The Darkness Within- A Werewolf Rejection Novel

Chapter Twenty

Chapter 20

Delilah's Pov

I was not doing okay.

After knocking, the door swung open on its own. After everything that has been happening over the past few months, it didn't surprise me at all.

I am not sure how, but walking into the home, it looked completely different than it did on the outside. The room was warm, and there was a woman in a rocking chair doing embroidery in the back of the room.

"Hello Dear." She said, not looking up from her craft. Even though she was hunched over and had a silver hood covering her completely, her voice sounded surprisingly young.

"Uh, hello?" I said back, unsure of how to proceed. I guess I was hoping that she would have magically asked to fix all my problems. Maybe that part was coming.

The cracking of the fireplace, and the sound of her rocking chair was the only sound in the small room for a bit. I didn't think she was waiting for me to say something, more like she had all the time to spare. And perhaps she did.

"Done." She said suddenly, I had taken a seat on a chair near the entrance and was startled by the sudden noise.

She lifted the finished embroidery piece for me to see. Once again her hands looked smooth and not showing signs of age.

"It's beautiful," I said. And it was, the embroidery piece depicted two identical wolves, one silver and one black howling at the moon together. They looked close, and a wave of sadness hit me as I thought about my own twin.

"It is isn't." She threw it in my direction and I caught the frame and the piece before it could fall to the ground, "It is yours now, keep it as a memento of our first meeting together."

An interesting memento but I would keep it. Carefully I undid the screws of the circular frame, and carefully removed the fabric, folded it, putting into the pocket of my cargo pants. "Thank you, uh, madam."

She laughed, a slightly raspy laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "You are welcome child." And then she stood, much taller than I had anticipated. But when she turned to face me, I gasped, it was a face very familiar, a face we had learned since we were children, Hala the Moon Goddess.

I immediately bowed and looked up again, but realized something was off. I studied the women but realized she didn't quite look like the moon goddess that was depicted in all the paintings and drawings.

She had sharp features, almost such sharp it boarded on cruel, but large silver eyes that seemed to shift subtly from color to color that softens her look. Her skin was tanned, and she looked to be in her early thirties at most. It was her hair, I decided. Instead of flowing silver hair, it was flowing Black hair, almost like a river of tar.

She spread her arms out, "Welcome, you have made it, safely with my protection."

I slowly stood from my kneeled position. "Protection?"

"Did you not notice how you were not attacked, nor harmed on your way here. Those shadows that I have sent around you have protected you on your journey here." She raised an eyebrow as if to challenge me.

I raised an eyebrow in turn, "Protected? I barely escaped that large stinky beast that I've taken to calling hairy hairy."

She laughed, " Ah but you did escape didn't you?"

I shook my head, not even going to try to argue with her. "Where is the Old Lady of the Dark Forest? I was told if I came to the middle of the forest, following the red moss I would find her here."

Another laugh, this woman loved to laugh. "She is simply a myth that someone made up to give hope to those who must come into the Dark Forest. But I knew you would be arriving here, so I made my way here also."

I'm sure my confusion showed on my face because she went onto explain. "I am here because you have a destiny to fufill, you will rule the world and take over."

I looked around for a dramatic thunder that usually happened after a crazy speech, but unfortunately, only the sound of the crackling fire could be heard.

"You are not Hala, the Moon Goddess are you?"

She shook her head, " Of course not, I would never want to be that idiot."

She stood taller, seeming almost cocky "I am Hecate, queen of the Night!

I shook my head, "Never heard of you."

She sighed, " Ruler of Creatures beyond the Dark?"

I shook my head again.

"Mother of Magic?" She asked, starting to look more and more frustrated.

I gave her a shrug.

She gave an eyeroll this time, " Twin Sister of the moon Goddess."

I started to shake my head again before something occurred to me. "Wait, I think I remember reading somewhere about twins and werewolves. And how they are seen as a gift from the Moon Goddess herself, however they are very rare."

She nodded,

"And I think there were some stories about how the Moon Goddess only blessed a couple with twins, when those twins were made to do something big as the moon Goddess was a twin herself. " I paused thinking, "But I thought those were just rumors, and your name specifically doesn't ring a bell.

"Of course it doesn't." She, Hecate, started pacing the room. " I am the forgotten twin, lost in time, lost in history." Hecate turned towards me. "I'm sure you can understand how I feel? Hm?"

I took a step back, " I don't actually. I love my Twin, and we always have each other's back."

Hecate looked around the small area, I'm not sure why but the air felt colder than when I had walked in, even though the flame in the corner was brighter than ever. "Ah, so where is this twin now?"

I blinked, "He- he had to stay behind, he is the Beta, and his mate, and the family."

She barked out a laugh, "There is always an excuse for why they have to leave us huh? The person we shared the womb with, when things get bigger and better for them, they forget where they came from. Who was with them."

I shook my head. "Dritran isn't like that, he made me this journal," I reached into the side pocket of my cargo pants and brought out the small book. "It had directions on how to get here, how to find you. He helped me escape. He risked everything."

"He didn't risk enough!" Hecate yelled, the flames going so bright and tall, before cooling down, no more than embers.

She continued, her voice raspy with anger, "He could have defended you himself in court, he could have talked to Alan before the case, he could have noticed when you were feeling weak from being rejected instead of being caught up in his own mate. He could have come with you. But he didn't, because he would rather face the risk of losing his Beta position, than come face the risk of the Dark Forest." She stopped and turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow, expecting me to respond. To have an answer, to have a defense.

I didn't have one.

"That's what I thought." She cleared her throat, "But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that I introduce you to your new home, your new family."

"I don't trust you." I said, and I didn't she claimed to be all these things, and if she was truly Mother of Magic, Ruler of the creatures beyond the night, I had no reason to follow her. Plus I had no idea how she was able to know all the things that had happened to me in the past few weeks.

She shrugged, before snapping her fingers, the room turning into what I thought it was originally going to be when I had come in here. There were holes in the roof, the walls were nonexsistent, and a rancid smell hung in the air.

"You don't have to, but its either come with me or take your chances in the Dark Forest." She gestured out the window, and I shivered at the thought of going back into the Forest. I had barely made it here, but knowing I was looking for something at least gave me some motivation. But knowing if I go out there alone, I would be lost, made me want to throw up."

I gestured, "Lead the way."

And she did, and I followed her out the door, and back into the Dark Forest.

But this time, I wasn't alone.