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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

ZURI

After walking away from Stone, I followed the aura of the Moon Goddess through the woods. About a quarter mile into the walk, the aura suddenly materialized, and the Moon Goddess stood at a river with another glowing being.

While both women were taller than average and one was about my height, the new woman stood a few inches shorter than us and was a bit more petite with delicate features and a soft smile. Her shoulder-length braids swayed in the breeze against her caramel-colored shoulders.

I slowed down to a cautious walk and glanced between the two. “What’s going on?”

The new woman arched her brow at the Moon Goddess. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Not yet,” the Moon Goddess said. “But it’s time we come clean.”

Standing elegantly with her fingers intertwined in front of her muted-toned dress, she glanced at the Moon Goddess and shook her head. “I should’ve known that you would keep it a secret from her for all these years,” she said, voice gentle.

And while she had only spoken a few words, I felt drawn to her, like I did with the Moon Goddess, like she had wisdom beyond anyone’s years and that if she said anything … I would believe it.

Heart racing, I stepped back and clenched my jaw. “What’s going on? Who are you?”

“We’re the Moon Goddess,” they said in unison.

Confusion coursed through my system, and I gazed at the original goddess that I had been seeing and talking to in my daydreams and regular dreams. “But I thought you were the Moon Goddess,” I whispered, unable to make sense of this all.

The other arched a brow at her. “What have you been telling her?”

“What?” The original Moon Goddess giggled. “It’s not a lie.”

After furrowing my brow, I gazed between them. “What’re you talking about?”

“The Moon Goddess isn’t one entity, like everyone thinks,” the new one said.

“There are three sisters of the moon, sweet child,” the original goddess said.

I crossed my arms and glared at her. “I’m not a child.”

The only people who were acting like children were the two goddesses—or whatever the hell they were—standing right in front of me and refusing to explain anything or give me the information that I actually needed to fight Derrit.

The ladies looked at each other and giggled behind their hands.

“Baby, you’re a child to us,” one said.

“We have four thousand years on you.”

Gritting my teeth and stopping myself from saying what I really wanted to say to the woman who had lied to me already, I cleared my throat. “If the Moon Goddess is three people, then where is the third?”

“Her spirit drifted away from us twenty-something years ago.”

“How?” I asked.

“Long story.” The other waved me off. “It will take an eternity to tell you about it.”

“So … why are there three sisters of the moon?” I asked, wanting as much information as they would give me.

Because once they left me alone for good, I didn’t want to talk to them ever again, especially if they weren’t going to give me any decent information.

They kept dancing around with their words.

“One sister to choose mates,” the original goddess said. “That’s me. Ifa.”

“Of course it is,” I mumbled under my breath, thinking about when she had forced me through heat so I would mate with Stone and then watched us do it. What kind of freak was she?! “I bet you control fertility too, don’t you?”

She smirked. “Actually, no.”

“I’m the sister of life and death,” the other said. “You can call me Shivani.”

“And the third?” I asked.

“The third is the protector of wolves, known for her strength and faith,” Ifa said.

There was a pause. I expected them to dive deeper into the protector, but they didn’t.

“So, do you want to know why people in your old pack didn’t like you?” Shivani said.

While I had asked myself that for years, being with Stone made me realize that I didn’t quite care anymore. I didn’t need to know why they had made fun of me for over two decades or why they had bullied me again and again.

“You know what?” I said defensively. “No, I don’t want to know.”

Ifa chuckled and threw her arm around my shoulders. “Of course you do.”

“No, I?—”

Before I could say another word, Shivani looped her arm around mine and pressed her forefinger to my lips to shush me. “Oh, sweetheart, it doesn’t matter if you want to know. You need to know now to understand what’s gone wrong.”

We walked along a path suddenly glowing with moonflowers through the woods. I swore that I had been on this path about a hundred times since moving in with Stone, and I had never seen a moonflower that glowed as brightly as they did now.

“The day you were conceived, your mother’s stomach began glowing white,” Shivani said, a small smile on her face. “The elders of your old pack thought that your mother and the child she was carrying were cursed by the devil.”

“Why is that funny?” I asked, eyeing her smile.

Ifa giggled. “It’s funny because we know the true meaning behind it.”

Shivani rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind her. She’s too excited that you’re here. We were supposed to wait until you had a child yourself before even talking to you, but as you can see, she couldn’t wait.”

“Why?” I asked, confused. “Why couldn’t you wait to talk to me?”

The sisters gazed at each other, both suddenly silent. A moment passed, then another.

“You can tell her, sister,” Shivani said. “Because I know you can’t wait.”

Ifa moved closer to me and grasped my hands, her lips curling into a smile. “After our sister died, her spirit was transported into the body of an unborn child.” She paused for another second. “And that child, Zuri, was you.”

My eyes widened. “That means …”

“That you’re a sister of the Moon Goddess. Zuri, the protector.”