3. Twenty

~ Harper’s POV ~ 

A terrible pain in my head made me groan out loud. I had this unbearable headache all of a sudden, which felt like it could kill me any second. 

Without opening my eyes, I tried to figure out where I was. I seemed to be lying on the softest carpet ever, it tickled my bare limbs and made me feel like I was floating in the air. I clenched my hands into fists as another wave of terrible pain made me groan. 

Smooth and damp grass blades filled my fists and my eyes blew open in shock. I immediately sat up straight afraid the pain would strike again, but it never did.

Instead of finding myself on the prison floor where I had lost consciousness because of the increased concentration of wolfsbane in the air, I found myself in a dark forest. I had never seen these woods in my life, so I was sure that I wasn't in my pack's territory anymore.

Great, I had no idea where the rogue I was torturing, Aaron was and I had no clue what had happened to Aiden. Did the rogues kidnap him and leave him in some strange forest or was this pleasure reserved for me?

I got up on shaky legs and looked around the trees. The foliage was so thick I couldn't see the sky, so there was no illumination and I was left with my supernatural senses to make my way. 

I trudged through the mysterious woods and knew that a clearing was a few steps away. I pulled the thickets away from my face and stepped into the clearing, only to realize that it was a cliff. A cliff that bordered a soothing waterfall in the distance while a huge full moon shone brightly in the sky.

All doubts regarding my whereabouts grew into suspicion the moment I realized that two more people were standing on the cliff. I hesitantly moved towards the two figures partly illuminated by light. As I moved closer to them, I noticed that both of them were females. 

"Hello?" I called out and the two figures stopped their whispering and turned towards me in shock. "Do any of you know how to get out of these woods?" As I got closer to them, I gasped as I realized who they were. It was a wonder how I did not recognize them before.

One of the females was my beautiful mate, Zara. I chastised myself for not recognizing her body shape earlier. The next figure was the one who left me with my mouth open, with no words.

The moon goddess was standing before me, dressed in white, her white dress floating in the wind. Her long white hair was unbound and followed the direction of the wind and the crescent moon mark on her burned a stark blue against her creamy white skin. 

That couldn't be right, could it? I wasn't left by the rogue Aaron to die, after all. I was in some strange place where I was seeing the goddess before me. Words failed me and my wolf seemed to be speechless too. 

Zara had told me about how she had the divine grace to meet with the moon goddess in her dreams and I always wondered how it felt. Being a human Zara didn't fully understand the significance of meeting with the goddess but being a werewolf, being a white alpha nonetheless, it was such a life-altering moment for me. I was a part of her and she was a part of me. I wanted to sink to the goddess's feet and bask in her reverence. 

"Harper?" Zara questioned, astonished to see me here.

"What is this place? Where am I?" I whispered, suddenly aware of how everything was so unearthly and unusually beautiful like I was in heaven or some divine landscape.

"Harper?" The goddess's eyes moved over me and she smiled pleasantly at me. 

"Goddess." I moved myself to lower to the ground, right in front of her feet but she held up a hand, stopping me. "I can't believe I am meeting you."

"How did you get here, Harper?" Zara asked me.

"I have no idea. I was with Aiden and this rogue we had captured. Then I fainted because of the wolfsbane in the prison cell. What happened?" 

"Oh, dear. You aren't supposed to be here, Harper." The goddess shook her head and I was mesmerized by her fluid and soothing moments. I had no idea why I had to go back. I just wanted to stay here forever, with the goddess, and be her disciple. I didn't care what was happening back home, what happened to Aiden, how was baby Kate doing, what decision had my father taken about letting his wolf go and living his life like a normal human. I weirdly found that I didn't even care about my son, I couldn't even recall his name. Mase? Sonny? Ashton? All I knew was to stay here, to be close to the goddess, and be in her service for as long as possible. It was bewitching to find her in my presence. I felt the magnetic pull towards Zara, the mate bond trying to pull the two of us together, still acting in this mysterious spirit world. My devotion to the goddess overpowered even my love for Zara. I would gladly give up everyone in my life if I would get the chance to stay here and be with the moon goddess and my wolf agreed with me. 

