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You will. Follow me,Kara said as she rubbed herself against me before turning in whatever direction she intended to lead us. We started walking through the mist, my hand on her fur, afraid to lose her, but she seemed to know where she was going because we pushed past the mist and into open space minutes later. I gasped at the scene before me. We were at the edge of a cliff. Behind us was nothing but that strange orange mist, but in front of us was a giant black chasm with a singular path floating toward a platform. The path was covered in orange marigold petals, with several platforms covered in the orange mist we had just left behind along the way. The silhouette of a woman with her back to us waited for us at the top.
We take this journey together. No matter what you see, know I am here with you,Kara said. My hand shook as I stroked her fur and nodded.
Together,I responded as we took our first steps onto the path.
There was another swirling mist on the platform we slowly approached. I looked down at Kara, who nodded her head at me.Be strong, Celeste.
Taking a deep breath, I let my wolf guide me forward, hanging onto Kara’s fur like my life depended on it. The mist grew heavy as it closed in around us, instantly transforming into a scene.
I began to shake as I immediately knew where I was. It was like I was eight years old again, but this time, I had a front-row view right on top of the platform. A younger Alpha Geoff was standing on one side, my loving father on the other. One man was trying to destroy my family, and the other was determined to protect it.
The fight began, but the whole scene was moving in fast forward. My father was strong, easily overpowering Alpha Geoff, and I began to wonder how he’d lost. Suddenly, the entire fight stopped and moved in slow motion. I saw the needle coming out of the wrist of Alpha Geoff’s coat. No, not a needle, a syringe. My father blocked a punch, and Alpha Geoff took the opportunity of that contact to stab my father with the syringe, a purple liquid rushing into my father’s arm. Even though I never witnessed it myself, I knew what happened next. My father fell to his knees, and Alpha Geoff slit his throat before he ripped the head from my father’s body. I trembled with anger and grief, my knees giving in and dropping while I watched my mother rush forward and fall onto his corpse. I closed my eyes, unable to look at what happened next again. I had dreamed of it many times. It was my own personal nightmare. I buried my head in Kara’s fur and cried.
This is where your path began. This is the moment you thought defined your life, but you hadn’t seen it. You didn’t know the truth. I’m sorry, Celeste, for making you relieve this, but now you know the truth. Let it fuel you.
He killed him. He cheated. He didn’t challenge my father for my mother. He came ready to murder him!I cried.
Yes, our father was strong. Stronger still with Mother at his side. Alpha Geoff did not win the challenge. He betrayed the natural order of nature and the laws of werewolf kind. Many events have rippled from his actions. Selene is still trying to mend those ripples,Kara growled. Then, a little gentler, she added,When you are ready, we must keep going.
I wept a little longer for everything, and everyone lost that night, before standing and nodding at Kara. She brushed herself against my side and led me out of the mist and back onto the path upwards.
Why do I need to know that my father was murdered? Why does that matter now? It can’t be changed,I asked Kara
It matters because his murderer has not received his punishment, and many continue to suffer because of his actions today. So many of our people were murdered that night. Selene needs our help to finish righting the ripples of that night,she answered.
Am I supposed to avenge my father, our people?I asked, confused. I did not think the moon goddess Selene would want to put me on a path of revenge, to deal out more violence and death.
Kara shook her head.This will matter when future events come to pass. I cannot say more, but you will understand why this was important to know soon. Everything you will see here has a purpose, even if we don’t understand it right away.
I trust you and our goddess,I said when we arrived at the next platform. I still didn’t understand much of what was happening, but I needed to have faith that everything had a reason.
I grabbed hold of her fur as she led me through the mist. This time, I didn’t recognize where we were. I recognized the river as the one that runs through Sky Moon and Crescent Moon, but this part isn’t part of either territory. I was hovering over the river, and I was not sure what was going on until I saw him. Lucien Pierce. My father’s gamma and the man who saved me. He was floating down the river face up. His face was bruised and tinted blue. He was flowing downriver until he hit a rock. His body twisted and hit the riverbank, a foot stuck on a log branch, stopping him from pushing further down, his body dipping in and out of the water as it tried to carry him away.
Time sped up again, noted by the faster current and unnatural movement of his body in the river. The night gave way to day before time slowed down to normal again. I heard a howl coming from the forest, followed by the pattering of paws. Three wolves made their way to where Lucien was still floating. Two of them transformed and pulled him out, fastening him to the third wolf before all three ran off again. I felt myself being jerked forward. I came to a stop in a hospital room. Lucien was hooked up to several machines. His face was no longer bruised, giving me a clue as to the passage of time since the scene at the river. There was a tall and imposing man talking to one of the doctors.
“I don’t know if he’ll ever wake up, Alpha. There’s nothing physically wrong with his body, but his brain was severely bruised and swollen when we found him. I don’t know the extent of his brain damage. He’s stable but in a coma.”
“Has anyone figured out who he is yet?”
“Beta Derek has been looking but hasn’t found anything. There was nothing on him to identify him. The best we can guess because of when we found him is that he belonged to Sky Moon, but I'm hesitant to tell people we have a survivor,” the doctor said, making the alpha nod in agreement.
“Let’s give him a week, and if he’s not awake by then, we’ll move him to the pack house. We can have a nur—”
“Dad, Mom sent me to volunteer at the children’s ward. She wants to know if you were going to be home for dinner. She wants you to text her because she’s heading to the city on some errands.” I squinted at the boy. If I had to guess his age, I would put him somewhere around fifteen or sixteen, and something about him looked familiar.
“Thanks, Rhett. Did you bring anything for the little ones?” My eyes widened. Alpha Rhett. Alpha Rhett’s pack rescued Lucien.
“Yeah, Mom and I made lemon squares.” He grinned before dashing off.
The mists swallowed the scene around me, and I felt Kara push her snout into my leg, guiding me out of the platform.
Why did he never look for me?I asked her.He said he would come back for me.
He is still in a coma. He’s been stuck in darkness for almost twelve years. He needs you to help guide him out of that darkness so he can return to our mother and be reborn.Kara mourned along with me.Come, we must keep going. The longer we are here, the longer our mates are without us. I can sense their distress.
We walked towards the next platform, and as we entered the mists, another scene swirled around us.
We were at Alpha Geoff’s office. The table was flipped over. A younger Alpha Geoff was red in the face and very clearly pissed. Beta Trevor was against a wall, looking scared and baring his neck in the hopes it would save his skin.
