Alpha Queen [1]

xxviii

The night was slowly winding down and people started trickling out of the huge castle. Ares was saying goodbye to a friend so I decided to get some fresh air before the long car ride back.

There was a slight ledge where the front stairs met the platform to the entrance, which I stepped up on to get a better look at the full moon. Ares once told me that the lunar cycle controls certain aspects of their life.

All wolves had a special connection to the moon that I would never have.

"Luna," a voice called out to me and I jumped. It was Coral. "You should not wander this late at night."

"I was just testing security."

She watched me step down from the little ledge. "What did you think of your first Alpha Ball?"

It was actually quite fun meeting people and getting to know them. I even made a few I could call friends.

Though no matter how much I enjoyed going out, there was no place like home. My pack was calling me.

"It was very nice. Better than I expected."

"I would agree. I have never seen Alpha Ares happier." She said while gazing up at the starless sky.

"Really?" Now I was curious.

"He has been alone for a long time. Every year I wondered when I would see him with another, but every year he came alone. Then he began sending his Beta and no one had seen him in half a decade. . . until now."

Somehow that made me feel sad.

Ares was always a lone wolf.

"I do owe it to him. He had a lot of patience waiting for me." I joked but I thanked fate every night that things turned out the way they did. "How do you and he know each other again?"

"We met a long, long time ago. It is a good story for another time."

Moonlight danced around us as the flow of the conversation slowed down. We settled into a comfortable silence.

I could see Ares's tall frame coming closer into view and my stomach still did that flipping thing when my eyes landed on him.

"I better go back, I don't want to keep him waiting any longer." I laughed lightly. "Your people are probably waiting for you, too."

"No one is waiting for me."

I'd forgotten that she said she had no pack.

"Well, you're always welcome to stay with us. Ares told me you travel around the packs as a healer and I'm sure we would love your help."

Her smile was secretive. "I would like that very much."

Coral touched my shoulder to say goodbye and I was about to wish her a safe trip back to wherever she called home but then something very strange happened.

She reached for my arm and spoke slowly into my left ear.

"I see your name in blood.
When your destiny comes rising,
Twin souls will gather.
Ice in thaw, ash in flame,
Shadows fall into spring,
Alive by the crown and folded split.
For blood, for reign, for moon,
And your life will never be the same."

Her brown eyes looked deeply into mine before she released my arm and stepped away.

I was speechless.

"Tread carefully, Luna."

.•*•.

As soon as we got on the road I couldn't stop thinking about what she said. Her words were like a song I couldn't get out of my head.

I see your name in blood.

"What did you think?" Ares's voice cut through my racing thoughts and I nearly jumped out of my seat.

"Of what?"

"The ball."

Oh, that.

I almost forgot about everything that had happened earlier in the evening. At first I hadn't known what to expect walking into unknown territory full of strangers but with Ares by my side, my worries had gradually subsided. The majority of people turned out to be very friendly once I got to know them. I met so many people that their names didn't really stick. Meeting Iris was a nice surprise, though I was mostly surprised that Ares didn't pounce on Dallas then and there.

But I still couldn't stop thinking about what just happened.

Too much time must have passed because he said, "You did very well. Alpha Theron, Whitedawn, Daya, Bastille—they all loved you."

"Can healers see the future?" I blurted. I couldn't help myself, my brain wouldn't stop bugging me.

"It depends," Ares said as we cruised down the windy road. "Healers have a strong connection with the Moon Goddess that other wolves don't."

I waited for him to go on since he didn't really answer my question.

"So they can?"

It was almost like I could hear him thinking out loud.

"Some healers have visions and sometimes they come true but they don't always see the big picture. Soren would know more about that."

If that were true then it would mean they could do what the world thought was impossible. I wondered what it was like to have a power like that.

"Do you think they can see the future?"

"Why do you ask?" He glanced at me for a second.

"No reason. Just curious."

"Alex," he said my name as a warning.

Of course the mate bond betrayed me and he saw right through me.

"Okay, okay," Now how could I word this without freaking him out? "You know Coral? Well, while you were gone for a minute, she came up to me and said. . . something."

"What did she tell you?"

"Straight up gibberish." I laughed. "Something like, I see your name in blood, twin souls gathering, and your life will never be the same. . . It's ridiculous, I know."

The more I tried to remember it, the faster it disappeared. Like recalling a dream. The one thing I did remember were her brown eyes looking into my own.

Ares was silent for a minute.

"Are you certain that's what she said?"

"I'm forgetting most of it but yeah. You don't really believe in that nonsense do you?" Ares didn't seem like a superstitious or spiritual person at all. He was actually very practical and realistic.

"I'll have to talk to Soren but Coral was a gifted healer. She was known for her prophecies."

Prophecy. . .

And your life will never be the same.

What could that possibly mean?