“What have you done?!” She cried out with anger and disappointment, dropping the basket of fruit and pastries to the floor from anger and shock.
The wolf looked from Catherine to Enissa, and as if he suddenly understood what was happening, he immediately turned and charged toward Enissa.
“Mikhail No!” In the blink of an eye, Catherine appeared in front of her sister, and blood spurts splashed everywhere and into the river, making the river change to red immediately as if it was mourning the owner of the blood.
A loud painful howl filled the air as the wolf saw what it had done.
Catherine’s neck had been sliced open by her mate, making the amulet around her neck break in half, one fell into the river, while the other half fell to the floor.
Enissa quickly held Erik’s hand and they disappeared into thin air.
‘Cowards,’ Audrey thought.
She watched the wolf transform into a very handsome man with sexily toned muscles. His back was to her and his shoulder-length long hair didn’t let her see his face.
“Catherine!!!” Mikhail screamed.
His voice was filled with sorrow and regret. He bent over Catherine’s bleeding body and gently caressed her face, kissing her bloodied cheeks.
Audrey couldn’t believe her ears when the voice she heard sounded exactly like Alpha Lake’s voice, and looking closely at his naked physique, she realized it was him.
How was this possible? So she’s been tied up to him since her previous life, and they looked so in love with each other. That meant her fate in the present life sucked; it seems the moon goddess had mistakenly put the wrong soul in the right body, because, the Alpha she knew now, was nothing like this Mikhail in front of her.
She could feel the love he had for Catherine, but all she felt from Alpha Lake was hatred and vengeance.
“No! Please, wake up! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” He cried like a baby.
“Oh dear moon goddess, hear me out, I would do anything, please bring back my mate to me! Please!” He raised his red tear-stained face to the sky, hoping the Moon goddess heard his prayers.
“My love, even if it’s hundreds of years later, I’ll wait for you, I’ll always find you,” He said lowly, his voice hoarse from crying.
“They will pay for this, I promise you!” He kissed Catherine’s lips and gently placed his forehead against hers with his eyes closed.
He picked up the now half amulet and carried Catherine’s body away.
~~~~
Audrey felt herself being drawn away again, and she felt herself suffocating, she quickly forced her eyes open and realized she was back in the present as she was still deep under the river.
She gathered her strength and swam up to the surface of the water, inhaling the fresh air into her lungs which felt tight and constricted.
“Now, you know,” She heard the sculpture’s voice again.
She wiped the water off her face with her hand and swam over to the land. She reached where she could feel the ground with her legs and walked the remaining way up to the land.
She slumped down on the floor, sitting down to catch her breath.
She carefully looked around the river and discovered that nothing had changed in the garden since then, except the grotto which she still didn’t know how it was built, but she now had an idea.
The place seemed like it was purposely concealed from people to keep it preserved as it was.
She was sure it would have been turned into a tourist center if it had been discovered.
Audrey saw something floating in front of her in the water, it was blurry, yet it was glittering. She bent over and put her hand into the water, but instead of feeling a hard object as she had imagined, she felt something malleable.
She closed her hand around it and took it out from the water. She opened her palm to see an ice-looking object that was shaped like a square.
She used her thumb to touch it and realized that the part she touched melted away and she was able to notice something had been enclosed inside it from the part that had melted.
She got curious and quickly used her thumb to rub all over the ice-looking square till it all melted away.
“Oh. My. God!” Audrey could not believe her eyes.
In her hand was a red glowing amulet, she had found half of her amulet!
This was the one that had fallen into the river, how was it even possible to remain in the same river? How did it even get preserved by water itself?
“Oh, thank you, Selena! We found it!” Audrey was excited.
She stood up and walked to the sculpture, holding the amulet carefully in her hands. She didn’t want to drop it.
“Hey look! I found it,” She stretched her palm to the sculpture, showing the amulet to it.
“The moon goddess kept her promise to our mate,” The sculpture said.
“Now, go, find the other half and send those people back to where they belong.” The voice said and went completely quiet.
“Do you perhaps know where I can find the other one?” Audrey asked, but she didn’t get a reply.
She realized the sculpture was done helping her.
“Come on, Catherine. I’m you! Help you out, huh?!” Still no response.
“Fine, thanks for your help, I appreciate it,” She kissed the sculpture’s cheeks and walked away.
She carefully placed the amulet inside her pocket. She waved her hands around her and her clothes dried up automatically.
She had feared that people might now discover this place as she had now opened the entrance, but the moment she stepped out from between the two huge trees, multiple strong vines grew out from the sides of the trees, weaving themselves together at the center until the place was completely covered. It looked like a place that had never been entered before.
“Wow,” Audrey whispered.
She slowly turned and walked away. She looked up to the sky and realized it wasn’t even midnight yet, she felt like she’d spent more than a day in the past world, but she had just been gone for no longer than three hours.
She had left her purse at the table, and she wondered if someone might have seen it and kept it for her.
She knew the party would still be on, Janeth’s case could never make wolves stop their merriment. They’ve seen worse.
She didn’t plan to go back there, she needed to shower, snuggle in her bed think about everything she’d discovered, and make her next plans.
She knew Alpha Lake would still be at the party too, he couldn’t leave his guests and he didn’t have a reason to.
Her disappearance meant nothing to him anyway.
Audrey didn’t know why, but after seeing Mikhail and Catherine, she felt like the bond between her and the Alpha had increased, deep down, she wished he loved her that way, she yearned for that kind of love.
She wanted him to look at her like Mikhail would look at Catherine, she wished they were not enemies.
Her anger and vengeance towards Enissa increased. She had been the cause of all her troubles right from time, and in this life, she still managed to put enmity between her and Alpha Lake.
She was going to make her pay for it.
Audrey swiftly entered the Packhouse, everywhere was quiet, she liked it that way, she needed her alone time at the moment.
She walked up the stairs and pushed open the door to Alpha Lake’s apartment. But the moment the door closed, her back was pushed against it and an angry-looking Alpha was staring down at her, his eyes darkened, and his wolf had surfaced.
“Where the fuck did you go!” He growled.
Audrey stood there shocked, she couldn’t go anywhere because she’d been caged between his hands.
She wasn’t expecting him to be home while his visitors were waiting for him in the hall.
Why was he here? Was he worried about her? Just like Mikhail was worried about Catherine? She slowly looked up to his face and unconsciously raised her hand to touch his face.
“Anger doesn’t suit you,” She whispered, caressing the side of his face.
Alpha Lake wasn’t expecting this reverse reaction. His anger vanished immediately and he got lost in the tenderness that he saw in Audrey’s eyes.
He’d never seen this side of her before, she looked so beautiful and he swore with everything he had that he felt genuine love for him emanating from her.
Her touch was so gentle and comforting like he could always come to her when he needed comfort and love amidst his crazy life.
In that period; he felt wanted, he felt cherished, he felt peaceful and he felt genuine love.
“I- I was just worried about you, Catherine, I didn’t mean to shout or scare you,” Alpha Lake’s voice was the gentlest it had ever been.