3. Forty

I opened my eyes and faintly registered that I had been drugged. I had expected to be bound to the same chair when I opened my eyes. Even when I was drugged, my subconscious had been extremely curious about the time the rogue leader, Damon had roughly manhandled me and thrust me in a car no matter how much I struggled. I could still somehow hear the noise of fighting, of wolves growling and sniping at each other, and the moans and groans of those in pain.

When I opened my eyes, I didn't see an abysmal room and I wasn't tied to a chair, unable to move and unable to speak. Instead, when I opened my eyes, I noticed that I was barefoot and the extremely soft grass tickled my feet. I distinctly remember wearing my shoes when I had been drugged, so why wasn't I wearing my shoes right now? I noticed the huge moon and the silent waterfall in the distance. The backdrop had an ethereal feel and as I neared the edge of the cliff, I realized that I was in the same place where I met the moon goddess.

I hadn't experienced any of the usual emotions I usually feel whenever I met the goddess. My head hurt as I forced my brain to recall if I did feel the abnormal sensation of falling and floating, but I couldn't remember feeling anything like that. If I didn't feel anything, then what did it mean?

I stood at the spot where the goddess used to stand, her back to the cliff and it was such a strange feeling because this was the first time, I had come this close to the drop of the cliff. Usually, I woke up somewhere in the woods and had to walk there to meet the goddess. Why was it so different this time?

"There's nothing different this time, so you can stop your overthinking," the smooth and lilting voice of the goddess from behind me made me turn around. She stood in all her white glory and her calm and serene expression which always irritated me. "Before you ask me why you are here, I want to tell you something. Rather, I want to show you something."

"Show me something?" I asked dubiously. Whenever I asked any questions from the goddess, she effectively evaded all questions and whatever questions she did answer, she dished out confusing answers and talked in riddles. So, for her to summon me to this dreamland and offer to show me something, alarmed me in more ways than one. 

"A while ago, you wanted to know exactly what happened between Natalie and Harper the night they conceived Mason. Do you still want to know that?" The goddess asked me and I nearly stopped breathing right then. Of course, I wanted to know what had happened between Harper and Natalie. Their explanation sounded so vague and had so many loopholes that I didn't know what to believe.  I had asked this question to the goddess back when I was living with my sister and she had refused to answer it by saying that I wasn't ready to know about it. What had changed? Why was she telling me this now? Rather, why was she showing me this now?

"Why are you telling me this now?" I questioned her, wary that she may have some ulterior motives.

"I'm showing you what happened between them because you are ready now. You are ready to know the truth about them." I had no idea what she meant when she said that 'I was ready'.  As long as she was ready to show me what happened, I was ready to not ask questions and begin the journey.

"How do you plan to show it to me? What should I do?"

"You only need to close your eyes. I will do the rest," the goddess calmly stated and for a second. She was going to show me a recap of one of the turning points of my life, which led me to leave Harper, while Natalie had her baby who would be the future alpha of the pack. This exact point had changed so many lives, of all the pack members, mine, Harper's, Natalie's and so many more people. Yet, she was so calm. As if the truth didn't matter. Sometimes, I didn't know what to think or how to act in front of the goddess. The werewolves worshipped her and I wondered what if all of them would still worship her if they had been in my place because she had manipulated my life, brought me into this supernatural world, refused to give me any answers, and made me feel like a worthless messenger between her and the wolves.

Nonetheless, my curiosity to know won over my indignation and I closed my eyes. I had expected to feel something substantial, something that could tell me that when I opened my eyes everything would be different. Nothing happened and a few seconds passed before I heard the voice of the moon goddess inside my head telling me to open my eyes.

I opened my eyes and found myself in a dimly lit room which I instantly recognized as Harper's. A simple lamp placed near the bed provided the only illumination but I didn't need much to confirm that it was indeed Harper's room. Immediately, the door to the ensuite washroom opened and Harper walked out wearing nothing but a towel. He had his clothes in his hands, which strongly smelled of beer. The room immediately filled with the horrid stench of liquor but Harper didn't seem to mind. 

I didn't exactly know what was happening but I hoped that I was somehow watching everything that had happened during the party when Natalie and Harper had had sex. I faintly recalled how Natalie and Samantha had asked me to a party and I had refused because I was still reeling from the effects of Harper's birthday party, where I had seen him make-out with some girl on the balcony. 

My gaze traveled to the clock perched on the nightstand and noticed that it was nearly 7 o'clock which meant that the party would soon start. Harper didn't look in any hurry to dress up though. He dumped the clothes into a bag and went to lie down on the bed. I watched him as time rolled. I heard the sound of people entering the packhouse and the music starting. Soon the bass of the loud music traveled up to the alpha's quarters, making the ground vibrate.

If I had been on some other floor of the packhouse, I would have been able to listen to the sounds of different people stumbling in and out of the rooms. My gaze stayed fixed on Harper, who still hadn't moved from the bed and I nearly groaned from the inactivity.

I didn't have to wait long though because the next second the door to Harper's room flew open and Amanda walked in. Harper must have known Amanda was coming to his room before she even opened the door but he showed no sign of acknowledgment towards her and I watched as Amanda walked towards Harper and climbed on the bed beside him.

Somehow before it had even happened, I knew that I should look away. I knew that before Harper accepted me as his mate, he had a very active sex life, but I had no desire to witness it with my own eyes. Bile rose in my throat as Amanda climbed atop him and he didn't stop her. I closed my eyes when Amanda moaned and I peeked at them to see Harper's hands roaming all over Amanda's body. Oh, God! Even though I knew that it had happened several months ago, I couldn't stomach the sight of Harper making out with someone else. 

