Chapter 43

ALEXIS

I could have sworn that I smelled waffles. It was faint, but it was there and most welcomed. It reminded me of home and that made me feel a little better about being here, wherever I was.

With a great effort, I let my eyes crack open. Thankfully, there was no sunlight to blind me so my eyes were able to open up all the way with not much pain. My eyelids just felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.

"Oh darlin', you're awake."

A straw pressed to my lips and I stared at it suspiciously, refusing to drink anything this person had to offer me. There was a soft bell-like laugh before a woman leaned over so I could see her face.

She had luscious black hair that fell in long curls to her lower back and piercing silver colored eyes that eyed me with great amusement.

"I wouldn't poison you, darlin'. Now drink up, it's only water."

I took a sip hesitantly, but once I realized that it was really water, I gulped it down in a matter of seconds. The woman gave me a kind smile and put the glass down before helping me sit up. I looked around carefully and was shocked to see I was in some kind of palace.

Everything seemed to be made of white marble or a white cloth of some sort while there were a few silver decorations that covered the walls and ceiling.

I turned my attention back to the woman and studied her carefully. There was something awfully familiar about her.

My eyes traced over her features again and her smile widened, "You know who I am, darlin'. Think about it."

The moment the words left her mouth, I knew exactly who this woman was.

The Moon Goddess.

My wolf bowed her head in respect, while I just stared at the Moon Goddess with wide eyes. I opened my mouth cautiously, "Hi....ma'am."

I had no idea what to call her. Should I be scared of her? Why was I being so casual about this? I could hardly comprehend myself, forget understanding the situation.

She let out another bell-like laugh, "Call me Diana. No need for those formalities when I brought you here. Now here, you must be hungry."

With a snap of her fingers, a tray came floating into the bedroom and landed on my lap gracefully.

So that was where the smell of waffles was coming from.

"Eat up, darlin'. We have much to discuss. And before you ask, no, you are not dead. I've just taken you from Earth."

My eyes widened, "What do you mean–"

She disappeared in a storm of silver glitter and moon dust. My mouth fell open as the glitter and dust fell to the ground where she had stood.

What the hell was I doing here? Why did she take me? What happened to Hudson and the pack? Was everyone okay?

So many questions circled my head that it started to make me dizzy. I realized that it was probably because I was starving and started scarfing down the waffles.

It tasted exactly like my mom's waffles. I wonder if they exchanged recipes or something.

As I finished eating in a record time, I checked in with my wolf to see how she was doing.

I'm fine. Miss mate though.

I know. I do too. We'll get back to him soon.

Why would she take us from mate? We have to protect our pack and plus, we haven't even mated yet.

I think we have much more pressing matters than mating. Let's just see what the Moon Goddess says.

My wolf huffed and stretched her legs, before turning around and giving me her tail. Well, I guess that was the end of our conversation.

Suddenly, there was another tornado of glitter and moon dust and Diana stood before me again. She eyed my empty plate in approval.

"Good, you're finished. Perfect timing. Now come along, I know you must have many questions. We'll talk in my throne room."

Wait, what was I even wearing?

I peeked under the blanket to find a silky white dress. I slipped out of the sheets carefully and stood up, letting the dress fall to my knees in small waves.

"Come, darlin'. We haven't got much time."

I followed Diana out the door into a large hallway. Portraits of various women lined the walls with silver flowers surrounding the frames of each one. She stopped in front of one and pointed at it. I glanced at it only to realize it was a portrait of her.

"This is where my portrait is. Yours will be right here, next to mine," she smiled, patting the blank area beside her portrait.

My eyes widened in shock.

Did she say my portrait?

She noticed my stunned look and nodded as if telling me I heard her correctly, "You're my successor, Alexis."

My mouth flapped open and close like a fish's mouth. I was her successor? I was the next Moon Goddess?

I needed to sit down.

"You look pale, darlin'. Come, I'll have Autumn bring you some more water," she said, turning around and walking down the hallway again. I stumbled after her still trying to get a grasp of everything.

We reached a set of double doors and a guard hurried to open the door for us.

"Thank you," I mumbled to the guard as we walked into the throne room. There was a large throne at the other end of the room that was decorated lavishly and little thrones lining the rest of the room, which I assumed was where her subjects or people sat.

"Have a seat," Diana said, gesturing to the throne beside hers as she sat down gracefully and crossed her legs.

I sat down and opened my mouth to start asking questions, but she raised her hand as a signal for me to stop.

"Let me explain everything to you first. If you have any questions after, you may ask them."

I pursed my lips and nodded.

"You see, long ago when I had just become the Moon Goddess, the first thing I had to do was pick my successor. I chose you as the Fates had told me that you were going to be a strong, fair she-wolf with a kind heart, the perfect characteristics for a leader."

She sighed, "And so when your grandparents performed a ceremony in my name, I took it as my chance to proclaim you as my heir. I'm sure Patsy told you about how the golden blood was created, right?"

"Yes, she said you created the blood so you could give back to those you were pleased with."

"That's right. But in your case, it was a little different. Not only was I pleased with your grandparents, but I needed to give you a special gift that would make you stand out from all the other wolves so they would recognize you as a leader. When I found out that no one had been blessed with the golden blood, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to give you your gift at once, which I guess is unusual because the Moon Goddesses before me gave the she-wolves their gifts when they turned twenty-one."

"So...." I trailed off, "Does anyone on Earth know that I'm your successor?"

She shook her head, "No, and I would prefer that it stayed that way. Power can send people into fits of insanity."

I nodded slowly and wondered if I should ask the question that was burning through my mind.

"Go ahead, ask your question, Alexis."

"Why am I here?"

That was the only thing I didn't understand.

She sighed, "Well, you see, I never realized that your blessing would put you in danger so I had to drag you away from all that."

"So you took me away just to protect me?"

Her fingers drummed against the arm of her throne, "Not quite, I wanted to use this as my opportunity to test you."

Test me? On what? How to be a Moon Goddess?

"As per procedure, I have to test you to make sure I made the right choice. I need to test your loyalty. If you don't pass, I need to replace you immediately."

She got up slowly and walked over to me, circling my throne in an intimidating way. I swallowed slightly and felt my heart rate pick up at the thought of what this test could possibly be.

"You have to make a choice, Alexis."

She stopped in front of me and stared at me, her silver eyes narrowing as they burned through me. I could feel sweat forming on my forehead

"Do you want to go back to Earth where your mate would die just a few seconds after seeing you? Or would you like to stay with me and let your mate live?"