I awoke in a haze.

White smoke settled in the air around me, almost like I'd been placed in the center of a cloud. But I couldn't have been in a cloud. My feet were planted firmly on the ground, and I became hyper-aware of the sensation of sand beneath my toes.

My toes. I can wiggle my toes? I blinked down at my bare feet, planted firmly in moist sand. I commanded my ten digits to curl into the grain, and they obeyed. I had control over my body.... I had died, but I still had some semblance of control.

I blinked again, and sensation slowly returned to the rest of my body. The sound of running water reached my ears, like a mountain stream flowed calmly nearby. I lifted my gaze, aware of a soft white fabric that now hung loosely around my body, and my eyes simultaneously adjusted to the white haze that cloaked this strange world.

I was in a forest-- a forest not so different from the one that filled the Black Lupis Pack territory. The familiar scent of pine washed over me. Nolan?

I craned my neck in search of my mate-- the source of that delicious scent-- but, of course, Nolan wasn't here. I only saw row after row of evergreen trees. The trees closed around me, lining the little brook that trickled only paces away. I dared to take a step closer to the stream, dipping my toes into the icy cold water. A ray of sunshine somehow managed to evade the pine branches, warming my bare shoulders. Beautiful.

"So this is the afterlife?" I mused, not entirely sure if the words even left my lips. I felt disoriented, but also... peaceful.

"I hope you're not disappointed."

If I hadn't already been dead, my heart might have stopped beating. But this strange voice was gentle and warm, like its source was smiling down at me.

I spun around to catch a glimpse of the ethereal female voice, and a woman entered from the tree-line. She wore a shimmering gown of white, and her chestnut brown hair cascaded down her shoulders like the ripples of the stream below my feet. Her skin glowed with unearthly radiance. An angel sent to guide me through the afterlife, I decided.

I gaped at the woman for several long moments before my eyes fell to her chest, where a little bundle of white silk rested in her arms. Only then did I realize that she cradled an infant, swaddled in exquisite silk, against her breast, and I knew who had come to greet me. Not an angel, but...

"Sarah," I whispered, breathless. The smile on her lips grew, and I knew that I was correct.

"Charlotte," Nolan's first mate answered, and her voice was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard. She stepped closer, navigating the soft forest floor with ease.

"So I am dead, then?" I couldn't stop the shake in my voice.

Sarah nodded. "Was this not part of your plan?"

I shook my head. "It was, but..."

I trailed off. This had been part of the plan, but saying the words out loud made the situation real. I was dead. And if Angelina's resurrection spell didn't work...

Sarah seemed to understand my thoughts-- my worries-- and nodded. "It was very brave of you, Charlotte. You're a good Luna."

I might have blushed if blood still coursed through my veins. Instead, I lowered my gaze and shook my head. "I'm the reason the hybrids attacked us in the first place. I should have turned myself over to them before..."

Before Sophia. Before anyone lost their life fighting for me. I couldn't meet Sarah's eyes, not as guilt ripped my insides to shreds. Prophecy be damned, I was to blame for all of the death. Even if Angelina's spell worked, how could I return to the world of the living and face everyone? How could I justify my survival over anyone else's?

"There is no point in thinking like that," Sarah said, her voice a bit firmer than before. I imagined that she would have used that voice to discipline her and Nolan's children.

As if disgruntled by the edge lining her mother's voice, the infant in Sarah's arms stirred. She cooed, one little hand reaching up toward Sarah's cheek. The beautiful brunette immediately smiled down at her baby, blue eyes filled with the love that only a mother could give, and pressed a kiss to the child's forehead.

A lump formed in my throat, and I took a single step closer to the pair. "That is Nolan's daughter?"

Sarah looked up. Her smile did not falter as she nodded. No hint of sadness clouded her gaze. No regret that she'd been unable to raise her child beside her mate. "He always said that if we had a girl, he wanted to name her Lyla. After his mother."

The baby, Lyla, mewled in delight at the sound of her mother's voice. Sarah started to rock the child, back and forth, back and forth. An eternally bonded pair, both robbed of life too soon.

"Sarah, I-" my voice broke and my lower lip trembled. "I am so s-sorry. I never wanted-- I mean... you deserved so much b-better!"

"Oh Charlotte, don't cry for us," Sarah murmured, like a mother comforting her child. "I am so happy that Nolan has you. You are his true mate."

"W-what do you mean?" I whispered, voice thick with emotion. Salt leaked into the corners of my lips as I slowly shook my head. I'd heard her words, but I didn't understand them.

Sarah chuckled, repositioning baby Lyla in her arms. "When you die-- when you really die, you learn so much. There are so many prophecies, curses, destinies...It is difficult to comprehend it all, at first. But, eventually, you learn to accept it."

Her words were cryptic, so I waited silently for her to continue. She spoke again, "Centuries ago, when the witches first spoke of the prophecy--the one that declared that the Black Lupis Alpha's mate would end the hybrid reign of terror-- it was also known, written in the fabric of fate, that the Black Lupis Alpha would have a twin. The witches saw this as a gift from the Moon Goddess."

For the first time since I arrived, Sarah frowned as she continued. "Twins, especially Alpha twins, are naturally linked on a level far deeper than anything you or I could comprehend. They share many things in life, but each has his own mate. Except, the witches wanted the alphas, Nolan and Dominic, to share this too. And so they created a curse. A curse that allowed the Black Lupis Alpha not one, but two mates."

Realization dawned on me as Sarah spoke. The curse-- the one that Angelina had mentioned all those nights ago-- it forced Nolan to take two mates. One was his true mate. The other was Dominic's. An extra, just in case the first should fail.

"As twins, Nolan and Dominic are already so closely connected. They share the same experiences, same emotions..." Sarah sighed, "It was not difficult for the witches to connect this aspect of their life as well."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "The witches altered the Fate Mate bond?"

Sarah nodded. "And when Nolan finally took his place as Black Lupis Alpha, the curse snapped in place. When Nolan took his place as Alpha, he also took his twin brother's true mate."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't conjure any words. Everything was falling into place, but it also became more confounding with every passing second. This curse explained my connection to both Nolan and Dominic. It explained why I felt drawn to each brother. The ancient witches had manipulated fate to ensure that Nolan and Dominic could each have two mates. And when Nolan rose in power... The curse dictated that both Sarah and I would choose him.

Sarah watched me as the pieces slowly came together in my mind. Finally, a small, sad smile graced her lips again, and she finished her explanation. "I woke up in the Afterlife, and everything became clear. In death, the curse can no longer plague me. I love Nolan, dearly. But Dominic is my true Fate Mate. My only regret is that I didn't get to spend my time on earth with him."

I released a ragged breath and fell to my knees. Dominic was Sarah's true mate, which meant... Nolan. The love that I felt for him was not some cruel trick played to manipulate the laws of the universe-- the laws of fate. I was his, and he was mine. And no witch's curse could change that.

Kneeling on the edge of the mountain stream, I closed my eyes and searched deep within myself. If Sarah's words were true, the curse broke as soon as she died. Had it broken for me as well? I searched for the sliver of a bond that had always connected me to Dominic. The hint of a connection that drew me towards him, even when I wanted to be with Nolan most.

I thought of Dominic, of the rugged, mysterious rogue that had brought me to the edges of happiness and despair. After everything that we had experienced, I knew a part of me would always be connected to the man. But, when I scoured my heart and mind for that invisible thread that tied me to Dominic...

I couldn't find it.

Sobs shook my shoulders, and I buried my head in my hands. It felt like one thousand emotions surged through me at once: pain, guilt, relief, sadness, elation. It was too much to bear.

"Charlotte?" Sarah murmured, crouching by my side now. "Shhh, I understand how you feel."

She stroked my back with her free hand, while baby Lyla whimpered in her arms. I looked up, tears blurring my sight, and started hiccuping against speech. "I-It's a-a-all been a l-lie! It's not f-fair!"

"I know." Sarah pressed her forehead against mine, and I let her hold me.

When my breathing slowed and sobs no longer wracked my entire frame, Sarah dabbed at my wet cheeks with the silken fabric of her dress.

"Charlotte," she whispered, "it's time for you to go. You need to find the ring and return to your mate."

I didn't have enough energy to startle at the fact that I'd forgotten about the ring. Angelina had warned me not to linger in the Afterlife for too long, and I'd forgotten to find my tether to the damn ring.

I started sniffling again. "I-I don't know how to find the ring."

Sarah smiled at me once more. "Let me help you."

She wrapped her free arm around my shoulders and helped me up. Together, we entered the forest.