[37] The Temple Tales VIII : The Farewell

A round of applause and cheers echoed around the big hall as Stella happily tied the red cloth around Severa's wrist.

Whenever I was in this hall, I couldn't stop myself from starting at Severa's beautifully carved face. Her hair to the length of her feet while her enchanting pose was so mesmerizing.

It was so difficult to not look at her.

"We have suffered the night, " said Lucine while standing in the middle and staring at Severa's feet.

Stella had reached her place among the rows of the girls. All the girls had bathed and freshly dressed up in their clean red dresses with the cloaks. The lamps and candles were lit on a metal plate near Severa's feet.

Alma told me that this was the last prayer before breakfast and leaving for the homes.

"We have survived the night. We have lived the night. We have enjoyed the night." Lucine said while I was standing behind her, on the side, a little ahead of the rows of the females, beside Rosetta who would glare at any chance she would get.

"Some were in pain. Some were given mercy. Some of us thrived with thrill. Some of us were fighting ourselves. Moon Goddess is the supreme. She gave strength to Severa at her weakest. Sometimes, the help comes in the form of suffering, to teach us lessons."

"Sometimes, the help comes in the form of a gift. Like a box full of roses, " she said while I breathed softly. Her cold soothing voice was so heavenly. "Or a temple filled with solace."

I closed my eyes and gulped hard.

"Like the most unexpected long turn in a journey. Like a basket with a baby lying in it."

My jaws clenched while I could feel Rosetta glancing at me. I was sure, she must probably be smirking at me.

"Now, the night has passed. We all are here, welcoming a new day. We all are filled with light, surrounded by thunder and lightning, showing us that the pain will go away slowly. With our horrors deeply carved in our minds and prayers in our hearts. With our longing for our mates in our eyes and the comfort from sharing our pain with our sisters in our palms. We are not alone. We have each other. We have Severa with us. We have Moon Goddess watching over us. We have this temple as our home."

I breathed softly while she added, "Last night, we kept Severa from getting the moonlight for her comfort. In return, she asks you to visit your homes and get another chance of finding your mates. She is not keeping us away from our mates. She is keeping us closer to ourselves. And finally, with kindness and purity in our hearts, we smile and pray for the good of this world. For our pack. For the land, we live on. For the families, we were born into. For the souls to find their peace."

"We pray. We pray. We pray." The voices echoed.

I closed my eyes and thought about what I could pray for. The first thing that came in my mind was for Karam to be pure by heart and loyal to me. For him to be innocent.

And then, I prayed for my loved ones to be happy and alright. Before I could even take the names, I could sense the girls raising their heads back to normal while I was still bowing. So, I hurriedly asked for the luck to get across the border.

"The doors of this temple are and will always be open for the people in need. For her followers. Have faith in her and she will take care of you. Severa wishes you all a happy journey and gives you blessings. May you all find your mates soon."

Goosebumps rose as the girls chanted, "Severa. Severa. Severa. Severa."

The hall was filled with the chants in medium notes. Lucine sprinkled the petals of flowers over Severa's feet and bowed her head for the last time.

The girls bowed and came to the front to bow their heads in front of Severa from closer one by one and started walking towards the left side of the temple for breakfast.

Rosetta and Lucine stepped aside for the girls to come one by one. While Rosetta was keeping an eye for any nonsense, Lucine was just admiring the girls with her light yellow eyes.

When everyone was gone, I felt nervous all of a sudden.

Lucine was looking at me as if she knew that I wanted to say something.

"Come forward, Misty." She said politely while observing me from head to toe.

I gulped slowly while glancing at Rosetta who raised one eyebrow.

"Um, I was told to. . ." I couldn't understand where this nervousness was coming from. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just doing what I was told to. Mostly, what I actually wanted to do myself too. ". . . I want to give a. . ."

Lucine waited with the same blank face which kind of looked welcoming. "Give what?" She asked knowingly, wanting me to put it in words.

A sudden overwhelming feeling spread across my chest.

When my eyes turned glossy, Lucine glanced at Rosetta who left the hall immediately.

Lucine walked closer to me. "Severa would never ask for your tears, " she said, making me gulp and look at her. "Even the rain had stopped moments ago. The sun has arrived."

Her eyes turned curious and a little lost when I blinked away the tears.

"I was thrown to this side of the borders against my will, " I said shakily while her eyebrows straightened. "Severa knows. Right? She can't expect me to ask for blessings, kids and happy family from her just like Amelia has asked me to."

