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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

STONE

“Knock, knock,” I said, peering into Grandma Bee’s house through the screen door.

“Stoney,” she said, voice hoarse and slow. “Is that you?”

I watched her stand from the couch and hobble over, her back hunched. “Yes, it’s me.”

Once she unlocked the door and let me inside her house, Grandma slowly walked to the fridge and pulled it open with a shaky hand. After taking out two beers, she strolled back to the table covered with a plaid plastic tablecloth and fumbled with the tab.

“I’ll do that for you, Grandma,” I said, taking them from her and opening both.

Once she took a long gulp, she exhaled in relief. “Where’s Zuri? You need to bring her around more,” she said, waggling her finger at me. “I know how you alphas are, wanting to get your mates pregnant as quickly as possible. But you need to let that girl breathe.”

“She’s”—I paused—“talking to the Moon Goddess.”

“What?!” she exclaimed. “The Moon Goddess?”

“Yes. I’ve actually come to talk about the prophecy.”

Grandma Bee stiffened. “What prophecy?”

I arched my brow. “Grandma, you know what prophecy I’m talking about.”

“In my old age,” she said, gulping down more beer, “I don’t remember anything.”

But she wasn’t looking at me anymore, and that light expression had dropped from her face, replaced with guilt. She knew exactly what I was talking about, but for some reason, she didn’t want to talk about it.

“The prophecy that came to you a couple of years ago,” I clarified. “About this pack.”

She finished the beer in two more gulps, then headed to the fridge for a second. “Stoney, that prophecy was more like a dream to me. I barely remember it. It might not even be true.” She opened the fridge and stared into it. “Moon Goddess, I hope it’s not.”

“Why not?”

“Because … that’d mean that Zuri isn’t your mate. And?—”

“What do you mean?” I asked because this was the first time I was hearing this.

“The prophecy mentioned a goddess,” she finally said. “Not a werewolf who can wield magic. The alpha of this pack is supposed to be mated with someone who is much, much stronger than Zuri.” Another pause. “But Zuri makes you so happy. And I haven’t seen you this much at peace in decades.”

“You didn’t tell me this,” I whispered, my stomach turning.

While I wanted to believe in this prophecy because it would help us defeat Derrit, I couldn’t even fathom the thought of being with someone other than Zuri. She was my everything. The woman I would do anything for.

Even if it meant saving my pack, I would never reject her. Never give her up.

I refused to ever even think of another wolf the way that I thought about Zuri. She was mine forever, and we would have to find another way. Even if I lost everyone else … I would sacrifice the world in order to live and die with her as my mate.

“I wasn’t sure what I saw at the time,” she said. “But Zuri is an amazing girl, and I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to hurt you, Stoney. You love her.”

My hands balled into fists, and I shoved my chair back, the legs screeching against the wooden floorboards. Why hadn’t she told me about this? Why hadn’t she fucking told me? All this time … all this fucking time …

“Stoney, where are you going?” Grandma Bee asked.

“For a run.”

And with that, I pushed through the door and headed into the woods to clear my head. I shifted into my wolf, clothes tearing, and propelled myself through the forest to find Zuri. I needed to be with her right now.

I wouldn’t tell her about the prophecy. No fucking way. I didn’t want her to worry that I would leave her for someone else just so we could defeat Derrit. Fuck the prophecy. We would do it together.

When I spotted her rushing through the woods toward the pack house, I ran over to her and shifted into my human form in front of her. She widened her beautiful brown eyes and ran over to me, placing her head on my chest.

“Stone,” she breathed out, her fingers curling against my chest.

“I’ve been looking for you,” I hummed. “We need to talk.”

She gently shook her head. “I need to tell you something first.”

“What is it?” I asked, but when she dropped her head and a wave of fear rushed through our link, I scooped up her face into my hands and forced her to look at me. “What’s going on, Zuri? What did the Moon Goddess say?”

“She wasn’t the Moon Goddess,” Zuri whispered.

“What?” I growled, canines lengthening. My entire body stiffened, and a hundred thousand ways that I could kill that fucker Derrit played through my mind. “If he fucking hurt you, Zuri, then I’m going to?—”

She glanced up at me and furrowed her brow. “What’re you talking about?”

“Derrit.”

“That woman wasn’t Derrit either,” she said.

Anger slowly subsiding, I shook my head. What was she saying? If she wasn’t the Moon Goddess or Derrit, then who had she been talking to? Had she been lying to me? Was it even a woman? Maybe … I bit back another growl. No, she wouldn’t do that.

Zuri and I were mated. We both fucking felt the bond.

But as the moments passed without her saying anything, all I could think was the worst.

“Why don’t you want to tell me?” I whispered.

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you,” she said, lips quivering. “I’m scared.”

“About?”

After drawing her fingers up my tattooed arms, she set them on my shoulders and lifted her gaze to meet mine once more. Tears welled in her now-glowing golden eyes, threatening to spill over and down her cheeks. “I don’t want anything to happen to us.”

“Nothing will.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” she whispered.

“You think I’d tell anyone?”

“The Moon Goddess isn’t one entity, like you think she is, but instead, she is three sisters who rule by each other’s sides. One sister for mates. One sister for life and death. One for protection. I’ve been talking to Ifa, the sister of mates, who has bound me to you.”

“Three sisters?” I repeated, confused as hell.

There was no way that the Moon Goddess could be three sisters. We—my pack and every other pack—had prayed to a singular Moon Goddess since the beginning of time. Never had I heard of there being three sisters, even in myths.

“I know. I know …” she said. “I didn’t believe it either at first, but it’s true.”

“What about the other sisters? Have you met them?”

She paused. “Yes, the sister of life and death is named Shivani. I met her today.”

“And the third? Was she there?” I asked because we could really use her to protect all of us from the devil that was Derrit, my asshole brother who I had vowed to murder one day. I would do anything, strike any deal, to have her on our side.

“Yes,” my mate whispered.

“And?”

“And her name is Zuri.”