UNKNOWN
The Meadow is a beautiful place. It’s full of fresh green grass, blossom trees, and freesias in more
colours than you can imagine. Deer run through the trees, birds sing on the branches and fish dance in
the streams.
It’s a peaceful place, one full of ethereal wonder. The sky seems to shimmer and everything around
you just feels magical. It feels right somehow.
A woman sat on the bank of one of the streams, her bare feet in the rushing water. Her blonde hair
flowed behind her as if constantly caught in a light breeze, as did her delicate gown.
Butterflies fluttered around her head, and a kingfisher perched on her knee.
Absolutely everything about her was beautiful.
The woman stood, walking towards the middle of the meadow, so light on her feet that she seemed to
be dancing on air.
In the middle of the meadow, lay five bodies, with wolves running around them. The five bodies were
dressed in white gossamer that matched the woman’s dress, all of their clothing delicately fluttering.
One of the people laying down suddenly gasped, sitting up abruptly. A young woman. Her curly hair
floated out around her shoulders, and her skin shimmered in the light of the sun.
She looked around her, ending up on her knees as she frantically checked on her companions.
“Avelina,” the woman breathed, her voice just as ethereal as the rest of her.
“Selene?” the young woman, Avelina, replied.
“Yes, my child.”
“Am I… am I dead? Are we dead?”
“No, my child.”
“Where are we?”
“This is a magical place, Avelina. It’s in between realms, if you like. It’s a place where lost and
desperate spirits can meet.”
Avelina turned towards her companions. “So they’re all okay?”
“Alive, my child, yes. The things you have all seen and done will leave their scars, but together, you
can find your way.”
“What… what happened?”
Selene smiled at Avelina. A beautiful smile, full of love, adoration and pride.
“You saved them all, Avelina. The sacrifices and choices that both you and Oscar made tonight
ensured that all five of you survived.” She wiped away the tears that threatened to spill down Ava’s
face. “Callum saved hundreds of people with his actions. Without his efforts, the warriors you took
with you this evening would have perished. Noah’s quick thinking saved hundreds of innocent lives.
Once he’s recovered from the injustices he faced, Theo is destined for great things, Avelina. He will
be instrumental in how the packs and the wider world move forward from this.”
Another gasp and one of the others jolted to a seated position. A young man this time. “Theo!” the
young woman squealed, running towards him, throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re okay,
you’re okay,” she sobbed into his neck.
“I’m okay,” he whispered into her hair, kissing the top of her head.
It was a heartwarming sight. The couple had clearly been apart for a while, and they were beyond
overjoyed to see each other in this strange, magical place.
Their wolves were rolling around together, they’d evidently been separated for a long time. Theo
cupped Avelina’s face, before leaning down to kiss her. She returned that kiss with unrivalled passion,
holding him close to her. The two of them were very clearly in love. They broke the kiss, but he didn’t
let her go, he buried her head in his chest, his hand running through her hair as he held her.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she wept.
“I’d do anything to come back to you, Ava,” he whispered as he kissed her head again. “I love you,
Avelina Wroblewski, more than life itself.”
“And I love you, Theo Levi Hughes.”
She tiptoed to press her lips to his, their kiss passionate, but innocent.
The remaining three young men jolted upright, one of them swearing as he did. “Ava!” he shouted,
jumping up and wrapping her in his arms, the other two quickly following until all four of them
wrapped around her.
She sobbed in between them, she was clearly very happy to be reunited with the four of them.
Before they could truly settle into being back together, she suddenly collapsed in between them, her
body crumpling to the floor unconscious.
The four young men scrambled to catch her, but they got in each other’s way and she landed on the
floor. They sat around her, begging her to wake back up, to be okay. The two young men that could
easily be seen had tears in their eyes, and it wasn’t a difficult assumption to make that the other two
probably did too.
One of the young men suddenly looked up, looking around for Selene, who was already walking
towards them, as if she was floating. “Callum,” her voice was low, almost musical.
“Selene…” he replied. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Her mind and soul need to recover, my son.” She sighed, looking down at Ava where she lay on the
ground. “She isn’t out of the woods yet. What Elijah has done… it’s taken its toll on her.”
“Why did you let her go to him?” Callum accused one of the young men that looked strikingly like
him.
“Do you think I had a choice?” he snapped back. “If I’d managed to stop her, it would have been
temporary. She would have gotten around me, you know that as well as I do, Callum. If Ava hadn’t
done what she did, we wouldn’t have been able to deal with Elijah. He wouldn’t be dead. The witch
wouldn’t be dead.”
“Did you know, Oscar?! Did you know she planned to let him mark her?”
The other young man, Oscar, paused, his lips pursed. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“You would have stopped her, Callum. She strongly believed she needed to do this. My role tonight
was to support her to do whatever she felt she needed to do. She needed to do this.”
Callum stormed away from the group, rubbing his eyes, his wolf trotting loyally behind him.