“Maymunah? What are you doing?” Killian asked in confusion.
“Come on, get up Maymunah…” Kendra quickly rushed to her side, “What were you thinking, kneeling down like that?” The she-wolf helped the old hag to her feet.
“What’s going on?” She and Killian both asked at the same time, waiting for the Oracle’s reply.
But the old woman continued to move about, seeming exceptionally happy all of a sudden. “Oh, you two clueless pups,” She finally said. “Don’t you see? The goddess of the moon has come to our aid. The curse has been broken.”
“I-I don’t understand.” Kendra shook her head in confusion. What was going on with the Seer? Had the over-exertion perhaps affected her in more ways than they could imagine?
Because she was really acting all weird.
“Kendra, Killian. Take a seat you two, I’m going to explain everything.”
The two wolves did as the oracle said.
“You know we’re supernatural, right?” She started.
Kendra and Killian shared a silent look. It was obvious that they both didn’t understand where she was heading with this, but they both decided to humor her anyway.
“Yeah,”
“Good. You know that our nature is just as similar to the true wolves that walk the land, only that we are half human in addition.”
“Yes, Maymunah. We know. Where are you going with all this?” Killian cut in impatiently. He was honestly in no mood for this… for history stories and all that shit. He wanted answers.
Real answers!
“Aphrodite blesses us with love and marriage, does she not?” The oracle continued, unperturbed by her alpha’s foul mood. “But Selene found a perfect loophole. Aphrodite’s love only works on humans, no? So Selene has activated your wolf instincts instead, since she has control over that.” She finished.
“I-I still don’t understand.” Kendra started, but Killian cut her off. “Well, I do.” He said. “Everything we’re experiencing now is because my wolf side is trying to find himself a mate.”
“I get that,” Kendra said, “But what the hell does that have to do with me?”
Killian chuckled, “You see… it has a lot to with you because,” He started, “Apparently, you’re the one my wolf has chosen.”
******
At first, Kendra burst into laughter, thinking that the Alpha was joking, but when she turned to the Oracle for confirmation, she found her nodding her head in agreement.
“Wait, it’s true?” She asked, her brown eyes wide in disbelief.
“Yes, child… I’m afraid it is.” Came the answer.
“B-but I don’t understand. W-why me?”
“I think it’s because you’re my safest bet.” Killian interjected, “You make me feel safe, make me feel unjudged, appreciated. I think my wolf picked up on that.”
“S-so wait? What does this mean? I have to marry you?”
“Yes, Ken.” Came the answer. “And the sooner we do that— the sooner we completely break the curse, the sooner we prevent the prophecy from happening.” Killian said, hope shining ever so bright in his eyes.
Perhaps, now that she had heard this new information, she would be willing to revise her decision concerning marriage.
But the female-Beta only shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. “Killian… you know how much I care about you, but I’m sorry, I can’t do this. You know how I feel about marriage.” She stood up, “You’ll have to look for someone else, because I’m afraid I’m not the one for you.”
With those words, she turned to leave, but Maymunah called her name, halting her in her tracks.
“You can’t fight it Kendra, you’re the one Selene has chosen to help Killian fight the curse, and nothing you do can change that,” The oracle warned.
“Well, you should know that I’m going to fight this,” The she-wolf threw right back, her head held high, “And I’m not going to stop until she listens to my demands, Maymunah.” Shooting one last, sorry glance at the Alpha, Kendra fled the Oracle’s chambers.
“Damn that stubborn child,” Maymunah cursed softly under her breath, but the Alpha heard her, lifting his head to look up at her, the sadness in his eyes prominent. He chuckled ruefully, “What were you saying about being saved?” He quipped sarcastically, standing up.
“I think your fucking gods and goddesses like to play puppet with lives, but I’m not going to sit there and watch my pack lose their lives because of me… now that’s not going to happen.”
“Watch your tongue, Killian…”
“Or what?” He jeered, “I’m going to lose it? At this point, I don’t fucking care what your gods do to me, I’ve fucking had enough!” He angrily stormed out of the Oracle’s chambers.
Maymunah sighed deeply. Her heart went out to the two pups.
She knew them even before they had been born, and it pained her to see them suffering like so. But just as it had appeared, the sadness quickly faded, a smile gracing her old, wrinkly features.
If only those two knew that this was all part of the goddess of the moon’s grand plan.
Everything was going to be alright.
*****
Mates.
Kendra couldn’t bear hanging around the Packhouse for a mere second, and so she had gone on a long walk around the ton, taking in the fresh breeze, and feeling the cool autumn wind blow through her kinky curls.
The Silver Crest ton truly was a beautiful place; cobblestoned— well, most of it at least— lined with trees… with lush vegetation poking out at vantage points. And aside the magnificent, intimidating Packhouse, all the other houses were fairly decent.
Killian’s father, Alpha Jackson, had really done a great job in constructing the ton, and it seemed his son was even more determined to follow the legacy.
Everywhere Kendra passed, people shot her curious looks, acknowledging her with curtsies, nods and bows.
Most of them wondered what their Beta was doing outside the Packhouse since she rarely came down to the main ton. Male wolves teased each other mercilessly, joking among each other and sparring, young pups chased each other down the streets, shouting and laughing like they had no care in the world, she-wolves huddled together in groups of twos and threes… working, chatting… laughing.
It seemed everyone was in a good mood. Everyone but her that is.
Kendra had never been so confused in her life.
Mates!
How was that even supposed to work?
What did that even entail?
The she-wolf shook her head to clear the thoughts. No, she wasn’t going to think about it. Thinking about it meant being a little bit susceptible to the idea— which she was most definitely not!
Marriage was nowhere in her plans now… and she wasn’t going to rush into it just because Killian needed her help.
Call her selfish, but that was exactly how she felt, and nothing was going to change that.
Not even the goddess of the moon’s crazy machinations.
True, she cared about the Alpha, but the real question was did he really care about her in that sense?
She had heard him,
He only thought of her as his safest bet, and nothing else.
Her heart hurt to hear him say that, after so many years of silently pinning after him, this was definitely not how she had expected the origin of their love story to go.
Honestly speaking, she needed more than that to make such a huge sacrifice.
But it wasn’t as if Kendra didn’t care about the doom that was surely going to befall Killian and the pack.
It was just that she felt that if she fought hard enough, perhaps the goddess of the moon would rescind her decision and pick someone more ideal for Killian.
Someone who had no problem settling— someone who would enjoy married life and everything that would come with it. Someone like,
Artemis Landon.