Mysteries of the Moon Goddess

*Isla*

Seth’s body swings from the noose, the rope around his neck taunt as he body drifts in a soft breeze. I didn’t want to come back here after the hanging took place. A day has passed since the hanging, and I spent most of the morning in the castle, alone, waiting for Maddox to return.

He’d stayed out here all night.

I watch as my mate walks toward me, his face drawn and flooded with an emotion I’ve never seen behind his eyes. I can’t describe it, even if I try to put myself in his shoes and imagine what my grief and despair would be like had Poppy ever betrayed me like Seth did to Maddox. I adjust Isaac’s weight in my arms, smiling empathetically as Maddox nears, his expression softening as we step out of the shadow of a towering oak tree to greet him.

“You didn’t have to come all the way over here to find me,” he says, brushing a kiss over my forehead. “I was going to come home.”

“I was worried about you,” I reply, leaning into him. Isaac stirs between us, cooing as Maddox’s