HUNTED

That voice was so angelic, Aila thought she might collapse from how sweet-sounding it was. Aila's body felt calm in her presence as though nothing in the world could hurt her. She kept her head bowed, not daring to look her in the eye, and she could tell from her aura alone of who she could be.

The woman giggled, the sound so beautiful, it made Aila blush. "You may lift your head, Aila Cross. I am Selene, Queen of night. Unfortunately, I can only speak to you briefly; my powers cannot hold off hypothermia from your body for too long."

Aila lifted her head and squinted at the Moon Goddess' dazzling light. She was such an ethereal being that it was impossible to look at her face directly. But from what she had seen, she was incredibly beautiful; it seemed like an insult to use such a basic word to describe her loveliness.

Tiny gold and silver stars twinkled among her hair that fell past her waist in waves as dark as the night sky. From what Aila had glimpsed at, her face was sculpted sharply, her full lips a rosy pink, and her eyes golden.. There were silver markings below her eyes, and when Aila squinted some more, she could see they were the moon's phases.

The beloved Moon Goddess, Selene, casually stood next to her, wearing her own silver robes covering her smooth milky skin. Aila gulped and looked down at her feet, still wondering how she was standing atop the lake's water and why she was there. Selene smiled, her hands folded together in front of her, the silver robe's sleeves covering her hands.

"I have been watching you, Aila. And I must say I have been impressed. You, out of all the Cross' have started to do the 'impossible' and worked together with the vampires in the name of helping all creatures. But that is not why I am here. I have always known you would lead the people into a new era, as you would say." Selene turned then and placed her hands on Aila's shoulders as she stared down into her eyes. Aila stopped squinting as the bright light dimmed, and she blinked in surprise.

"Aila, my child. You are of both werewolf and vampire descent, and your vampiric nature will awaken soon," She smiled sadly as Aila's body tensed at her words. "When it happens, you must remember who you are and where you come from. I cannot say anything more for fear of changing one's fate. But just know that power is not everything."

The Goddess' grip on her shoulders tightened as though she was trying to make Aila understand the gravity of what she was saying. But all Aila could think of was that she was going to be a vampire. "Are you telling me that you can see the future?" She asked stupidly. But she needed it confirmed otherwise; she wouldn't believe it, even if she was talking with the Moon Goddess, Queen of Night, like they were old friends reuniting.

Selene nodded, "I do. That is how mates are paired together."

"But, what about Amelia Cross? You paired a vampire like her and a werewolf together.." Aila asked in confusion. After listening to Gabriel's past and reading Davian's diary, she found herself utterly confused by that pairing. Amelia Cross only caused suffering and darkness to others.

Selene dropped her hands, her kind face saddening before Aila. "It was a miscalculation on my part. The vampires and werewolves were ready to go to war again. Over the centuries, their wars were causing more and more deaths to the humans, and civilian casualties kept rising. I believed that if I paired off a werewolf and vampire, it would close the gap between the two species. But the visions I had of Amelia kept changing. She was first presented to me as a kind woman, but I believe it was a corrupted vision sent to me by Gabriel's and Cassius' creator."

Aila shivered, thinking about Gabriel and Cassius' creator. There was an ominous feel from thinking of someone more powerful than the twins that created vampires. Selene smiled kindly again and looked down at the scar on her chest. "Do not fear what you will become, embrace it and control it. There you will find peace and help lead everyone into the future." The Goddess leaned forward and kissed Aila on her forehead. Warmth spread through her flowing down to her chest. The area where her scar was beginning to throb a dull pain that slowly diminished.

Aila looked down; her eyes bulged in shock as the scar faded away and fell off her like black dust into the water. In its place was another crescent moon below her mark, but this one was the opposite way and had a golden shadow behind it. "Thank you," Aila whispered with tears filling her eyes.

"Oh," Selene giggled, "they are bowing to me. So sweet. Now your pack knows you have been blessed by me."

Aila followed Selene's gaze and blinked back at the imagery reflecting in the water. Aila could see herself kneeling in the water, her hands on the ground, her head tilted up with water dripping down her face, washing away the animal blood. Her eyes lit up with a flawless golden glow.

"Goodbye, Aila. Heed my words well, child."

With those last words echoing through her mind, Aila fell forwards into the lake once more, and she re-emerged back into the state from where her body was positioned in the water, her eyes looking up at the sky. Aila gasped and sat back onto her feet in the water with a tear falling down her face. She looked down and saw the scar was replaced by the crescent of the Moon Goddess. She turned her head around and gasped at everyone bowing on the ground facing her. 

She was still filled with many questions from her brief interaction with the Moon Goddess, but she knew the answers only lay with Selene. Aila slowly stood up on shaky legs, pins and needles stabbing through her feet and calves. She fell forwards but grunted after feeling Damon's hands around her waist. He instantly picked her up, his arms under her back and knees, and let her head rest onto his chest.

He was so warm, like her personal heater, and so she clung to him, her shivering body relaxing in his hold and looked around at her pack members, who stared at her in awe.

Aila could hear their whispers again-

Strength of the white wolf,

Our Queen met the Queen of Night!

Blessed by the Moon Goddess herself!

Alpha Queen Aila Cross.

Luna, Queen.

"You really are something else," Damon murmured and kissed her forehead, "you should rest. You were in the water for quite some time."

But even as magnificent the occasion was, Aila's memory faded, and Selene's ethereal beauty and features faded away, and she forgot how she looked. Only the Moon Goddess' words lingered in her mind. It was inevitable that she would awaken her vampiric nature, and from how the Goddess spoke, she would have issues drinking blood, just like Davian.