Diane's POV
I knew exactly who the woman was before me. Her long flowing ebony black hair, her skin as pale as the moon, her eyes that seemed to hold every color of the rainbow but to me there was a bit more of an amethyst purple to them. She was currently wearing a dress of moonlight with amethyst lace that had a hint of red, it went well with the purple iris flowers and baby red roses that were styled into her hair.
"Lady Luna, the Moon Goddess, Mother Moon to all wolves... I am deeply honored to be in your presence." I finally manage to speak as I feel my face become warm with a blush because I realize that I've been staring at her this entire time.
"Please, there are no need for formalities between family members. Come let me have a good look at you my daughter." She tells me, her voice feels like the soft caress of a warm evening breeze against one's skin.
"I thought Clarion was my mother?" I comment in confusion as I stand before her, allowing her to turn me about slowly so that she can inspect me to her heart's content.
"She is. I am more like a Great Grandmother... by several centuries." She informs me and I blanch at the fact that I am related distantly to this ethereal being, "I'm glad that you were finally able to get here though. I was beginning to worry that my wolf line had come to very tragic end."
"It almost did." I tell her and she stops inspecting me in order to stare into my eyes like she did and did not know what I meant.
"Wilma... she's always been a difficult one." She sighs sadly as she takes my hand and places it in her elbow as she guides me out of the small meadow clearing and into the trees that surrounded us, "I'll get ahold of the Crone for you and set up an emergency meeting with the Heads of the other Lunar Bloodlines. This is not something that should have happened and it won't happen ever again... I forbid my family from fighting each other like that."
"I just feel bad for my parents and my mate." I reply to her oath and she looks at me with a questioning gaze, "My parents lives were destroyed because of a distant witch relative and now my mate has to deal with my damaged self."
"You are not as damaged as you seem to think. You're strong, you always have been... you're just letting your fear of what happened and the fear of what could happen be chains that keep you from really accepting everything that you deserve... from accepting the happiness that I wish to bless upon you and so much more." She corrects me like she's gently scolding me as she taps my nose gently, "As for your parents, don't feel bad for them. They wouldn't want you to waste time mourning what happened to them like this... isn't that right Clarion, Marcus?"
I looked past the Moon Goddess to see the couple that had joined us from a different part of the trees. They looked as old as the days they died, but their energy reminded me of how they used to be before Wilma had brought her magic into our lives.
"My moonbeam." My mother says with tears in her eyes, a smile upon her lips and her arms open wide like she used to do when I would run to her for hugs when I was little.
I couldn't help running to her now, tears in my own eyes as I hugged her tightly, yet laughter spilled from my lips as I enjoyed the warm embrace that I had missed so much. My father stood back behind my mother by several steps, shame rolled off of him in waves, but when I slowly approached him with my mother's hand in mine he finally looked me in the eye.
"I'm so sorry... our little moonbeam. You're so much strong than the both of us." He tells me as tears stream down his face, his voice breaking a little as he spoke to me.
"I forgive you." I tell him, shock taking over his face completely as I smiled at him gently, "You're both free now... you're free Daddy."
I closed the distance between us, hugging him tightly as he sobbed into my hair than waving happily to them as they left the Moon Goddess and I to walk by ourselves again. I felt a huge weight had been lifted, and I had a feeling that that had been one of the Moon Goddess's goals for when we had come across their path. Taking my hand in hers, she guided me out of the trees into a different clearing, this one had a lake in it, and we came to stand on the sand with our feet getting splashed by the gentle waves that came up to meet us.
"You're going to have a much different life now." She tells me after a moment, "There are several branches to our family, there is a vast number in each branch and vows that each branch made have gotten lost over time... have become broken. I would like to ask you for your help in order to fix this, starting with Wilma's case."
"You want me to find members like me? The ones who have gotten lost, yet have not been found again." I conclude for her, "While also mending the bridges between each of the different families."
"The palace that was used as the rogue head quarters is actually the Royal Palace for the Lunardi-Wolfe clan... my wolf descendants. It's technically your home and the heart of the werewolf community." She tells me softly.
