Chapter 66

“Where am I?” I wondered aloud.
“In the chasm,” a female voice replied. “It is the realm between life and death.”
The woman appeared in front of me. Even in the pitch-black darkness, I could see her clearly. She was divinely gorgeous with platinum blonde hair and turquoise eyes.
“Who are you?”
“I am Lunaria, daughter of the Moon Goddess,” she replied.
“I have never heard of you before. I never knew the Moon Goddess had a daughter.”
“She has many children who are the ancestors of all werewolves. We are the gods and goddesses that you all worship alongside our mother.”
“Wow… why am I seeing you now? Am I dead?”
“No, you’re not dead yet. You’re in a deep sleep.”
“You mean like a coma?”
“If that’s what you call it, then yes.”
I looked around me fearfully. There was nothing to be seen but endless darkness.
“How do I get out of here?”
“That is entirely up to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have to decide if you truly want to return to your reality or remain here and find the answers to everything you’ve ever wanted to know.”
“Of course, I want to go back. I have a daughter and a loving mate waiting for me.”
“Your third mate?”
“Yes. How did you know that?”
She smiled. “I know a lot of things, Jade.”
“How do you know my name? You know what, never mind. Don’t answer that. Just tell me how I can get out of this place right now.”
“Don’t you even want to know who I am and why I’m here?”
“You’ve already told me who you are. The Moon Goddess’ daughter, right?”
“Right, but do you know why I am here?”
I sighed. “I’m hoping you’ll tell me because I’m not very good at guessing.”
Her smile grew wider. “I like your sense of humour.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I replied flatly. “Why are you here?”
“I am the one who created that necklace which you have tried to destroy but failed to.”
My eyes widened. “What!”
“I understand your surprise. I’m sure you’re wondering why I created it.”
“Actually, I’m dying to know!”
She chuckled. “My mother destined me for a hard life. I loved, I was loved and I was hated too. Does that sound familiar?”
“Yes,” I said softly, entranced by her words.
“I fell in love for the first time when I was 18 years old. It was pure and sincere love. The Alpha I loved desired me too and I mistook his attention for love. We never shared a mate bond but I was drawn to him.”
Her description reminded me of my relationship with Hycinth. I must have mistaken my gratitude to him for love but had he truly loved me?
“My mother did not approve of my relationship with him but I wasn’t going to let her stop me from being with the one I loved.”
“So, what happened?”
“I gave myself to him completely and he gladly received what I offered. I became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Sadly, he was born deformed.”
“Oh,” I gasped sympathetically.
“My beloved Alpha lover hated the child at first sight. He blamed me for not being strong enough to birth a healthy pup to be his heir. He despised me and attempted to kill the baby but I wouldn’t let him.”
“That’s horrible!”
“It was worse. He kicked me and my baby out of our home in the dead of night. My poor baby couldn’t withstand the harsh cold of the winter night and he died barely hours after being born.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Lunaria smiled sadly. “It was many lifetimes ago. My soul has healed from that pain and all the others I suffered after that awful experience..”
“Did you avenge your dead son?”
“I wanted to but when I finally gathered the strength and enough rage to confront my Alpha lover, he had been killed by a rival pack that ambushed his pack days before.”
“I hope he died a slow and painful death,” I said coldly. I had no sympathy for bullies.
Lunaria laughed. It sounded like the tinkling of chimes in the wind. Everything about her was so graceful and alluring. I could see why that awful Alpha had been attracted to her.
“Well, I returned to my mother with my tail between my legs. She was sympathetic but did not offer me words of comfort. I wasn’t surprised but I was hurt.”
“Why didn’t she love you?”
“She loved me. She was only being honest with me. Fate chose my destiny, not my mother. She created us but she doesn’t get to decide what paths we must follow.”
“That doesn’t make sense to me.”
“I understand but that is the order of things. Anyway, I eventually stopped grieving for my lost pup. Love crept up on me again when I wasn’t looking for it.”
I smiled. I was happy to hear that things did turn out great for her after all.
“I fell in love with another Alpha who loved me deeply. He’d found me in the woods where I was living alone and trying to put back the pieces of my life.”
“Aww, that’s beautiful.”
“Yes, it was but his pack didn’t share the same sentiment. They’d heard my story and were afraid that if I ever got pregnant for their Alpha, I might give birth to another deformed pup. I was devastated but my love stood solidly beside me.”
“He reminds me of my second mate. He defended me and loved me fiercely until he strayed and betrayed our love.”
“The same thing happened to me. My beloved Alpha became the father of pups born by another she-wolf. I felt betrayed and disappointed.”
“Did you leave him?”
“I wanted to but before I could, one of his concubines poisoned him and I was accused of doing it. The truth is, the poison had been meant for me but for some reason, I didn’t eat the meal that was set out for me and he ate it.”
“That’s awful.”
“I was vindicated when the Alpha’s mother overheard the guilty she-wolf crying and confessing to her sister. Even at that, I was blamed for the incident still because if I had eaten the poisoned meal as I was supposed to, the Alpha would still be alive.”
“That’s weird…”
“Many years passed and I finally met the true love of my life. My real mate whom I shared a bond with. He loved me the way I wanted and deserved to be loved. He was the moon and stars to me.”
“Wait…”
“I birthed a daughter with him, Jade,” she continued, ignoring my response to this new phase of her story.
“My daughter was the most precious little girl I had ever laid eyes on. She brought me so much joy and she was perfect in every way imaginable.”
“Are you making all of these stories up?” I asked her suspiciously.
She shook her head slowly. “No, I am not. They truly happened.”
I didn’t want to ask this next question but I had to. I just had to know what happened next. “So, what happened to your daughter and your beloved mate?”
She sighed sadly. “I loved my mate deeply but those surrounding him didn’t feel that way about him. He had oppressed and terrorized everyone around him but when I came into his life, he became a transformed werewolf.”
“No…” I whispered in denial.
“While he was carried away with his love for me, his enemies were busy plotting against him. They invaded our home, overpowered his guards and killed him.”
“No!”
“Oh, how I grieved! The heartbreak was worse than anything I had ever felt before in my life. I wanted to die.”
“No, please. No.”
“In my grief, I left my child behind in our castle and strolled to the sea where my love and I had spent many happy moments together. I found a piece of jade peeking out through the sand. I don’t know how it got there but it reminded me of my beloved’s green eyes.”
I was shaking my head slowly, not wanting to hear the rest of this creepy story but desperate to know how I was connected to it.
“With my claws, I carved it into the image of my mate in his wolf form. I poured all of my grief and pain into the necklace. My intention was to toss it into the sea and be rid of it and what it reminded me of.”
“But?”
“But my daughter found me by the sea, holding the jade pendant and she begged me to give it to her. It was a symbol of my grief but it was a thing of beauty to her.”
“So, you gave it to her?”
“Yes. I wish I didn’t but I did, and because of that, you are here now. This cycle of grief will either continue or end with you. The choice is yours.”