Competing for the Luna’s Heart

Prequel

Selene

The alphas were worried. I could see the wrinkles etching onto their foreheads as they worked to contact their allies. It has been two of their earth weeks since I sought them out in their dreams and told them all that I am taking back mate bonds. Too many of my children have met me much sooner than they should have and asked not to have a mate bond in their next life.

I watched my mate’s humans become empty shells of themselves from heartache, when I created the werewolves, I wanted to save them from that, and tried to give them a way to find the person who can love them like they deserve. Sadly, some of my children have become vain, shallow creatures. They value beauty and frivolous possessions.

“Dear Goddess, my little girl is to be of age in three days. I know she cannot find her mate now, but please lead her to someone worthy. Please lead her to find a good mate. I only wish for her to find a person who will love her for who she is and not the title of alpha by mating her. I have faith in you to help her.”

I shifted my view to where he sat. I could see the toll this was taking on him. He was born from a miracle. I remember the first time I had visited one of my children in hundreds of their earth years. When I met his mother. She had been attacked and wounded too badly for her wolf to heal everything quickly enough.

It was an impossible decision, her heart or her uterus. She and her mate desperately wanted a child, but without healing her heart, she would never make it through the night.

Incidents involving free will that make new paths towards fixed moments in fate, those moments are my chance to make my own alterations. While the woman fell unconscious, I brought her soul to me.

“Hello, Patricia, welcome to my garden.

Patricia took in the view around her. She was very curious about so many different flowers she’d never seen before, although the thoughts I could hear the clearest was her questions of death or insanity.

“You are not dead, and I believe if you are giving yourself valid reasons for insanity, then you are still quite sane.”

Her mouth dropped open for moment before she regained her composure, “May I ask why I’m here, in front of the Goddess, if I’m not dead?”

I failed to remain withdrawn and a small laugh escaped me. It has been too long since I’ve talked to any of my children.

“Patricia, do you remember the attack in the field behind your home?

She nodded solemnly.

“You were not supposed to be injured but free will has changed that. But now I’m going to make my own change.”

She looked at me with an expression of both wonder and caution. She wanted to trust me implicitly, but she couldn’t help the fear of what I could possibly change.

“I don’t understand-”

I placed my hand over her lower belly and watched the worry dissolve from her face.

“I didn’t even realize I was in so much pain until you took it away!”

“You were meant to have a child, destined to, but the wounds from the attack would’ve prevented that. I infused a very small part of my being into the womb to heal it.”

Pulling her clothes aside, she gaped at her stomach in aww of the small glow that disappeared as it seeped into her skin.

“How can I thank you, Goddess?”

“Raise your child to be one who cherishes love and desires to be a good leader.”

“I will. Oh, I promise I will.” She leaned slightly before standing straight again.

“Your wolf has healed you enough to where your body wants to wake in your world. I must send you back.”

She gave a small nod and then closed her eyes as a smile bloomed into her face.

I watched over her when she gave birth, a boy who I made sure carried a strong wolf, her and her mate named him Joseph.

As I looked back on the man I had carefully watched through time, I once again felt compelled to visit one of my children. I waited until his dream took shape and inserted myself.

“Hello Joseph.”

I watched as his face showed many emotions, finally settling on confusion, “Oh, Goddess! Please forgive me!”

I listened to his thoughts run wild, believing that I have come to punish him for his evening prayer. The fear for his mate and daughter. His despair for the new pack he had brought together just barely one earth year ago.

As he kneeled before me, I placed a hand on his forehead and allowed a small bit of healing to wash over him and chase away his fears. After a moment, the tension that ravaged his body left and he rose to his feet once again.

“You are a good man, Joseph. And you will be an even better alpha. Your pack will find its way and so will your heir. I’ve come to offer you a gift.” His face filled with blood, giving a bright rosy hue to his cheeks. “I have done nothing to deserve such generosity from you. My only wish is for my precious girl to find a mate that will be good to her and make the pack strong.”

“You are one of the kindest souls your world will ever see. As long as your heir-and all those that follow-mate for love, they will have a mate bond once they are marked. And your pack will continue to grow and prosper. If your descendants can teach their pack to value the bonds made from true love, I will grant them the same gift of sensing their mate bond once they are marked as well. But a time will come when a pure Luna is born. Her birth will bring the mate bonds back to all werewolves. She will feel two bonds before she is marked but only one will be her true mate.

