"The border won't be in your mind if you remember that you are someone's whole world here."

I stiffened.

"In the end, we all reach where we are always meant to be." She said, churning my stomach.

"What if someone who calls me his world, has been lying to me?" I asked while feeling my heart aching.

She stared at the sky. "I will not answer this question as to his sister. Because that won't make a difference. You can only believe again in him if he is able to prove himself wrong, Misty. I will answer as the guardian of this temple."

I wiped the corner of my eyes while looking at her restlessly.

My heart was beating so fast in suspense.

"I will only tell you what I saw with my own eyes and know, is true." She said while I sucked in a huge breathe.

Looking at me, she gave a serious look.

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The stubborn wind was running around through the corridors like a notorious child. The sound of thunder was shaking the walls. The lightening was harsh against the sky.

"Close the doors and the windows!" Lucine shouted loudly.

The red cloaks from here and there, hiding the cattle inside the hall room closer to the stable at the backyard. Some hid the pots of small plants and took them inside.

Walking down the biggest hall, she smiled slightly at the six red cloaks kneeled in front of the Goddess, praying for the weather to calm down.

Smelling her scent, they all turned their heads. The eldest of them, Tara got up with a nervous smile on her face.

"Why does it feel like someone is in pain, sister?" She said, her amber eyes shining like flames in the candlelight.

Lucine stared at her knowingly. "Someone must truly be in pain for this rain is one of sorrow and empathy, Tara."

"Are our loved ones in the downtown safe?" asked the younger sister.

Lucine nodded. "All of them are. Only the ones who aren't prepared for the deluge, are unsafe."

Tara's smile faded. "Must we utter a prayer for them," she suggested softly.

Lucine smiled in adoration as Tara turned around and kneeled again. Joining her hands, intertwining the fingers, she closed her eyes and started chanting the prayers.

Lucine's smile faded when the large gusts of wind passed the corridor, slapping against the red cloaks. The other five females stayed untouched while Tara's hood lowered down. Her long hair blew so wildly by the wind, her being unaware and lost in the prayers.

Lucine heaved a sigh and looked up at her Goddess's face. It was time.

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"What is so wrong with the falling off the hood?" I asked in blankness.

Lucine shook her head. "Nothing. The wrong was the way her hair was dancing with the wind coming from the storm outside the temple. They were long, shady, and flowy. In our world, a proud bonded female keeps her hair braided and up on the head. There is a difference between the way, the hair of a virgin, and of a window would blow by the wind."

My eyes widened slowly.

". . . Twenty-eight days later, the full moon appeared. The Mystic dancers brought the news of the sick health of their future Alpha," said Lucine, her voice sounding soft and stern, yet so shaky and painful.

I blinked in shock.

"That night a large deluge had overflowed the Northern River. Consequently, Hidden falls were over flowered too. Lycans in the downtown had moved to the northern side of the territory in advance. It is the highest area. The Mystics too had reached the mountains of their land to help for their future Alpha by performing the spells. While the. . ."

". . . the Eastern pack was unprepared?" I completed the sentence.

She nodded quietly, looking so grim.

Glancing at me, she smiled sadly. "It was a terrifying night. Even Severa was hidden in her cave that rainy night."

My heart dropped in sudden realization. Cave? What Cave?

But I didn't react. I couldn't let her know that she had a slip of a tongue unknowingly. I was sure, she didn't want me to know that.

"All the females went back to their rooms after collecting the things inside the temple and closing all the doors and windows. But Tara couldn't sleep. She was empathetic towards the people who had to be out on this rainy night. But it was something more than that. . ." She said, her voice going heavy.

"What was it?" I asked curiously.

Lucine smiled at the sky outside the window.

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Checking all the windows one by one, she kept walking through corridors. All the upper floors were checked. Only the ground floor was left.

Walking barefoot, she stepped down on the stairs with a thick candlelit inside a glassy holder.

The soft sobs echoed in the halls yet they weren't audible because of the loud thunder ringing outside.

Lucine's eyes narrowed just as she faced the large hall and stepped off the last stair. Walking slowly towards the red cloak kneeling in front of Severa's statue, she gasped loudly.

"Tara!" She whispered harshly while stomping towards her.

Kneeling on the floor beside her youngest sister, Lucine grabbed her shaking forearms. "What happened?"

Tara removed her hands from her face and looked at her sister.

Lucine's eyes widened.

Tara's bloodshot eyes signed everything. "He's gone. . ." She choked out while sobbing loudly.

"Who?" Lucine asked, her eyes turning glossy at seeing her sister writhing in pain.

