I can't say how long I've been out. It was probably less than a minute or two. All I see as I open my eyes is that I'm definitely not in the real world.

I remember this forest and this white dress I'm wearing. I'm back to the wolves' haven. My feet naturally lead me in one direction, which I recognize as the clearing with the beautiful pond. I smile as I am going to see Selene.

That's crazy how I am far more relaxed now that I'm here. I can't explain what happened before and why rage consumed me that much.

This piece of crap obviously threatened Alexander and deserved to be punished, but I probably reacted a little too much when I tried to kill him.

I really have to ask Selene once I meet her in the clearing. She might have answers.

I walk a little longer when I finally see the light.

The place did not change at all. I wonder if that's how the Moon-Goddess created it, or how Selene pictures a quiet place. In both cases, the place is perfect.

Surprisingly, Selene is not here. Where can she be?

"Selene, where are you?" I scream.

I watch all around, but there is not a sound. Where can she be?

"Selene. Come on, I'm better. Don't be mad at me. I suspect you were the one getting angry, by the way!" I yell once again. But once again, I meet nothing but silence.

"Great, she is playing stubborn. I'm supposed I'm stuck there, then."

I walk to the pond, sit by the bank, and put my feet in the water.

The water is unexpectedly lukewarm, even though I thought it would be cold. I sigh in relief and let my back fall to the ground.

My feet in the water, my eyes looking at the blue and shiny star, and my hands on my belly.

Despite being in a dream, the sunrays are warm on my skin, and the feeling of happiness is even as good as when I'm having sex with Alec.

I blush as I think about it.

Why the hell am I thinking about having sex with Alec in this situation? I almost killed a man a few minutes ago.

"You're really a perv', Olivia," I talk out loud.

"I like it when you're horny, little wolf," I hear a voice behind me. I sit quickly and lose my balance.

I fall into the pond, and I was definitely not ready to be all wet. As I return to the surface, I take a deep breath and pass my hand through my hair.

"For the Moon's sake, Alexander Grayson. Stop frightening me!" I scream at the handsome man in front of me.

As I pass my hands on my face, I can see clearly his face. He looks even sexier than usual. I think his white shirt does not help, as I can see his abs through it. He also wears a pair of light blue jeans.

"Come here. I didn't think I was so mind-blowing, Miss Evans," Alec laughs.

He comes closer and gives me his hand to help me get out of the water. I grab his hand and pull it, so he falls into the pond.

For ten seconds, Alec does not come back to the surface. Then two hands touch my belly, and Alec's head hides in the crook of my neck in a second.

As he kisses my neck, my body shivers.

"Glad to have you back to your normal state, Liv," he says as he hugs me.

"Remind me to never piss you off. I don't want to end up tortured with your favorite plant," he whispers in my ear.

I turn to face him.

"Poppies are my favorite flowers," I tell him with a smile.

"What happened to me, Alec? Selene was not answering me anymore, and I couldn't control the rage inside me."

"You lost control, Olivia. I think Selene is finally ready to show her true form," a female voice answers me.

Alec and I turn our faces to meet the white-haired woman approaching us. She walks alongside the biggest wolf I've ever seen in my life.

I swim and help myself out of the pond. Then I walk toward the woman and her beautiful silver wolf.

"Olivia, be careful. It might be dangerous," Alec screams. I take a glimpse back to see him getting out of the water and running to my side.

"That's okay, Alec. Don't worry," I say and smile at him. Then I look at the woman, who is smiling, and her wolf, who slowly walks to me. When I move my hand to caress her head, the wolf moves her muzzle to sniff me, and then she presses her forehead into my hand.

"Hey, you. Who are you? You are magnificent, sweetheart," I whisper to the wolf.

"Her name is Cynthia. She is my wolf," the woman answers.

"And you are?" Alec aggressively asks. The silver wolf growls at Alec.

"Relax, Alec. It's fine. They are friends," I say as I take his hand and put it on the wolf's head. The wolf sighs and starts to wag her tail.

"Nice to meet you, Cynthia. We are both delighted to meet you. It's an honor," I say to the wolf, cuddling her face again.

After a moment, she returns to the lady in white.

"What is happening?" I ask the woman.

"And who are you?" Alec asks again, more calmly this time.

He takes my waist and pulls me to his side lovingly. Even so, I can sense he is ready to fight if I am in danger.

I chuckle, and he looks at me, questioning my action.

"Alec, let me introduce you to the great Moon-Goddess," I say.

"Yeah, Moon-Goddess," he laughs.

"Sure, we meet Moon-Goddess in the middle of this... I don't know where we are. Come on, Olivia," he adds, still thinking that I'm kidding him.

"I'm serious, Alec. No kidding," I answer, my face turning serious. I probably should have told him I've already been there. My bad. As he understands that what I say is no joke, he whitens a bit and then looks at Moon-Goddess. Finally, he lets me go and kneel on the ground.