"It will be my home once again and I'm sure my mate will be more than happy to help rebuild our community with me." I tell her as I pause in my steps as I look to her with wide eyes, "My mate... I need to get back to Andrew!"
"Then allow me to personally escort you back to him." The Moon Goddess gives a little giggle at my frantic expression.
I simply smile at her before taking her hand as she led me back toward the trees where a door stood at the edge of them, lit up by a soft glow and I couldn't help but feel pure excitement course through me as I thought about being in my mate's arms again.
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Andrew's POV
I kept wracking my brain as I tried to figure out what had happened to my mate. One moment she had been standing before me, staring at something on the desk, placing something on her head and then said what sounded like her name... then vanishing in a blinding flash of light. I couldn't smell her, couldn't hear her. Even Wilma was shocked by what she had seen.
"Where is she?" I growled at the witch in my anger.
She just started shaking her head silently, fear covering her face as she looked at me... and then she bolted. Diane wasn't here to command her to do anything, and if she was out of hearing she wouldn't be able to follow any of my commands either. I chanced after her, the others following behind at various paces, until we were all outside of the abandoned palace trying to catch Wilma as she made her way toward the trees. Trees that now glowed with an energy as an archway appeared magically. The door opened and a woman of raven black hair, translucent eyes and skin as white as the moon stepped through. Wilma slid to a stop, a look of horror upon her face as she looked upon the woman in despair even as the woman sighed at her before turn her gaze away from her in a meaningful gesture.
"Wilma... you disappoint." She murmurs in a heavily sadden voice before turning to the rest of us, "I'm sorry for the confusion and the fright. I bring back your Princess... although, as there is no one currently in the position due to a certain witchy descendant of mine. I give you, your new Queen!"
The woman tugged on the hand of a young woman that she had been holding onto, and I actually had to do a double take to make sure that I was seeing her correctly. Diane stood before me but she wasn't in the same condition she was in when she had disappeared in the flash of light. The circlet sat gently on her head, her Auburn hair was styled so that it was woven around the circlet and she wore a dress that seemed to come straight out of a human fairytale. Her skin was flawless, completely healed of the injuries that she had had before, and her eyes shown bright as her gaze fixed upon me... never wavering as the woman who had brought her back nudged her forward.
"Diane?" I couldn't help the surprise in my voice.
"Andrew." She smiled so brightly at me, without hesitation, as she even came running from the other young woman's side in order to jump up, and wrap her arms around my neck tightly as she hugged me to her.
I wrapped my arms around her tightly, the sparks felt a million times stronger than before. I took in her strawberries and cream like scent, my wolf calming down completely before getting riled up in a different way. Before I could get my questions out of my mouth, however, Diane's mouth descended on my own. She was kissing me and I was more than happy to just let her. After what felt like hours, we finally broke apart and that's when I noticed that the woman with the raven colored hair was still present, still looking in our direction but this time she had a very amused and happily smug expression upon her face.
"Diane... who is she?" I asked as I pulled her closer to me while also a little further away from the woman I didn't know.
"It's alright Andrew." Diane giggles softly as she uses her hand to gently turn my gaze toward her, "I want you to meet my ancestor... Mother Moon herself."
To say I was shocked was an understatement. I looked from Diane to the woman, then back to Diane... they did have some similarities in their facial features, but the Moon Goddess herself? I immediately scolded myself. Diane has never lied to me in the past and I doubt very much that she was lying to me now. If Diane claimed that she was a direct descendant of the Moon Goddess, then she was.
"Good, I'd hate to have to prove the blood connection." The woman seems to reply to my thoughts and I look back at her with wide eyes.
"I'll get the castle back in order for the Lunar Crone's visit." I can hear Diane tell the woman, who nods before smiling at all of us again and then disappearing in a flash of light, archway and all.
"I hope you'll catch me up on the majority of what just happened." I say as I look down, still mesmerized by how my mate looked as she smiled back up at me.
"I'll answer all of your questions, I promise." She smiles even more brightly as she turns to face me completely, "But first, I would love it if you could do something for me."
"Anything." I tell her without any hesitation as I look into her blue-green eyes.
"Will you mark me?"