“Once she is marked, if it is by her true mate, only then will others be able to sense their mate bonds. I cannot give you all of the answers to your questions, it would tip the balance of fate. I can only tell you that she will come from your line but she will not be born in your lifetime.”

I could hear his heart begin to race. “Thank you, Goddess! Thank you!”

As I started my retreat from his dream, I could feel the urge to tell him more but I had to leave. If I had said anymore, it would have made irreversible changes to Destiny’s plans. And she was the wrong goddess to anger.

I returned to my garden and resumed watching over my children. Many lunas over many years decided to mate for strength, power, wealth or a combination of the three. After a century, many of their descendants questioned the choices of their ancestors and some had started mating for love.

It brought me a strange sense of joy that Joseph’s descendants had taken their teachings of mating for love seriously. I could sense the current luna's distress and as I looked down on her, I started to feel a gentle vibration inside of me. I could feel the slowing of her heart as the soul of her wolf left her, giving her the last of her strength so that their child would live.

It’s incredibly rare for a wolf spirit to leave their human counterpart, so instead of letting her run through the light and into the meadow to wait for her human, I brought Astra to me.

“Mother-“

“Astra, why did you leave Evelyn?”

She lowered her head, showing her submission and loyalty to me. A silent request for me to hear her explanation.

“Please Mother, I did not want to leave Evelyn. But she needed the last of my energy and strength. It will only extend her life for a short time, but it was necessary. If I had not given her everything I had left, both her and my child would die before she could finish giving birth. The baby was not supposed to arrive for another month but she slipped getting out of the bath and the placenta detached.

“I could sense a spark of energy from my child that came from you. I knew what it meant and so did Evelyn when I told her what I felt. I begged her to take what I offered, she only accepted when I told her that it was the only way for our daughter to survive. I promised to be in the meadow waiting for her.”

I did not expect the prophecy to begin so soon. Hearing this news, I knelt down and wrapped my arms around Astra. We stayed like that until I could feel the thread that linked Evelyn to me go dark. I brought her soul to us.

“Oh, Astra.” Evelyn sobbed. She ran quickly to the other half or her being. Astra met her with a tackle and began to lick her face, showing her human the love and devotion she felt.

“Evelyn, you have shown more strength and courage than I ever thought possible from mortal beings. My prophecy of the pure Luna was not supposed to start for many more generations. I suppose Destiny grew impatient though.

“You were not supposed to leave your mate so early in life. So I will give you a choice; you and Astra must make the choice together though.”

They both looked at each other, gave a short nod and then turned to look at me. Evelyn spoke first, “we are grateful for the opportunity.”

“I will grant you the ability to leave the meadow and watch over your family as often as you would like. They will not be aware of your presence, but they may feel it periodically on a subconscious level. Or I will grant you the ability to say goodbye to your mates in their dreams. You will have one full sleep cycle to say or do as you wish.”

I couldn’t tell Evelyn or Astra that this was the only way for their mates and child to know of the prophecy coming much sooner than it was foretold. But Destiny must have realized I would find a way to let my children know. I just had to believe that Evelyn and Astra would understand my offer without me having to say it.

Astra tilted her head, studying my face, looking for any slip in my mask of indifference. Evelyn, however, c****d an eyebrow and then her eyes grew wide. She has always been intelligent for a mortal, but she realized my intention much faster than I would’ve thought possible.

“Astra, we have to go back! I must tell Phillip-“

Astra cut her off with a small yip, and Evelyn ran the short distance between us and flung her arms around me. “Thank you, thank you so much!”

I let my arms linger around her for another moment before lifting one and bringing a warm light behind them. She let go of me, walked over to Astra and knelt down beside her. They faced each other and Evelyn leaned over to put her forehead against her wolf’s. I held the mask of indifference I often wore as they stood and began running to the light portal that would take them to their mates one last time.

As the light dissipated, I turned back to the garden and saw my own mate waiting for me. I could feel my lips turning up into a smile as I walked over to greet him. Before the last ray of light was gone from the portal, I could hear Evelyn’s silent prayer thanking me one last time as she entered her mate’s dream.