Tara pushed her away and removed the red cloak. Pulling on her hair in pain, she laid on the floor, curling up in the extreme sorrow.

One by one, the sound of footsteps started echoing.

The loud screams and yells reached everyone's ears. The red cloaks gathered around the sisters in shock.

"He's gone. I can feel it here," screamed Tara while palming her heart. Her lips trembled and eyes looked blank. "My mate. His wolf is no more. He is gone. His wolf is gone."

Lucine gasped silently.

"Miggy died. I will die too. I can't live anymore. I want to die too. The Lycan female inside me is numb. She won't talk to me!" Tara screamed while pulling on her hair.

Noira and Alma ran towards her, trying to grab her writhing arms.

Tara fought hard. "Let me jump off the cliffs. Let me bathe in the sorrowful rain, sister. Let me reach the cave for I want to die like Severa!"

"Tara!" Lucine gasped while kneeling in front of her uncontrollable sister.

Noira and Alma were helped by Rosetta who grabbed Tara from behind to keep her immovable.

Lucine cupped her sister's cheeks. "What you feel is someone else's pain, Tara. It's not yours. Have faith in Severa. She will show you the way. If you ask for death, you are only betraying the love for your mate. We are supposed to wait endlessly if it had to be that way."

Tara let out a loud sob. "I don't have faith in Severa anymore. I want to die," she yelled angrily. "My mate is dying out there. I want to see him! I will just sit at the border, sister. Please let me go!"

Lucine flared her nostrils in confliction.

Tara stared at her pleadingly. "Please, sister. I love my mate. I feel the heart inside me shrinking by every blink. I want to bond with him. Let me go. His one gaze would heal us. I know, my one gaze would heal him. Let me go to the border!" She screeched uncontrollably, an angry growl escaped her.

"Tara!" Lucine scolded sternly. "Do not lose your mind when you know, this is what all our fates are like. You are not this weak. A female can survive solely without a mate."

"Miggy didn't, sister!" Tara cried while looking at her through the bloodshot amber eyes. "You can because you love your ambitions more than your mate. Because you know, your mate doesn't care. But mine does. Miggy's mate did. Not everyone is stonehearted like you. I have a heart that beats for someone else. I love him with all of my might. I pray for him. I lust for him. I live for him. But if he dies, then there is no purpose left for me in this world. The Lycan inside me has died."

All the red cloaks surrounding them gasped.

Lucine clenched her jaws. "Behave, Tara. This is not how a Severan would face her sorrow."

"True!" Tara screeched angrily in hurt. "I would rather fuck widowers than be here in the name of being dry and sour in heart! You face pain by finding something else good! Not by praying in front of a stone endlessly! Not like this! Not like this! I found no peace! I lost my peace! My freedom!"

Lucine flared her nostrils angrily. Tears escaping her eyes in pity. "This is no place for a whore. Throw her out!" She announced while nodding at Rosetta.

Noira and Alma widened their eyes and gasped loudly.

Tara sobbed heartily as Rosetta picked up by her hair.

Lucine turned around with a blank face and asked one of the red cloaks in the crowd to call the Alpha.

"Send the coyote for her brother Kingston!" She yelled while walking angrily towards stairs.

Tara watched her retreating back through tearful eyes while being pulled by her hair and dragged across the floor. Her screams echoed inside the temple, creating a heart-wrenching song aligned with rhythms of lightning and thunder outside.

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Chill ran down my spine.

Eyes were burning with hot tears.

I moved them slowly on Lucine who was staring blankly at the sky. Her back was still straight. The hood was on her head, placed neatly.

Could Willis be Tara's mate?

Her eyes squinted a little and turned back to normal. "Her mate wasn't dead yet. But his wolf had left the body. Tara couldn't feel the Lycan inside her too. She felt like an empty vessel."

"Is it possible for the mates to die at the same time?" I asked lowly.

She stared at the window blankly. "I am alive here in front of you," she answered slowly.

I gulped hard. "Did Kingston come that night?"

Lucine's stare at the window turned glassy.

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The bell on the gates of the temple rang loudly. All the red cloaks were aware of the Alpha's arrival. What they couldn't understand while lying on their beds with risen curiosity in their minds, was how a man, father of three pups could climb up the stone bridge.

The scent of a person could neither enter the temple nor go out of the one standing inside. Only the Severans who had reached the highest path of mysticism could foresee the Temple's visitors.

Walking barefoot on the cold floor with a candle in her hand, Lucine reached the biggest hall. Turning right towards the sound of the Temple's bell at the gates ringing loudly, she kept walking with a dead stare.

