Alignment

LAKE

My eyes are locked on Oliver’s figure. Her shadow dances on the wall behind as the candles flicker around us. Derrick holds steady between the two of us as protection.

“You wolves are only ever taught of the Moon Goddess and what she does for you,” Oliver sighs. “Never of the other Celestial beings in her shadow doing all her dirty work.”

“Oliver,” Derrick warns, “you know why we’re here. Are you going to help us or not?”

Oliver snickers and crosses her arms. She seems amused by this entire conversation as her eyes travel back to me. “You’re mates, aren’t you?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I scoff. “What would you know about mates?”

“My dear,”—Oliver simply smiles—“I wouldn’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to. Besides, you’re an Alignment. I wouldn’t want to sully that precious view of your mother.”

Lynne growls in the back of my mind. She’s had just about enough of this wretched woman—as have I.

“Come, you two.” Oliver brushes past us and opens a locked door right behind the entry to this dusty old room she calls an office. “I can’t read those old books in this lighting.”

Derrick is sitting next to me at a very large oak table in the middle of a wooded area. Nature and greenery make this place very peaceful.

Oliver is pacing back and forth in front of us with the bigger book in her hand.

I sit restlessly. The constant sun in this area is giving my wolf intense anxiety. We crave the moon and its nurturing light.

“Let Oliver do her thing,” Derrick whispers to me. “If anyone can read those books, it’s her.”

Books are the last thing on my mind. It’s so hot and humid here that I can barely think straight. I can feel sweat dripping from my nose onto my lap as Oliver has a breakthrough.

“These books were written by a very important Celestial,” she states. “That Celestial being me.”

Derrick rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. Anxiety is building inside me as Oliver takes a closer look at the smaller book. ~What is going on?~

~

“I gave this to a very important wolf about twenty years ago.” Oliver sits on the table and crosses her legs.

“He was begging me for a solution to his fertility issues, so I gave him these books as a remedy. Never thought he’d actually go to that witch, of all people.”

“So you knew her father?” Derrick almost jumps from his seat. “You know where the witch is hiding?”

Oliver shakes her head and places the books in front of me.

“Phil had a mind of his own. I could sense the seed the witch planted inside his mate’s mind as soon as I heard the news of their pups. I knew one was surely to be a payment for the witch to gain.”

“So I was the cause of my family’s death?” I ask. Tears prick my eyes as I feel Derrick’s hand soothing my back.

“Not exactly.” Oliver runs her finger lightly over the leather books. “The witch used the fact of your being an Alignment to gain access to the minds of your family.

“When you decide to turn rogue, your family no longer has the protection of your pure light around them. This allowed the witch’s curse to fully affect your family.”

I remember my mother telling me of the pure light we Alignments have. It’s a protective aura cast by the Moon Goddess in order to help us fulfill our duties to her.

“What was this bargain you spoke of?” Derrick asks for me. It’s as if he can read my mind.

“I’m sure you two know by now that Alignments have a third of the chance of mating that their regular wolf counterparts have?” Derrick and I nod to allow Oliver to continue.

She stands and brushes her red hair to the side.

“This is because they’re on the border of the Celestial and Mortal Realms.

“More times than not, the Celestial Realm eventually overpowers the mortal soul and completely rewires the brains into thinking they are nothing. They’re simply tools to be used by the Moon Goddess.”

I’m at a loss for words, as is Lynne. She was at the forefront of my mind, ready to pounce if necessary; now she’s stumped about what to do.

“What does this have to do with—”

Oliver puts her hand up to silence Derrick’s question.

“Rewiring the brain of a wolf includes rewiring the mate bond. If not caught in time, the Alignment will be completely helpless as their mind is wired to the Goddess herself.”

I mutter, “Why do this?”

“Who do you think your mother really is, Lake?” Oliver asks. Her head is tilted with just her eyes shining through the strands of her hair.

“The body of your birth mother was inhabited by the Moon Goddess herself,” Oliver explains.

“Your father knew this, and yet still went along with it. That is, until he met the witch who was able to give you a false mate.”

My face gets hot as I lean over and vomit on the grass at my feet. My mind is going a million miles a minute at this point.

“Why do you think you feel so safe with the Moon Goddess?” Oliver is by my head now, her mouth near my ear.

“She’s the reason you’re being sick as we speak. She doesn’t want you here, because that Goddess knows what I can do for you.”

“Oliver, back away before I make you,” Derrick growls. I can feel more come up as Oliver shrugs and simply sits down a few feet away from me until I stop heaving.

“The Moon Goddess intends to hand you over to this Jake person you’re talking about,” Oliver states. She plays with a strand of grass between her fingers.

“By the time the snow melts and winter turns to spring, your wolf will disappear, and you’ll be left alone with that male.”

“The Moon Goddess would never betray—” Before I can finish my sentence, more of yesterday’s food comes out from my mouth. Tears of strain trail down my cheeks.

“What reason do I have to lie to you, Lake?” Oliver smiles. “That Goddess is nothing but a self-serving witch who punishes those who go against her. Just as your father did.”

“Lake, Oliver is forbidden to lie by the realm she inhabits.” Derrick helps me sit on the grass, away from the horrible stench of my innards.

“What does this have to do with my curse?” I ask Oliver. She raises an eyebrow in interest.

“It has everything to do with your curse, my dear,” Oliver flicks the strand of grass out of her hand and looks me in the eye.

“If you continue on this path with the ‘gift’ of Alignment, your wolf will perish, and your mind will be rewired to the will of this Jake fellow as ordered by the Moon Goddess herself.”

My brain is practically mush right now. My hands feel clammy as my legs are straining to walk out of here and never return.

Derrick is beside me with his hand tightly wrapped around mine as he looks at my face with worry.

“What can we do?”

Oliver’s lips curl into a smile. “I can help you rid yourself of this fate, my dear.”