Prologue - My Death

I still remember the moment I died. 

The feeling of betrayal as I looked into my uncle’s eyes laced thick with anger, his fist slamming into my chest and pulling out my heart. I heard my brother, Kai, calling me just as I fell to the ground.

The last thing I remembered was his anguished roar as he stumbled upon my lifeless body.

I dug into the wrong places, asked the wrong questions, and put suspicion on myself. I got too close to the truth, and the enemy saw fit to eliminate me. Who would have thought that enemy would be the one the Moon Goddess blessed me with?

Now I’m sitting here, wherever here is, watching them and being the only one privy to the danger so close to them. How do I warn them? Is it even possible to tell them?

When I arrived in The Other, I was so confused. I felt a hand on my shoulder and when I turned my head, my heart completely shattered. She still looked the same as she did when I last saw her; long blonde hair, piercing blue Volkova eyes, and a touch as gentle as Caterina’s.

“Mamma?” I whimpered, and I jumped to my feet when she nodded.

“Yes, my Vikki, it’s me,” she had said, cupping my face in her soft hands. “My, you have grown to be such a handsome young man.”

On this side of the veil, I found that it was impossible to shed a tear, even if my chest felt close to bursting with emotion. “How… Why are you here?”

She shrugged and lowered her hands. “I’ve been here since the moment I died; the Goddess mentioned that I had unfinished business to tend to, so here I am.”

I sucked in a breath and my eyes widened at what she’s just said. “You’ve been here since you died? That was more than seventeen years ago, Mamma!”

The last time I saw her, I had just turned thirteen, and they had all left for Kai’s ceremony. I wasn’t even part of the mind link yet since I wasn’t of age, and I only found out that he’s killed our parents because I had snuck out of my bedroom when I heard him and Kon downstairs.

My mother nodded her head sadly and took my hand in hers. “I have a feeling that my time on this side might be coming to an end, as well. I can feel my Ascension like a warm glow in my heart-”

“And you’d be correct, Vasilisa,” we heard a voice approaching us from our left, and our heads whipped towards the sound. I didn’t see a thing, but the voice was oddly familiar…

My mother’s hand went to her chest, and she fell to her knees in worship. “My Goddess!” she exclaimed, causing my heartbeat to pick up when I finally saw a figure approach us.

How can you describe sunshine and warmth? The feeling of a crisp Autumn morning as you run through a forest, fully shifted, with nothing on your mind but the concept of freedom?

That’s how I felt when I looked at the woman in front of us - Golden eyes and long dark hair that seems to be shimmering with stars. I didn’t realize at the time that it was our Goddess, Tiarin. But looking back now, she looked similar to the woman who met Caterina in that cave.

“Goddess?” I said, frowning. “You’re Tiarin, the Goddess?”

She nodded and reached out to touch my face; at that moment I saw flashes of my life. Meeting Ilya for the first time, our friendship and subsequent Mate Bond, right down to how he ended up betraying the pack. 

I took a step back and gasped. “Why are you showing me my life? So I can remember how much I failed everyone?!” 

All the anger and resentment seemed to rush into my heart at that moment and I fell to my knees, sobbing for the life I no longer had. “You gave me this gift, only for it to lead to my demise!”

The Goddess met me on my knees and took me into her arms. “It was never my intention to hurt you, dear Viktor. I just had to show you who I truly am,” she said, looking as heartbroken as I felt. 

Being in her arms made the sadness evaporate immediately, and when she let me go again, she cupped my face just as my mother did. “Get to your feet, Viktor. There is much to discuss. Your brother will be here soon.”

I stumbled backward when the gravity of her words hit me like a dagger to the heart. “M-my brother? Who?”

She offered me a sad smile and placed a hand on both my mother's and my shoulders…only to kill me all over again when she said the name. “Kai.”

The one person I trusted with my everything, the one person I would die for over and over again. Is the only person other than my mate that I was ever loyal to… he’s dying?

“How-?!”

“Hush now and let me explain everything to both of you. Kai may be coming here, but he won’t be dead,” she said before launching into what is going on with my brothers. 

It was even worse than I thought - the planning from before my mother even met my father, the Original Witch who manipulated the first BloodCrest Witches from the get-go - she planned everything and will be responsible for so much more destruction. 

Right up until Kai’s son comes to be the next Alpha. 

“How is this possible?! We thought it was Vanya behind everything?!” I asked incredulously. “I had it all wrong!”

“No, Viktor, you were just fooled,” the Goddess said, shaking her head. “I know how frustrating this must be for you, but you must remember we cannot interfere with what needs to happen, but we can steer them in the right direction.”

I frowned at her words. “What is that supposed to mean?”

My mother placed a hand on my shoulder and we heard a roar… a familiar roar. “I think what the Goddess means is we need to lead your brother to the first person responsible for our deaths,” she said, then gestured towards Kai, who hadn’t seen us yet. “Go; he needs you.”

I looked at the Goddess, who nodded, then at my mother. Why do I need to be the one to speak with him? Seeing me will hurt him even more… but I breathed out a sigh and went towards my brother, anyway.

“Kai,” I called out to him and I could see his head whipping up at my voice and he looked around, not seeing me. 

He was naked and bloody, as if he had just come from a battle. There was a large gash where his heart should be, and that just made me shatter.

“Are you going to be that sorry sack of bones as you greet me?”

He froze at my voice, but didn’t turn around; instead, he fell to his knees and let out another roar filled with so much pain and anguish that it broke my heart to pieces. 

I approached him and wrapped my arms around his back. “I don’t blame you, brother,” I had said, thinking how odd it felt to be the one to comfort my older brother when he was always the one to comfort me. 

“My death is not your fault, either.”

I looked up and smiled when my mother walked towards us, but Kai shook his head and refused to look at her. 

“Am I doomed to forever live out the ghosts of my past failings?” he cried before looking up at her. His bottom lip trembled when he saw her face and I stood up so she could meet him as well.

I take a step back and watch my mother speaking with him, the confused look on his face. “How could they possibly have known about the ritual?” he finally asked, shaking his head and glancing between my mother and me.

My mother shook her head at me when he wasn’t looking. “It seems that we’ve always had a traitor in our midst, and they continue to be there even after all this time,” she said. The double meaning felt like a stab to the heart. “Dominik, your father’s brother and enforcer.”

This revelation shocked Kai, but even as I wanted to tell him the betrayal ran deeper than Dominik, I heeded the words of the Goddess: we cannot interfere, but we can lead him in the right direction.

“Are you certain?” he asked, glancing from my mother to me, and I nodded. 

“Who do you think murdered me?” I asked with a sad smile, wishing I could tell him more than this, wishing I could scream out that Dimitri is the one who is the real traitor on the inside, that Dimitri is the one who will lead our pack to ruin since he was basically the witch’s puppet.

But I remained quiet, and perhaps the Goddess knew how much I was struggling because she walked up to Kai and started planning with him. She gave him a way to defeat Xamnir and renounced the Wolf God so he can take his place. 

“Go and avenge your family, Alpha Kai,” the Goddess said before disappearing with my brother.

I looked at the spot she had stood with Kai and breathed out a sigh before saying to my mother, “I guess he’s going back then-”

But my mother had left as well…I suppose her ‘unfinished business’ was my brother after all this time. 

After a while, I wondered where that would leave me. What exactly is my so-called unfinished business before I can pass over and be at peace? I didn’t have to wait long, because the Goddess whispered in my ear again…

“Take a look back, little one. Perhaps there’s something you missed even when you had your eyes open.”

I guess this is what they mean by ‘your life flashing before your eyes.’