MATED TO THE ALPHA AND HIS BETA - Season 5 Episode 28

Lanie

I was alone with the scent of the forest and what felt like a breeze across my face. The trees sang in low

murmurs as the wind passed through their branches. Peace, calm, serenity…

when was the last time I’d felt any of that? So long ago that I couldn’t recall a time when I’d felt only

comfort. No anxiety.

“Moon Goddess?”

I reached for her and got only silence in return.

Slowly, I turned in a circle. I knew I had to be experiencing this in my own mind, and that she hadn’t

transported me physically. I wore a soft gown of pale-green fabric, knotted at the shoulders. Around my waist,

a golden cord nipped the dress against my hips, and the hem was so long only the tips of my toes peeped out.

My hair cascaded down my back in ripples and waves.

I thought I must look something like a goddess,myself.

I wanted to run. To fight. To scream and argue.

I wanted answers. Safety. Knowledge.

But Goddesses don’t answer to those they protect; I could only wait for her to show me what she wanted

me to see.

The Sun rose and set, and the Moon followed.

Years passed in the span of minutes. I walked through the trees and slowly became aware of Lily at my

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side. My hand rested on her head,and I let her lead me.

In front of me, the trees parted to show me a meadow full of flowers. The sun shone brightly overhead.

Had I ever communicated with the Moon Goddess under the light of her sister Sun? I could only remember her

voice ever reaching me in the Moon’s silver glow. Right now, the golden light beckoned me, and I went into the

meadow.

Lily snuffed in my hand and licked. Then she ran away. I reached for her, but then I let her go.

I knew there was something desperate happening to my body. Hands on me. Voices calling my name.

Katie, Lanie, Katie, Lanie.

Who was I?

Who had I ever been?

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Who would I become?

When I got into the meadow, the scent of flowers was like some sweet perfume that made my head spin. Dizzy, I sank onto a bed of soft grass while the flowers crushed underneath me and cast out even more glorious scents. I looked up at the sky and saw the sun, so bright I had to shield my eyes.

But also the Moon at the same time. So much smaller than her sister, and to some, less powerful. She guided and blessed the wolves and kept us from harm, while the Sun had the strength and power to give life…and take it away.

My back arched as a groan slipped out of me.

In my mouth, I felt the sharpness of vampire fangs. They dented my bottom lip, piercing my own flesh until I tasted a hint of blood.

Vampires die in the sunshine without protection, and I had none.

“No,” whispered the Moon Goddess. You have me.”

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Then I was floating, my toes barely grazing the ground and the grass and the crushed flowers.

The Moon and the Sun both bathed me in their lights. Silver and gold swirled around me.

From the Moon, I felt strength and power, as well as comfort. Assurance. Guidance.

From the Sun came ferocity, determination, and an edge of fear. A promise of punishment,if I did not obey. “I don’t understand, Moon Goddess! Please, as your humble ser vant, I beg of you to help me understand.”

I couldn’t see her, but her voice filled my head with a chime like bells. Like the soft hush of waves rolling against a shore. Like a mother singing her babies to sleep.

“You are not only mine, child.”

“I owe my allegiance to you!” I cried.

Her soft chuckle made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket, being rocked like an infant.

“And I welcome it. But you have more than wolf inside you, and you must accept the blessings and restrictions of the sun, as well.

Accept who you are. Fully.”

Above me, the sky turned to navy, sprinkled with glittering stars. The Moon and the Sun continued to shine. I felt like I could feel the earth turning beneath my feet, but I wasn’t dizzy.

“Your daughter would not be a Celestial if she had not been born to you,” the Moon Goddess said. “You created her, and you have raised her.

Now is the time to take her counsel. She is no longer a child.”

“But Alaina and Isaac are. Don’t they still need their mother?” I lifted my face to the skies,pleading to

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understand. “How can I leave them behind in the care of someone I can’t trust?

Can you give me assurance that Gabriela won’t let them come to harm?”

“You stand in the Sun, and you do not burn.

That alone should tell you enough.”

I fell onto my hands and knees and pressed my face into the sweet smelling earth. A single word had

hung behind my closed eyes,illuminated like a neon sign.

TRUST