Her Alpha Mate 47

Freya:

*Two Days Ago*

What. The. Fuck?

Was she serious?

My mouth dropped open as Diana looked at me with the most serious look I'd seen from her since I woke up.

"I am very serious, darling."

I swallowed hard and stared at the glistening marble floor. What was I going to do?

My heart pounded to my throat as I realized my only choice was to stay up here so Zack could live. I could not let my desire for my mate destroy the pack. They needed him.

Five hundred people depended on Zack to take care of them. If he died, they would be lost and the pack would perish within a few days.

But what would happen if I did not come back?

The Griffins were probably still looking for me, and they would not believe Zack if he told them I was gone.

War was inevitable whether I returned or not.

That meant that even if I did not return, Zack still had the chance to die in battle because he was weak - The breaking apart of the mate bond would tear him apart.

Suddenly his words echoed in my head, "I want you to promise me that you will come back to me if something happens out there... I do not care if I die the next moment, I just want to see you again."

Oh Moon Goddess, why were there pros and cons to both choices? Why couldn't it be something simpler?

"Do you need some more time, Freya? You do not have to decide right now," Diana said softly, tracing the patterns on her staff with her fingertips.

I sighed, "Yes, please."

She smiled kindly, "You have two days to make a decision. Do not disappoint me, Freya. Deep down, you know what you need to do. Follow your gut."

Then she disappeared with an explosion of moon dust.

I exhaled softly, staring at the ceiling, wondering why Zack and I could never catch a break. Something was always trying to break us up.

We just could not have a normal relationship.

"Ms. Freya?"

I sat up and saw an older woman standing at the door with a warm smile on her face.
I quickly stood up and walked over to her curiously, "Hi ma'am, can I help you?"

She giggled, "Call me Autumn, Ms. Freya.
After all, you are the future moon goddess.
Therefore, you are my superior."

I shook my head, "I would prefer you call me Freya. I am still a normal wolf, Autumn."

The smile on Autumn's face widened, "I can see why she chose you. Now, come with me, dear. I want to show you something."

She led me out of the throne room and down the hall to another set of double doors.

"This is the library. We have information here about all the moon goddesses and their biographies," Autumn said, unlocking the door and letting it swing open. I stepped inside and looked around the room in amazement.

It was truly beautiful. The shelves were handmade and had intricate carvings that seemed to tell their own story.

Autumn directed me to a table with two chairs on one side and handed me the cup that was there, "Lemon tea, dear? It will calm your nerves."

I took it gratefully and watched as she searched the shelves for something. When she did not find it, she snapped her fingers and a book flew from one of the shelves into her outstretched hand.

"Here we go," she murmured excitedly and hurried back to hand me the book. I took it from her hand and looked at the cover in confusion. It was a rather old book with pages that were slowly yellowing and text that was slowly fading.

Autumn sat down in the chair next to me and nodded at the book, "This book is very special, dear. Every time a new moon
Moon Goddess arrives, more pages are added to this book. It describes why the she-wolf was chosen, what her wolf looks like, and what her test was, which I think you'll find interesting."

I opened it and skimmed the first few pages, looking mostly for the sections on trials. As I read through the individual trials of the moon goddesses, I realized that each one had to do with her mate. Autumn smiled gently as I looked up at her, "A mate is a wolf's greatest weakness, so all the trials have to do with it. It's about seeing you take on a difficult challenge, similar to the one you'll face when you become a Moon Goddess."

If I had to make a decision like this several times, I was not sure I wanted to become the next Moon Goddess.

"Think about it, Freya. Do not be hasty. Maybe when you wake up you'll know better what to do," Autumn said, standing up.

"Thank you for showing me this," I said, handing her back the book.

"I am happy to help, dear. I like you. I want you to pass this along," she said, gently patting my hand before disappearing behind the shelves to put the book back.

I made my way back to my room and plopped down on my bed with a groan.
People say heaven is the land of happiness. If that was really true, why did I feel so miserable at the moment?




***




I was sitting on my throne with my hands folded in my lap. A werewolf had requested an audience with me, and I was patiently waiting for my guards to bring him in.

When the door opened, I straightened up and saw my guards leading a wolf into the room. The wolf's head was lowered as if he didn't want to see my face.

He knelt down as a sign of respect, and
I nodded to my guards to let them know they could leave.

When they'd gone, I stood up and clutched my staff tightly, "Rise, wolf. What do you want to ask me?"

The wolf raised his head and stared at me with those gray eyes.