She relaxed and stared at me, giving me full attention.

"But now I am torn," I told her. "You announced it in front of everyone about the four pups. I understand that Lycans have no fault in whatever that is happening to me and the brides. It's the border. But I can't just lose my hope of ever returning back to home and accept that I would never be able to. I will not hesitate from asking for blessings for Karam's family—"

"Which is now yours too, " she said while I sniffled softly.

"But will Severa ignore my plight like others too? Does she recognize that it's hard to accept being stuck in this pack for your whole life?" I asked hoarsely.

Lucine breathed softly. "You have climbed the mountains to meet Severa. She invited you and you are here. She respects the effort. She could never cross that border just like you. She knows your pain, Misty. But that didn't stop her from doing the best she could while being stuck here."

"I brought a gift for her, " I said while pulling it out from the pocket of my cloak.

Lucine stared at my face as I said, "Karam helped me choose it."

Her eyes lowered and the fascination flickered in her eyes. "An apple?" She chuckled softly. "A fruit, " she said, more to herself with a small smile on her face.

"Red just like the dresses. And inside, soft and pulpy with seeds. A fruit to sign her that the wait definitely has been a journey full of lessons and rewards. To remind her that her own wait to be fruitful one day. Of her followers too. To tell her that she is respected more than feared."

Lucine smiled at me and nodded satisfactorily. "She loved apples, " she said while I realized that this might be one of the rare times when she actually used past tense for Severa. "Go, serve it to her, and pray for everything that your heart wants. Don't be afraid to confess your true desires to her."

"She won't be upset?" I whispered while Lucine shook her head.

"You are the bride of a descendant of her eldest brother. She won't be. Ask for anything. For yourself and the family."

I closed my eyes and whispered in my mind.

"I want to take you to your mate's home, Severa."

Walking towards her feet, I put the apple on the basket of the flowers and reached back to Lucine.

"Go and have breakfast. There will be a long journey ahead."

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"Thank you, guys."

Alma and Emily smiled at me as I took a bite full of the bread soaked in the dish made of cottage cheese.

"Are you healed now?" I asked while looking around. We were seated on the carpets placed in a row in another hall room. The volunteers were serving the plates or adding to the ones who had already been served. Reveka and Noira were included in them.

"I am, Aunt Misty. I am fine. But are you fine? You looked ghosted at the fight, " said Emily while taking a morsel full of the egg curry.

Alma chuckled and nodded. "Humans don't fight?"

I blinked while smiling slowly. "Of course, we do. But what you guys were doing was savage. Something that doesn't happen in a temple. But I get the intention. Excluding extreme wrestling, it was good to see the girls cheering and doing sports. Achieving and the high spirit."

Emily smiled while I chewed on my food. "Anyway, " I mumbled while pointing back towards the pair of Stella and Janine. I leaned and added, "I can't believe that Stella teamed up with Janine rather than Emily, her own cousin."

Alma nodded in amusement. She gulped the food and shrugged her shoulders. "They have that friendship. They really do. Virion looks up to brother Robin a lot. He gets inspired by him in assisting brother Kingston. Janine used to accompany Virion to the fields for cutting woods when she was just six summers or more. Brother Robin used to bring Stella along."

"Since then, they are the same spirits," Emily said in amusement while shaking her head. "We don't complain because we only adore them."

"But wasn't it unfair to corner Melanie like that?" I asked quietly.

Alma blinked in thought. "Noira says that under Rosetta's watch, the mind tricks are as important as the physical strength. Not everyone can form alliances and loyal friendships. It wasn't even unfair because the scarier the fight, the larger the victory is. Melanie would have been called queen if she had taken them down. But she didn't."

"But Stella has Alpha blood and Janine, the Beta. It was still unfair, " I said while glancing one more time at the girls. This time they were sharing a joke and laughing about something.

"They weren't really using any strength. They were playing fair. Alpha or Beta power doesn't come in blood but by the faith that it is present in the blood." Alma said, making me confused. "Janine was only helping Melanie by mentioning her Beta strength. So, she would fight with double anger and will. But Melanie took it as a way to excuse her defeat."

"It could be a trick to lose her confidence," I said while looking at her. "Not help her."

"That was for Melanie to decide in what way, she had to take Janine's words," Alma said while smiling at me. She nodded and continued eating while I straightened up. I had just learned a trick.