"I apologize, Moon-Goddess. I did not mean to disrespect you. I am ashamed of my mistake," Alec says. I stare at him, then at Moon-Goddess.

"You should be, Alexander Joshua Grayson. How did you mean to disrespect the Mighty Moon-Goddess?" she says, using a mighty voice. As I look at her, she winks at me, putting her index in front of her mouth to sign me to stay silent.

I smile, fighting hard not to burst into laughter.

"I am so sorry for my mistake. How can I repair my faults?" Alec asks. He sounds so serious, almost scared.

I never imagined seeing the terrible cold Prince, future King of the lycans and wolves, act this way.

"What do you consider as a good punishment, Olivia?" Moon-Goddess asks me.

"Maybe we could sentence him to never forget this moment," I say. Then, Moon-Goddess and I laugh loudly. Alec raises his head and looks at us.

"I liked your 'Mighty Moon-Goddess' thing so much," I add, taking Alec's hand and walking to the deity.

"Where is Selene? I could not find her? Did I hurt her?" I ask the Moon-Goddess.

"She is fine, Olivia. Don't worry." The Moon-Goddess kisses my forehead, then turns to my mate.

"Nice to finally meet Ares' human-half, Alexander," she says, kissing his forehead.

His mouth stays half open, and he says nothing. Instead, he looks at me and does not have to say a word for me to understand that he needs me to explain.

"We are where our wolves are when we live our lives in the world. Well, at least where Selene and Ares are," I explain to Alec.

"I'm not sure there are other wolves here," I add.

"Every wolf has a place like this. I like to call it 'the nest,'" Moon-Goddess says.

As both Alec and I stare at her for more details, she smiles.

"Did you ever wonder how your wolves knew when they finally met their mate?" she asks. We both shale our heads' no.'

"When a werewolf comes to life, their wolf appears in their parents' nest. Then, when their mate is born, a new nest appears for the oldest wolf and their newborn mate. Hence, the mated wolves can move from their parents' to their own nest until the human mates finally meet in your world.

"So, it's not only Ares and Selene. I thought they were special in this way," I say, rolling my eyes. As I do, the Moon-Goddess laughs.

"You can't be all special, Olivia," she says, and I pass my hand in my air, my cheeks slightly blushing.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Alec almost yells.

"How can you not be scared?" he keeps asking, as he turns to me, his face changing from mad to dumb-founded to angry again.

"Can one of you tell me what's going on for the... Well, for your sake," he adds, still yelling and pointing at Moon-Goddess.

"With all the respect I owe you," he adds, after realizing that he's been screaming the whole time.

"I've been here before. Well, a few days ago, in fact. And, Moon-Goddess told me some things about why I turned so lately. But, it's quite a long story, and I don't know if we've got enough time to talk about it all right now, Alec," I answer. Then, as Moon-Goddess shakes her head 'no,' I stop, and my eyes go to find Alec's ones.

He stays silent for a moment, then his gaze leaves mine to meet the Holy being standing before us.

"So Ares knew about Olivia's wolf all this time?" His face turns angry as he seems to realize that Ares has been hiding things from him.

"Ares had to protect Selene and Olivia. Don't be mad. That's one of the rules your wolves must respect: never mention their mate until their humans find each other. Some wolves don't love each other from the start, and their bond develops when their humans fall in love. What you feel for one another, except for the wild urges, has nothing to do with your wolves. But humans falling in love can help the wolves understand why I mated them. Imagine if a wolf influenced their human because they didn't appreciate their mate: that would be terrible," Moon-Goddess explains.

"Ares has always loved Selene. Their bond is stronger than anything, and he let you know he was against your affair with Amber. It took him much not to hurt you, Alexander. He did it to protect Selene until she came out. She was vulnerable. I have to confess I'm admirative of his self-control," she chuckles.

"His self-control? You still talk about this stubborn, grumpy wolf of mine?" Alec asks, her eyebrows rising.

"He's changed since you met me, right?" I say, putting my hand on Alec's face. He nods, staring at me.

"He was angry, Alexander. Imagine you were him and had to see your human form having sex with another woman instead of your mate. You probably would be pissed and grumpy," I say. Even if I try to sound nice, bitterness could be heard in my voice.

"Olivia... I'm sorry. I swear I've felt nothing like what I do for you with Amber. I should have waited, and I have no excuse. I was stupid an...," Alec says.

"Stop it, Alec. I was not here, but still, you sucked. Never suck like that ever again, or I promise I'll let Selene eat you," I say, quickly kissing his lips.

Apologies, love, and nervousness are mixing in his eyes. He stops looking at me after a few seconds, his gaze moving to the Moon-Goddess, who laughs again.

"I don't think Selene would eat you because she loves Ares too much, but I don't promise anything," she answers Alec's gaze, and he gulps.

