The silence had stilled the time for me to roam in the flashbacks she had described.

The soft gusts of wind caressed my cheeks keeping me refilled with freshness. My gaze was tired of looking up at the clouds. Now, it was resting at the table full of untouched food excluding the bowl of soup I had almost finished before she narrated those moments.

I felt sad for Tara. I felt sad for the pup. But I didn't know if I should feel sad for Karam and that mystic woman or not.

The heart in me was drowned in absolute suspense what could have happened. Two scenarios were occurring in my imagination. With consciousness or without consciousness, it might have happened. I knew that any of the both would hurt me to the core.

I was scared of the unknown truth.

"What happened between her and Karam?" I asked while gulping hard.

Lucine had a tear slipping from her eye which she wiped off her lash. "Even if I had known, I wouldn't have told you." She said, staring up at the clouds. "I told you what I saw with my own eyes. What I knew was the truth."

"She touched you and you saw something, " I said, recalling what she had said to me. I narrowed my eyes. "What were they doing?"

Lucine smiled slightly. "I only saw the beginning of the night. It was just a blink. Even if I had seen everything, why would some words from my mouth bring you peace? At the end of the day, someone who can revive your trust back on Karam is himself only, Misty. Therefore, it is his responsibility to show you the truth, not mine."

I looked away in disbelief and restlessness. A heavy breath escaped my mouth in frustration. I was dying in restlessness to know what exactly that mystic woman did to Karam. 

"Did Tara ever reach the borders?" I asked hopefully while raising my knees to shift my position. My ass was aching from sitting in the same position for so long.

"Ask Karam, " she said while looking at me. Her yellow orbs were so light and crystal. "He will tell you what happened to her after she was gone."

"Weren't you harsh on her? Rosetta has no right to any female like that when she knows what the suffering feels like. Is it so wrong to go to the borders and see your mate's face?" I asked while looking at her in frustration.

"The border attracts both sides and creates the illusion of a happy ending. In the end, the mates only burn in heartbreaks." She said, her face now holding the faint strictness. "Wasting a life like that is no good. Instead, devoting life for the welfare of pack and guiding other females like us, is a better path. Solidarity and peace help in survival."

I tilted my head and blinked in thought. "If lives are so precious for you, then why you let Tara go on some mere mention of lusting for men? It's not like she did it. She was just angry and in pain." I told her.

Lucine stayed quiet when I observed her blank yellow orbs focused on the window.

"I have heard things. I have been told that you and all the Severans insulted Tara, spat on her, and had hit her." I said while remembering Amelia's words. "Is it true?"

The Severan turned her to look in my eyes and pierce my soul. She didn't blink while saying, "Words are hints for our stars, Misty. When the words escape our mouth, Goddess hears them. The stars become aware of what we want, what we don't. The universe starts conspiring against our fates to make our wishes true. What if you said those words in a fun, absentmindedly or without thinking of the consequences. The words might have weight absentmindedly."

I blinked while clenching my jaws.

"She wanted to die. She wanted to be with other men rather than be here. The pain of being a widow had surpassed her sanity, " said Lucine while staring blankly at me. "She said some words that hurt Severa. Because all this time while being here, she was taken care of by her. She spilled water over all the teachings she learned here. She didn't deserve to live here anymore."

My nostrils flared while she smiled sadly. "No one touched her except for Rosetta. She was taken out. Later, she walked with Kingston and me, and Karam's firstborn, " she said while blinking rigorously. "To the village down there. To her home."

"I have heard, she took care of the pup," Lucine said while looking at me. "She used to stay in Kingston's home, in Kenny's room. But only to sleep at night. The rest of the day would go spending around the forests, taking care of the pup while his father would be away doing his work."

My lips parted.

"She survived one and a half years before leaving for the moon, " said Lucine, looking away to stare out of the window.

My heart was hurting at the thought of Tara's death. I couldn't help but wonder how much Lucine talked about saving females when in the end, she was unable to make her own sisters strong enough to face the pain of longing.

"She never saw her mate, " I said while looking at the window. "How could she feel that her mate was about to die? Why was the pain too much for her?"

Lucine blinked in blankness. "She was confirmed because the beast inside her had sensed the loss. She smelled her mate's scent. Like the Mystic woman told that he used to arrive at the borders to look for her. The more times the scent reaches, the more curiosity rises. The pain rises. The longing rises. The attraction rises."

I stiffened. So would Pete. He had smelled his mate too. Now, it was more than once.

My heart dropped at the sudden realization.

"The scent of our loved ones embrace us like their real forms in longing. Like madness, it warms our souls and raises our heartbeats. Just like Miggy, Tara could only smell him for once before staying in the temple, " said Lucine while sighing softly. "Maybe, twice if Tara had been taken to the borders later."

"How do you not know if she did or not?" I asked while glancing at her.

"The family doesn't like me enough to tell me, " said Lucine while looking at me sadly. "Severa doesn't show it to me to keep me sane. If she did, I would drown in the guilt of not being there for my sisters. I already am. But being here with Severa and the females, I manage to focus on my devotion rather than all extreme emotions."

My eyes turned glossy. "Does Severa ever tell you why the male pups die in our family?"

She didn't move. To my surprise, she smiled knowingly. As if she was delighted that I called the family 'ours'.

I blinked awkwardly.

"How would she know why Moon Goddess do so?" She said softly while closing her eyes. With straight back and calm expressions, she kept me sorted with her words. "Births and deaths are not in Severa's powers. Moon Goddess decides everything. Severa can contribute in a way to make things go right only if she is aware of the future."

She opened her eyes to give me a blank look. "If Kingston, Robin, and Salome don't have males, it is not because of Severa's wishes, " she said calmly. "If she had any interest in hurting the males of descendants of her brothers, she wouldn't have let Anton's pup take birth."

Larc

My lips parted. "She doesn't hate her brothers' descendants?"

Lucine smiled at me. "How can she hate the pups who had no role in the bad deeds of their fathers? No other pups have. The pups are innocent. They have no sins on their hand by entering this world. Who knows this better than you?"

I sucked in a long breath while looking away. My heart writhed in pain as I recalled all the times I yearned for the love of a father from Gilbert even before being brought into the werewolf world by Pete on his orders. Even after knowing that he wasn't my father.

Now, I could see myself as a desperate person who couldn't understand how awkward and disturbing it would be for Gilbert to accept me. To even offer a smile to me, would be heart-wrenching for him.

"But the pain of seeing an illegitimate pup of your mate holds the power to crush your soul." She said while looking at me blankly through glossy eyes. "To be disloyal to your mate knowingly is a choice. To commit to a sin. But what do you do when your mate didn't have a choice at all?"

I gulped hard.

She smiled sadly.

"Something good can surely be extracted from every bad situation, Misty." She said while observing my face. "If we do not extract that goodness from it, the bad situation happens to drown us in the pain and helplessness forever. The mourning kills. Truly does. Even time can't heal that kind of a pain to the core. Only your way of looking at it positively does."

I blinked while feeling my eyes burning. I gulped the lump in my throat while looking at the window.

Silence followed then.

Until I managed to ask, "Don't you feel self-pity sometimes that you never met your mate?"

She breathed calmly and let out a soft chuckle to my surprise. "No relation born from hate could last longer. My hatred never took birth. Thus, even if I didn't meet him, even when he was astonished before he could meet me——I didn't drown myself in self-pity. I don't. Because it is not his fault."

I looked at her.

She was looking around slowly. "But just like we are always told that after reaching the Moon, he is aware of the face he never bothered to see in his life here. He now knows that I was supposed to be his and he was supposed to be mine forever."

My lips parted in curiosity when she glanced at me.

I couldn't help but guess who could be her mate. Gus. Could it be Gus? Or someone older? Were there more of his age who came along with him here? I couldn't think of more men.

My eyes narrowed. He couldn't be Aslan too. Because well, he was alive. So who could it be?

What was happening to my memory? God! I needed to memorize the points.

She smiled softly while glancing at me. "Now when he knows this, he gives me hope. That soon after fulfilling my purpose, I would see him. Sometimes it feels like I can see him. As if I can feel his presence. In these walls, these floors, this roof, those curtains, that table, the food, " she chuckled while looking away.

"It feels like he is with me only, " she whispered quietly, calming herself down and holding the previous straight look while looking around. "I can feel him. See him. But Severa wouldn't tell me if this is true or not."

I was slightly amused. I felt sad but this was the first time I really saw the hidden lover in Lucine. When I had expected her to be vengeful and bitter towards her mate, she was just understanding and positive instead. It was refreshing.

She passed me a soft smile.

At least, she looked content like she had gotten a closure.

"You can see him?" I asked, making her look away in silence. "How does he look?"

She sucked in a breath and released heavily. "Like a miracle." She whispered quietly. "All anger of that longing of years is forgotten when I look at the face. The love blossoms. Care occurs. Fills me with sad happiness that this being had to be mine but it is not. A part of me. Of my soul."

She signed softly while shaking her head. "It could happen actually. If I look at it kindly."

I smiled to myself while observing her yellow orbs looking up at the clouds.

"Sad happiness," I repeated slowly. "That's beautiful. You are—"

The sudden sound of metal clanking occurred.

I halted my movements.

I waited for two seconds and opened my mouth to speak when I heard metal clanking again. This time I recognized it as a sound of thousands of anklets making sweet clanking noise. Music, actually.

My eyebrows furrowed and I looked at Lucine questioningly.

"Did you just hear—"

The sound of a drum being beaten loudly filled the building, reaching our room smoothly, yet jolting my heart. My mouth stayed open.

The clanking. The drum. The clanking. The drum.

Lucine looked at me slowly and passed a small smile. "It's time, " she whispered while glancing at the clouds that were darkening.

As if there would be no evening.

The afternoon was directly transforming into the night.

In the next second, the clanking and drum were together beaten to create such loud music and perfect rhythm. My heart danced with excitement and curiosity as I looked back towards the door of this room that was wide open.

"For what?" I asked hurriedly.

Lucine smiled at me. "For the Moon Goddess to show up in her full form from whom Severa will hide us."

"Can I go and see?" I asked while gasping when I heard the voices.

The girls were singing.

Lucine nodded with a tight sweet smile and looked ahead. "Do not hesitate if the rhythms in your heart rise enough to make you twirl, " she said actively. "Never let your shyness and pride discourage your devotion."

I wasted no time in getting up from the mat and leaving the blanket aside. Stomping towards the door, I felt my hood sliding. I kept my flowery crown stable with a hand.

Getting out of the room, I walked straight towards the stone railing while looking at the red curtain in fascination.

A slight terror escaped when my gaze didn't stop from moving upwards to her head still covered.

Along with the drums and anklets, I could now hear loud sweet sounds like that of the harps.

My eyes immediately fell down to see the red cloaks, nearly thirty to forty in numbers. A gasp left my mouth when I saw them filling the floor in front of what could be feet of Severa, with flowers one by one.

The beats kept filling the whole of the temple with some festivity while I wished to see everything from the close.

Looking at my right, I started walking towards the stairs that were some thirty steps away. Stepping down on the stairs with speed, I felt so enthusiastic to look over what was going on down there. When all of a sudden, I realized the pain for my boobs.

God, the running without bra had never been enjoyable for me.

My eyes widened along with my smile when I faced the ground floor. They had put big candle stands all around as tall as the height of a person with near fifties of candles placed on them each.

The last three cloaks to put the red flower in the statue's feet were now stepping back while my eyes caught the twenty other girls behind them on their left, facing me who were playing the instruments.

I hurried down the stairs while raising my skirt and nearly jumped at the last one.

Because the girls had started to make two rows and them. . . they started dancing.

My pace slowed down at the mesmerizing scene.