Just when I was about to please the goddess to let me out of here, the door burst open and a very Natalie stood in the doorway. Both Harper and Amanda looked extremely surprised at being interrupted and I gaped as Natalie stored inside the room and pulled Amanda off of Harper. Amanda stumbled off the bed and shrieked in surprise. 

Harper had been stunned till this point but snarled at Natalie as she pulled Amanda out of the room and closed the door behind her. I had never seen Natalie like this. She looked ready to spew hellfire at everyone and I could see she was fighting with her wolf who immediately wanted to submit to her alpha. Her eyes flashed the color of her wolf's and Harper growled at the disrespect at Natalie's hands. 

"What is the matter with you?" Natalie threw herself at Harper and I watched as she slapped him as hard as she could. Harper's head whipped to the side because of the sheer force of the slap. Harper's eyes blazed with hatred and before he could open his mouth to say something. "How can you just reject your mate and sleep with every other girl?"

Harper clenched his jaw in irritation and stepped back from Natalie. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Natalie snorted in derision. "What makes you say that I don't know? I know that you know that she's my best friend. I have seen the way you look at her when you think nobody's looking. I know you want her. Why did you reject her? Is it because she is human? Does the alpha have some doubts about her ability to lead the pack because she is a human I can personally vouch for her. She can be a very good luna. She is strong and the goddess thinks she is perfect for you."

"You don't know what you're talking about. What's done is done, Natalie. I rejected her. There's no going back."

"You don't understand, do you? I'm here to tell you that you can still get her back. She's not eighteen yet." Natalie implored harper and I watched as Harper's eyes lit up in hope. Then suddenly, his expression grew somber and he shook his head as if to ward off the optimism in his head.

"What happens when we need to have an heir for the pack, Natalie? What happens then, hun?" Harper taunted Natalie but I could hear a glimmer of desperation in his tone. A part of him was hoping that Natalie could give him a solution but he slumped on the bed. Natalie walked towards him, grasped his shoulders, and shook him.

"Think about it when the time comes, Harper. You are losing precious time with your mate. If you don't think to win her over before her birthday, she will be lost to you forever." 

One second everything seemed normal then everything stopped. My eyes immediately flew to the clock on the nightstand to find that it had stopped too. A blue light flashed in the mirror in the corner of the room and as soon as the light vanished, I saw Natalie bend down and capture Harper's lips. 

I gasped and closed my eyes. When I opened them next, I was in the same spot I always am whenever I visit the goddess. I looked around and found the moon goddess perched gracefully on the boulder. She tilted her head and regarded me with a solemn stare. "I thought that was the perfect time to bring you back. I didn't think you'd want to watch the rest of it."

That was true. I had felt bile rise in my throat when I had watched Amanda and Harper kissing. I would've probably dry-heaved in Harper's room and added to the horrible smell of liquor. "What happened? I don't understand. One second Natalie was urging Harper to reconcile with me and then, she was kissing Harper."

"Do you remember the flash of blue light in Harper's room? Did you notice that time had momentarily stopped?" I nodded at the questions. "That was because of my father, Zara."

"Your father?" I gaped. What did the goddess' father have to do with me, Harper, and Natalie? It all made sense when I recalled the story the goddess had told me several weeks ago about how the werewolves had come into existence and how her father hated her and everything she created. "Oh my god!"

"They didn't know what they were doing. Everything they did, they did under the influence of a god who was determined to outsmart his daughter. You have merely become collateral damage to him."

Anger burned inside me like hot lava. "But they could have told me that they had had sex, right? Even though they were under the influence of your father, they knew what they were doing."

"Barely. They didn't know what they were doing. Their bodies were following commands which did not come from their brains. I'm sure my father found it a very sickening plot to have your best friend impregnated by your mate. The moment they left the room the next morning, they forgot what had happened between them and that's why they didn't tell you about it. Natalie remembered what had happened only when she took a pregnancy test and it came out positive. It was the first time that she realized what she had done but she was so confused that she approached Harper so that she could confirm everything. The moment Natalie confronted Harper; he began to remember what they had done months ago in the form of vivid flashes."

I opened my mouth to say something several times but nothing came out. It all sounded like a mythological novel and I could hardly believe that it was my life. "It was the day of Aiden's birthday party. The possibility that he had impregnated your best friend behind your back kept I'm from marking you that night, even though that was all his wolf wanted. If he had marked you, you would not have been able to walk away from him. He knew that if he didn't mark you, you could walk away from him because he had no reasonable explanation to give you. So, he chose to take a risk and didn't mark you because he didn't want to manipulate you and deceive you into a relationship that would hurt your soul. He was ready to let you go in that moment and chose not to mark you."

My mind was reeling from the information the goddess was giving me. She could have told me all of this before. Why didn't she?

"I started to come in your dreams when I realized that my father had breached the laws of the gods and interfered directly in the mortal world. I didn't want to rob you of your ability to choose and make decisions, so I visited you in your dreams and helped you forget your path."

"You knew. You knew before I and Harper got together that Natalie was pregnant. Why didn't you tell me this?" I gasped, my head ready to burst from all the information that the goddess had given me today. 

"I showed you this today, Zara because you had finally decided what you wanted to do. If I had shown you everything before, your opinion would have been biased and you would have always wondered about your true feelings about Harper." I opened my mouth to say something but couldn't find the words today. I wanted to thank the goddess, something I never thought I would do before. Her face softened as she watched different emotions on my face. "Thank me later. Right now, I need you to go."

With that, I closed my eyes and I knew I was back to the land of the living before I even opened my eyes because I could feel my hands and legs were bound to a chair.