Melissa’s POV
I felt a blazing light engulf me. I felt as though I were floating weightlessly in a sea of golden mist. I just was; I wasn’t standing or falling. The voices then started.
“She was born from the stars.”
“A wolf unlike any before her.”
“The goddess’s last heir.”
I looked around for the speakers, but all I could see were moving bodies. Memories and shadows. I had never seen a battlefield like the one that emerged from the golden mist. The ground was covered in corpses, and the sky was crimson with flames.
And I was in the middle of it all.
Wearing silver armor that shined like the moon, a woman with my face stood erect. She exuded power in waves, and her eyes were blazing gold. Warriors and wolves crouched in front of her, waiting for her orders.
I let out a gasp. “Is that me?”
“Not just you.” A voice reverberated all around me. “Who you were. Who you’ll turn back into.”
The scene changed. I observed a large temple with old runes engraved on its walls. I noticed a crown of silver lying on a black stone throne. Then I beheld the dark god, his words distinct, his figure still a changing shadow.
“You were mine once.”
My vision broke, and I fell to my knees, gasping for air.
“No,” I said. “That isn’t feasible.”
But I knew the truth in my heart. I had always felt this draw toward the darkness, this power within me. It had been waiting all along.
After the golden mist dissipated, I was once again in the ruins. The black deity was in front of me, his might crushing, his presence overwhelming.
“Now, do you see?” His voice was deep, old, and unfazed by the passing of time. “Melissa, you were never supposed to fight me. You were supposed to stand next to me.
I stumbled to my feet and shook my head. “You’re telling lies.”
He laughed and took a step forward. “Am I?”
The ruins all around us changed with a wave of his hand. An empire-his empire-instead of shattered dirt and broken stone.
Armies marched in perfect synchronization as dark flags floated high. There was strength in the air. And there was a throne in the middle of it all.
His throne.
And a second throne next to it.
My throne.
I stumbled back. “No, I wouldn’t ever-”
“However, you did.” He cocked his head, laughing. “Once, ages ago. You were the goddess of war and the queen of the forsaken. It’s time for you to take back your position now.
My heart was racing in my ears. My instinct was to deny it and run. However, my soul… The recognition seared in my soul.
I forced steel into my voice and said, “I won’t.” “I refuse to be your queen.”
He shook his head and moaned. “Now you say that. But the truth is recalled in your heart. Your strength can be remembered. His words sounded like a whisper across my skin as he leaned closer. “And you’ll remember too soon.”
A blast of wind tore through the ruins, and suddenly, a terrible roar burst across the air.
“Avoid her.”
Kane.
His body was shaking from the aftereffects of corruption, and he was hardly standing. However, his eyes were blazing with rage.
My breath caught as I turned. “Kane…”
He staggered ahead, but his posture remained firm. “What he says doesn’t matter to me. Who you were doesn’t matter to me. Melissa is you. I will also not allow him to abduct you.
The dark deity laughed. “Very brave of you, Alpha. But in comparison to me, you are nothing.
Kane’s hands clenched. “I’ll fight then.”
“No.” I moved in between them. “Stop, Kane.”
His eyes were full of desperation as he looked at me. “You know who you are, Melissa. You are not his. You weren’t.
That was what I wanted to think. I desired to keep it. But I could still see the golden mist. The visions. The reality.
I looked directly at Kane. “What if I was-what if?”
His face grew stern. “I’ll then battle fate itself to get you back.”
The air was filled with the laughing of the black god. “Ah, very charming. How stupid.
As he raised his hand, the blackness encircled us. The sky darkened and the ruins shook. My power was stirring beneath my skin, and I could feel my body getting heavier.
Then he put his hand on my chest.
My mind was filled with recollections the instant his fingers touched me.
Conflicts. Power. Blood.
My eyes were blazing with golden fire as I gasped. My body shook from something I couldn’t identify, and my vision became blurry.
A single, gentle, but unbreakable whisper escaped my lips as the past and present collided.
“I recall every detail.”
I was engulfed in darkness.