A huge thank you to Itsschaozz for the awesome new cover!!!

Before my very eyes, the forest seemed to stretch out and several cabins and huts came into view. I'd gotten so used to the huge buildings and castles in Aradia. It came as a welcome surprise to see these small intimate homes.

Moon people preferred to live in huts mainly. The type that had thatched roofs, and creepers crawling all over it. In a coven, the huts were usually close together. The only big building was usually the coven leaders house because that was where most meetings were held.

People began to emerge from the homes, curious to see the visitors. There were no one familiar in the crowd at first glance but I was still glad to see so many people like me. I looked so different from them now in my Aradian style dress. Moon witches dressed very differently, preferring two pieces dresses and sheer scarves. While Aradian women preferred fancy updos, moon witches preferred to leave their hair down or in a braided ponytail.

The crowd of murmuring moon people parted and an old woman came through. She was tall and thin with thick whitened hair that fell to her feet. She was covered in chalk marks and had several necklaces made of different types of crystals dangling from her neck.

The coven leader. She was a woman so she would be addressed as the coven mother.

As was tradition, I fell to my knees to be blessed by her.

She beamed in approval and drew an invisible 'O' which represented the full moon on my forehead.

" The Moon goddess who is good, bless you my child." The coven mother said.

" Her blessings which are good, I receive." I said and suddenly began to tear up. I hadn't received the blessings of the goddess in three years. I felt so out of touch with our traditions.

" I have been expecting you." She said surprising me. " What is your name, child?" The coven mother asked.

" Devenity, coven mother." I answered and then caught myself. I wasn't a part of this coven and so I had to address her as the coven leader. " I'm sorry, I know I'm not a part of this coven."

She smiled kindly at me.

" We are the survivor coven. Every of our brethen are a part of us."

I nodded feeling grateful. She turned her attention to Rhydian who stood a few feet away, watching quietly.

" Alpha." She said. " I thought I already gave you my answer."

" I'm not here for that Diana." Rhydian said and I cringed at his rudeness. Not only was he speaking rudely but he'd also called the coven mother by her name which wasn't allowed. " She wanted to see the coven."

" So, you still have moon people locked up in your dungeons?" The coven mother asked, her voice neutral.

" Yes." Rhydian said simply.

" Then why have you released her? Could the eastern barrier be a reason? Or the Red forest? Perhaps you have brought her here to sway my mind?"

" She doesn't know about any of that." Rhydian said, his voice clipped.

I had no idea what they were talking about.

" Um, coven mother, seven of us were released." I informed.

The coven mother nodded.

" It seems they are treating you well." She said and I nodded reluctantly. We were being treated well. She turned to the watching crowd. " We have a king in our midst again." She said to them. " And we will welcome him accordingly.

" There's no need for that." Rhydian said. " We won't be staying long, and I'm not yet king."

I turned sharply to face him. I didn't want to leave and I'd said so. He narrowed his eyes at me daring me to object. I sighed in defeat. I had no hopes of winning this and I didn't want to start an argument and look bad infront of these people.

" Very well, king." The coven mother said, stressing the king. " You and I both know Eryk Rivinlyte will not be coming back. Ever."

So he was dead. Then why hadn't he been buried?

" Coven mother?" I asked. " What did you mean by, you've been expecting me?"

She smiled and said,

" You and the Alpha king should come in. It speaks wrong of us to leave our guests standing here."

" Thank you, coven mother." I said.

" You must call me Mother Diana." She said.

I nodded and followed gladly. Rhydian followed but only after a long suffering sigh. He didn't seem in any way happy to be here.

As we moved towards the coven leaders house, I scanned the faces of the crowd again in vain hope. Deep down, I wasn't sure to find any familiar faces but I still looked.

The coven leaders house was made of wood. It was more long than big and was set in one of the biggest gardens I'd seen so far in the survivor coven lands.

The interior was simple and basic. Rugs replaced chairs, the ceilings were low and the wooden walls were covered in chalk markings in the ancient language. There were drawings on the walls too, depicting the story of how our goddess, Luna came into power.

I ran my fingers along the drawings in awe.

" I find it interesting," Mother Diana said. " that our goddess bears the same name as an Alphas mate."

I realized she was right. The moon goddess was named Luna. Her story was something evey moon child knew even before they could even talk.

The moon goddess had been just a normal human princess of a clan who worshipped the moon. Then, the Werewolves came hunting. Her people were near destroyed by them. This all happened a long long time ago when Werewolves were well known to feast on human flesh. Luna was imprisoned by the brute Alpha and every night, she would cry out to the moon to have mercy on her people.

After a year of this, the moon took note of the fact that she'd never missed one night and never wavered in her faith. So, it sent down showers of moon crystals, Ardenites which only her clan could harness and they became the moon people.

This was why we were so similar to humans without the crystals. We originated from them. Luna led her people to defeat the Werewolves and for many years, she ruled wise, powerful and good. When she was about to move on, her body and soul was taken by the moon and she was immortalized, becoming the spirit of the moon, residing in its bosom to watch over us and so we worshipped her as our deity.

" Why?" I asked, curious.

Mother Diana gave me the kind of smile only wise, old people could give and said,

" Who knows?"

Rhydian sighed deeply. He didn't look happy to be here one bit. The room we were in was small and he was just too big for it. He couldn't even stand completely straight because of the low ceiling and he had no idea what to do with himself.

" Please sit Alpha." Mother Diana said. Rhydian sat awkwardly on one of the rugs. I followed suite. Our eyes met briefly and I looked away.

A woman in came holding a tray of fruits. She bowed and placed them infront of us.