"Anyway. I love chatting with you two, but Ares and Selene are almost done."

The Moon-Goddess sits on the ground and invites us to sit. I sit first. Alec places himself behind me so I can be between his legs, and he hugs me. I feel safe as he wraps his arms around my chest.

"Selene is ready to show her true form, Olivia. You must stop the attacks against you as soon as possible to wake up the gray wolves. There are bigger threats on you, and you will need the gray wolves to defeat the real enemy, Olivia," the Moon-Goddess, her voice turning grave.

"Can't another gray wolf deal with that?" Alexander asks. I move my head to look at him.

"You know about gray wolves?" I ask him.

"Well, I have eyes, Olivia. I saw Selene's fur was turning gray, and I know it's not common. I've met only two other werewolves with gray fur. My mother and my cousin's mate," he says, his voice colder than I've heard from him in the last weeks.

I stare at the Moon-Goddess, who nods at me.

"So Alec's mother was supposed to be... me?" I question.

"Changed of plans as the threat disappeared. She never turned into the Silver wolf," she answers.

"The silver wolf?" Alec questions.

"The gray wolves' Alpha. Selene. That's Olivia and Selene's task now to stop what is happening. You can stop it all, Olivia. I am sure about it. I trust you and Selene." Moon-Goddess moves to come closer and take my hands.

"You need the other gray wolves for that."

"There are other wolves like Olivia?" Alec cuts her off. She nods.

"That's a long story, but I can try to make it short. Olivia can give you more details later. I was the first gray wolf. As you can see, Cynthia was even the first silver wolf. I had a fight with my twin brother, and in order to try to resolve our divergence of opinions, I had to create more gray wolves. Unfortunately, his envy and rage survived the centuries, and from time to time, his faults turn to take over some wolves. From this day forth, some wolves are chosen to never turn: the female wolf of a pair of twins who would be born as the first one. Always hidden in a wolf pack and who awakens only if needed," she explains, her voice weakening by the end of her story.

"I'm sorry I had to stop some werewolves from meeting their wolf's part," she adds, almost whispering.

"How do I find them? How do I wake them?" I question.

I was not aware of Selene's presence until a few weeks ago. So how does Moon-Goddess genuinely expect me to have the answers? Can't she be more straightforward than that?

"You know who they are. The wolf-less females. You'll have to call them, their wolf's part, on the next Blood Moon," she says, her eyes being far too serious. I chuckle nervously.

"You're kidding, right?" I know she is not, but I need her to be a humorous one today, or that means that it's complete deep shit.

As her face stays desperately blank, I understand she is serious.

"I have six days to solve this mess? Seriously? No other more realistic option offered?" I sputter.

Alec takes my right hand and kisses it slowly. Then his head goes to my neck to kiss it, instantly calming me down.

"I don't think Olivia should become any kind of Alpha now. It's not safe for us," he says, his left hand instinctively moving to my belly. I put my hand on his, and as I stare at Moon-Goddess, she smiles at me.

"We need to do this to protect our babies, Alec. They won't stop until they get them," I say.

"Until they have her," I whisper.

I turn to face my mate, my eyes filling with tears. I put my head on his chest, moving his hand so it can be on my belly again.

"They want me because they know I'm a gray wolf, and I could bear new generations of gray wolves. If we don't stop this, they will do whatever they can to take our daughter and me. They will kill you as soon as they realize I'm pregnant with twins, and the next generation of gray wolves is already growing." I raise my hand to meet Alec's eyes.

"We can't let them take our babies away, Alec," I add, whispering.

"They won't take anyone away, Olivia. I promise you," he says, his thumbs on my cheek to dry the tears on my cheeks and his lips joining mine.

"What do we do?" he asks me.

I forget about everything except the two of us as our eyes meet again. It's like we are in our own world - our own nest.

"Do you trust me no matter what, Alec?" I ask him.

"Blindly, as we said before." That's all he says.

"Don't talk about our babies, not until that's done. Don't ask questions; we can't trust anyone for now. So we just play our part, as we've done until now. Only six days, and it will be done," I say.

"I trust you, little wolf. From life unto life and for always," he answers before kissing my lips.

"You have to come back to your human form. Ares and Selene are done with their business. Ares and Selene marked each other. It will be easier to find her if needed." She stares at me, then Alec, who looks as surprised as me.

"What do you mean, they marked each other?" he asks for me.

"Wolves and lycans can mark each other without their human forms' consent. The bond will be full when you two mark each other, but your wolves did for you as you can't. It won't be visible to the world, but you will be linked to one another. That's a temporary solution. Until you've found the traitors, it's safer if you don't mark each other. You know you must take off some masks to get your answers before you can do it," Moon-Goddess says.

"I trust you. I put all my hopes in you," Moon-Goddess says before I black out.

How am I supposed to solve all of this in six days?