Nicolas POV
“Make yourself comfortable,” Beta John motioned for us to take seats inside. “Celia will show you what happened. It will be as if you are dreaming.”
“You will be able to ask questions while you watch,” Celia added. “We will gladly answer all your questions.”
“Why?” Zara inquired, hesitant to proceed further. She appeared to be concerned, perhaps even scared. I noticed that her heart was pounding intensely in her chest.
“You need to know the truth,” Beta John responded. This is the least I can do.”
“I can’t find anything suspicious about him,” Ray told me. “He is telling the truth.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“I am,” he answered. “His wolf is peaceful inside him, as if he loves Zara like a father. He means no harm to her.”
I could always trust Ray’s instincts, and this time would be no exception.
“I think it would be okay,” I told Zara, grasping her hand in mine. “I trust Beta John. Ray does as well. Let us hear what he has to say.”
Zara looked into my eyes for a split second before nodding and walking inside the room with me.
I was surprised at the interior. As expected, there wasn’t much inside, although there was something resembling a meeting or sitting space in the center of the room, complete with a fire pit.
Celia put her hand above the logs, and a fire started.
Zara tensed next to me in surprise.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I refuse to let anything happen to you. I promised.”
Zara flashed me a troubled smile as we took our seats.
“Are you comfortable?” Beta John asked, sitting opposite us. “I promise it won’t hurt, and the process will take just a few minutes.”
“Beta John seems confident,” Ray added.
“As if he did this before,” I said. “I wonder what his deal is.”
“The only way to find out is this way,” Ray told me. “I am interested in knowing everything.”
“I agree, buddy. “Me too,” I replied, turning towards Zara.
As eager as I was to learn the truth, she seemed more so.
“Ready?” Celia inquired, and we turned to face her.
We nodded, and before I knew it, Zara and I were standing in an unknown open field.
“F*ck!” Ray gasped, astonished by how quickly that happened. “I didn’t expect that!”
“What is this place?” I asked, gazing around perplexed. Nightfall had already set in, and scattered body parts were lying all around us.
“This is where everything ended and started,” Beta John stated as he approached. He looked different, perhaps even younger.
“Where is Celia?” Zara asked alongside me.
“She is the one extracting the memory,” he replied. “I will be the one providing the explanation.”
“What happened here?” I asked.
“Is this war the one in which the goddess’ mate lost his life?” Zara inquired.
“So you know the story,” Beta John remarked. “I assume Alpha Jack told you?”
“Yes, some of it,” she answered. “I did try finding more information about the subject…”
“But you couldn’t find much,” he added, completing her thoughts.
Zara gave him a nod.
“That’s because we concealed all those scrolls to safeguard you,” he clarified.
“I don’t understand,” Zara replied.
“Watch,” Beta John said and snapped his fingers.
Everything around us began to move, and we watched the events unfold as if they were a movie.
A woman with the purest white hair cried as she stood over a bloodied body.
“That is Mother Moon,” Ray whimpered sadly.
Zara just stared at her, not moving. She seemed heartbroken.
“Go closer,” Ray urged. “I want to know what is going on.”
I did as he said and started to move closer.
“She is with pup,” Ray commented as I got close enough, and I froze in my tracks.
My eyes landed on the dagger next to her, and I heard someone gasping for breath a few feet away.
“You can’t do this to me,” a man exclaimed, choking on his blood. “You are my fated mate!”
“I rejected you,” the goddess scoffed. “You used me for power and killed the man I love.”
The man laughed without humor and shifted his glance to her.
“I will return when the time is right,” he said, coughing. “And I will make her mine… I will have all the power…”
“I will not let you!” She yelled, tears flowing down her cheeks, as she grasped the dagger and thrust it into his heart.
The goddess returned to her mate after watching the last bit of light fade from his eyes.
“I am here,” she wailed, holding his face with her palm. “I will not let you die.”
“It is my time, my love,” he replied, reaching out for her swollen abdomen. “Raise our precious pups. I love you!”
With those last words, he took his final breath.
“No!” The goddess slammed her fist, letting out an agonizing howl that echoed throughout the field, causing my body to shudder in pain and my heart to disperse in my chest, leading me to fall to my knees next to her.
“I will not let you die!” She sobbed.
My attention returned to Zara, who stood with her hands over her lips and tears flowing down her cheeks.
She appeared to be in severe distress.
“I can’t let you go!” The goddess sniffled and muttered, heartbroken. “I love you so much! Come back to me! I need you! I can’t raise our pups alone!”
“You need to let go!” A young woman approached from the direction of the woodland. “He has crossed over.”
She wasn’t a wolf, but the magic moving around her was intense.
The girl shifted her hair to the side, and her face became visible.
“Celia?” Zara gasped, shocked.
“I can’t; he is my mate!” The goddess shouted out. “I can’t live without him. It hurts. The pain. I will die without him. Help me, please! I know you can get him back! You have magic!”
“Why isn’t the goddess calling back his soul herself?” I asked, surprised.
“He is her mate,” Ray explained. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Isn’t that a bit unfair?” I asked.
“Life has never been fair!” Ray remarked.
I watched Celia analyze and assess her alternatives. She understood that the death of the goddess would not only result in the death of the werewolves but also render her coven helpless.
“It will have consequences,” Celia warned, her gaze shifting to where Zara stood. “And they might be huge ones.”
“I don’t care!” The goddess yelled out, grasping the side of Celia’s garment and imploring. “I will not be able to live without him. He is part of my soul. I will die.”
What occurred next altered wolf history…
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