Dead Luna
Chapter 82

Leo's POV "Leo?" I hear Amelia calling my name, and I feel her caress my face, but I can't quite wake up. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Hang in there!"

I want to reach out to Amelia, but I can't move at all, and now that she has left I begin to feel cold. And become afraid that I will die before she comes back. Not because I'm afraid of death, but because I worry about her. I know the years ahead will be hard. And I really want to speak to her one last time.

My father has told me that if I die now, Amelia will never take another mate, but she will have twin boys. Lance and I will be reborn in 9 months time, and she will be our mother. I know Amelia desires to be a mother, so I'm excited for her as well as for Lance and I. We will be such a happy family!

Of course, I won't recall my previous life. And it'll be hard to grow up again without a father figure in my life. But this time I will have a brother, and I'm very excited about that.

I feel myself slipping away into nothingness. I guess this is it, then. I'm dying. I won't have a last chance to talk to my mate, and I'm sad about that.

I try to reach out into the abyss, but I'm surrounded by nothing, the absence of everything. There is no sound, except for my slow and steady heartbeat. Wait? I still have a heartbeat? Am I dead, or aren't I?

I open my eyes to replace myself lying on a comfortable blue velvet chaise lounge. I recall someone once telling me about this chaise lounge. Amelia. It feels like that was a long time ago. Or was it just yesterday? I'm not sure time has any meaning at all in this place. I look around in wonder at Selene's study, where she comes to view our lives within the books that are organized so neatly on her innumerable shelves, all our past, present, and future.

I see 2 Lycanthropes, an enormous and gorgeous brown female that is fast asleep near the foot of the couch Ambrosia. The other is pure black, and staring at me regally, with his pale yellow eyes. He is also enormous, and looks like a cross between a panther and a Lion. This one I don't think I've ever met, and thankfully I sense no threat from him, since he looks deadly, and not very friendly.

"Wow!"

I can sense that you are suitably impressed. You have very good taste for a human.

"I don't think I would taste good at all!"

The lycan rolls his eyes at me, and heads over to a beautifully carved wooden table where the moon goddess Selene sits in a blue velvet upholstered arm chair, looking through several books at once. She looks exactly how Amelia had described her. She absently pets the lycan on the head as he steps close.

"Give him some time, Frank!" She requests of the enormous beast. "Leonard is dying right now, and has a lot on his mind."

"I'm not dead yet?" I say out loud in surprise.

"There are choices to be made," the goddess says out loud, which confuses me even more. Is she talking to me, or someone else? What choices?

She beckons me to come over and look at the books she has before her. I see many things happening, but I don't know what any of this means. One book shows war, Amelia surrounded by death, destruction, and despair. Her father lies dead at her feet. Another book shows Amelia looking beautiful in a gown fit for a princess, but sad and pale as she enters into a mating ceremony for her and Prince William, while her parents look on.

"This is what the future may be. These are a snapshot of possible events in Amelia's life six months from the date of your death." The goddess informs me, handing yet another book to me, and I watch in horror as she slices deeply into her own arms with a knife, alone in an ornate bathroom.

"But I saw my father!" I explain, trying to make the goddess understand that none of this could happen. "He told me I would come back, Amelia would give birth to twin boys, and that Lance and I would be brothers. None of this can be right!"

"That is how it should have been, if Alexander had killed you and then left Amelia alone," The goddess explains, "But everyone has free will, which I cannot control. And King Alexander continues to thwart my plans. He was banned from the mating ball, yet he came anyway. And he will demand that Amelia and Juliette return with him to the Emerald pack. He will try to force his will on his daughter to take a chosen mate of his choosing, not hers. This could potentially start a war, or result in either an unhappy mate bond, or her death from suicide. And if the king should replace out she is pregnant by you, Leonard, he will most certainly make sure the pups are destroyed. If she can somehow escape her fathers clutches, and have the pups, she will be forced to hide them after she gives birth, never to see them again. There are so many possibilities, and none of them pleasant. None of them reflect what I wish for her."

The goddess shows me several more books, with all these horrible scenarios playing out within the pages, in none of them do I see a happy or smiling Amelia. I watch as she leaves her newborn pups on the border of some pack, kisses them both, then walks off leaving them without a backwards glance. Thankfully the pups are soon found by an omega female. I grieve for my mate that she would be forced to ever do something so drastic.

"I intended to reward Amelia for the work she has done for me," the goddess continues. "But Alexander has been causing too many problems. I must either punish him, or force him to save your life, if Amelia is to have the life and the mate she has chosen. Unfortunately, even if you are saved by Alexander, Lance can not be saved."

I'm very upset to hear that, and I go sit down again upon the chaise lounge to grieve for my wolf, my constant companion since I turned 16 years old. Life had been so lonely as a young boy until I had him.

"You said there were choices to make," I say after some time, having suddenly remembered her first words to me. "What are the choices?"

She beckons me to come over and look at the books she has before her. I see many things happening, but I don't know what any of this means. One book shows war, Amelia surrounded by death, destruction, and despair. Her father lies dead at her feet. Another book shows Amelia looking beautiful in a gown fit for a princess, but sad and pale as she enters into a mating ceremony for her and Prince William, while her parents look on.

"You can choose to die, and remain in the heavens for some time," the goddess tells me. "You could also choose to be reborn, along with Lance, and be raised together as foundlings. Or you can be saved by Alexander, and become his heir." "What?" I ask, not sure I heard that correctly. "His HEIR? I didn't even want to be an Alpha, and now suddenly I'd become a prince of the realm?"

"And then eventually, king."

I think if I were not in this strange room and far away from my actual body, I would be hyperventilating right now. I wonder if my heart rate monitor is right now going crazy back on earth? "You're not going to show me what my life would be like if I agree to go back and become a prince, are you?" I wonder out loud.

"Every decision one makes in their life causes a ripple effect that changes what happens next. The things you saw are only possibilities of what might happen. I cannot even guarantee that Alexander will try to save you, but I believe with the right threat, it is likely." I sit there for a while, thinking, while the goddess goes back to her books. She places them back on the shelves and grabs some new ones, taking them back to her table with the carvings of the moon phases on it, then sits down to peruse these ones. "Leonard, do you wish to see the present?" She asks me. I don't say anything, but I wander over at her prompting, and look over her shoulder.

I see myself in the hospital bed, as Amelia caresses my face, tells me she will be back soon, and leaves. She looks sad, uncertain whether she would see me alive again or not. Then Jackson takes her to her guest room, and while she showers, I see Jackson assembling all the clothes and things she will need, then he helps to transform her into a beautiful princess.

Then I watch proudly as she addresses the crowd like a leader, even thanking me and my pack for hosting. Then she is explaining how everyone will be able to replace their mates once the moon rises, and then announcing the mates for Alpha Craig and Alpha Derrick, and I watch envious as the happy couples meet each other for the first time.

Then I see that the king and the prince have arrived. Amelia immediately calls them out, then tells all the single wolves present that she wishes them all much happiness before she goes to confront her father and cousin in person. Then I become angry at what her father says.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go have some words with Alexander," the goddess says as she suddenly closes the book. "In the meantime, why dont you and Frankincense here get to know one another better?"

I turn to look at the Lycan in question, and when I turn back to tell Selene my choice, she is already gone.

"Your name is Frankincense?"

You can just call me Frank. Everyone else does.

Ok, then!