"No. I'm exactly where I should be." I determined, feeling beyond grateful that I had finally met the moon goddess. 

"No, you don't understand. Aiden is dying." Zara took hold of my forearm and shook me. I jerked my hand from her hold.

"I don't care. I'm exactly where I want to be. I want to stay here forever. I want to be with the goddess. My wolf wants to stay with the moon goddess. Nothing else matters." 

"You don't understand, Harper. If you spend another minute here, Aiden will die. He's bleeding out." Zara cried hysterically and tried to get a hold of me again. 

I looked at the goddess who was watching me and smiled serenely at me. "Zara, if Aiden dies, he gets to come here and be with the goddess. If my staying here longer assures his death, he will thank me one day because he will get to be with the moon goddess. I know this is what he wants. He will thank me for letting him die because then, he will finally be with his one true goddess." I tried to explain to Zara how important it was for us werewolves to come here. Zara took her meetings with the moon goddess for granted but for me, I would do anything to stay here. And so would Aiden. 

"What are you doing? You have to go back, Harper. Aiden is dying." Zara stepped into my view of the goddess and took my face in her hands. "You need to go back, Harper. Please."

I took hold of her hands on my face and squeezed them. "I don't want to, Zara. Aiden would understand."

Zara slapped me hard in the face and shook me hard as if she was trying to bring me back to reality. Tears poured down her cheeks while the goddess stood quietly, watching us. "Harper, please. Go back to Aiden. He needs you. He will die." 

"I, I, don't want to," I said blankly, pissed at myself that I was the reason Zara was distressed and in tears but it was the truth. I didn't want to go back, I wanted to stay here. How many times would I have to repeat myself to get through to her? The moon goddess was the most important thing for me and my wolf. 

"Harper." The voice of the moon goddess rang out in the cold silence but it was enough to get my attention. 

"Yes, goddess." I walked a few steps towards her and fell on my knees. I leaned back to look at her. "I am yours."

"Son, you can't stay here. You need to go back." The moon goddess stated and I felt my wolf howl in pain at her rejection. 

Tears streaked down my cheeks as I realized that she was trying to send me away. Away from her. "B-but I, I want to stay with you."

The goddess leaned forward and swept a caressing hand down my cheek. "I know you don't but it's not your time. Not now. But soon. We will see each other very soon. When it's finally your time." 

I opened my mouth to protest, but she flicked her wrist. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I slipped into unconsciousness, while my body fell into the damp grass.

***

I felt my whole body ache and I knew that something was very wrong. Instantly I knew that the pain in my body was the result of a high dose of wolfsbane. How the wolfsbane got inside my body, I had no idea. Or rather, I couldn't remember. 

My body parts ached everywhere and I couldn't seem to remember and I thought it best to start with a general inspection of my body and bearings. I seemed to have every body part intact, which I was grateful for. 

I knew that I was lying prone on hard and wet ground. The ground seemed sticky and smelt metallic. The air I breathed held a faint trace of metal and I couldn't place what it meant. 

Blood. The air smelt of blood. 

My eyes flew open in panic to check if I was stabbed or had a serious wound. I checked my surroundings, my vision blurring to see that I was lying in a sea of blood. Where was all this blood coming from?

I moved my hands all over my body as my vision slowly cleared. My throat closed up when my eyes landed on Aiden. He had a pronged knife stuck in his thigh. The knife must have pricked his artery, which would explain all the blood sticking to me and on the ground. 

"Aiden?" I quickly got up from the ground and made my way towards him. Blood was still oozing from the wound and judging by the amount of blood everywhere, Aiden had lost a substantial amount of blood. I touched the side of his neck and felt for his pulse to see that it was weak and fluttering. 

This was the rogue's doing. Aiden had struck a pronged knife into Aaron's thigh and as a payback, the rogue stuck the knife in Aiden and ran away. 

He had not hurt me. He had had the chance and the rogue hadn't hurt me. But if I was only attacked with wolfsbane, why the hell did I not wake up earlier?