"You don't know who I'm, Goddess?"

My heart almost stopped in my chest at the sight of the man I loved and still loved.

He'd aged beautifully, with a few gray streaks in his hair and a few wrinkles on his face. But I couldn't mistake him, I knew my Mate.

He didn't stare at me as if he loved me, but regarded me with a cool gaze, as if he didn't care at all how I felt.

"Zack," I whispered, "you - you."

"I've died," he said, "of old age. I'm nearly five hundred years old, Goddess. It was my time."

That meant it had been exactly four hundred and seventy-five years since we'd last seen each other.

"I wanted to know why you never came back. I asked to see you before I died, and you never came back. Why did you decide to stay?"

His statement broke my heart. Didn't he understand that I wanted him to be happy?
"Zack, I wanted you to be happy."

"Well, you were wrong. I was unhappy. I'd no one to stay by my side while everyone was busy having puppies and growing their little families."

"The pack needed you, Za..."

"The pack didn't need a broken man. I stepped down from the position of Alpha just a few months after you left. I couldn't take it anymore after the bond broke. I just lost it."

Tears filled my eyes as his eyes glistened with pain and suffering.

The pain and suffering I caused him.

"I'd have preferred a happy death than a long life of suffering. With the choice you made, you might as well have killed me yourself."

I covered my mouth to suppress a sob,
"You don't mean that."

He rolled his eyes and stood up, "You know what the problem is with our relationship?"
Tears ran down my cheeks as he pointed to his chest, "I was loyal. You weren't."

He left the throne room while I fell to my knees and bawled my eyes out.

His words echoed in my head like a broken record.

I wasn't loyal. I broke him, even though I'd promised.

I wouldn't.





***





My heart hammered against my chest as I sat up in bed and looked around the room in confusion.

Thank the moon goddess, it was only a dream.

I stroked the back of my neck with one hand and realized I was sweating profusely. I got out of bed and hurried to the bathroom to wash my face.

After rinsing my face with cold water,
I stared at my reflection in the mirror and realized how dead I looked.

And not just in terms of my appearance.
My eyes looked like someone had sucked the life out of me. I looked as if I'd no soul.

This whole situation was taking a toll on me, and I was just beginning to see the effects of it. Fortunately, the dream got things rolling in my head.

Although it was very heartbreaking, it was a good reminder.

A promise is a promise.

And I knew exactly what I'd to do.

I wiped my hands on the towel and walked out with a determined look on my face.





***





Diana was sitting on her throne playing with a magic ball when I entered the throne room.

As soon as she noticed me, she snapped her fingers and the orb disappeared, "Come in, Freya. Sit down."

I sat down next to her and looked her in the eye, "I've made up my mind. I'm going back."

I waited patiently for any reaction, but she just stared at me with an incomprehensible expression on her face. How was I to know whether she was angry or not if she showed no emotion?

"As you wish," she said calmly, but still without saying anything.

A rush of wind and moon dust surrounded us before I felt myself being lifted into the air. I closed my eyes and waited patiently for the flying dust to stop.

A few moments passed before I finally felt something hard under my knees.

It was like I was kneeling on a hard surface.

"Open your eyes, Freya."

My eyes flew open when I heard Diana's voice, and I saw her standing in front of me, next to a man. I slowly stood up and looked around curiously.

We were somewhere in a forest.

Diana must've noticed the confusion on my face, because she shook her head in amusement, "We're a few miles from your pack. Don't worry about it."

She stroked my cheek, "You passed with flying colors, darling. Go back to your mate. I'll see you again in a few hundred years."

"What?" I asked, shocked that she said that so casually.

She laughed softly and shook her head as if I'd made fun of her again.

"You forget that the moon goddess is responsible for the mating of wolves. Freya, when a wolf accepts his mate, he promises to stay by her side in good times and bad. They promise to make their mate as happy as they can. If a moon goddess doesn't take her mate seriously, how are other wolves supposed to take their mates seriously?"

The realization hit me, and that's when I noticed she was holding hands with the man next to her.

Her mate.

She smiled at him, and he returned the kiss on her temple. When she turned her attention back to me, she snapped her fingers and a bag appeared in front of her.

"Take this. You're going to need it. The griffins won't die, or Lord Silvius would kill me, but they'll surrender. When the time is right, open this bag and you will know what to do," she said, winking at me.

I smiled and accepted the pouch, "Thank you."

"Go to your mate, my dear. Defeat those griffins before they go crazy."