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Chapter 3 - THE GODDESS SPEAKS

Seren's POV

The light fades slowly, like someone is gradually turning down the sun.

Seren's eyes adjust by degrees. The ravine comes back into focus. The dirt beneath her. The sky above. The normal world reasserting itself around her. But nothing feels normal anymore. Her skin still tingles from the Goddess's touch. Her chest still burns where the rejection mark used to throb.

The Goddess is still there.

She sits beside Seren now, her form more solid than before but still made of something that isn't quite real. Her hair moves like water. Her skin glows faintly, casting soft silver light across the ravine walls. Up close, she looks both ancient and impossibly young at the same time. Like she's seen the entire history of the world and is still somehow just beginning.

"Listen carefully," the Goddess says, and her voice is different now. Less like thunder and more like someone actually trying to help. "There isn't much time before they arrive."

"Before who arrives?" Seren asks, but she already knows. She can still hear the howls echoing in her ears. Three of them. Getting closer.

The Goddess ignores the question. She places her hand over Seren's heart, and warmth spreads through her entire body. It's peaceful and terrifying all at once.

"Your wolf sleeps because she's too powerful to emerge safely," the Goddess explains. "If she woke while you were living a normal life with a normal mate, the power would destroy you both. It would tear everything apart. Do you understand?"

Seren shakes her head.

"Your bloodline carries the mark of the First Queens," the Goddess continues. "The ones who walked between worlds. The ones who could command even the most powerful Alphas with a single word. That power has skipped generations, hiding in your blood, waiting for the right moment to surface. The right moment is now."

"But I'm wolfless," Seren whispers. "Everyone knows. They tested me when I was younger. They said I would never shift."

The Goddess's smile is sad. "They tested you and found nothing because she was hiding too deep. Your wolf has been dormant since birth, waiting. Not because you're broken, but because you're stronger than any of them could ever imagine."

Seren wants to believe that. She wants so badly to believe that all those years of being called defective and weak and worthless were somehow wrong. But belief is dangerous. Belief is what got her hurt at the festival.

"Three mates," she says instead, testing the words in her mouth. They taste impossible. "That's insane. That's not how bonds work."

"Normal bonds work one way," the Goddess agrees. "But you're not normal. You never were. The three Alphas you're meant for aren't normal either. They're the most powerful males in the northern territories. They've built empires. Led armies. Commanded thousands of wolves."

"And they want me?" Seren laughs bitterly. "They don't even know me."

"They will soon," the Goddess says. "And they won't want you because you're beautiful or docile or easy to control. They'll want you because you're the only thing in this world powerful enough to match them. The only thing wild enough to stand beside them without being consumed by their dominance."

The Goddess stands, and her form becomes less human. For a moment, Seren sees something vast behind her eyes. Something that has existed since before time had names for itself.

"There was a Luna Queen before you," the Goddess says. "A thousand years ago. She united the entire northern continent under one rule. She bound with three Alphas, just as you will. Together, they created an era of peace that lasted for centuries."

"What happened to her?" Seren asks.

"The Alphas after them became jealous," the Goddess says quietly. "They feared her power. They feared what three united males could accomplish under her guidance. So they murdered her. They murdered all three of her mates. They murdered her children. They burned her legacy from history itself."

Seren's stomach twists. "Why would you choose me if that's what happened?"

"Because the world needs her again," the Goddess says. "Because the darkness is gathering at the edges of the northern territories. Because without a Luna Queen and three united Alphas, the wolf kingdoms will fall. The southern human armies will march north and take everything. Your people will be enslaved or destroyed."

The weight of that lands on Seren's shoulders like a physical thing. She's supposed to save the world. She's supposed to somehow become powerful enough to unite three rivals and hold back an invasion. She's supposed to prevent a war that she didn't even know existed.

She's supposed to do all of this while still learning what it means to be a person instead of a shame.

"I can't do this," Seren says. "I can't even shift. I can't command anyone. I'm nothing."

The Goddess reaches down and touches her forehead.

Suddenly, Seren can see things. She sees the northern territories spread out like a map beneath her eyes. She sees three massive wolf forms prowling through the forests. She sees their power rolling off them like heat waves. She sees the way they move, each one different from the others. One brutal and dark. One calculating and sharp. One wild and fierce.

She sees herself standing between them.

She sees herself commanding them with a voice that carries the weight of the Moon herself.

The vision fades, leaving Seren gasping.

"You are not nothing," the Goddess says. "You are a Luna Queen. You are destiny walking on two legs. And in three days, you're going to understand that completely."

"Three days?" Seren asks. "Why three days?"

"Because that's how long you have before the three Alphas find you," the Goddess says. "That's how long before the bonds snap into place. That's how long before your old life ends completely and your true life begins."

The Goddess's form starts to fade.

Seren reaches out instinctively. "Wait. Don't leave. I have more questions."

"I know," the Goddess says, and she's barely visible now. Just a shimmer of silver in the air. "But you need to learn to find the answers yourself. You need to trust your instincts. You need to understand that you don't need me anymore."

"Yes, I do. Please, I don't know how to do any of this."

The Goddess's voice becomes distant, like she's speaking from very far away. "You'll know when the time comes. You'll feel it in your bones. Your wolf will guide you even though she's sleeping. Let yourself be afraid. Let yourself be angry. Let yourself become whoever you need to be to survive the next few days."

"What about the Alphas? What if they reject me like Corbin did?"

The Goddess laughs, and the sound echoes across the ravine. "They won't. They can't. A Luna Queen bond isn't like a regular mate bond. It's older than the packs. Deeper than blood. The three Alphas could spend the rest of their lives fighting it and they would still be bound to you. They would still be yours."

And then she's gone.

The light vanishes completely. The warmth disappears. Seren is alone in the ravine with just the echo of the Goddess's voice still ringing in her ears.

She sits in the darkness for a long time, trying to process everything that just happened. A Luna Queen. Three mates. An invasion coming. The weight of the world resting on her shoulders.

It's too much.

It's impossible.

And yet.

Seren stands on shaking legs. She looks around the ravine. She's still wearing her simple gray dress. The rejection mark is gone but the echo of it remains on her skin. She's still the wolfless girl from Silvercrest Pack.

Except she's not.

Something inside her has changed. Something fundamental has shifted. She can feel it moving through her bloodstream. She can feel it pressing against her consciousness like something trying to wake up.

The first howl comes from the north.

Seren's heart stops.

Three more join it, creating a harmony of sound that makes every hair on her body stand on end. The howls are close now. Much closer than before. Getting closer with each passing second. They're hunting something.

They're hunting her.

Seren runs.

Not in panic this time. Not in despair. Something else is driving her now. Something wild and instinctive that isn't quite her but isn't quite her wolf either. It's something new. Something that wants to run toward the danger instead of away from it.

She crashes through the forest, branches tearing at her dress. The rejection mark on her chest burns again, but this time it feels like waking up. This time it feels like power.

Behind her, the howls get louder.

In front of her, between the trees, she catches the first glimpse of them.

Three massive wolf forms.

One black as midnight.

One golden as sunrise.

One red as blood.

And every instinct in her body screams the same thing.

Mine.

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