The Forgotten Goddess

Chapter Nine

Mila

"JUST BRING HER!!! I WON’T LET MY DAUGHTER DIE LIKE THIS!!!"

"Hey sweetie! I’m sorry!"

"Carlos, call Meghan and tell her to bring Muriel over. Hurry!"

"Don't do this Annabelle! It could be dangerous for both of you. Please, listen to me."

"I know this is all too sudden and all too new for you. But this is my parents’ pack. These are magical lands. It will all be okay."

"I can't lose you both! Please!"

…

I try opening my eyes, but I am blinded by the white lights right above my bed. My head is pounding, and I groan as I try to move my body.

"Hey beautiful", Abuelo says, brushing his fingers on my face.

I groan again, trying to turn my head to where he is standing.

It takes me a couple more minutes before I can open my eyes and see grandpa. When I do, he's looking at me.

"Hey grandpa", I say with a hoarse voice.

"Here, have some water", he offers me a cup of water and a straw. I take a few sips until I can feel that my throat is a little better. As I take in my surroundings, I realize that I'm no longer at school.

"Where am I?" I ask, looking at grandpa.

"You're in the hospital", he explains. "You've got three broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder."

I gasp. He looks at me and continues.

"Because none of you have your wolves, you both will need to stay here until tomorrow, just to make sure that you're healing properly".

"Both of us? Who else is in the hospital?" I ask with a puzzled and intrigued look.

"Well, you and Milo, of course", he answers me with a chuckle. "I must say, mija, I'm very proud of your performance on your first day of Advanced Combat Skills. Major Knowels told me all about it!” Grandpa says with a huge smile and a proud look.

"You stop this nonsense right at this instance, Carlos", Nanna scolds him. "How could you do this to the Alpha's son? This is all your fault, Carlos! I'm just glad that the Alpha and his family are not blaming her nor us for this mess. How are you doing sweetheart?"

"I'm okay", I answer and turn my face to look out of the window.

"What's wrong, mija?" Abuelo asks.

"Nothing", I say as I continue to look outside the window.

"Okay, so we're on one-word answers. Entonces, yo voy a hablar contigo en Español", Abuelo says. "¿Qué pasó, cariño? Por qué no quieres hablar conmigo sobre eso?"

"Nada. Solo no lo quiero", I say, still looking outside the window.

"Okay. So, since we're all three of us here, we'd better talk now”, Abuelo says, looking at me and grandma.

"No, Carlos. I told you we're not doing it in the hospital", Nanna says.

"Well then you can leave, because I'm discussing it with my granddaughter. Would you like to join us, or not?"

Nanna huffs loudly and comes to sit on my right, as grandpa is already on my left.

They both look deadly serious, so I know exactly what we'll be talking about. They take turns talking, and I make sure to pay attention to what they’re saying.

"Your mother was an amazing young girl. She was always friends with everyone and everyone loved her. We all thought that she would be mated to the Alpha's son. When she turned 18, and she wasn't mated to anyone in the pack, we knew we had lost her to the world."

"Annabelle always loved to travel, so we decided that it was time for her to do so. She enrolled for online courses while planning her trip around the world. We reached out to our friends in different countries, so they could help her out, just in case. She had planned an 8-month-long trip visiting different packs, cities and places. When it was close to the end, she called saying that some friends she had made during her trip were inviting her to teach fighting to some packs that were under constant attack in southern Mexico."

"She was an amazing fighter and your grandma and I were so proud of her that we agreed on her extending her trip. It took her another 8 months to come back. We thought she had found her mate because all we could get from her were pictures and emails. But, she came back alone, saying she had prayed the whole time that the Moon Goddess held her mate from her until she was finished with her traveling and volunteering."

"She came back 3 days before the Moon Festival. That was Alpha Daniel and Luna Muriel first Moon Festival after they had been named Alpha and Luna for our pack. They decided to invite some of their friends' packs to join our festivities. Annabelle, Muriel, Daniel and Blake had been friends since they were children. When Daniel was named Alpha, Blake took over as Beta. Because Blake hadn't found his mate yet, he strongly believed that Annabelle was his mate - as she took on traveling right after the first Moon Festival after her 18th Birthday, and Blake was also out of the pack territory with his family".

"When it was time, all unmated wolves from all 6 packs gathered in the woods to try and find their mates. It was breathtaking seeing so many wolves being mated in one night. And that was because of our Luna and Alpha. Your mother was one of the lucky ones. She was mated to Daniel’s best friend from College, Nathan Walters. He was the Beta from the Blood Moon pack."

"When she arrived home the next day with him, we knew what had happened and we couldn't separate them. He stayed with us and we started organizing the marking ceremony. When the Luna and Alpha heard that their best friends were mated, they were thrilled and helped out with the preparations. Nathan's parents arrived 5 days after the festival and were thrilled that their son had finally found his mate. Their wedding and marking ceremony took place 2 days after his parents arrived and after that, Annabelle left with them."

"Two months later, they came for an official visit to the Luna and Alpha as the 6 packs decided to join forces and sign a peace treaty. She came beaming at us, and they told us that they were expecting a baby! We were so happy that we had really considered moving to your father's pack to be with all of you. But, about four months after this visit, the rogues started attacking their pack. They fought bravely, but because she couldn't shift, they decided to take her to where the other females were."

"They told us it wouldn't be safe if we were to be with you because the rogues had been organized, and they could hold them back. So, we waited and prayed that the Moon Goddess could keep them safe. Two months after she was in the women’s shelter, we got a weird message saying your mother went into early labor and, because of it, the rogues had found out where she was hiding. So, they decided to come here before the rogues arrived."

"They got cornered when the rogues found them. They had to fight and make their run to us. When we found out, we immediately went to the Pack House to ask the Alpha's permission to leave pack grounds to help them out. They said they were aware of the attacks but at that moment, they couldn't let anyone leave pack grounds. We were so infuriated but we wouldn't disobey them".

"Honestly, that was the only time that I was happy to live so close to the pack border."

"The dream you had, mija, is from the day you were born and right after your parents arrived here with you in their arms."

"You will soon be 15 Mila. Your powers are growing, and soon we won't be able to hide it from anyone else. Everyone in our pack has gifts - powers. Not many packs accept that, but we take it as a blessing from the Moon Goddess. That time you saw was the first time you used your power, even if you can't remember>"

"SO, that's why you and dad were arguing about?" I finally ask grandma.

"Yes. Because your father was from a pack that is not used to the Goddess' gifts he was worried that both of you could die. I assured him nothing would happen, but he still didn't believe me. So, that's why we were arguing."

"If that is all, then why couldn't you tell me this, this morning?"

"Because this is not my favorite story, and we can sense that you have lots of questions."

"No, I get it. It must’ve been really hard for you guys, too. Mom died right after that and dad couldn't live without her. I was not able to save her, but I don’t blame myself nor anyone else, I promise!"

Both of them looked at me with puzzled eyes, not believing what I had just said.

"I mean it, I'm fine", I assure both of them with a smile.

"No, honey. That's not what worries us. Actually, I believe the last part of your assumption is our fault. None of us thought you would come to that! Your parents are still alive, Mila!" Grandma says and I'm speechless and confused.