Chapter 17

The moon was low in the night sky, giving the Moonlit Meadow a silvery glow. Ethan stood in the middle of the area with his heart beating like a native drum. The air was full of anxiety. Gabriel Rivers, his alpha and a fated mate he had once turned down, looked at him with sorrow and hunger in his eyes.

"You have every right to hate me," Gabriel said in a low, pained voice. "But, Ethan, please listen to me."

Ethan's jaw was tight, but he nodded to let Gabriel talk. The crowd had come together, and everyone was watching the action develop.

Gabriel inhaled deeply. "I was stupid, an idiot. I thought I knew what was best for myself and the pack. I was wrong, though. I turned you down because I was afraid of myself and what it would mean to have a man mate. I let my pride and fear get in the way of what was right."

As he heard, Ethan's heart hurt. He had been waiting so long to hear these words, but his scars were still fresh.

Gabriel kept talking, and his voice didn't change. "But, Ethan, I can't keep denying it. I like you. You are my soul mate, my soul's other half. And if you give me the chance, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

There was a lot of stress in the clearing. Ethan's eyes went to Amelia, who was standing far away and watching what was going on. Her face was hard to read, which added to the trouble in his heart.

Ethan finally said, "I need time," and his voice was full of feeling. "I need time to heal and figure out how I feel."

Gabriel nodded, his eyes showing a bit of hope. "I'll wait for as long as it takes."

As the pack started to split up, Amelia walked up to Ethan and looked into his eyes.

"Ethan," she said in a soft voice, "I don't want to make things hard for you, but I have to tell you the truth. You need to know something."

His heart dropped. Another surprise? He couldn't keep secrets anymore.

"Tell me," he pleaded, getting ready for whatever was going to happen.

Amelia thought for a second before she spoke. "Ethan, I'm not fully human. I have skills that I haven't said much about yet."

Even though it was late, Ethan raised an eyebrow. "What kinds of abilities?"

She inhaled deeply. "I'm a prophet. I see glimpses of what's to come."

Ethan opened his eyes wide. "A medium? "Wow, that's... amazing."

Amelia gave a nod. "I've been hiding this part of myself for a long time. But I saw you finding happiness and love, Ethan, whether it was with Gabriel or someone else. The Moon Goddess has a plan for you, and it's full of hope."

Ethan took in this knowledge, and he felt a little bit of hope in his heart. He had learned a lot during the night, and he couldn't deny the strange feeling that he was being led by fate.

As he looked back at Gabriel, who was waiting calmly, and then at Amelia, who had made a promise of her own, Ethan couldn't help but wonder if the Moonlit Meadow was the key to his heart's real desire, or if fate had something else in mind.

As Ethan thought about what Amelia had said, his mind raced. As a seer, the thought seemed almost out of this world, but he had seen enough strange things in his life to believe in them. He really wanted to know what was going on.

"Amelia," he asked in an anxious tone of voice, "what did you see? What's in store for me from the Moon Goddess?"

Amelia's eyes seemed to show a level of knowledge that was older than her years. "I can't see everything clearly, Ethan, but I caught glimpses of happiness, love, and a future where you find your place in the world. The facts aren't clear, but the feelings were strong."

Ethan's eyes went back to Gabriel, who was standing nearby and listening to them talk with a mix of hope and fear. Could he believe what Gabriel said? Could he get over the hurt of being turned down and be open to the idea of a second chance at love?

Before he could think about it any more, a howl cut through the night sky and echoed through the Moonlit Meadow. Elder Matthias was asking for a meeting of the pack. Ethan and Amelia gave each other a knowing look, and then they both walked toward the group.

The group sat down in a circle, their faces a mix of interest and excitement. Elder Matthias stood in the middle, ready to talk. He had gray fur and wise eyes.

"My fellow pack members," he said, his voice full of power, "tonight is a night of discoveries and decisions. Gabriel Rivers, our leader, has admitted he was wrong and asked Ethan, his fated mate, to forgive him.

In answer, the pack muttered, but their attention was on what was happening.

Elder Matthias added, "Ethan has asked for time to heal and figure out how he feels." "This is a very important time for our pack, because the Moon Goddess has a plan for us. We must accept Ethan's choice and give him the help and space he needs."

The pack nodded to show that they agreed and that they understood.

"But," added Elder Matthias, "this isn't the only thing I've learned tonight. Amelia, a new member of our pack, has shown herself to be a seer who can see Ethan's bright future.

Amelia stepped forward, and everyone turned to look at her. "The Moon Goddess has a plan for all of us," she said in a calm voice. "Even when the way seems unclear, we must follow her advice."

At the end of the meeting, Ethan felt like the whole world was on his shoulders. The choices he had to make were huge, and the future was still a secret. With one last look at Gabriel and an encouraging smile to Amelia, he knew for sure that the answers he was looking for were in the Moonlit Meadow, and he was ready to follow t

he road the Moon Goddess had set out, no matter where it led.