Freya's POV
"I wonder what the last descendant of the Moon Goddess's blood tastes like."
The Immortal Alpha King, Nolan, said the words with an evil grin carved across his face.
At first, I could not focus on what he had just said. His hands were locked around my throat, fingers pressing deep as he choked the air from my lungs, each second making the act of breathing more painful. My vision blurred and my body strained uselessly against his strength.
But then his words settled.
And with them came memory.
Memories from the three times I had been killed by the same man. Memories dragged forth by that same line, always spoken in the final moments before he ended my life.
***
It had begun before I even knew what I was.
Before I learned, from his own lips, that I was the last descendant of the Moon Goddess. One of her bloodlines.
A "moon-born," as he had called us.
He had found me being bullied by pack mates.
Wolfless, weak and useless.
Those were the words the packmates liked best thrown at me. I had no strength to fight them, or a wolf to rise in my defense. Only bruises, torn clothing, and shame pressed into the ground beneath me.
When he appeared, I thought he had come to save me at first.
Like something out of the fairytale books I used to hide and read when I was a child.
He looked the part of an angelic prince charming, tall and radiant with a presence that commands silence without effort.
Only in my case, he was not a prince but a king. A charming king perhaps, but he was no angel.
He drew his sword as he approached, the blade catching the light as it slid free. I remember the foolish relief that bloomed in my chest. I thought he would drive my tormentors away. That he would stand between me and them. That he would protect me.
Instead, he knelt.
He lowered himself before my battered body, then tilted my chin upward with two fingers.
"I wonder," he said softly, "what the last descendant of the Moon Goddess blood tastes like."
My voice shook as I whispered, "Please help me, good sir."
He smiled.
He had no business looking that beautiful when he smiled so evilly, but he did. And while I was still stunned by his face, by the way my heart betrayed me and stuttered in my chest despite the terror flooding my veins, he plunged his sword deep into my stomach.
That was how I died the first time.
When I woke again, I was standing in the Moon Goddess's abode.
"I grant each of my descendants three wishes," she told me. "The only wishes you are forbidden from making are these. You cannot wish to be reborn. You cannot wish to become immortal. And you cannot wish for more wishes."
She paused, studying my face to ensure I understood the rules.
"When you are ready to make your wish," she said, "step into the circle."
I did not hesitate. I stepped into the circle at once.
"Aren't you going to think about what you truly want, child?" she had asked me in surprise.
"No," I said. "I know what I want."
"Very well. Speak it, and it will be done."
"When you send me back to my previous life," I began, "make me rich."
It was the first thing that came to me without doubt. If I was wolfless but wealthy, I would still be respected, like the Duke of the kingdom himself. No one would dare touch me. No one would dare mock me. I would no longer have to suffer in silence.
If anything, I would do the bullying.
"I just told you that you cannot wish to be reborn," the Moon Goddess had chastened.
"I do not believe I made a wish like that," I replied.
She stared at me, puzzled. I stared back, refusing to look away. The silence stretched until at last she spoke again.
"Very well," she said slowly. "Let us see if the circle agrees."
I looked down at the black circle etched into the floor, shaped like a crescent moon. Just in time, it flared green.
That was how I returned.
With no recollection of my previous life or recollection of my encounter with the moon goddess.
I thought I was going to live longer by being rich, only for me to be visited by the immortal Alpha King yet again.
And when he spoke those same words about being the last descendant of the Moon Goddess, just before he killed me once more, my memories returned in a violent rush of my first death and bargain with the Goddess.
Before I could do anything to help myself, it was too late. I was tied to my house and burnt to my death along with my possessions.
When I woke again in the Moon Goddess's abode, I did not waste time on pleasantries.
I stepped into the circle immediately.
"I wish for his head."
The circle flickered red.
"That wish is invalid," the Moon Goddess said calmly.
My jaw tightened. "Then I wish he does not kill me anymore."
The circle flickered red once more.
"Invalid."
I stepped out of the circle in frustration, my hands curling into fists at my sides.
"Why can I not wish for his doom?" I demanded.
"Because he is immortal," she replied.
I opened my mouth to wish for immortality as well, but stopped myself just in time. One of her rules rang clearly in my mind. I was forbidden from wishing for it.
"Then why," I asked, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it, "does he keep killing me?"
"I thought you would never ask," she said, laughing openly. "I assumed you would simply go back and die again."
I stared at her, stunned, wondering what part of my suffering amused her so greatly.
"He is immortal," she continued once her laughter subsided, "and he is the King of the kingdom. He despises our kind and wishes to be the only god humans bow to. Any trace of moon blood he discovers, he destroys immediately."
She paused before adding, almost as an afterthought, "Including newborns."
My stomach twisted. I cringed at the image, at the cruelty of a man who could slaughter infants without hesitation.
The moon goddess opened her mouth to say something but closed it back in hesitation. It made me curious on what next she was about to say.
And as she opened her mouth again to talk, I thought she wanted to tell me something more, something darker about him, instead she asked. "Why do you keep going back ?"
I had no answer.
I stood mute before her, unable to explain even to myself why I kept returning. If anyone should know, it should have been her. She was a goddess.
She looked at me expectantly, waiting for an answer I could not give.
So instead of speaking, I stepped back into the circle.
"When you send me back," I said, forcing the words out, "I hope I am strong enough to never trip, while my powerful wolf destroys everything in its path with just a growl."
She smiled at me.
I did not return it.
I looked down at the circle and released a breath I had not realized I was holding as it glowed green.
And that led me to this moment.
Staring into the Alpha King's crimson eyes as he smiled, while his hands tightened around my throat.
I had put up a good fight.
I growled, hoping the sound alone would destroy him. Instead, my growl forced him to shift. His wolf emerged larger than mine, towering and monstrous, capable of standing upright like a man.
That damn Goddess.
I could not help the bitter thought as my vision swam.
I had wished for a powerful wolf. So why did mine look so insignificant compared to his?
"Next time I see you," I stuttered, struggling for breath, "I will be the one who kills you."
For a moment, he looked stunned.
Hope flared briefly in my chest. I thought I had caught him off guard. I tried to summon another growl, to force it past my lips.
Before I could, he clamped his hand over my mouth, forcing the sound back down my throat. He smiled as he did it.
I felt my life slip away from me as my head exploded.