Chapter 9
1010 Words
Instead, she was there.
Sitting peacefully in a woman’s lap.
Like she had always belonged there.
The woman slowly ran her fingers through the wolf’s thick fur, and River leaned into the touch with complete trust. There wasn’t a hint of fear in her emerald eyes.
She was safe.
My heart ached.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen someone—or something—look that safe.
The woman looked up.
And I forgot how to breathe.
She was beautiful.
Not in the way humans were beautiful.
She was… something else entirely.
Long silver-white hair, streaked with strands of black, flowed around her like silk caught in a gentle breeze. Her skin glowed with a soft silver light, almost as if the moon itself had kissed every inch of her. A delicate crown woven from white flowers rested atop her head, blooming as though it had grown there naturally.
But it was her eyes…
They held centuries.
Entire lifetimes.
Power.
Kindness.
Sorrow.
Hope.
All at once.
She smiled.
“Come here, my child.”
Before I realized what I was doing, my feet carried me toward her.
Every instinct I had should’ve screamed at me to stay back.
Instead…
I felt safe.
Safer than I had in eight years.
I lowered myself beside her, the warmth surrounding her melting away a small piece of the ice I’d carried inside me for so long.
It felt…
Like home.
The kind I’d almost forgotten existed.
“I…” My voice barely worked. “I don’t understand.”
“You will,” she said gently.
I looked at her, studying every detail of her face.
Something about her felt familiar.
Not because I’d seen her before.
Because I’d heard stories.
Stories my mother used to tell me before bed.
My breath caught.
“…The Moon Goddess?”
Her smile widened ever so slightly.
“Yes, my child.”
My entire body froze.
The Moon Goddess.
The mother of every werewolf.
I scrambled backward before lowering my head.
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know—”
“My child.”
Her voice was soft.
Warm.
“Look at me.”
I slowly lifted my head.
“Do not bow before me.”
My hands trembled in my lap.
“Why… why am I here?”
For the first time, sadness flickered across her face.
“My child… your path was never meant to be easy.”
My throat tightened.
“So…”
I swallowed hard.
“This is my fate?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
The silence felt heavier than words.
Finally…
“Yes.”
My heart sank.
“But fate,” she continued, “is not the end of your story.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Instead of answering, she looked toward the wolf resting beside her.
River slowly stood.
Every graceful step she took toward me made my heart beat faster.
She stopped only inches away.
Her emerald eyes locked onto mine.
I couldn’t look away.
“Do you know who she is?” the Moon Goddess asked.
I shook my head.
“No.”
A gentle smile spread across her lips.
“She belongs to you.”
I stared at her.
“I… what?”
“She is your wolf.”
The words stole every breath from my lungs.
“My…”
I looked back at the wolf.
“…Mine?”
River took one final step.
Then gently rested her forehead against my chest.
Warmth exploded through me.
Not painful.
Not overwhelming.
Peaceful.
Like two broken pieces finally finding where they belonged.
Tears spilled down my cheeks before I even realized I was crying.
A voice drifted gently through my mind.
Soft as flowing water.
Ancient.
Patient.
“I’ve missed you.”
I gasped.
“You…”
Fresh tears blurred my vision.
“You missed me?”
River lifted her head just enough to look into my eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for you since the day you were born.”
A sob escaped my lips.
No one had ever waited for me.
No one had ever chosen me.
“My name is River,” she said softly.
I smiled through my tears.
“River…”
The name felt right.
Like I’d always known it.
“She’s perfect,” I whispered.
The Moon Goddess smiled lovingly.
“And she is yours.”
I looked between them.
“But…”
Confusion settled over me.
“I haven’t turned twenty.”
“You have not,” the Moon Goddess agreed.
“Then how…?”
“River has come to you early.”
“Why?”
The warmth in the Goddess’s eyes faded, replaced by something far more serious.
“Because the world can no longer wait.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“I don’t understand.”
“You are being hunted.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid.
“Jace?”
The Moon Goddess slowly shook her head.
“No.”
The single word settled heavily in the air.
“Someone far more dangerous.”
Fear curled tightly around my heart.
“Who?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached forward, placing two gentle fingers against my forehead.
A soft silver light spread through my body.
“You will understand soon.”
The world around us began to dissolve.
The waterfall faded.
The lake disappeared.
“No!” I reached toward her desperately.
“Please!”
River took a step back.
The light grew brighter.
“Wait!”
I looked between them, panic rising in my chest.
“Thank you,” I whispered quickly. “For… for giving me her.”
The Moon Goddess smiled with the kind of love only a mother could give.
“No, Ivy.”
Her voice echoed around me.
“Thank you.”
Before I could ask what she meant, the light consumed everything.
“River!”
I reached for her one last time.
The world vanished.
Just before silence claimed me…
River’s voice brushed gently against my heart.
“I’ll always find my way back to you.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD