A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood

Chapter Thirty 

Chapter Thirty A million thoughts and feelings swept through me as I scrambled to figure out what to do. Should I wave? Smile? Walk over to him? …Pretend that I’m actually looking at the shop behind him? It was a sort of nervous energy that made my legs shuffle under me and my heart race.

I had so much to say to him, yet so much I shouldn’t have said to begin with.

And yet the most important thing, at the forefront of my mind, was still the debate as to whether I should tell him about the future. Because I knew he had a right to know, even if I ended up sounding insane.

I took a step towards him and began to hold up my hand to wave.

“Cai…”

But I didn’t get to finish my sentence as he instantly looked away, turning back down to pack his bag. All I could do was watch mutely as he got onto his motorbike and kick it into ignition, not even bothering to look at me again before he rode off. It was as if he’d just slammed a door in my face. I stood there shocked with my hand still partially raised, embarrassment creeping up on me. My cheeks burned at being left looking stupid on the side of the street. “…Aria?” Myra asked, sounding unsure over whether she should ask about what just happened. I balled my hand up into a loose fist and brought it down to hold against my chest. It was fine. I deserved that. Cai may not realise how much danger he would be in one day, but I did. And I still had a chance to make a change for the better. Even if I never saw him again, even if he never thought of me ever again, I would still do my best to keep him safe. Whatever it took. I vowed to never let Aleric start that war which would become the beginning of the end. It was a horrifying reminder that I’d been procrastinating figuring out just what laid ahead for my future. If I embraced my Sainthood and declared ultimate authority, then I would need to b e amassing allies right now for the eventual political takeover within the pack. It was something I didn’t want to initiate if possible as it put my entire family at risk and would only serve to create a civil war. But then that didn’t leave me with many options.

I hated to admit it but, when the time came, I knew I may need to prepare myself for the worst -case scenario in order to save the people I cared about, including Cai. If there really were no options left after exhausting all possibilities, then maybe, one day… I would need to take up m y Luna position once more. “Aria?” Myra asked again, having become worried over my extended silence. It pulled me out of the deep thoughts I’d been trapped in. A rabbit hole of grim reminders I didn’t want to think about just yet. I had to forcefully push them aside inside my mind. There was no reason to get caught up thinking about it yet. There were still so many years before I’d be hard-pressed to make a

decision. “…Sorry,” I said, still a little out of it. She frowned, pursing her lip a little. “What was that? Cai definitely saw you right?” I rubbed at my forearm feeling a little awkward still. “…I guess not.” She was silent in thought but let it go. Myra knew me well enough by now to know that, if I didn’t feel like talking about something, then I wouldn’t. She was used to my normally reserved attitude.

“…Did you want to get something to eat?” she finally asked. And I forced a smile on my face. “That’s a great idea.”

A few minutes later, we’d walked down to the food district and were checking out all the different cafes and restaurants. There was a pretty great variety and I was excited to try something different. Normally all the special meals I had were either prepared at the house of someone important, or we’d attend one of the upscale restaurants reserved for the upper ranked only. It was refreshing to not feel pressured to act so carefully with my words and actions for once.

As we rounded the corner, a small cottage style cafe then caught my eye suddenly, almost obscured completely by trees and plants. It would be easy for someone to walk by without seeing it. There was a sort of beauty about it and I knew this was the place I wanted to eat at for my very first average citizen meal. “Let’s got here, Myra,” I said, pointing to the little cafe. We both walked up to it and inspected the menu outside on a little podium. “Oh, Aria, I don’t know. It’s a little expensive. Maybe we can try somewhere else?” But I was adamant about wanting to eat here. I didn’t care what it meant in order to persuade her. I had told myself I wasn’t going to try and buy her things often, knowing it may make her feel awkward, but I really did have my heart set on this little place. It was so beautiful yet private. “It’s fine, I’ll pay for your meal.” “Aria, you can’t pay for everything in my life,” she said. “I can do things myself too.” “But this is my first time going to a normal cafe. Please, can we go?” I looked at her with hopeful eyes and finally her frown softened. “…Okay, fine,” she said, yielding. I smiled brightly at her and was about to tell her how excited I was but she cut me off before I could. “…On one condition.” “Condition?”

said with a serious face. “And don’t even try to tell

these last few

really worth telling her. I didn’t know how to talk about the things that had happened or why they had affected me so much. T o give her the full picture it would require me to tell her about my previous life,

matter? It’s not like we’re

of the events without going into too much detail. She might think I overreacted, and to an extent I probably did, but I wouldn’t be able to tell her why it hurt me so badly. “…Okay,” I agreed reluctantly. She smiled and grabbed my hand to pull me into the little cafe. Inside it was completely stunning. There was a small patio that wrapped around the back which had vines creeping along the walls and fencing. Though

when she realised who I was, my silver hair and violet eyes being something I couldn’t exactly hide from other pack members i n public. But it was easy to ignore her reaction since I

to my delight, we could even see some of the mountains in the distance. It was obviously the best seat in the house and I was definitely impressed. It acted as a nice reminder of how large and diverse, not only our

down. Myra had spent some time studying the menu

sure… but they’re still serving breakfast this late, so

seemed like pretty standard choices… but

about you?” she

“What...? You mean the kid’s menu item?” “Oh, was it only on the kid’s menu? Do you think they’ll make a full plate if I ask them?” “Aria, why

about it and realised that perhaps my

homoea ERITREA

to choose what I want to eat without being pressured and I’ve never had junk food before. I think my parents would have a heart attack if I told them I was thinking of eating it.” Her frown eased, finally understanding. Thankfully, she didn’t question me further on it. It was true that I’d never eaten a proper unhealthy meal before. In my past life, my diet had always been strict even after I became Luna. I’d never touched anything greasy once I had come of age for fear it would make Aleric think I was unrefined. But I was living a new life now and was so much healthier than I had ever been. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone anymore and I’d already lived one life of little to no luxury. In my head, I didn’t need to justify it any further. I was getting the damn nuggets. It took some persuasion but the waitress eventually agreed to give me a larger serving of the kid’s meal after several strange looks. I didn’t care though. When it finally came out and I took my first bite, I swear I

I‘d found him and how he’d acted at first like I was in the

occasionally. When I was finally done, she sat i n thought for a few moments. “Sounds

run out of time. He made it pretty clear today he doesn’t want to talk to me.” Myra shifted and rested her head against her hand on the table, a small crease forming between her brows as looked to

me though,” she said. “At the time, you seemed to get really upset over the situation quite

suddenly felt really nervous and wasn’t sure how to

started, “umm, don’t take this wrong way but… seeing Cai