Chapter 93

Chapter 93
The highway stretched for hours as Viola drove through the night, hurrying in a bid to make it to her destination while the full moon still shone and then back home by morning. No one knew where she was going. Seth wasn’t around when she left, and she hadn’t left a message in case he returned. She was going into the far South to find the moon goddess.
She hadn’t even told Merikh where she was going, and she didn’t plan for him to find out at all.
She wanted to do this without his interference or even his knowledge, because this was her game plan. Merikh was expecting her to start going for the kill now that Seth had developed an infatuation for Rashel, but she wasn’t going to do that. If she helped Merikh to become Alpha, then his wife, Kira, would be his Luna and not her. And she knew that after he got what he wanted, Merikh would discard her like used goods. So, she was going to do all it took to help Seth remain Alpha for as long as she could.
She would have loved to expose Merikh’s plans, but if Merikh was going down, she knew she would go down with him. So, until she found a way to do it without implicating herself, the moon goddess was her best bet.
She knew she was close to the Moon Altar when she turned onto a dirt road. Then her tires stepped on rocks, moss, and wet earth. She slowed her car to a stop in the middle of the forest and turned off the ignition. When she stepped out, there was no noise, just silence and a bit of darkness illuminated by the full moon overhead.
As she walked, her boots sank into the damp soil, and tree branches held on to her coat. The leaves moved with the soft wind, creating an illusion of whispers, but Viola didn’t flinch. She had been here before.
She passed by the old stone markers with symbols etched into them in languages that had been long forgotten, with the kingdoms and people in them. They were glowing faintly as she progressed, guiding her straight to her destination. The Moon Altar.
It was exactly like she remembered a year ago. The utter silence and creepiness of the place—even the air here was different.
Viola stepped forward and fell to her knees, not because she was an ardent believer, but because this was what the Moon Altar required. And because she was here to ask a favor, she had to pay her dues. This was a place that demanded utmost humility before it even listened to you.
She pulled a worn token from her coat pocket. It was a charm once worn by a priestess, but it was now cracked and blackened. She pressed it in her palm and felt that it still held some power.
And then she closed her eyes and allowed it to take her back, back to when she had come here naively and clueless and full of love for Merikh. She allowed herself to remember.

One year ago, Merikh had come to her with a request. And that request was to marry his brother and then kill him to clear the path for Merikh to become Alpha. The only problem was that Seth had already found a mate, and they were happily married. So, it wasn’t going to be easy for Viola to worm her way into Seth’s heart without raising any suspicions or serious issues.
Merikh, on the other hand, was an archenemy of his only brother, and he couldn’t pave a way for Viola to enter Seth’s home. He didn’t even speak to Seth often to begin with. Their mother hated Rashel, yes, but he couldn’t trust her to help him put Viola in Seth’s life when his motive was to kill her favorite son.
So, they came here together in desperation. They knelt and begged and even shed a few tears, and finally, the moon goddess answered and agreed to help them.
She gave them a potion and asked Viola to drink it before seeing Seth; a few drops were enough to do the magic. It didn’t erase Rashel from Seth’s memory, no. It worked even better than that. It rewired his memory and knowledge of her. It turned longing into disgust and love into contempt.
The moment Seth set his eyes on her, he had become hers without even exchanging a single word with her.
He didn’t even hesitate a moment; he simply rejected her and even condemned her to death. And all Viola had to do was drink a few drops of a potion and appear before Seth. It worked for the longest time, and to their advantage.
But now, Rashel had changed; Seth wasn’t her everything anymore. She had carved a life for herself without him. And to make matters worse, Seth had begun to feel something for Rashel again, and that was why she was here.
Seth had begun to pursue Rashel out of the blue. One morning, he woke and decided he didn’t want to fight anymore. Before Viola could recover from the shock, Seth had begun to go after Rashel like a lost puppy.
But she couldn’t let that happen, most especially not now that she had a baby on the way and needed him to be the father of her child. She required his undivided attention and love, whether willingly or not.

The altar began to shimmer, bringing Viola out of her thoughts. A soft wind lifted the leaves on the ground.
“You have returned.” A soft voice said.
Viola lifted her head sharply and watched as a figure stepped out from the mist. It was neither person nor spirit but something in between, and yet, it took the form of a woman when she revealed herself to Viola. She wore a flowing white dress, her silver hair cascading behind her like a waterfall.
She was beautiful beyond human comprehension, and her gaze could see right through you.
Viola stood, holding her gaze.
“I need your help, goddess. The magic of the potion is fading away.”
“You seek to delay destiny. To create bonds that should not be. You seek to bind what the moon does not agree with, Viola. The price will not be the same.” The woman said very softly.
“He will remain mine,” Viola said, pleading.
“He was not chosen for you.”
“No. We have the power to change destiny. To rewrite it. We proved this when you first gave me the potion, and now, we can do it again. Please!”
As Viola stood there with the goddess, time seemed to still, and the trees began to whisper loudly. Suddenly, the goddess raised her hand, and a vial appeared, containing the same blue liquid as the first time.
Without hesitation, Viola stepped forward to receive it.
“Wait!” The goddess spoke, and Viola froze in her tracks.
“The price is not the same. We will take your child in exchange for this.”
“What!?” Viola stared at the woman like she had suddenly gone mad.
“The child is destined to take after you. To inherit your spirit and carry on your legacy. It is a gift from the goddess. But because you have chosen to rewrite destiny and create things not meant to be, we will also rewrite the destiny of the child.”
Time stilled for a moment as Viola stared at the vial, wondering if it was worth it. A certain heaviness settled over her spine as she weighed her options.
She was doing all this for her legacy; what use would it be if she gave it all up for this vial? She glanced down at her stomach, which was still almost flat.
“What do you mean? That my child will have to die?”
“No, the child will live. But he will not take after you. Never.”
The idea that her legacy would not be taken forward displeased her intensely. It broke her heart. But the memory of Seth pining over Rashel filled her mind, and that was the motivation she needed.
She reached out and grabbed the vial from the goddess.
“I accept,” Viola said with a smile.
The goddess simply nodded and took two steps back, and then she faded into the night. Gone as suddenly as she came.
As soon as she left, the night air became normal once again, and Viola was alone once more. She cradled the vial carefully in her hands and walked to her car.
On the drive home, she didn’t turn on the radio, nor did she mourn the already blurred destiny of her unborn child. Viola drove silently, watching the city lights come into view as she exited the forest areas and made her way to Seth’s territory.
By the time she got home, the estate was already asleep. It was quiet, and only the night guards were patrolling the compound. She put the vial in her coat pocket and walked into the house briskly. Once inside, she headed straight for Charlotte’s room; since she was in Chicago at the moment, she placed the vial safely in her closet and locked the door, slipping the key into her purse.