The Forgotten Goddess

Annabelle never thought it would come to this: she, all covered in blood that wasn’t hers, running away with her mate and daughter. Nathan and she had known each other forever, and they knew they were going to end up together - somehow. They never thought it would be right after giving birth. No one was supposed to know where they were, but somehow they found out. And now they were running, again. Just like they were five months ago. They ran as fast as they could through the dense woods that cornered their house. It took them more than 2 hours running until they got close to their destination. Annabelle's parents’ house was just a couple more miles away, but she was so exhausted. Labor had taken way more than it should’ve - especially because of her daughter’s power. Maybe that’s how they found them. "Focus Annabelle! There’s no time for this now!" Annabelle heard Mel urge her in her mind in order to keep running and stop thinking about everything else. "Just a couple more miles and they’ll leave us alone." Mel said, trying to help her focus. But Annabelle just couldn't. There were so many thoughts going through her mind and she was too exhausted to focus. But then, a familiar feeling. "We’re here. There’s no more need to run", Mel and Annabelle said at the same time as they saw mom and dad waiting for them. "This is it! This is home!" Annabelle tears up as soon as she crosses the border into her parents’ pack, holding her newborn daughter in her arms with her mate just behind her, realizing that they were finally safe - for a while. Her parents came running calling her name: "ANNABELLE! ANNABELLE!" That's when everything went black. … Annabelle was lying in bed, her eyes closed, when she smelled homemade cookies, hot chocolate, waffles and deep-fried cake batter. She also smelled omelet, toast, bacon, and orange juice. She could smell home, mom, dad, Nathan and her newborn baby girl. All the best smells in just one place. As Annabelle struggled to open her eyes she smelled something else. There was also another smell. She couldn't quite put her finger on it! It took her a while until she realized what it was … Blood. She opened her eyes in shock and sat up as soon as the scent of blood filled her nose. She looked around and instantly recognize her small childhood bedroom - her dolls and posters on the walls, clothing hanging in her closet and books all over the room. She kept looking around, but she couldn’t find where the smell of blood was coming from. There was no one else in the bedroom. Nathan and her baby girl were not there with her, she had just smelled them downstairs with her parents. There was no one else ... except for her. That's when she looked down, pulled her covers off and saw it. A pool of blood. And she was not the only one smelling it. As soon as she took the covers off, Nathan and her parents came running through the door. Something was happening, and Annabelle had no idea what it was. Everything was a blur. She couldn’t make out what was happening. She could see her mother and mate shouting, arguing over something. Her father had left the room. Why? Annabelle started feeling weak and nauseated. The room was spinning and, for some reason, she couldn’t hear a single word. That was when she saw her dad bringing her newborn baby to her. Maybe that was it. Maybe they knew she was going to die, so they brought her to Annabelle for her to say her goodbyes or even name the baby, since she was still Baby Girl. Nathan and Annabelle's mother kept arguing while Annabelle struggled to hold her baby girl in her weak arms. As she took the newborn baby girl into her arms, she started crying. All she could say was "Hey sweetie! I’m sorry!"