CHAPTER 1

~~~ISABELLE’S POV~~~

I took a deep breath and stepped into the ruins of the old temple, all my senses alert.

The sun was starting to set on the horizon, and the sky was gradually darkening. As far as my ears and nose could tell, there wasn't a single soul in this part of the woods.

There couldn't be a more perfect time than this.

I carefully walked through the ruins, watching my steps in the debris. I continued until I reached the centre of the ruins, where the two pillars stood tall and proud.

Even though most of the ancient temple's structure had collapsed and withered away due to time and weather, the twin pillars remained standing. Had I come at dawn, I could have seen the sun rising through them in the east. That would have been beautiful to watch, but I saved that for another day.

The carvings on the pillars were clearer than ever, regardless of all the damage the rest of the structure had suffered. This always made me wonder about the materials used to erect the pillars. But tonight, my interests were somewhere else.

I was here for something more important, and I needed to focus on that.

I stood between the two pillars, facing the vast snow-topped mountains. I closed my eyes and took several more breaths to calm my body down and focus on my surroundings until I felt myself becoming one with the woods. I felt everything at that moment. The turn of the breeze, the rustle of the leaves, the gentle way they landed on the forest floor, and how the small animals moved around.

I stood there until I felt like an extension of the woods. It all felt so right in the moment. This was it. I started chanting the spells gently, lifting my hands and feeling the night breeze playing with my hair. I couldn't help but smile at that. It felt so good. I was starting to love it all too much until the breeze stopped flowing abruptly.

The woods around me fell silent, or everything froze- I couldn't decide. Everything had been put on pause, and the reason for that was an all-powerful presence that I felt behind me. I wanted to turn around and see it, but I couldn't bring myself to.

A shiver ran down my spine when I felt the presence approaching me. I swallowed hard.

"Is that you, Lyca?" I whispered, on the verge of shaking.

"Why did you summon me, my child?" Asked a voice. It was the sweetest and most soothing voice I had ever heard. It instantly put me at ease, but still, I didn't find the courage to turn around and look at her.

"Is... is this real? You are real?" I asked, unable to believe my ears that I was talking to a goddess.

"I'm as real as everything around us, now tell me, why did you summon me?" She urged, stopping behind me where I could feel her power surging through me with such intensity that it made me feel weak in my knees.

"Lyca..." I licked my lips, feeling anxious all of a sudden. I should've thought about this more but fuck it. I was here, and the goddess was waiting for me. I didn't feel like wasting her time. I needed to be upfront with her about what I wanted.

Otherwise, I was never going to get it.

After all, I knew well from childhood that closed mouths never got fed.

"I'm looking for a mate," I told her straight up and received a gentle, amused laugh from her.

"I could guess," I heard the smile in her voice.

"I'm done dating and waiting for my mate to come around. Most wolves find their mates before their twentieth birthday. Don't you think it's a bit too late for me?" I asked her.

"Six years late, to be precise," She agreed with a gentle smile. "Exactly..." I sighed. "I'm just tired of waiting. It's hard, especially when I see everyone around me paired up," I whispered, blinking tears stinging my eyes. I didn't want to think about my last boyfriend, Tobias. He was like me too… mateless, and I thought I would have him with me for a while until last year when I saw him with his mate.

In that moment, everything changed. He dumped me in the blink of an eye and disappeared with his new mate, leaving me alone again. I had tried my best to move on from that, but it had done the damage. After all, it wasn't the first time that had happened.

I had another boyfriend before Tobias. He was way older, but he was mateless. I thought he'd be great for me, but he went out without me one night and found his mate. Just like that and dumped me over a fucking text. It hurt badly then, but I was younger and thought I'd learn to live with it, until I met Tobias.

I should've thought it through. I should've been careful and known better, but no. It shattered me when I got dumped for the second time, especially after dating Tobias for almost five years. And now, here I was— mateless, clueless, and on the verge of becoming lifeless.

Since Tobias dumped me last year, I decided to be celibate and wait for my mate, but... it got too hard.

Too fucking lonely. I'm the only mateless person I know. And this time, I don’t have it in me to pull myself back again and find someone else, only to be dumped for the third time so fucking brutally.

If I get dumped the third time, then I'll lose it. So I ended up paying a witch heavily for a spell to summon the moon goddess, and now here I was, asking her for my mate.

"I know what you mean, my child, but everyone has their time," she assured me.

"When will mine come?" I asked her, impatiently. I didn't care how I sounded at that moment. I was desperate for a mate, just someone to cling to in this empty life of mine. I had no family and no friends. Only some associates that I worked with once in a while. It didn't help that my work was somewhat solitary.

I was done with this. I needed someone, or else I was going to lose myself.

"Soon," The moon goddess assured me.

"How soon?" I pressed.

"You'll find that out," She spoke. I didn't miss how she sounded uncertain about that herself. This almost made me turn around and look at her.

"Have you not found anyone for me yet?" I asked her.

"Is there anything particular you're looking for?"

She asked me after a pause. That uncertain tone remained in her voice. I tilted my head to the side, thinking.

"Actually, yes," I breathed, feeling excited.

"Then tell me, my child. What do you wish to have in your mate? I have made you wait long. I owe this to you," she urged, something dark in her voice. I licked my lips excitedly, ready with a long list. But I wish I had given it some more thought.

There's a reason why they say to be careful what you wish for. This was exactly it.