Chapter 79

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.
“What else? I’ve been watching you try your best to control the outcome of your life.”
“You’ve been watching me? From where?”
“Everywhere, Jade. Everywhere.”
“What is going on? Why am I reliving these memories?”
“Are these truly your memories?”
“Well, not exactly but they’re similar to my other life.”
She smiled. “There is no other life, Jade. You’re still in the same life you tried to leave. Did you think killing yourself would change your fate?”
“I don’t understand.”
“The outcome will always be the same, Jade. You will be mated three times, first to a set of triplet-Alphas, and then to a Gypsy Alpha and finally to the Alpha of the Highlands, the most feared territory after the Lycan east.”
“And what about the necklace?”
“Oh, yes. That pesky necklace,” she chuckled. “It is the glue that binds all of your life experiences together. Imagine how boring your life would have been without all these hurdles.”
“But not all of them were nice. I suffered in the real world.”
“That’s why it’s the real world. There are two sides to everything. Nobody is ever destined to have an easy life.”
“Why not?”
“How would you learn your lessons without the hard knocks of life?”
“What lessons?”
“How would learn about strength without being weak first? How would you recognize hope without despair? How would you understand faith without fear? And how would you appreciate true love without heartbreak?”
Her words sounded like riddles to me but they made sense.
“But if the necklace doesn’t really matter, why have I been looking for it?”
“Who says it doesn’t matter?”
“You said –“
“It’s the glue that binds your story together. You have shared a similar life journey with me and a few other she-wolves. I think it’s time to end this tale and begin another one.”
“What do you mean?”
“As I told you before, the power of the necklace is about to end one cycle and begin another. You can stop that forever by destroying it and not passing it on to someone else. Someone like your daughter.”
My heart squeezed. I wouldn’t want Nyla to live through the same nightmare that I had experienced. I don’t want her to have a difficult life as I did. She deserved a good life with as few problems as possible.
“Where can I find it?”
“Find what?”
“The necklace. I gave it to Lynda and now I can’t find her anymore.”
Lunaria laughed softly. “you still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“Everything that has happened since you entered the chasm again is barely real. You were just reliving your memories in different ways.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Wait. What about the… sex?”
She giggled. “I’ve never met a she-wolf with an imagination as wild as yours.”
I blushed. “Now, it all made sense. Because why would I be attracted to Scout of all people?”
“Beats me,” said Lunaria as she laughed again.
“So, what now?”
“You tell me.”
“Has Rowan killed Dominic again?”
“I think so. It was easier this time around.”
I chuckled. “Poor Dominic.”
“Don’t feel sorry for him too much. He and his brothers were only pawns in the hand of fate.”
“So, what happens next? We couldn’t find the necklace before I came here.”
“It’s been found.”
“Really? By whom?”
“Why don’t you go and see for yourself?” She said and nodded towards the exit door.
I was filled with excitement. I ran outside happily and saw Rowan standing over Dominic’s tattered corpse.
“Rowan, Lunaria says the necklace has been found!”
He looked puzzled. “Who said what?”
“Lunaria. She said – “
“Jade!”
************************
“You’re back,” Rowan whispered happily.
I blinked. “Where am I?”
“We had to bring you to the pack hospital. Your bones were broken badly from the fall,” he explained. “But don’t worry, you’re the only one here. We cleared out the hospital to give you some privacy.”
I looked at him and noticed how tired he looked. There were dark circles under his eyes and his beard was overgrown like his father’s own in the chasm.
“I am so sorry,” I apologized. “I have put you through a lot. You don’t deserve any of these troubles you’ve experienced because of me.”
“Please, don’t say that,” he replied tenderly. “We are one. You’re my mate and that means that whatever affects you affects me. We’re in this together.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “From the bottom of my heart, I say thank you, Alpha Rowan.”
He smiled tenderly. “You’re welcome, Luna Jade. Always and forever.”
He leaned down and kissed my forehead softly. “I have some good news for you,” he whispered.
“Let me guess, you found the necklace.”
His eyes lit up. “How did you know?”
I chuckled. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“Ok. While I was unconscious, I relived my past but in a different way.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“Everything looked and felt real. I was there for months.”
“Well, that part makes sense. You’ve been unconscious for five days.”
“What! That’s crazy.”
“What’s even crazier was watching you fall off the third-floor window and being too shocked to react quickly.”
I heard the guilt in his voice and it made me feel bad. “It wasn’t your fault. I was the one who stupidly decided to kill myself like a coward. I can’t believe I survived that fall.”
“You landed on a bed of flowers downstairs. The soft soil and fluffy flowers broke your fall.”
“Oh, wow. That happened in my dream too.”
“Dreams imitating reality,” he said with a smile.
“How did you find the necklace?”
“Actually, someone brought it. He’d the announcement of the reward and he responded to it. However, to everyone’s surprise, he turned down the reward I offered him but gave me the necklace.”
“Wow. That’s very selfless of him. Who was he?”
“A Lycan from the east. He said a scavenger sold the necklace to him. When he came here and saw you on this bed looking so mangled, he felt sorry for you. I could see the compassion in his eyes.”
I was intrigued by this piece of information. Who could this Lycan be? Was he someone I knew?