Shivers ran down her spine every time the iron handle hit the iron gate.

She sucked in a huge breathe while putting the candle inside a block of the wall. Walking ahead from there, she reached the gates.

Opening the huge bolt of the gates, she pulled the iron bar out of the large hoop.

Loud and harsh gusts of winds entered the temple along with sharp raindrops forcefully. The gates opened wide and Lucine walked outside.

Barefoot on the wet grass, she walked ahead and heard sobs.

Looking at her left, she saw Tara curled up against the stone pillar, drenched in rain. She shakily pointed towards the front, making Lucine look ahead.

Walking towards the beginning of the stone bridge, she looked down at the silhouette of someone standing there. She could make out the shape of a hood of a cloak.

Because of the rain, she couldn't smell any scent. The person was fully drenched. But she could hear the loud heartbeats. Of two beings.

Her eyes narrowed and she started walking down the bridge.

The lightning struck across the sky, displaying a pale face drenched in rain.

The woman had white orbs and a sharp nose with no piercing. The aura was too shaky to be of a Lycan.

"Who are you?" Lucine asked authoritatively.

The woman's lips trembled slightly. But the confidence on her face didn't go away.

"An outsider," said the mysterious woman in a velvety voice. "Someone who worships the little witch and respects Severa too."

Lucine clenched her jaws in interest. "What are you doing here?" She asked immediately.

The woman nodded slowly. "The Little Witch chose me of all the Mystics to change the course of the history," she said, her dark lashes framing the pale eyes eerily.

Lucine's heart shivered in uncertainty. "Your Little Witch is not our responsibility."

The mystic woman smiled, the talisman around her neck glowed white. "Yet you are surviving on the magic and spells, the Lycan learned from her." She taunted back calmly, her lips turning wet in the rain. "Severa's mother wasn't the first being to practice magic on this land, Lucine. Think deeply, it was the Lycan who betrayed the Little Witch only to fall in love with her afterward."

Lucine flared her nostrils in blankness.

The mysterious woman smirked slowly. "The night wasn't mine, the moon wasn't mine, the witch wasn't mine; but oh, how this fair if her fire isn't mine, her magic isn't mine, her clan of witches isn't mine, her sea isn't mine." She sang loudly, her voice being welcomed by the thunder to create an eerie symphony.

Lucine's eyes widened slowly. "The Little Witch will forever be the bride of the Mystic Warriors."

"Not by heart," said the mystic woman with a knowing smirk on her face. "Her heart longs to fulfill her love for him that he craves. A forbidden kind of love. It never gets interesting until it's sinful. Isn't it, Lucine?"

Lucine was stunned.

"The sea is here. The clan of witches is here. The magic is here. But her fire was still with her," the mystic explained and forwarded the covered basket in her hands. "This is her fire, that Moon Goddess couldn't bear that time being mixed with the Lycan's. Both committed notorious mistakes. Both played with each other for their packs' bright future. But the spark was lit. In the end, the notorious love won. Their souls, thirty from the centuries, are now at peace. Astonished. The forbidden fruit of that forbidden love is here, Lucine."

Her hands curled up in fists.

The mystic woman observed her reluctance. "I was just a vessel. The pot full of fertile soil for that seed to grow. Your brother was the sweetest ripe fruit I craved so easily. It had to be his seed. It had to be him, Lucine."

"You ruined his morale!" Lucine growled angrily. "You ruined his honor! I will kill you!"

The thunder rang hard across the sky.

The mystic woman smiled mysteriously. The pupils in her white orbs dilated. "Do not worry, Lucine. My journey is supposed to be till here only. Take the fruit and give it to your brother. The Little Witch is free and so is her Lycan. The history has been changed. Forbidden love will still be hidden. But it has won."

Lucine's eyes filled up with helpless tears.

"Do not cry, Severan. The fruit is as sweet and precious as the father. I have no role to play in their lives after this. I will not even be in their memories. I am a widow. I was just made for my mate. I have performed my duty," said the woman with a knowing smile. "I was the vessel. Not mother. A purpose has been fulfilled. The pup inherited nothing from me. Except for. . ."

Lucine stared at the basket in a woman's hands. Her own hands were shaking in horror.

She couldn't imagine what turn Karam's destiny was taking.

Immediately, two soft hands intruded as they removed the wooden lid from the basket. A loud happy gasp filled their ears.

The thunder rang across the sky when Lucine glanced down at the little basket of joy. The amber eyes caught her heart and she sniffled softly.

"Aww. . . What a beautiful pup! The miracle has come to us shredding the catastrophes right away. The comfort of this chaos. The peace," whispered Tara softly while picking up the pup wrapped in warm white fur from the basket. "Ah! You brought me peace. You tiny little Lycan."

