A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood

Chapter Forty-Six Ever since Aleric and I had been attacked by rogues at the Golden Blade pack, we had been assisting with the investigation into what had actually happened.

The whole thing had seemed so weirdly targeted. Why did they decide to come out of hiding? Was it a purposeful attack on Aleric and I? And, most importantly, had someone leaked information since they knew we would be there? Needless to say, the entire Winter Mist was furious about the whole thing and had demanded answers that the Golden Blade didn’t have. They were just as confused by the entire ordeal as w e were. Because of that, they were forced to cooperate with us during our investigation; much t o their displeasure, I was sure. It had been months since we’d had any leads though. There also hadn’t been any trace of a camp on their territory, making us believe they probably had no intention of staying in the area for long when they attacked. This was news that only made the whole thing even more worrisome.

The incident had severely shaken me as well. Not just because of Aleric, but because it made m e realise just how quickly I could feel unprepared in battle. My advantage in a fight had always been defence tactics, but the rogues gave me a shocking awakening to how sometimes survival meant being able to complete a finishing blow... something my current strength seemed to be

lacking, as evident from the rogue who didn’t stay down during our fight. 

Because of this, I had started carrying one of their silver daggers on me to give myself the upper hand if I was ever in that situation again. Specifically... the knife they‘d pulled out of Aleric. The other one had already been locked up in evidence before I could get my hands on it and they were pretty hard to come by without prior approval. But more importantly, I found the whole thing weirdly symbolic to look at whenever I strapped the sheath around my leg. It was something that could kill our kind so easily… yet it had been a moment in my life I’d chosen a path to save a life instead.

However, the fact that rogues had two of these in their possession was crazy in itself. The silver that was used to easily poison, restrain and kill our kind was no ordinary thing and was referred to as silver ‘kissed by moonlight’. Its properties included being able to stop the inflicted from being able to use their abilities; whether that be silver handcuffs to stop shifting and strength, or a knife to stop healing. The way the ore was handled before being crafted was a closely guarded secret and I’d heard was also very difficult to execute; knowledge reserved strictly to Elders and a select few only.

And so, whilst handcuffs were a staple within most packs, a knife was far harder to come by since many refused to forge them; this being due to their incredibly deadly potential. Of course, I took advantage of the situation to acquire one for myself because of that. But it did raise several questions about how the rogues managed to get their hands on them to begin with.

“You alright?” a voice yelled out. I felt that I could have died of a heart attack, almost falling over from shock

I’d been stuck in my own thoughts so deeply that I hadn‘t even realised Aleric had arrived at work before me.

I couldn’t deny that seeing him after I saw Thea last night felt kind of strange. Like I knew things were wrong. I’d now changed the timeline so much to something new and unpredictable that I was blind in many areas to what would happen next. Something I wasn’t used to feeling after having a literal ability to see the future sometimes. But it did tell me one thing; that Thea knew I was after her. I could only imagine she showed herself last night to send me a message that she was aware I had been looking for her. 1 wondered why she might have thought I was doing that. Did she maybe have the plan to take over as Luna already when she discovered I was tracking her? Did she even realise that I didn‘t want the Luna position? That I‘m not even a threat other than the fact I’m technically Aleric’s fated mate? Not that she could prove that either.

This posed an interesting line of questions to go through my head though. If she hadn’t discovered I was looking for her, would she have even come after me this time around? or could she have become Luna, and I a Beta, without all the drama? Had there been a chance that Thea could have changed for the better, just like Aleric seemed to have? …Or, more troubling, a part of me wondered if it was irrelevant who she was this time. That maybe it was actually revenge I was after… not self-preservation. I looked at Aleric and he seemed… the same. He looked tired. Most likely from the big event the night before. But he didn‘t look like someone who had just met a girl he was romantically interested in and he wasn’t treating me any differently. The latter being something I had to remind myself. Especially since that old instinct to stay away from him was building itself up inside my chest again. Thea was a painful reminder of the past, something I’d been doing so well to overcome lately.

I took a deep breath and forced a smile on my face.

I knew I needed to quickly change the topic away from me. “You look

it in today. I remembered my first shift; I was exhausted to the point of not wanting to

been depressed, not wanting to see Aleric again after the disaster that was my shifting ceremony. “Yeah. But it was good,” he said with a yawn. He was leaning over some files on the table and looked about ready for a nap. “I’m sure it was. How are the new claws?” He just raised an eyebrow at me. “I‘m itching to try them out properly.” I laughed and walked past him to put my bag down in the little office

look at whatever

to me, I noticed him then sniff

gym and didn’t have time for a shower,” I apologised, laughing as I quickly stepped away. “That’s probably an assault on your

all good. I was going to take a shower when I got here anyway but I didn’t expect you to be in

reason, just surprised. Last I saw of you two, you were slapping him in the face.” I felt my cheeks burn. “Oh. Right.” What

ask something else but decided to remain

a shower. I’ll meet you outside?” “Yep,” he replied instantly and quickly turned back to the papers on the table, grateful for the topic change. “Yep.” I repeated the word to myself and left immediately. Ten minutes later, we were in Aleric’s car on our way to the southside of the Winter

anything else about the sighting?” I asked as we pulled up on

twenty minutes to arrive but we would need to go on foot from here. The rogue was spotted by a patrolling wolf in the woods nearby. “Not really. They said it was probably just one… but they couldn’t tell for sure how many.” Side

how dishevelled the ones we saw looked. You‘d think

into the Golden Blade just fine. We‘ll go have a look anyway. Most of the patrols have already combed through here but we’re just going to give it a

in the woods for over two hours searching but hadn’t managed to find anything. Not a

least one of us was able to shift now though. Aleric remained in his human form since mastering a wolf in a day was almost impossible, but the stronger senses were definitely coming in handy for the job at hand. I was pretty sure I would have gone in a

cold water against my face. It felt nice

what?” he asked. “Like…,” I said slowly, moving to inspect the rock closer. “Symbols carved along the water to tell them

network of multiple rivers that connected our territory

maze trying to follow anyone without knowing the way… that‘s fucking brilliant, Aria.” I smiled in excitement and turned to look up at Aleric... only to find him much closer than I had expected, him already looking directly at me. He appeared to be just as genuinely excited a s me…