A girl came closer to us and bent while holding a basket. "More bread?"

Emily nodded and took four while Alma burped slightly. I shook my head and passed a smile to the girl.

"I am done, " I said while picking up my plate and getting up.

"Then, you must be free to visit the Chieftain. She wanted to see you before you leave, " the girl said while I glanced at Emily and Alma. "In the room where you had your first meal with her here."

I nodded while she walked away.

"What could it be?" Emily asked in curiosity.

Alma gave me a smirk.

"A farewell sermon."

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She was standing in front of the same large window when I reached the door.

"Come inside, Misty."

I did while she kept staring out of the window.

The brown carpet was spread all over the floor while the thundering clouds had now silenced. The afternoon was approaching with a sun hidden behind the grey clouds who might pour during the late night.

"I invited you and you came, " she said, stealing all of my attention. Her voice was firm and soothingly cold. "Severa is pleased, Misty. Your gift has made her think of your purpose for coming here. Your peace."

She turned around slowly and I sucked in a breath. Her yellowish orbs moved all over my face. "Because even after telling you the truth that I knew, you are confused. You are still lost."

"All the females here with whom you'd have felt friendly didn't have the same destiny as yours." She said, making me furrow my eyebrows. "They have a mother and a father. Brothers and sisters."

"I have a family back there across the border too," I said offensively.

Lucine squinted her eyes briefly. "But you have stayed apart from your family. You have suffered the rejection. You have lived your life like an orphan."

I gulped hard. "Why are you talking about this?" I asked while feeling disturbed.

Lucine blinked calmly and smiled. "There is someone I want you to meet. Someone who is just like you has had the same fate as yours. The similarity of suffering the same hazards would lighten your heart and bring your peace back."

I blinked while feeling my heart getting heavier by each second slowly.

"Maya, come forward," Lucine said while moving her eyes off me and looking at the door with a faint smile.

I slowly turned around and looked at the door. Maya was Alma's friend who had helped her bring me down from the tower, I remembered very well.

But she wasn't the one Lucine talked about. That person with the same fate as mine was being held by her in the arms.

My gaze moved all over to observe the little red cloak wrapped around the tiny body. The face was turned towards the door. Maya cooed while nudging the cheer to bring the face in our sight. When it finally happened, the baby amber eyes burst the heart inside me.

A gasp escaped my mouth along with a quick wave of tears.

"Tara and Kingston accompanied me to the village that rainy night. We stood at my little brother's door, witnessing him getting shocked, numb, and scared at the same time. But then, he saw the face of his pup, and a breaking smile curved his trembling lips. I left the village after completing the task the universe had asked me to do." Lucine said while stepping ahead to stand beside me.

She watched me staring ahead at the little pup through my blurry vision.

My hand reached for my chest, palming my heart to calm down the pace by which it was swelling and bursting repeatedly.

"A month later, on another rainy night, Karam calls out my name while standing at the place where you had left him before entering the temple," Lucine said while looking at the front. "Drenched in rain and tears, he kept his pup dried inside the basket, hugging it close to his chest. He waited for me to reach him. He said nothing. I read it in his eyes so well."

Tears slid down my cheeks while she added, "The wish to keep his pup safe."

Maya pulled back her head when the little boy with dark brown hair started curling his lip in suffocation.

I walked ahead shakily while rubbing my chest as Maya bent down and let the baby stand on his own. The hood hung on his back while in the little cloak, he walked ahead. His eyes caught me and the sudden fascination flickered on that face.

"Since that night to this day, he has not been touched by his own father."

My eyes widened as goosebumps risen on my arms. My mouth opened in shock and my head turned to look up at Lucine.

She stared down at me with empathy glinting in her eyes. "Karam comes whenever he misses him or gets the sense that his pup is missing him too. He would stand at the end of the bridge on the ground away from the bricks, and wait for me to take his pup and show him. From far, he would smile and cry. From far, he would say the sweet things. But he wouldn't touch him. Because he knows that once he did, he would not be able to go away without taking his pup along."

My lips trembled hard as I looked back at the innocent child who was now walking towards me absentmindedly.

The little nose was yet to get sharp like his father. The lips were heart-shaped and red as his cloak. The skin was too pale for him to match his father's slightly tanned one. The hair was a finger length, less in volume and so silky.

"Find solace in discovering a soul having the same fate as yours, Misty. It will lighten your heart."

My heart was just blasting every step the pup was taking towards me. My arms forward on their own.

