~The Goddess's Favorite~

ODETTE

"I, Aslan Zephyr, reject you, Odette Cadell, as my mate and future Luna!"

It was only a week ago that I cuddled into the arms of Aslan. My mate, who had sworn to love and protect me, But things had changed so much in a week that everything I had thought I knew seemed almost unrecognizable.

Under his command, an army of fleeting, beast-like soldiers charged into our pack. Their swords, claws, and teeth tore through everyone and everything in sight, setting everything I loved ablaze. His mahogany red hair gleamed in the flames of our falling pack, his azure blue eyes staring at me in utmost hatred as his fangs exposed to reveal a wicked smile. I had never seen so much hatred in his treacherous eyes. He was like a completely different wolf.

The blood dripping from his hostile claws, edged and deadly, was from my family. My father, mother, and eleven-year-old brother lay dead on the floor, utterly lifeless, my throat hitching in pain as my heart shredded into pieces. Chained down to the graveyard of our wolves, I could only watch, hot tears streaming down my face as I groveled before him, unimaginable anger sinking into my bones.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US, YOU MONSTER!" I screamed bitterly, my lungs giving out as my voice broke.

My unbearable suffering echoed in thunderous screams as I begged Aslan to bring my family back. Begged him to restore my pack. Begged someone, anyone, to wake me up from this horrible nightmare.

I met Aslan a year ago, and life couldn't have been any better. He was everything I had ever dreamed of—loving, gorgeous, sweet, and gentle. My life was perfect, and other wolves envied me, calling me the goddess's favorite.

Where was all that now?

Death poisoned the land as screams filled the air. I couldn't bear to look at my family's lifeless bodies. Nothing remained of one of the top ten packs in the territories, a pack that I would have one day grown to lead, except ashes.

Aslan, the monster who had done all this, wore a smug smile on his face, a delighted look in his eyes as he took a step toward me, reveling in my agony of rejection.

Clicking his tongue pitifully, he grabbed my strawberry blonde hair, forcing me to stare at him. Hate burned in my lilac eyes. He'd already done the worst to me. I wasn't afraid anymore. "You poor, naive thing. How does it feel to lose it all?"

More tears gushed from my eyes as I clenched my shaking fists. "You'll pay for this. I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!"

Aslan unsheathed his sword, dragging his claw across it, the screech of metal against metal scratching against my ear. "Why blame me for your own mistakes, Odette?"

I wouldn't let him fool me again. "The only mistake I ever made was being your mate! I should have never met you!"

Aslan scoffed, annoyed. "You don't get it, do you, princess?"

"Don't you even dare make me the villain, Aslan!"

"Oh, but you are," he declared, laughing and stretching out his arms as he presented my pack's ruin like some precious artwork. "All this wouldn't have been possible without your unruly mouth. You told me everything I needed to bring the Red Moon pack down."

My eyes widened in realization as a new torment sprouted in my heart. It was me. I told him everything—the secrets, the weaknesses. Aslan could only overpower one of the strongest packs in the territories because of me.

Clapping, Aslan turned excited as he noticed my grave shift in demeanor. "Mmm, I love that look on your face. It took you long enough to figure it out."

I stopped fighting and breathing, hanging my head low, when I discovered that the true villain was me. I murdered my parents and entire pack. If I hadn't said so much to the wolf I had once trusted, everyone would still be alive.

Satisfied with the final damage he had done to me, Aslan tightened his hand around his sword, preparing to send me to my death, when his soldiers approached him with a captive in their grasp. My nostrils flared up upon picking up my grandmother's scent. Alma.

The soldiers forced my fussy grandmother to her knees as my heart dropped. I hated that. I was both happy and sad to see her here. My grandmother, Alma, always dressed in flowing white gowns that matched her blind white eyes and long gray hair. A younger Alma was the spitting image of me, and her presence always calmed me, even in this drastic moment.

The soldiers bowed, addressing Aslan. "Alpha, she came out of her hiding spot and approached us, demanding to see her granddaughter."

Aslan smirked in amusement, directing the tip of his fatal blade to the blind old granny's neck. Terror eroded my heart as I struggled with the chains that bound me, with no hope of escape. "It's only fair that you die with your family at your age, former Luna. Any last words for your dear granddaughter?"

Alma smiled, completely at ease, as she turned to me as though she could see me. I broke into tears; my heart tired of the pain. Tired of seeing another person that I loved die before me.

"Do not blame yourself for blood you did not shed, my dear child." I gave up hope as I listened to my grandmother for the last time. "Let the voiceless howl of the wolf within guide you, and the spirits of our ancestors watch over you. The moon goddess has granted you a purpose. Today cannot be the day you die, for you must avenge the ones we've lost. The moon goddess believes in your strength, as do I."

I couldn't understand what my grandmother meant. The wind suddenly surged as the sky darkened. Alma gasped within her final breaths, whispering a chant of white charms that took hold of my soul. I could feel it, but at the cost of her soul.

As the light in her eyes dimmed and transferred to mine, Aslan realized what was happening and swung his sword at me, but he was too late. Alma had completed her last spell. Her body disintegrated into the wind, and just like that, she was gone, like she had never once existed.

Blinded by the brilliant light of Alma's protective spell, I heard my grandmother's voice, gently carried by the wind, say her final words of advice to me. "You shall find your way to those chosen by the moon goddess for you, my dear child. At first, they may seem ferocious and monstrous, but only with their aid will you fulfill the sacred task laid upon you."

My grandmother’s words dwindled as the radiant light vanished to be replaced by the descending darkness of death. Aslan had slain me with his sword and killed me. My lifeline was severed in that very moment, but to my luck, Alma's sacrifice had not been in vain, and as fate would have it, I was, in fact, the goddess’s favorite.