Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
“Okay, Dad. I will be home soon. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Bye, Son,”
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.
I heard my father murmur something and then hang up.”
I waited in the bathroom for another couple of minutes, trying to decide what I was going to say to
Charlotte before I left. The worst part of one-night stands has always been the awkward morning-after conversations. It was always easier when one of you got to sneak out the next morning before the other awoke. With Charlotte stirring, that probably would not be possible.
“You are taking Charlotte with us,”
Kalen linked me.
I practically fell over in shock.
“What?”
“I want her. You are taking her with us.”
“Kalen, I cannot take a she-wolf home that I just met last night.”
“You cannot take her home. but you do not mind f&&ing her?”
“That was different.”
“I don’t care, Brady. I want her. You need to make her come with us.”
“Kalen, what is with you?”
Seriously. I did not understand why Kalen was freaking out like this.
“I want Charlotte.”
Suddenly, it hit me. “Is she… is she our second chance mate?”
Kalen was silent for a minute.
“I do not know. I cannot reach her wolf. But I know that I want her. You are not leaving her behind. I do not care what you have to do to convince her, but I want her.”
AAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH.
This was going to be an interesting morning-after conversation.
(Lily POV)
James and I were standing next to each other in this foreign-to-us hall, feeling confused, when we heard a female voice behind us.
“It took you long enough. Come, we do not have much time.”
We turned around and saw a beautiful woman -no, Goddess- standing before us. She was wearing a Grecian-style white dress, and her hair was long and silver. It was immediately obvious who she was.
“Moon Goddess?”
I said.
“Yes, my children. Now, come closer so that we can talk. We really must hurry.”
James continued to hold my hand as we followed the Moon Goddess to an area of the hall that had a ceiling made of glass and a large water fountain in the middle. She gave us each a huge hug and directed us to sit down on chairs in front of the fountain.
The Moon Goddess sat down in a chair in front of us, and then she grabbed one of each of our hands.
“So you chose James after all,”
she commented happily.
“Yes,”
I smiled.
“I was worried there for a long while, but I am glad that it all worked out. I just knew the two of you had
I I what it takes.”
“Thank you for gifting Lily to me,”
James said politely. “I know I do not deserve her, but-“
“Oh, enough with the self-defeated talk already. You would not be here if you did not deserve her. Each time you question your worth, you are questioning Lily’s judgment. And I, for one, have no questions about Lily’s judgment. She has proven herself to me.”
James nodded, not sure what else to say.
The Moon Goddess turned back to me.
“Now Lily, I am sure that you are eager to find out what all the secrecy has been all about.”
“More than ready,”
I confirmed.
“Let me back up just a little bit before I explain your specific role. Go ds and Goddesses are limited in how much we can intervene in the mortal realm. Every time we try to influence or manipulate things, we picture becomes chaotic and ruined. Because of this, we must be really careful and thoughtful in the things that we do and in the actions that we take.
There are two strategies that many of us like to use to avoid creating too many problems.
One strategy is to plant seeds many, many years ahead of time in the form of prophecies. Because they must be planted so many years in advance, prophecies create much softer, quieter wrinkles.
Unfortunately, the downside with prophecies is that they must be somewhat vague to be useful and to give us the maximum amount of flexibility.
You see, no one-including go ds and goddesses- can tell the future. We can anticipate things that might happen -just like a mother might anticipate that her child might want to eat candy or try to touch a stovetop-but human free will is a powerful thing. In addition, there are other go ds and goddesses whose actions may impact the future, and there are forces of evil playing out as well.
The second strategy that go ds and goddesses like to use is to have chosen children who can help guide others in our place. But, just like with our prophecies, we cannot always predict which of our children will be best suited for each role. We can hope, and we can try to guide, but we cannot guarantee. So, ther events or other sometimes a go d or goddess will make certain events in a prophecy contingent on choices.
I anticipated very long ago that I would need a wolf to fulfill the role that I am giving to you today, and so I planted the seeds for that in the form of a prophecy. Had I given you all the powers and responsibilities without warning and preparing the world, it would have created far too many waves and wrinkles, and it would have thrown the entire life picture out of whack.
At the same, before I gave you all of your powers, I had to be confident that I was choosing the right wolf for the role. That meant watching you and testing you. I could not have done either of those things if you already knew what your destiny was.”
The Moon Goddess pulled her hands away from us and looked down sadly.
“Lily, I will confess that you were not the original wolf that I chose for this role. I had a lot of high hopes for the original she-wolf, but she allowed her heart and mind to be corrupted by evil. Even as a child, she did things that horrified me. I wanted to believe that it was solely the influence of her evil mother, and that once she received her wolf, she would change, but I was wrong. Stephanie refused to listen to the insights or guidance offered by her wolf, and after turning 14, she only became more selfish and horrible than before.”
“S-Stephanie? As in, my sister Stephanie?”
I asked in disbelief.
The Moon Goddess sighed. “Yes. Stephanie was the original chosen one.”
“But that is impossible. I was there when Stephanie shifted for the first time. She did not have a special wolf or a symbol on her rump like Lily does,”
James protested. He was clearly just as confused and shocked as me.
“Yes. Let me explain more.”
(Lily POV)
“Let me explain more,”
the Moon Goddess said.
Before she could, I interrupted with my own question. I could not help it. The Moon Goddess’ words were re-opening old wounds and making me remember all my old insecurities about living under Stephanie’s shadow.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?