‘He is the Alpha King; he doesn’t need us to save him. He is invincible and can take down all his enemies alone,’ I reminded my conceited wolf, whose confidence often blinded her to reason.
‘However, if you were truly worried for our mate, don’t you think it’s a little late to start now?’ I challenged, my tone sharp with suppressed frustration.
‘I know how powerful our mate is,’ she whispered, her voice tinged with both admiration and something softer.
I could feel her blushing, recalling the sheer strength and commanding presence of our mate. Goddess, he was truly unmatched.
‘But right now,’ she continued, her voice lowering with unease, ‘I can feel he is in danger.’
‘Danger?’ I echoed, the word catching in my throat. My heart skipped a beat as dread began to coil in my chest. ‘How?’
‘Let’s find out,’ she urged. I could feel her resolve was stronger than ever.
‘But we can’t leave the realm-‘ My words were abruptly cut off as a strange sensation gripped me.
It felt as though my very essence was being tugged from my body. A moment of weightlessness followed, then a sudden grounding sensation.
When I opened my eyes, the familiar atmosphere of the Moonglow Pack surrounded me. I didn’t get time to contemplate what had just happened because the scene before me was nothing short of horrifying. The air was thick with the metallic tang of blood, and the ground was littered with fallen guards. Vampires swarmed the border like a relentless tide, their crimson eyes gleaming with hunger as they tore through the defenses. Then my eyes landed on a familiar figure, surrounded by a group of vampires. My heart skipped a beat as I saw his handsome face for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
Zander. He was fighting alone against the vampires. But why hadn’t he shifted?
As I watched, I noticed the vampires wielding crossbows, and it suddenly dawned on me-they were using enchanted bolts, likely designed to block their targets from shifting. The realization hit me hard; the vampires had become far more vicious ever since Damon had started this war against the werewolves.
I couldn’t just stand there while my mate was fighting alone, surrounded by those wicked vampires. My heart raced as I saw one of the vampires sneaking up behind him. Zander was still grappling with three of them at once, unaware of the attack coming from behind. The vampire grabbed him from behind, attempting to sink its fangs into his neck.
Without thinking, my body moved instinctively. In a split second, I was behind the vampire, yanking it away from Zander and delivering a hard punch that sent it crashing to the ground, a few feet away.
It hissed and now it was ready to attack me. My eyes darted to a broken wooden post nearby. Grabbing it, I drove the jagged end into the vampire’s chest. The creature convulsed, its mouth twisting into a snarl before it disintegrated into ash.
Another vampire lunged at me from the side, its claws swiping dangerously close to my face. I acted on instinct, ripping the makeshift stake from the ashes of the first vampire and hurling it with precision. The wood impaled the second vampire’s chest mid-air, and it collapsed into dust before it could reach me.
A deafening growl rumbled through the chaos, cutting through the snarls and growls that filled the air. I turned to find Zander looking directly at me, his eyes blazing with fury. My breath caught in my throat as confusion flooded my mind. Why did the sight of me make him so angry? Didn’t he recognize his mate?
It meant… It meant he really forgot me!
I barely had time to process the emotions surging through me before everything happened in a blur. Zander let out a thunderous growl and leaped toward me. His movements were swift and primal, and for a fleeting moment, I thought he would tear me to pieces.
Instead, he soared over my head, landing with a thud behind me. My body twisted instinctively, and I turned just in time to see him clamp his powerful jaws around a vampire’s neck. The creature struggled, hissing and clawing in desperation, but Zander’s strength was unmatched. With a brutal tug, he tore its head clean from its shoulders, the body collapsing into a heap of ash.
Realization dawned on me. That vampire had been moments away from ending my life, and Zander had saved me.
He was soaked in blood, his body trembling as he turned to look at me again. The confusion in his eyes broke my heart. He stepped toward me with urgency, his voice rough but still so familiar as he asked, “Who are you?”
His deep voice was like music to my ears. Oh, Goddess! I had missed it more than I could put into words. The pain of not knowing why he was so confused stabbed at me, but before I could respond or react, more warriors arrived with Maddox. The balance had shifted, and the vampires were now outnumbered.
But I didn’t stay to see how it all unfolded. The next moment, I found myself returning to the Lunar Realm, standing before the mirror I had stood in front of earlier.
“What just happened?” I asked, my voice filled with confusion as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
“I sent you there while keeping your physical form here to avoid alerting anyone in the Lunar Realm about your teleportation,” Arena explained through our mindlink, her voice steady but tinged with a hint of urgency.
“Then why didn’t you let me stay there and talk to him?” I asked, pain and frustration lacing my voice.
“Selena, you helped him, saved him, and saw him,” Arena replied, her tone calm but firm. “We can’t do more than that.”
“But why?” I argued, the confusion gnawing at me.
“I don’t have all the answers right now,” she said, her voice tinged with mystery. “But if you had stayed there, the High Priestess would have found out about it.”
“I don’t care,” I hissed, my emotions rising.
Arena didn’t respond. Sometimes, it felt like she knew more than she let on, yet she chose to withhold the truth from me. It only made me more frustrated and uncertain about everything.
Then the door opened, and Mother entered, her presence commanding the room. “Selena, your people are waiting for their goddess,” she announced, her trademark smile lighting up her face. “Let’s go,” she gestured toward the door.
My people… my realm… their goddess. The weight of the title settled heavily on my shoulders as I sighed.
Wearing my crown, I stepped toward the door, but my heart still lingered in that moment with Zander-the moment when I met my mate, and he didn’t recognize me. The pain of that memory echoed in my chest, clouding my thoughts as I walked forward.