Chapter 24

I woke up, stretching out my arms to find Christopher’s side of the bed empty. My eyes fluttered open, and I sat up quickly, scanning the room for him. There he was, clad in just gym shorts, holding a tray of breakfast goodies, leaning against the dining table with a grin on his face.

“You looked so adorable searching for me in the sheets,” he said, his eyes filled with a deep affection. “I just stepped out to grab breakfast.”

He set the tray on the bed, and I scooted over to make room for him. The tray was laden with fruits, bread slices, jams, coffee, tea, and my eyes sparkled at the sight of the last item.

“Croissants,” I murmured, my mouth watering at the sight of them.

“I couldn’t possibly bring you breakfast without croissants,” Christopher replied, climbing into bed with me and taking a bite of an apple.

“I remember the picture you sent me during your last visit here,” I said, pouring myself a cup of coffee with a smile.

He closed his eyes, smiling, and when he opened them again, they were brighter, as if his wolf was closer to the surface.

“I remember missing you, feeling scared and confused when you stopped responding,” he admitted.

It felt like a lifetime ago, but it had only been a few days—not even two weeks.

“I remember being terrified of how you’d react to me being pregnant,” I confessed, reaching for a croissant.

“If you knew what was going on in my head, you wouldn’t have been scared,” he said.

And when it’s time to make our marks? When will our minds link? Will I feel and see what he feels and thinks? Could he be in my head?

I pushed those thoughts aside as we finished breakfast. We got ready and headed to the temple. Christopher had set up a meeting with Neil, a council member, at the Moon Temple.

The thought of entering the council temple gave me butterflies. It was the grandest, most beautiful, and most magnificent temple dedicated to the Moon Goddess. I’d been to many temples, but none like this. This temple was so sacred and magnificent that its magic interfered with air traffic.

I put on my coat, and we drove to the temple, leaving the guards outside.

The temple was a massive structure made of the same stone used in the council buildings but polished to give it an ethereal quality. The walls were adorned with stained-glass windows throughout, and a large round window at the top, all made of moonstone.

The day was slightly misty, adding to the mystical aura of the place, but nothing compared to the feeling inside the temple. The sun’s rays filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting bluish beams of light.

Inside the temple, I felt the presence of the Goddess. I whispered a prayer of thanks for everything, especially for her constant presence in my life.

A tall man with gray hair and round glasses, wearing a black overcoat, emerged from the altar and approached us.

“Alpha Christopher, it’s good to see you again,” the man said, opening his arms for a hug, which Christopher returned.

“Neil, it’s good to see you too,” Christopher replied, his smile wide. They seemed to have known each other for a long time.

“Neil, this is Scarlett, my…,” he paused, looking at me. His eyes were shining, and he took a moment to gather his thoughts before a wide smile spread across his face. “My mate.”

Neil’s eyes widened, and his thick eyebrows shot up before he turned to me with a smile.

“That’s wonderful news! Nice to meet you, Scarlett.”

Neil pulled me into a hug, and I was taken aback by his friendly greeting. He slowly let go and turned to Christopher. “I’m glad to see you’re doing well, and with a mate, after everything you’ve been through,” Neil said, his voice filled with empathy and compassion. “What brings you here?”

Christopher rubbed the back of his neck and let out a breath before speaking.

“We have a few things to discuss, but we think it might have something to do with the prophecies.”

As he spoke, I saw Neil’s brow furrow as he seemed to get lost in thought.

“Prophecies aren’t used much these days. Some wolves still visit them regularly, but they say if they’re about you, or for you, you’ll feel it,” Neil said.

He gestured for us to follow him. “Come, they’re over here,” he said, referring to the guards.

We followed him to the back of the temple, through large purple velvet curtains, revealing a vast ancient library. In the center were altars dedicated to the moon. It felt like we’d been transported to a different time and place. Neil went to a glass-covered shelf, inside of which were stacks of rolled parchment. Some were white, others yellowed, and some were practically brown from age.

“These are the prophecies. Some are recent, but most are decades old. And then there are the primordials, prophecies written centuries ago. Legends say they came from the moon herself,” Neil explained. As he continued to speak, I felt drawn to a particular parchment, a nearly brown one with a bluish tint. It was at the top, and it seemed to glow, drawing my attention. I pointed to it.

“That one,” I said. My words were filled with certainty, perhaps the most I’d ever felt in my life, but no one reacted. I looked around to find Christopher and Neil staring at me in surprise.

“What is it?” Christopher asked.

“It’s that one. I can feel it,” I repeated, the certainty in my heart stronger than ever.

“Scarlett, darling, that’s one of the primordials,” Christopher said.

“If she thinks it’s that one, let’s see,” Neil said, pulling out a wooden ladder and placing it in front of the shelf. “Is this the one?”

“No, the one next to it.”

“This one?”

