Chapter 41: Burning Questions

Wolfgang

~“I thought you were gonna win our mate back, dimwit. So far, you’ve been failing.”~ Cronnos mumbled as I walked away from Aurora’s house.

~“Shut it, you bag of fleas.”~

I had wanted so badly to see her. So I’d come with a bunch of my mother’s roses, hoping she’d let me in. But she’d just ghosted me, and left me standing there.

So I’d decided to put the roses on her doormat and leave.

Even though I wanted to tear the door down, to see my mate, I decided to leave. I couldn’t force her to see me. I couldn’t do that to her.

If I wanted her to take me back, I had to do things right this time.

I encountered my gamma, who was waiting for me at the village gates. He bowed when he saw me approaching.

“Alpha Wolfgang, Are you sure you want to venture out so far for this?” Remus asked.

“I need to find more answers about her past,” I answered him.

“How long are you planning to be away?”

“I’ll be gone for a couple of days. Max will be left in charge, but you will aid him with anything he needs. I don’t want him or the elders to know the reason for my trip, so I trust you will not mention this to anyone.”

I looked him straight in the eye as I spoke.

“Yes, sir.”

Once I was sure that my gamma understood, I ran out of the village and into the woods. I shifted into my wolf and headed west, to the main cities.

I needed to know more about Aurora’s mother’s past. I felt that somehow, something great was about to happen.

And it somehow involved my mate.

Aurora

I was sitting at the dining room table, looking at the crumpled bouquet of once-beautiful roses that lay there, still wondering how the hell they had suddenly caught fire on their own.

~“There’s got to be an explanation for it, right Rhea?”~ I asked my wolf, who looked as puzzled as I was.

~“Maybe we can get answers at the mansion. They have a huge library there,”~ Rhea said.

She was right. The pack’s mansion had a huge library, with tons of books about werewolves and history. Maybe I could find out something about those purple flames there.

I got up and ran out of my house, straight to the mansion. The guards saw me coming once more, and greeted me, allowing me to enter as if the place was mine.

I walked straight through the foyer and down the hall until I found the door to the library.

As I entered, I was momentarily overwhelmed by its vastness, but I got myself together and began searching for any books that could explain those flames.

I looked through book after book about wolves, shifters, and the history of lycans—anything that could possibly explain it, but I still could not find a thing.

I was so deep in one of the books that I did not notice the door open.

“Miss Aurora. What are you doing here in the library so late?”

I looked up from the book to find Remus standing just a few paces away from where I was sitting.

“Remus. Hi,” I greeted the gamma.

“It’s a bit too late to be studying, don’t you think?” he said.

I turned to look at the grand clock that hung on the wall behind where I was sitting. It was already past ten o’clock at night.

“Oh, I got carried away. I didn’t notice the time, Remus. I’ll put these away, and then I’ll go home.”

I started to pick the books up. Remus took one and read the cover.

“~The History of Werewolves and their Shifts.~ Interesting topic,” he said, eyeing the book.

Then he looked at me. “Is there something you’re intrigued about, Miss Aurora?” he asked.

“Oh, um…well, just curious, that’s all.”

He eyed me suspiciously for a moment. “Is there something that’s bothering you? Are you…having trouble with your wolf?” he asked, sounding worried.

~“Why don’t you ask him about the purple flames?”~ Rhea said.

“Actually, there is…” I placed the books back down on the table. “Something…peculiar happened this afternoon.”

I was nervous about telling him. What if he thought I’d gone crazy?

“What was this peculiar thing that happened to you today, Miss Aurora?” he asked, urging me to speak.

“I…burned something,” I said, not daring to look him in the eye. I was afraid that he might start laughing.

“You lit something on fire?” He asked.

I realized that I wasn’t making any sense. “No. You see, I was looking at something, and I was thinking of burning it, and…it suddenly burst into flames.” I said.

I tentatively looked at him, to see what expression he was making, but he still had that blank look on his face.

“I know it sounds like something crazy, but I swear, purple flames came out of nowhere and burned the thing I was holding,” I said.

I hoped he’d believe me, and wouldn’t want to lock me up in an asylum.

He stood and went over to one of the shelves before coming back and placing a book before me.

~DESCENDANTS Of the MOON.~ I’d seen this title before. Wolfgang had had it in his room once, when I went to carry his morning coffee.

I looked up at Remus with a confused look.

“You might find your answer here,” he said, sitting down. “Until just recently, we thought it was a myth. That was, until the day I felt a great power emanating from you.”

I picked up the book and flipped through the pages, eyeing it.

“Great power? What are you talking about, Remus? I don’t have any type of power,” I said to the gamma, who kept his face blank.

“Yes, you do, Miss Aurora. I only felt it once, but after Alpha Wolfgang told me about your shift, I was more than convinced that this book is not a myth, and that daughters of the Moon Goddess are still amongst us.”

He spoke nonchalantly, looking me dead in the eye.

“Daughters of the Moon Goddess? The Moon Goddess had children?”

“Yes, Miss Aurora.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” I asked, still not getting what the book had to do with the purple flames.

“You see…both Alpha Wolfgang and I are convinced that you might be part of the descendants of the Moon Goddess,” he said.

“The alpha is currently on his way to the western cities, looking into information he got from Buckland about your mother’s background,” he continued.

“Wait…he what? When did he go to Buckland? How did he know that my mom was from Buckland?”

“Like I said, we’ve been investigating everything we can about your predecessors, to see if we could find a connection between you and the Moon Goddess.”

“There’s no connection!” I got up, furious at the thought that Wolfgang was investigating my mother.

Why was he so interested in me now, all of a sudden? Why couldn’t he stay out of my business?

“Think about it. Do you know anything about your mother’s family, or her life before she came to this village?”

“That still has nothing to do with this. He has no right to investigate me and my mother.” I was fuming by now.

“Please don’t be angry with the alpha. He was a complete idiot for pushing you away when he found out about the imprint, but he has realized his errors, and intends to amend them,” Remus said, trying to defend his friend and alpha.

“Well, it’s too late for that.” I was about to walk away when he took hold of my arm. I turned to face him, and he pushed the book into my hands.

“Just read the book. I’m sure you’ll find the answers you need here,” he said. Then he gave me a brief bow and walked out of the library.

I looked down at the book and flipped open the cover. I read the introduction.

~“The werewolves are creations of the Moon Goddess, whom they worship as the Supreme Being, but there are those who are direct descendants of the Goddess—daughters of the Moon Goddess, who roam earth amongst us.~

~They are superior to all wolf kind, as royalty runs through their blood.~

~Beware the power of the daughters of the Moon Goddess, for there is no stronger being in the world than them.~

~“Aurora, do you know anything about this?”~ My wolf asked me.

~“No.”~

Until today, I had never heard of anything like it— that Daughters of the Moon Goddess roamed the world.

“Maybe our mate will find out about it, and tell us?” Rhea said to me.

What if he does find something? I thought to myself. Will I be willing to listen?