" When next you come," she whispered to me, " I will prepare a proper traditional meal for you."

I smiled gratefully.

" Thank you.' I said, although I doubted that I would be allowed to come back.

" Do you have a dress for the founding festival?" She asked. " It's only a week away."

" Kona," Mother Diana scolded looking intently at Rhydian. " We do not know if she or our other brethen in the castle will be allowed to attend." She said suggestively.

Rhydian took the hint and said gruffly.

" It will be extremely dangerous to hold a festival with all these Ogres and Orcs around." Our eyes met again. He was already looking at me intensely. I looked away, our argument fresh on my mind.

" But she can attend with the others."

My heart swelled with joy and I smiled at him. For a second, he looked surprised by my smile but then, his features softened and he smiled back.

" Alright Kona, leave us. Young Devenity does not have much time to spend here and we have much to discuss."

When Kona left, Mother Diana asked,

" How old are you Devenity?"

" Um, nineteen." I answered.

She nodded.

" You are quite young to be Queen Luna of Aradia." She said and Rhydian stiffened. Before he could talk though, she continued. " No need to deny it Alpha king. I can sense the mate bond between you two."

Mate bond? Between Rhydian and I? I sat up, my heart beating hard. I racked my brain to remember everything I knew about mate bonds.

The tie a werewolf has to his other half ...the other half of his soul.

My hand went to my chest slowly. I was the other half of ...Rhydians soul? I was so confused. Other than wanting to be around him all the time and wanting to well ...be taken by him, I could feel no mate bond. I had no wolf.

I hadn't even known that a non werewolf could be the soulmate of a wolf. How was this even possible.

I looked at Rhydian questioningly but he avoided my eyes and glared at Mother Diana.

" Why do you not acknowledge it?" She asked Rhydian. " she is not as fragile as you think." Mother Diana took my hand. " She is a moon witch. We are strong people able to power through even the worst situations and," she said. " the moon goddess blesses the union."

I was too shocked to say anything. The moon goddess? Blesses the relationship between Rhydian and I? Did she know what we'd been doing?

" You can tell your moon goddess to mind her fucking business." Rhydian said and I cringed at his rudeness.

Mother Diana didn't look smiled that wise smile at him then, she said to me,

" I have had certain visions, child. You were at the centre of it all and I knew that we would soon meet."

" Visions? Of what?" I asked, intrigued.

Mother Diana glanced at Rhydian, then she got up slowly.

" Come with me child, alone." She said, holding her hand out for me. I took her hand and got up.

Rhydian rushed to his feet, almost hitting his head on the ceiling.

" You're not taking her anywhere." He stated.

Mother Diana raised an eyebrow.

" You can relax, young king. No harm will come to her. She is my daughter now." She said but Rhydian remained tense.

" I said, you're not taking her anywhere." Rhydian repeated.

I looked at him, pleadingly.

" Rhydian no one is going to hurt me here."

" You don't fucking know that." He growled, grabbing my hand and pulling me to him. " I don't trust these people."

Nothing like stating the obvious.

" We will only be in the next room, Alpha king." Mother Diana said. I continued to look at him pleadingly and he finally gave in.

" Three minutes and if she's not out by then, I'm coming in."

Mother Diana nodded and led me out of the room.

As soon as I entered the room, my fingers began to tingle. There was a huge Ardenite, almost as big as my head, cut roughly into a round shape to represent the full moon. It was placed on a high table infront of a round window, among other crystals.

It was an alter made for the moon goddess.

There was a cauldron underneath some lit firewood. Sage scented candles lined all coners of the room. That along with the aroma from the cauldron laced the air with a heady and purifying scent.

" He is very possessive of you." Mother Diana said, well aware that Rhydian could clearly hear her from the other room.

" I have seen a future," she said suddenly, " where the moon people and the wolf people live in peace under the rule of an Alpha king and his witch Luna."

My eyes widened. She couldn't mean Rhydian and I. I couldn't be Queen Luna. How would I rule a kingdom, especially one as big as Aradia.

Her face darkened.

" I have also seen a future, where our people and the wolf people remain in hate and war under the rule of a bitter Alpha king." She glanced at the wall separating our room from the one Rhydian was in. " ...and other beings take advantage." She shook her head. " The future is not set in stone and after my visions, I am glad it is not."

She moved to the cauldron and poured some of its creamy liquid into a glass bowl.

" Maybe the goddess will give you a clearer view of what the future holds for our people. I am worried and she can be quite at times.

I fear for the remainder of our people. The Ogres, the Orcs , they show no mercy and we have lost so many of our few numbers in the past three years.

You might be the way to our survival, but I believe the moon goddess herself must guide you." She offered the bowl to me.

I realized what the liquid was. Futur. It was used by my people to force visions of the future in whoever drinks it. I'd seen my mother under its effects before. A persons reaction could be good or bad depending on what was being seen.

I accepted the bowl.

" Remember," Mother Diana said. " The future is never certain but hopefully, the goddess will show you something closer to its truth."

I nodded and drank the contents of the bowl. It was awfully sweet and burned my throat. That was the only effect it gave though. I waited for a few seconds for the visions to begin. Suddenly, the wall seemed to cave in and I gasped staggering back.

" Relax child." Mother Diana murmured, helping me lie on my back. She looked distorted and her words sounded far away.

The door was thrown open and I heard Rhydians angry voice.

" What the fuck is ...Deven!"

In a second, he was kneeling by my side.

" What the fuck did you do to her?" He demanded, sounding panicked.

" Nothing she can not handle, king and you would be wise to watch your language in this room."

I could barely hear them now as I slipped away.

" Deven?!"

I could feel him shaking me and then ...I felt nothing.