The Moon Goddess' Chosen

388 Object of the Moon’s Redemption

The two royals continued their journey to the Origin, shifting the topic of conversation to lighter subjects. Incidentally, the king was now interested in Jeanie’s ‘pointless’ topics of discussion. He didn’t groan when she talked about her sisters and potential mates in court.

This change in attitude didn’t stop Hamedale from inquiring about military matters within the Sirius empire. And likewise, the queen asked about what kind of women flocked around him or if he had picked out a mate at all. When the king showed his discomfort with the topic, she groaned loudly, “Come on. You can’t tell me you’ll be single your whole life!”

“Can we change the subject, please?” Hamedale had asked, adding the first hint of politeness to his voice in a long time.

Sighing, Jeanie obliged and asked about his brother and the beta alphas in the Lycaon empire as well as his ‘War council’. Surprisingly, Hamedale entertained all her questions and answered them dutifully while she also answered his as well. As it turned out, Sirius wasn’t as powerful as Lycaon in terms of military might, but the king respected his world-dominating counterpart just the same.

She might have been less vicious than he was but that did not fool him one bit. To the king, Jeanie was by far one of the most dangerous werewolves on the planet and he could admit this without a second thought.

Eventually, they made it to the forest that loomed ahead of them and without hesitation, walked into it. The river flowed into this forest, prompting them to follow in the direction of its guidance. The river continued on and on and soon enough split into numerous streams and rivulets, spreading outward and covering more ground.

The flow of the river had slowed considerably and started to encroach on the land about it more almost like a failed attempt at forming a lake.

The king and queen leapt over the streams and rivers, using stepping stones that seemed too conveniently positioned. For a period of time, it seemed as though they were trying to follow the river from the stones that stuck out of it. A boat would not have helped either, since the streams only continued to get smaller.

Eventually, when the streams were too small and there was more land than water, they all seemed to completely turn away from their destination and split into a ‘Y’ shape, taking random left or right directions and strictly avoiding on destination... straight ahead.

.....

Watching out for each other’s steps in the soggy soil, they crossed the numerous streams without incident and started in the direction that the river seemed to be masterfully avoiding. A large grove of trees hid a clearing at the end of their road, a bright blue ethereal light peeping through the trees and inviting them through.

“How long has it been?” the king whispered, keeping his eyes on the distant light beyond the cover of the thick oak trees.

“A few months honestly... although, I thought we would take longer to return to this place,” the woman replied with a slight shiver. Meeting the goddess in their dreams was one thing, but standing in the presence of the immortal celestial was something else entirely. Just keeping control of their wolves proved to be a chore in the goddess’s presence.

“Yeah, same here. Let’s go and see what she has to say. Standing around won’t get us anywhere,” the king chided, forging forward and breaking through the circlet of trees that surrounded the beautiful field of moon lotuses. At the centre of the field was a woman kneeling stroking the soft divine petals of the beautiful flowers... the smile on her face was one they were not used to. “It’s just like it is in the dreams... That smile...”

They both tried to take a step forward, but their eyes landed on a body on the ground and went still at the sight of someone else in the goddess’s presence.

Hamedale turned to Jeanie, searching her eyes for some sort of answer, but the woman was just as clueless as he was. She shook her head and suggested they keep going. Taking a few steps forward, they were both able to witness the man that lay in the field resting in front of the moon goddess. None of them was sure if he was asleep or otherwise. What they did know, however, was that the goddess had a connection to him. Something of an emotional tie... which didn’t make sense. The goddess of the moon had no emotional tie with a human, “Our lady, we came as fast as we could after hearing your summons.”

The goddess looked up from the man on the ground and regarded her two guests who’d bowed down with one knee to the ground, “Sirius and Lycaon, you both came. I’m sure Hamedale travelled as fast as he could. Jeanie, on the other hand... You don’t look the slightest bit worn out,” the goddess greeted them, “Thank you for heeding my summons.”

Jeanie would have chuckled at the light tone the goddess was using if it wasn’t for the deep-rooted respect their wolves held for the goddess of the moon. It was almost suffocating to have another entity within you force you to act dignified in front of a deity, “We wouldn’t have it any other way, our Lady. Forgive my intrusion, my Lady, but who is the man lying on the ground before you?” Hamedale spoke up, curiosity winning the battle against his wolf.

“Oh, him... He’s a werewolf named Seth and I intend to make him my immortal husband,” the goddess replied.

The two of them gasped at the thought of their goddess taking an immortal husband. Jeanie was the first to speak up, “Is there a reason why you wouldn’t have picked a royal to be your immortal husband instead? For all I know, he could be a peasant in comparison.”

Hamedale turned to the queen, mortified. She’d already skipped the fact that their goddess had even considered taking on a lover. This was an outrage.

“Mortals always look at the person’s status and appearance before making a judgement, not considering the happiness they seek in the first place. I will correct that among the kind that I created,” the goddess spoke, her voice both icy and cold yet kind and gentle, like that of a parent teaching their child a lesson while they sat around a warm fire.

“I don’t think I understand,” Hamedale spoke up, significantly more confused than Jeanie.

“I called the two of you here so that I might tell you what’s about to change among the wolves. I trust that you ordered the werewolves under your command to cease all attacks until you returned,” they both nodded in confirmation before letting the goddess continue her speech, “Everything is about to change, my dear one.”

The goddess rose to her full height, “In light of recent events, I’ve found something stronger than my hate and was able to conquer it... in exchange for something greater. Something I can’t just dismiss now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes and felt it with my ageless heart. Something that eludes the gods for millennia before they find it again.

I thought that by cursing the Man god’s creation, he would lose what was most dear to him, but I guess he didn’t have to fight back. I just had to watch as something beautiful emerged from my own darkness.”

“I don’t follow, my Lady,” Lycaon stated.

“Ugh, seriously Hamedale, are you this much of a dunce? The goddess has found love. I’m just as shocked as you are, but even I’m not that blind,” Jeanie snapped at the man beside her.

“A goddess doesn’t just fall in love with a mortal. That’s just not how it works,” Hamedale snapped as well. How was Jeanie taking all this so lightly? She almost sounded... delighted, proud, and happy that the goddess was spewing such nonsense.

“I know that... which is why this specific person must have been really special if he could charm the goddess...”

“Charm would not be the word I’m looking for,” the goddess interrupted.

“Huh, you weren’t charmed. How did this happen then?” Jeanie asked. Hamedale facepalmed, ‘What’s going through that head of yours, Jeanie? You almost sounded like you were happy someone had bewitched our goddess,’ Hamedale mentally screamed.

Thinking more about it, he realised this was beyond the kind queen. She wasn’t one to think along the lines of treachery. Instead, he figured she must have used that thinking to justify the goddess’s drastic change in behaviour.

“During one of the raids on the human settlements, he protected his sister from a rogue that attacked them in their village. The rogue was an alpha, but he didn’t stop protecting his sister even after being turned himself. It was only a matter of time before the alpha commanded him to change her as well, so the two of them ran when they got the chance. I’ve been watching him since then... His name is Seth... the blind gladiator.