Because now the music sounded like the best live concert I had ever experienced.

The two cloaks in the front removed their hoods, and one by one, others did too in sync. They all clapped along with the beats of the drum who was being played by none other than Rosetta.

I reached the nearest to them and watched in fascination.

The two girls in front who might be in their late twenties transformed their claps into exotic dance steps. Slowly, all the pairs repeated that one by one so beautifully.

Noira and Alma came ahead dancing like angels with their long hair moving like ribbons of a ballerina. The spread of their skirt flowed beautifully when they twirled and did two jumps to sway like devoted followers of their Goddess with their faces showing nothing but beauty and peace.

Reveka came ahead with another girl, dancing in sync. For some reason, she had no smile on her face but just confidence as she glanced at the covered statue while dancing.

"Comes the night,
appears the Moon,
With bated breaths, I wait,
for my mate will come soon."

A smile curved my lips when I caught Emily coming at the front and doing the twirls so fast and perfect. She looked so tall and beautiful. I had missed her.

She was smiling and enjoying this.

My jaw dropped when Stella did high jump steps with some sincere expressions, singing along with the girls.

"Far from the sight,
Wherever he may hide,
Winds take my words to him,
Through the forests, dense and wide."

My gaze went to the girl who was shaking hundreds of anklets tired together to mix with the melody of the harp. Two girls were playing two citterns like instruments, with closed eyes, lost in hitting the strings.

Alma came in between while the four girls twirled around her. She sang the words beautifully with moist eyes.

"Through the jungles,
Over the rivers,
See if my howls of love,
give him shivers."

Stella clapped along with Reveka and Janine showed up too.

My lips parted as they raised their hands and danced in sync. Kneeled together and stood up spread their arms. Moving them like wings, they slid aside for the others to come.

The claps were beaten and with a gap, Rosetta would beat the drum. I hated her but the beats were amazing.

"Do not turn back,
Until you find him,
Strong be the gusts,
For you to bind him."

The girls made a circle and in the center Noira took her knee-length hair in her hands, twirling them around like a cowboy's rope. She swayed swiftly and stomped her feet along.

"Feel if he listens,
my voice he discovers,
My heartbeats match with his,
For no borders is between lovers."

Chill ran down my spine while goosebumps prickled the whole of my skin.

The circle broke and they danced together. Reveka jumped while twirling fast. She slowed down and swayed sensually. My eyes narrowed when I caught her moist eyes.

I felt a presence behind me and immediately glanced back.

Lucine was walking towards the statue with four cloaks following her. They had huge trays of flowers and red cloth in their hands.

I looked back at the girls to see Reveka's lips trembling.

My jaw dropped while she raised her arms and closed her eyes.

"I sing and he hears,
My pain. My fears.
The truth wouldn't be hidden,
Gone will be the barriers."

Emily came to the front to spread her arms. Behind her the girls made lines and moved like her, swaying to front and sideways.

"Comes the scent,
Appear his forms.
In my dreams, as the calm breeze,
As roaring storms."

Stella and Janine danced in sync with their hands on their waists.

"Far from this place,
Take me away to where he stays.
I pray and I pray,
In thousands of ways."

Two other girls danced before Alma clapped confidently.

"Through the mist,
Deaf to the Moon's orders,
Every night I come to you,
Breaking the borders."

Janine flared her nostrils while pointing back towards the long corridor leading to the entrance of this temple.

"My howls of pain,
My cries for the painful burns,
He listens and knows,
Only for him, my heart yearns."

Reveka wiped a tear that had slipped off from her eye. I guessed that only I could notice it because everyone was busy with tasks.

The girls raised hands while she sang heartily.

"Pass will the centuries,
From this longing, no one recovers,
Yet I will sing to the stars,
No barriers between the lovers."

Rosette started beating the drums faster as if the song was about to end. My gaze caught Lucine standing in the center to face Severa with her hands full of flowers. The four girls removed the iron horns from the loops and held the cloth while walking towards the dancing ones.

