sighed. "Well, you know, I never realized that your blessing would put you in danger, so I had to get you away from all of this."

"So you only took me away to protect me?"

Her fingers drummed against the armrest of her throne, "Not quite, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to test you."

Test me? In what way? How to be a moon goddess?"

"As you should, I need to test you to make sure I made the right choice. I must test your loyalty. If you do not pass, I must replace you immediately."

She slowly stood up, walked towards me and circled my throne in an intimidating manner.

I swallowed slightly and felt my heartbeat quicken at the thought of what this test might be.

"You have a decision to make, Freya."

She stopped in front of me and stared at me, her silver eyes narrowing as they bore into me. I felt sweat forming on my forehead.

"Do you want to go back to Earth, where your mate would die just seconds after seeing you? Or do you want to stay with me and let your mate live?"