Tara smiled at the pointed tears and observed the pup through tearful eyes. "Born tonight?" She asked while smiling widely at the woman.

The Mystic nodded with a warm smile. "Three hours ago that took me to reach here." She looked at Lucine and gave her an understanding nod. "Take this pup to the father, Lucine."

"What if I don't believe you the pup is his?" Lucine asked through gritted teeth.

The Mystic woman smiled at her. "Want to see?" She asked while slowly forwarding her one hand to touch Lucine's wrist.

The thunder turned louder. The lightning struck harsher.

Lucine stiffened and pushed her hand away, stepping back in horror. The glimpses we're unbearable. The growl came so loud, it made the mystic woman step back in the alert. Her canines protruded her jaws as she sneered angrily.

Lucine raised her hand slowly, showing the deadly claws. Her yellow eyes glowed red as her Lycan started to overpower. "Why now? Why now!" She growled loudly.

The mystic woman stepped back and gulped shakily.

A common widow couldn't straighten her back in front of an Alpha-blooded Lycan female for longer.

"Why you of all the mystic females? Why!" Lucine growled while taking the basket from her and passing it to Tara who cooed softly in the pup's ears, standing behind safely.

"As I said before, the fire was remaining. I was the vessel. A passer-by. I was the only one left of my family. My mate has no family too. No lineage and thus, a good choice. Your brother's mate will never have to worry about me. Your brother will have no responsibility for bringing his pup back to go mystics in my honor. I am no one." The woman said calmly. "My pack doesn't know this. The Little Witch told me to do so. Ask Severa. She must be aware."

Lucine stared at her in blankness.

The woman's nostrils flared in confidence as she said, "The more the pure bloodedness grows, the more the arrogance rises. The dilution of blood is necessary to keep the beings humble. Because no one is supreme but Moon Goddess. No one is less from the other. All are equal. Natural can become supernatural. Ordinary can become extraordinary. A common can become the Alpha too."

She added, "Scars don't lessen the beauty. They enhance it by glorifying the imperfections. A little insult doesn't lower down the everlasting greatness. A mistake doesn't define a man's demeanor."

"A mockery to my pack?" Lucine asked while raising her chin in pride and hurt.

The woman shook her head. "A lesson. History is giving all of us a chance to make things right. Take part in it, wisely."

Goosebumps risen on Lucine's arms while Tara covered the pup from rain and kept giggling at the sight.

The mystic woman looked at the young girl. "Let her visit the Mystic border. Don't hurt her like you hurt your twin sister. Our future Alpha comes often to the border to wait for one sight of her."

"Where did you stay all this time?" Lucine asked calmly.

The woman tilted her head slightly in amazement. "The Bare falls of this territory. I ate a few rabbits and some herbs. The border would have harmed me if I neared it with a Lycan in my womb. Here, I am paying for those rabbits and herbs of this land."

Lucine clenched her jaws and gulped hard. "Why my brother? Why him?"

The woman looked at her in the eyes and smirked. "Look at the cliffs, the healings herbs, the magical mist, the mystic clouds, the heavenly falls, Lucine. What holds this environment. What connects a visitor to this asylum. Without whom, a monk wouldn't have found the Nirvana. Without what, nature had been incomplete."

Lucine gulped hard. "A mountain."

"Against the storms, the rain, the thunder, the lightning," said the Mystic woman and smiled warmly. "Immovable and Hard. Take it all upon himself to protect the ones he is made for. A shield to protect the extraordinary."

Lucine nodded while walking ahead. "What has the pup inherited from you?"

The woman's face turned blank as she glanced at the pup. She looked back at her.

"A birthmark on the back. The pup is born from a mystic womb. Even if I have no bond with your brother, the pup deserves the safety from evil. Get a talisman for this pup by his father or the one he'd call mother."

Lucine nodded sincerely and clawed at the woman's throat abruptly.

The blood drops sprinkled over her face and quickly washed off by the aggressive rain.

Tara covered the pup with the lid and kept a little space for air.

The mystic woman stumbled back while holding her sliced throat when someone caught her hair from behind.

The large claws attacked the throat so deep, her head broke off the body and rolled down the cliff for wild insects to feed on.

Kingston glanced at the basket and sniffed hard. A large howl of celebration escaped his mouth to echo around the mountains the whole night. He accepted his brother's firstborn as a member of the pack.

His pack just grew.

"Give it to me," said Lucine while taking the basket from Tara. "Severa wants me to let my brother see his firstborn."

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