All night I toss and turn, I am plagued with the images of what I see. I wonder who the people are that haunted my dreams. Getting up, I notice Ezra and Mateo still sound asleep. I climb over Ezra, his hands slide to my thighs as I climb over him.
“Where are you going?” he asks sleepily.
I lean down, kissing his lips. “Go back to sleep,” I whisper, and he mumbles incoherently but rolls over and tugs Mateo to him before kissing his shoulder and tucking his face between his shoulder blades.
I smile at them before walking out of the room, my hand running down the banister as I stroll down the stairs to the backyard.
I push the glass sliding door open and step into the darkness of the night. Only the full moon shining down on me provides light. Goosebumps rise on my arms as the moon recharges me, awakening the power within.
I sit on the sandstone block, staring up at it. “Seline, my Goddess, my Moon,” I whisper, hoping she can hear me. I feel like an idiot talking to the moon, but I continue to call her. A chill rushes over me and I sigh. I don’t know what came over me, and I stand to go back to bed.
“I may be a goddess, but you are my moon, my little prodigy,” she chuckles, and I stop. My lips tug up at the sound of her voice. “Now tell me, Katya, what is it my daughter wants from me? What is it you need that you call out my name?” she questions.
I turn to face her. She is always a sight to see, and I would never stop being in awe of the way she carried herself. “I wanted to ask a favor.”
“Does this favor have anything to do with Andrei?” she asks, and I nod, sitting back down.
“I have seen his future, and I see him now. He has so much anger, so what is it you need of me, Katya?”
“I came to ask for a second chance mate for him.”
She places her index finger on her chin thoughtfully. “A second chance? There are no second chances, only chosen ones can tempt fate,” she muses. Though I could tell, she is truly thinking it over.
“What if there was? What if you gave them a backup plan? A second chance for those that need it?”
“But how would it work? Does everyone have a second chance, or do I pair only those that loved and lost? What of the rejected?” she asks.
“What about hope? Hope can change the future, Seline, those left behind or forgotten, some never know love, only pain. What if a second chance gave them hope? How many of your children would it save?” I press.
“Andrei is a hard man to force fate on someone.”
“I know what I am asking, but I know no other way to save him from himself, or of those he’ll slaughter.”
“And if it doesn’t work, what becomes of her? Who would be strong enough to endure him, Katya? Who will be strong enough to change the man they call soulless?”
“So it has started?” I ask.
“Yes, it has for a while in the tunnels near his pack, I watch but couldn’t interfere. I pray with them and soothe their souls when they return to me,” she admits.”It would take a strong woman to survive him or a weak one to endure him, but that is no life, Katya.”
“What if she is both? What if she could change him and he her?” I ask, knowing I am asking the impossible.
“Not all broken people fit together like puzzle pieces of the soul, some clash and others resist,” she points out, though I see the flash in her eyes, she feels it’s warm too.
Hope.
“But if it does? Isn’t it worth the chance to see if it does work?” I ask
“Like a trial, using Andrei?” she suggests, and I nod. “What if she is the very thing he is hunting? Would he destroy the one thing that can save him?” she mutters to herself.
“So you can do it?” I ask her, and she nods, but I can see the indecision in her eyes. She is scared to pair him.
“If he can’t be saved, Kat?”
“Then I kill him,” I promise, and she nods.
“You would do that, kill your own family to save them?”
“Have I not proven I would lay my life down for my people, even if they are not my pack? They may be rogue, but they are still my people, Seline. Family or not, I will do what is right.”
She nods. “I will give you a trial of one year. If she can’t change him, you give me your word that you will take his life, not your mates but you personally.” I swallow but nod.
“Choose wisely, please, Seline.” I beg. Please choose wisely, I think.
“I have someone in mind, someone just as broken, one he can’t break when there is nothing left to damage.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Remember my words, for he will ask, but the woman I will grant him is just as broken, though not twisted. He is this way because he loved and lost. She is the way she is because she has never been shown love. Hopefully, they can be each other’s saviors, but it won’t be a fairy tale Kat, any woman that can survive him has only known pain. Hopefully, we aren’t forcing her to endure more of it,” she muses, and I swallow. Seline walks over and places her hands on my shoulders. “One year, Kat. Let’s pray she saves him and he her,” she says, pressing her lips to my head.
The Moon Goddess disappears, and arms wrap around me, warm and soothing. “Why are you out here, Kitty?” Maddox’s graveling voice questions next to my ear.
I glance up at him, his face so close to mine. Maddox has control, yet he is calm, not angry, just worried. I press my forehead to his.
“Tempting fate,” I confess, and he brushes his nose across my cheek.
“Can I tempt you to bed? It is cold out here, you should be sleeping,” he purrs, his hand going to my belly, and I nod.