My mouth opened in disbelief as all of them raised their arms while twirling around.

Obsessed. Devoted. Dedicated.

"I dance in the hope,
We are bound by an invisible rope,
I sing for mercy,
We are the lovers who couldn't elope,
You are mine, I am yours,
The hope will never drop.
Will live a thousand lives in longing,
Loving you will never stop."

The harp and anklets halted being played and so were citterns. While Rosetta kept beating the drums.

Reveka and all the girls bowed while the last four girls walked towards the corridors.

"No moonlight shall reach us!
For she doesn't deserve our devotion;
A protest for the love we never met,
A little madness. A little commotion." Lucine yelled while raising her hands full of flowers.

"Close the gates!" She yelled loudly.

My stomach churned as the sounds of drums being beaten, iron gates being closed echoed around.

Shivers ran down my spine as we all watched the four girls pulling the hem of the cloth.

My eyes widened and mouth parted as the red curtain moved off Severa's face, showing up the sharp beautiful features carved out in a giant grey stone.

What brought chills to me was her eyes drawn as if she was looking towards the front in longing and faint anger.

Her hair was spread loose and till her feet so beautifully. It was enchanting.

While both of her arms were down and her fists opened yet curled slightly. Waves were carved out coming from her hands.

Where I had expected a plain dress, the statue's dress was carved out like it would have been the heaviest dress. There were so many pleats and furry scarfs hanging over her bosoms from behind her neck and under her hair.

Her fingers were long and beautiful. She looked so radiant and perfect. So breathtaking. So powerful with her sharp and painful gaze.

She looked scary.

A terror was forming at the back of my head and heart.

"Severa!" The females started chanting.

The drums were beaten. The gates closed properly. The harps and citterns were being played again.

Just like how the villagers including Karam and his family were chanting her name that day.

"Severa! Severa!" They kept speaking while I was stunned by everything that was happening.

Lucine threw the flowers at her feet enthusiastically and bowed her head.

All the females did and for some reason, I felt like doing it too.

Straightening back, I saw even the ones playing music taking two minutes' break to now with them.

"She is our support. She is our pathfinder for tonight and ever. Pray for the goodness. Pray for your mates. Pray for the loved ones, " said Lucine while kneeling in front of the statue.

The females followed her actions while I was standing all shocked and frozen.

"Pray for the ones who cannot hide from the wonders of Moon Goddess," Lucine said while looking up at Severa with knowing eyes.

Her eyes rolled and slowly I saw, all the girls closing their own and praying silently.

I gulped hard in terror and gasped silently when the loud gusts of winds passed the hall. All the candles were extinguished except for the stand that was right in front of the feet of Severa.

The thirty-some candles on it were creating much light for me to see Lucine's yellow orbs looking white.

Reveka's tears kept flowing while Emily looked content. Rosetta looked unmoving while Noira was patiently praying too.

Alma and Stella were bowing their heads more while praying. Janine was looking blankly at the statue with her head raised in blankness. Two other females dared to do the same.

I looked back at Severa's giant face that would directly be looking at Alpha Rucus' statue, meeting his eyes if I remove all the distance and barriers.

She looked scary as hell in darkness and the faint light of the candles.

The night had turned kind of fascinating to low-key frightening for me. I could feel it. The nerves. The vibe. I knew that I won't be able to sleep until I would be with Karam in his arms. I needed him.

What must he be doing? And all the villagers now that the full moon was out in display?

The answer was given by distant and very loud howls coming from outside of the temple.

______

"What do you think?"

Please vote and comment.

___

I hope, you all are great. I know it was quite late. But my exams will be next month for which I am studying continuously. Plus, the other tasks. So, it got rough to take out more hours for writing. I will try to give another update soon.

I love you all for the patience and concern and encouragement. For everything. It means a lot. My birthday was this month and under lockdown, it was just genuine wishes and meals for fun, not the party scenes and dress ups. But anyway, I feel great and motivated.

Share with me your thoughts about life in these past weeks. I Hope, everyone is cheerful.