"Take his scent wrapped around yours, so it pleases his father too," Lucine said in a shaky voice. "It is the most he could get, Misty. Four nights ago, he caught a high fever. Karam came running up to the end of the bridge in the late night. He didn't go until I came back to tell him that we have given the herbal juices to get him well sooner."

And I was doubting Karam, bursting in anger over him like a madwoman. All this time, he had been doing nothing but worrying for his only child whom he couldn't even greet and touch properly.

I gasped as I walked on my knees ahead and reached the baby. Pulling him in my arms, I hugged him closer to my chest and let out a soft sob.

The soft body of his was small in my arms. I couldn't even remember the last time I had hugged a baby ever in my life. There was no relative from Gran's side and the youngest one was Jiro in the pack who was still much older than this infant in my hold.

Lucine didn't speak until I had spent my heart sobbing while hugging the pup close to me. I pulled away while wiping my ears and observing the amber eyes looking at mine innocently.

"Oh baby, " escaped my mouth as I cupped the chubby cheeks while kissing on the forehead and hugging the pup again.

Karam's pup.

The thought made me sob harder until Lucine put a hand on my shoulders.

"Enough, dear. The females are about to walk out of the temple any soon. Your nieces are waiting for you downstairs." She said while I shook my head.

"Why would he leave him here?" I asked sobbingly.

"The circumstances made him do so, " she replied as if it was the most understandable thing.

"Why?" I choked out. "This is not fair. This pup is suffering the same as I did. The only difference and hope are that his father is alive."

Lucine gave me an empathetic look. "Amelia and Nysa, other women who cannot understand the innocence of a child born from the illegitimate bond, are a danger to him when he can't protect himself. Karam cannot protect his pup and fight his own family all the time. Sometimes, we are conflicted and there is no middle ground to walk in. We get helpless to choose one side, Misty."

I pulled away from the pup and straightened to look at Lucine in all seriousness.

"It's Karam's choice to abandon or love his child. Amelia and Nysa can't force him." I said through gritted teeth.

Lucine smiled at me. "His Luna can. We wouldn't even let our own blood go anywhere near him. Emily, Noira, Alma, Stella, and Reveka—they didn't even know that the pup lives here with us. When they got to know, Rosetta made sure to keep them warned as to not reveal it to their mothers or sisters-in-law. After Tara, no one could look after him in Karam's absence."

I gulped hard while looking at her in numbness.

"Maya, take him away now," Lucine ordered calmly while I immediately showed my palm to the girl.

Maya stopped in her tracks while glancing at Lucine.

"You have gotten enough scent upon you, Misty." She said while I flared my nostrils in emotion.

"He won't stay here anymore. He is going to be with his father now." I said while Lucine's eyes turned stunned. Maya looked shocked too.

"You don't know what you are asking for, Misty," Lucine said while giving me a stern look.

"I didn't ask him. I am ordering you, " I said while giving her my firm look. "I am taking him away to where he should be living his life."

"He isn't safe outside this temple. An illegitimate child doesn't get an easy life easily, " she said while I looked down at the pup.

"Amelia and Nysa, I will handle them," I said while looking at her. "But I can't see Karam longing to see his pup."

That made her smile.

"It is not easy to take care of someone else's pup, Misty," Lucine said firmly while narrowing her yellow eyes at me. "If I hadn't shown him to you, he would have never come to your mind. You didn't even think of him at the least."

"But now I do and I have learned my ignorance. I will not make it any late. I am taking him away with me, " I said while looking at her confidently.

"I know the pain of not having my father close to me. I have craved that kind of love the whole of my life." I blinked while gulping hard. My lips trembled as I shakily choked out, "I can't let the same happen to any other."

"How will you protect him?" Lucine asked confidently while I shook my head.

"I will protect him on my life. Also, Severa and Moon Goddess will have my back."

Lucine's eyebrows straightened and she gave me a hard look. "Deep inside, you will hate him for being a symbol of Karam spending a night with another woman. You will hate him. If not today, then someday in the future. But you will."

"Hating him would mean hating myself. I am taking him because I know, I will love him rather than just taking care of him."

Lucine smiled slightly while turning around and walking towards the window.

She turned around to look at my face and ask the last question. "Will that love be of a woman who wants to lighten her man's heart?"

I shook my head with tears burning in my eyes. I bent down and picked up the pup in my arms. Wiping his hair off his head and watching him playing with his chubby hands, I sniffled softly.

