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His words sliced through me like a dagger, my body collapsing back into my chair the moment he slammed the door behind him.
Chapter Twelve
On the night of the full moon, I went to the one place that seemed to bring me peace.
I walked down the cobbled streets, my boots clicking against the rough stone, moonbeams bathing me in Lunestia’s warm light. I could take my lectracycle to arrive quicker, but a small part of me always hoped that the longer I spent under the moon, the more likely my wolf would come back.
Yet it never seemed to happen.
I crossed through the closed marketplace, wrapping my wool coat tighter against my body to protect myself from the whistling fall wind. My path was an easy one, my destination rising above me as I made my way to the most beautiful building in our city.
The Temple of Tranquility.
Every major city had a Temple dedicated to Lunestia and Firenielle for people to come and worship and celebrate them whenever they wanted. They were all set up in a similar style; two towers made of dark black stone, one for Lunestia and one for Firenielle, rose above the town. They were connected by an arch, bridging together the God and Goddess who watched over us every day.
I veered to the left, heading to Lunestia Tower. The doors were pitch black with the moon phases painted along them in a circle, to remind us that we were forever evolving and changing. I took a deep breath, my fingers shaking as I pushed the door in, the dark sanctuary welcoming me. Seathra’s temple had been decorated to match the night sky, midnight blue walls embossed with diamonds and silver filigree patterns swirling together, as if the stars still sparkled and comets danced in celebration.
I walked about halfway up the aisle before settling onto one of the black painted wooden benches. I stared up at the ceiling, my neck barely supported by the wooden back as I let my eyes scan over the ornate ceiling, detailed pictures telling the story of Kazola and the God and Goddess who had saved us centuries ago.
It had all started so simply: when a God fell in love with a Goddess and made her his Mate. They wanted to spread their love to celebrate, so they found a beautiful Isle off the coast of an overpopulated continent and helped create safe passage for humans to travel there, giving them the opportunity at a new life. When the humans arrived, Firenielle and Lunestia gave their new home a name: Kazola. Meaning Peace-bearer in the language of the Gods.
But the Isle was overrun with wild animals and creatures that hunted the humans. Unable to protect themselves, they were slaughtered before they could even settle. Knowing they must intercede, Firenielle and Lunestia had decided to bless the Isle once more so the humans could protect themselves, by each giving a drop of their blood to a handful of humans, creating new beings to protect and watch over the Isle.
Lunestia, Goddess of Moon and Hunt, was able to fortify her beings with the same strength as the animals who plagued them, allowing them to take the animal form of the wolf while they still held the control of a human. She’d also blessed them with the ability to hunt down wrongdoers by giving them the sight to see her Mark, her crest that only those with a guilty conscience would bear in the moonlight of blessed moons.
She’d named these new beings Varg Anwyns.
Firenielle, God of Blood and Truth, had wanted to create beings who could blend into the world as humans but held the strength of a God. He gave them speed, inhuman strength, vision, and hearing. He also gave them the ability to seek the truth, honing their ability to taste it in the one thing that brought life to a person: their blood.
He’d named these new beings Shrivikas.
My Isle was one built on peace and love and unity. We had been blessed from the beginning, and every day we continued to prosper with our Alchemists’ advances and our thriving economy, we gave thanks to the Mated Gods who watched over us.
Yet, as I sat in that beautiful temple, I felt out of place. I felt wrong and shunned, disgraced.
Was I even welcome in this place, now that my wolf had abandoned me?
I’d started coming to the Temple every full moon since my last camp, when I realized my wolf had disappeared. At first, I would spend the entire time on my knees, praying to Lunestia for answers. Begging for a sign that my wolf would return or answers as to why she had taken it from me. I needed hope, I needed something to live for.
But as the months went on, as my hope dwindled, I’d stopped praying as hard…but I still came. I had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to turn. At least here, I felt less alone in my disgrace; I could still remind myself that once I had been a child of Lunestia and maybe one day I would be again.
Maybe, one day, a miracle would be bestowed upon me.
I sat there for Goddess-knew how long, wishing and praying and hoping to no avail. Another full moon had passed and my wolf was still nowhere to be seen.
My heart ached, my mind bleak when the creaking of the front door jolted me upward, the warm orange rays of the rising sun peeking in as someone entered.
“I knew I would find you here.” Lea’s voice drifted down the aisle, her curly hair caked with a bit of dirt, her clothes wrinkled and sweaty from her own Pack’s full moon campout. She sat down on the bench in front of me, turning to look in my direction.
“You didn’t have to come,” I muttered, my hands twisting in my lap.
“I wasn’t going to leave you here,” she whispered, leaning her arm along the back of her seat. “Anything?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know why I keep trying.”
“Never lose hope, Kasha.” She reached out to me, our hands linking. “You’ll make it through.”
Lea’s confidence in me was just as strong as my Faction’s. They all believed that one day I would find my way back to my wolf. Yet none of them seemed to understand the pit that I lived in every day, trying desperately to get out of it. Every time my emotions started to rise, I would hope that was the moment my eyes would glow again or my claws would start to push against my fingers. I searched every moment of every day for a sign that I hadn’t been abandoned.