“Yes, that one.” I confirmed, and he pulled out the parchment that seemed to shine in my eyes. Neil slowly descended the ladder and put on fabric gloves before carefully unrolling the ancient parchment.

As the silver words began to appear, they seemed to dance before my eyes, making me slightly dizzy. But when I read what was written, I couldn’t believe it.

~The first came to teach,~

~She who brings change,~

~She, the warm fire,~

~Her desire, unstoppable,~

~In the heart of the battle,~

~Red, the beacon of hope,~

~Breathing life and hope~

~Into a nation reborn.~

~The second chance, the destined mate,~

~Decreed by the hands of fate,~

~A new leader emerges, strong and good,~

~Uniting the people as only she could.~

My eyes widened in awe.

Neil broke the silence, tracing the word “red” from the prophecy with his fingers. “Scarlett, red…,” he murmured, echoing the connection I’d already made.

“In the heart of the battle, Red, the beacon of hope, breathing life and hope into a nation reborn,” Christopher recited the second stanza, which seemed to be eerily specific to us, especially the ~new life~ part. I instinctively placed a hand on my belly. The prophecy wasn’t just about me; it was about our unborn child too.

“Wait, are you…?” Neil’s voice rose in surprise, his confusion almost palpable as he tried to piece together the puzzle. “And a new leader is born; the second chance was right. It talks about you and the birth of a leader and…”

Neil spun around, running a hand through his hair in disbelief. “This ~primordial~ is about you and… I can’t even begin to guess how many centuries ago this was written, by the Moon Goddess herself…”

We fell silent for a moment, trying to digest the enormity of it all. It was a lot to take in.

“But what about the first part? The first comes to teach and the second to change?” Christopher asked.

Neil seemed lost in thought, but he turned to answer Christopher’s question.

“You know, buddy, it’s about your mates…,” Neil said, his voice filled with empathy and wisdom. “You’re not the same man you were before Violet. She made you love deeply and hurt deeply, but it was that pain that shaped you into the strong, protective leader you are today. Without her, things might have been different.”

I could feel the wave of emotion that washed over Christopher as he listened to Neil.

“And when it says the second comes to change, I think it’s referring to Scarlett. Violet made you a great leader, but you became cold and distant. I suspect that you and Scarlett were already together on your last trip because you seemed different. The warm fire, I think, is a reference to Scarlett’s fire, and red is a symbol of the warmth she brought to your heart.” Neil finished, looking at me.

Christopher turned to look at me too, but a memory stopped me in my tracks.

“What?” Christopher asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“My mother once told me…” I took a deep breath. The coincidence was too much. “She said she had a dream about the Moon Goddess before I was born. She said it was a vivid dream, where the Moon Goddess herself told her that,” I paused, taking another deep breath.

“That she was pregnant, that they would have another child, a girl, who would be the fire to warm their hearts, and her name would be Scarlett,” I said.

Neil’s mouth fell open in shock, and Christopher turned pale.

“They didn’t want any more children; they already had twins, Karen and Bob. But after the dream, she took a pregnancy test, and when she found out it was a girl, she honored the Moon Goddess’s request and named me Scarlett.”

Christopher and I locked eyes. The weight of the revelation was heavy. A noise in the hallway broke the silence, and we turned to see Joshua entering the back of the temple, pushing aside the curtains. His presence sent a chill down my spine.

I prayed silently, asking for protection, pleading with the Goddess to keep us safe in her temple.

His features were gaunt and sharp, giving him a ghastly, terrifying appearance.

Christopher instinctively moved to shield me,

“Good to know my suspicions were correct. I just didn’t realize how accurate they would be.” Joshua’s words echoed ominously in the temple, which suddenly felt chillingly sinister.

A group of wolves followed him in, but they weren’t guards. They looked more like outcasts.

There were too many to count. What happened next was a blur. It happened so fast, yet it felt like slow motion.

They transformed into their wolf forms and lunged at us. My wolf surfaced, ready and fierce. Before I knew it, I was on all fours.

Christopher transformed too, his movements even more fluid than mine, and positioned himself protectively in front of me. His brown wolf was much larger than the others, befitting his status as an alpha. But there were many, and Neil wasn’t as quick.

I watched helplessly as one of the wolves bit into his leg. I tried to help, but five of them pounced on us.

Christopher bit one and clawed another.

He managed to fend off three at once, trying to keep them away from me, but more wolves kept pouring in from behind the curtains. Neil was overwhelmed, and then, so was Christopher.

One of them slipped past him and lunged at me. I defended myself, biting one and then another, but I couldn’t hold off the third.

My wolf was small, agile, but small, and despite all my training, I was no match for them. I felt a sharp pain as one bit into my shoulder. I saw a splash of blood on my white fur, and then another bite on my leg.

The pain was excruciating—so much so that a ringing filled my ears, and everything went black.