"It would be too soon to name this relation. But I know that I'll love him as the woman who has suffered the pain of feeling abandoned. I will love him to complete my life's cycle. I will love for humanity's sake. I will love him as Karam's mate. I will love him as his mother."

Lucine gave me a look of admiration.

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The females had started to walk down the bridge in two rows.

While I was at the end of the group with Emily and Reveka looking shocked beside me. Noira and Alma were only quiet and happy about seeing a pup in my arms.

"What is his name?" I asked while looking at Lucine.

"Must hear it from his father's mouth," she said while standing firmly like a Goddess at the porch of the temple.

Behind him on either side were standing Rosetta and another older girl of her age. Behind them were standing twenty to thirty widowed females who knew that their mates had died.

"Thank you for everything, " I choked out while looking in her eyes.

Lucine nodded without giving me a smile. Her firm aura had arrived back and now, she was back to being her intimidating and mysterious self.

"Say my thanks to Severa for taking care of him, " I said while Lucine blinked calmly.

"She will keep taking care of him, " said Lucine while nodding for the last time. "Have a safe journey, sister-in-law."

I smiled through fresh tears which I wiped away immediately. I nodded back for the last time and turned around.

Emily and Reveka stayed on either side while Alma and Reveka were walking ahead, glancing back at me every second.

"Misty?"

My eyebrows furrowed and heartbeats fastened. I turned slightly to look back at Lucine. We were now almost ten steps away from each other.

"Pissing in fear was never a sin. Fear is powerful only when you call it. Embarrassment is embarrassing only when you dwell on it. It is natural. Everyone who has a heart gets scared many times in life." Lucine said while a meaningful smile came upon my lips. "Remember what I told you about it."

She knew how Anton had scared me that night.

Turning around, I walked down easily with the child in my arms not even crying or getting suffocated.

"If you get tired, we can hold him." Noira offered while looking back at me.

"I am fine, thank you," I said while passing her a grateful smile.

The bridge that I was crossing slowly and carefully in fatigue and harsh sunlight. Now I was facing each step confidently.

"Oooo. . ." Stella mumbled while looking far ahead at the ground beginning from the end of the bridge. The females walking at the front were yet to reach there. "Uncle Karam is already there."

The mere words brought my keen concentration on the stone path to up at the way ahead. My eyes moved hurriedly in desperation as I looked for him.

My heart fluttered so hard when I saw a tall figure standing in the middle of the ground with his arms crossed across his chest, waiting for us to reach him.

"He is yet to smell his scent." Alma guessed as I had covered the pup with my cloak to hide him. "Because the pup has your scent spread all over him."

The females were greeting Karam when we had covered half of the bridge. He gestured for them to walk ahead politely.

Maya, Alora, and Melanie kept leading the rows while Stella had gotten ahead to walk beside Janine.

Giggles were escaping the females as Karam would greet each of them and say something.

Just ten steps away and his greeting got interrupted by his sudden distraction that I was. Our eyes met and the whole of my heart calmed down like a silent and undisturbed lake.

A cheeky smile curved his lips while he moved his hand over his head that was full of braids, making him look hotter than ever.

"I am sure, he got those braids to impress you," Alma whispered in my ear while moving ahead.

My heart started drowning in suspense as we got closer to the end of the bridge. Crossing it, just as I stepped on the ground, Karam stomped towards me.

Alma and Noira stepped aside to give us space while Reveka and Emily stopped after reaching the way ahead of him.

"Didn't you miss us, Uncle Karam?" Emily asked while giggling at his locked gaze on mine.

"Yes, I did." He replied absentmindedly while moving his eyes down at the body in my hand that I had properly covered with my cloak.

"We were gone for a week but we all know, this last day was more of eternity for him without Aunt Misty, " Reveka teased while I raised my eyebrows at Karam who was now smiling shyly.

He stepped ahead while I slowly removed the cloak from the pup's body. He moved in my arms as I shook him a little and cooed softly.

Karam stumbled back immediately with his amber eyes widening in extreme shock.

He was a Lycan. An Alpha blood. Of course, he could make the idea of me holding a pup from my steps on the bridge itself. But he couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe himself.

But he did, finally.

When I told him to touch his son.

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"What do you think?"

Please vote and comment.

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I couldn't proofread in hurry. So, please spare me for the errors or typos. Though, let me know if you find any.