Reed’s POV
“You got to be fucking kidding me, moon goddess,” I said under my breath and sprinted to my room.
Diana? Seriously out of all the people, Diana? And with Esma’s brother? That shitty, good for nothing brother of hers.
I closed the door behind me so hard that it could break open from the ceiling. I washed my face several times, trying to cool down my anger, and closed my eyes.
You are afraid, Reed.
Words of the moon goddess rang in my head again and again. Suddenly, an idea struck my brain, and I walked back to the room and pulled out my bag from under the bed.
I know Luna was playing a game with me. She sure knew how to push my buttons. Today was Friday, which meant the blood moon was six days away. After the blood moon, I would lose her. I have only today to meet her. I have to know what is in her mind.
I quickly wore a black hoodie; I didn’t want other people to know that I was going out. I opened the last zipper of my bag and took out the bag of traveling sand. Living with a witch has its own perks. I put the bag in my right pocket and opened the door to reveal Asher standing at my door, ready to knock.
He looked surprised by my attire but didn’t comment.
“Alpha, are you going somewhere?” Asher bowed in front of me.
I gave him space to enter my room. “Yes, Asher, look after the pack. I won’t take long.”
He nodded but looked upset for some reason. After battling with himself, he finally looked in my direction.
“Is everything all right, alpha?” He looked concerned, and I smiled. Asher has been the only person after Diana who I can trust completely. He was like a brother to me, even if I wouldn’t admit it to him. I smiled as the idea crossed my mind.
“Come on, grab a jacket. You are coming with me,” I said, and he visibly relaxed. Asher nodded before exiting my room. Before he could leave the room, he looked at me, and for the first time since I overtook the throne and became his alpha, I saw respect in his eyes.
Not the respect out of fear but the one with admiration. I smiled and gestured for him to leave.
“Alpha, where are we going?” Asher asked for the billionth time since we left the house. I continued walking deeper into the forest. The snow was heavy and thick at this time of the season. After we reached the middle of the forest, I took out the traveling sand from the bag.
“Hold my hand. I don’t want you to get lost somewhere in a different dimension,” I said and stretched my hand out for Asher. He grabbed it without hesitating. I closed my eyes, trying to reconsider my decision. I didn't want to see her.
Every time, meeting her makes me feel weak and vulnerable. As if she could look through my eyes, can see through my dark soul. After fighting internally, I took a handful of traveling sand and threw it on the ground.
Ανοίξετε.
The sand oriented itself into a circle, and a portal opened in the ground. Asher held my hand tighter; I could sense his hesitation. We werewolves hated magic and witches. We were the knights who fought against them.
I closed my eyes and jumped into the portal with him. The feeling of being squeezed soon took over us before I felt a hard surface under my feet. I opened my eyes and blinked twice before adjusting to the light.
I checked the surroundings and smiled, identifying the familiar trees.
“Where are we going, alpha?” Asher asked, releasing my hand.
“This is no man’s land,” I said, smiling genuinely. This forest held a place in my heart.
“Um… but why?” I was starting to regret my decision to bring him with me.
“To meet someone,” I said through clenched teeth and started walking towards the lake.
“Who?” I rubbed my face in annoyance. Asher must have sensed my anger because he didn’t ask anything then.
We reached the lake in no time, and I checked the time on my watch. It was seven past twelve—any minute.
I put my shoes aside and dipped my legs in the water and sighed in relief. “Now we will wait. Come. Sit.” I gestured for him to sit beside me and opened the bag.
He quickly put his shoes alongside mine and sat beside me. I handed him one beer, and we sat in silence like some good old friends.
“What do you think about the moon goddess?” He looked taken aback by my question but soon recovered.
“She is our goddess.” He shrugged carelessly, and it put a smile on my face for some reason.
“Well, she is the one who blessed us with mates. She is why we are, well, what we are,” he said and gulped down the beer in one go.
This was the first time I have had a proper man-to-man talk with him. He was my right hand and the most trustworthy man I could trust with my life and my pack, but we never talked like that.
“Do you have a mate?” I asked out of the blue, trying not to look at his face while asking. For some reason, I was ashamed of myself for what I had done to Esma. For who I was.
"Yes. But we don’t live together,” Asher said after a long pause. His voice was laced with hurt and pain. I mentally made a note not to touch this topic again.
“I guess we all suck in the mate department,” he said lowly. I looked at him in surprise, and instantly, my blood boiled. Not because of his audacity to insult me, but because he had a point. Nobody treated their enemies like what I did to Esma.
“Sorry, alpha, I didn’t mean that,” he said instantly. I nodded and gulped the beer. He took one fallen leaf and examined it before tracing its veins with his fingertips in deep thought.
“You know, alpha, there is only one choice between love and war.” He looked directly at me, and I saw the hurt and longing in his eyes. We both were cut from the same cloth. Maybe that’s why I was fond of him so much. Asher and I were both alike.
“…that is who kills you first,” he said, and it hit a note with me because I knew the exact feeling.
“I will be right back in a second.” With that, he stood and walked in the other direction of the forest.
I checked the time. It was almost eight. Any second.
As if on cue, the wind changed, and the trees started moving vigorously. Numerous waves formed in the lake, and the whole place was illuminated by blue light, making me almost blind.
“You are here, Reed. You never fail to amaze me,” the sweet voice rang in my ear, and without delaying a second, I opened my eyes.
I looked behind me, and there she was, standing in all her glory, lighting the whole surrounding area with her aura. The thought that she still visited this place brought me a smile. She walked gracefully and sat beside me. Again.
She dipped her legs, and the glowing appreciation on her face shone brighter than the noonday sun. None of us uttered a single word. The silence was deafening.
“What is in your mind, Moona?” She smiled surprisingly, hearing her nickname, but said nothing.
“First me, then Esma, now Diana. They didn’t do anything. You want to punish me, then I am here. Why are you dragging them into our mess?” This time she looked at me surprised.
“I have not done anything. Diana deserved better, and I blessed her the best,” she mused, and I swore I saw her lips tug into a smile.
I stood, seeing the conversation was not going anywhere. “You took my everything. EVERYTHING. And I accepted it. Then you decided to bless me with a mate. Then somehow, my biggest enemy came out of shadows again to quench her thirst for my blood.” I scoffed and started walking in the direction where Asher had gone.
“Don’t underestimate the allure to darkness, Reed. Even the purest heart is drawn to it.” I stopped in my tracks.
“Something is coming, Reed. Be cautious with the people you live with, the people you trust.” With that, she disappeared in thin air.
Darkness? I rubbed my head in annoyance. Why, for every single time, she could not tell me something directly instead of riddles and puzzles?
“Alpha.” I turned to meet Asher, who was looking at me surprised. “What happened?”
“Nothing, Asher, nothing. Come on. We have to return home.” Asher nodded reluctantly. I knew he had questions that I didn't want to answer.
I threw the traveling sand exactly at the same spot where we came from.
Ανοίξετε.