7 months later ~

Noelle's POV:

I stared at the necklace, before moving it to place it upon my neck.

My fingers shakily wrapped around the amulet, caressing the cold jewel.

Sighing, I started to think about how it was like when she was alive when the alpha from the pack ordered out in mind link, 'Warriors, get the pregnant she-wolves and pups into the warehouse! Quickly! We're being attacked by rogues!"

My wolf, Andrea started whimpering, urging me to help our mate who was a head warrior himself. She started whining about our pup, but I knew she was safe and sound in the warehouse already.

I was mated to a head warrior, who would have thought?

Drifting out of my thoughts, I focus at the task at hand.

Sitting up from our bed, I swallow the lump in my throat and sprint out the door. I was welcomed into a scene of chaos.

Rogues and my pack mates battled one another, the bloodshed splashing onto the grass.

On instinct, I jump into the air and shift, leaping onto a rogue and snapping her neck with my canines.

I went through rogues left and right, desperately trying to find Chance.

As I threw one of the last ones in a tree, a sharp jab to the heart almost made me double over in pain.

And then I finally found him, battling with the rogues leader.

Chance had a huge blade in his chest, one that was coated with wolf bane. Blood poured out at him, before he grabbed the rogue leaders head and snapped it, trying to detach it from his body.

The leader howled, gurgling in pain, the ripping sound of a body part echoing across the courtyard.

Chance finally pulled it from his body, staring at it for a good few seconds before tossing it onto the ground, not caring whatsoever.

And then he fell onto the ground with a thud, shifting back into his human form. His wounds were so much worse than in his wolf form.

I screamed, trying to run over to his side. My feet stumbling over the dead bodies of my pack members and the rogues.

Blood filled the air, enough to make me choke on it.

Arriving to his side, I laid Chances head onto my lap. Pleading for him to hang on, but scowled him not a second after, "Chance! You're such an idiot! How could you take on a rogue leader by yourself?!"

He weakly smiled, "As long as you and Odette are safe, nothing else matters..."

I shook my head, my body shaking, "I can't lose you too! Don't leave us! Our baby needs you! I need you!" I begged.

He blinked, trying to hold on, but it wasn't working. He wasn't healing fast enough, and was losing too much blood.

I ripped a huge piece of my shirt and pressed it to his chest, trying to stop the massive bleeding.

I cried, yelling out for help.

And then a thought hit me.

Erei's amulet.

I quickly took off the jewlery, my fingers fumbling. I grasped it tightly, wishing out loud for to to save him, heal him.

Anything.

It didn't do shit.

Chance was still bleeding out and dying in my arms.

I wished and I wished, but nothing happened.

Chance saw me frantically shouting the wishes, as he reached his bloodied hand and cupped my cheek. I tilted my head up, meeting his own sad eyes.

His eyes told me everything I needed to know.

I nodded once, holding him to me as I talked about how much we've been through together. How many struggles and hardships we've went through.

We've been happy for a long time.

And it was more than enough.

As I spoke and told him how much I loved him, a faint whisper of I love you too grazed me, before Chance stilled in my arms.

My eyes watered, "Chance...?"

No reply.

I collapsed onto his body, the last remains of my world leaving me.

Now all I have left was our daughter.

***

The next few days were a blur. There was the funeral for Chance, the head warrior, the pack cleaning, and more funerals.

My wolf, Andrea, practically died when the mate bond between Chance and I ripped apart, disappearing into nothingness.

More specificity, she didn't die.

She just lost the will to live, as I did.

I was drowning in my thoughts, while everyone else breathed. Sometimes ... I felt like some humans lived in a dream world where they survived on optimism.

It never works here though, because you know why?

In this world, you live or die. There's no romance to it, and certainly no illusion. Sometimes people fell in love with an illusion of something more.

A relationship has always and will forever remind me of water. You drink from it for a little while, and it quenches your thirst. It sustains you for all it can do.

But it doesn't last forever.

Water that stays too still or long becomes stale, toxic.

You need waves, waterfalls, rushing currents, and so much more.

When it came to the world of nature, there will always be the strongest that ruled the weak.

It's every man for himself, and here I am.

Without a mate, and no future.

There was no me without Chance.

I sighed, as a tug on my sleeve caused me to look up. There stood my little girl, Odette. She stared at me innocently, her eyes growing big and curious.

"Mommy... where's daddy?" She asked.

I sucked in a breath, forgetting to tell my daughter about her father's passing. What kind of mother am I? It had slipped my mind to even tell her.

Releasing a breath, I reached out for her, hugging her to me so that she wouldn't see my tears.

"Daddy is with the Moon goddess, sweet pea. He's in a better place. He fought bravely and served us great honor, Odette," I explained, sugar coating it as much as I could.

She grips my shirt, "Daddy isn't coming home anymore?" she asked.

I almost cried then and there.

"No, he isn't. Not anymore," I replied calmly as I could, squeezing her more tightly to my body.

She nods into my embrace, her voice muffled, "Are you crying, mommy?"

Odette felt my tears.

"No honey, these are tears of happiness. From now on, we only have each other. Be careful from now on, okay? You're all I have left," I whispered.

Not quite understanding what I'm saying, she only nods.

We sat there on Chance's and I's bed, wrapping ourselves for what used to be where he slept. It calmed my wolf, but I missed it. The warmth of his morning calls, his love and smile.

It will never be replaced.

Sighing once more, my phone suddenly rang. I slowly released Odette and reluctantly took the call, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Elle? I heard the news. Are you okay?!" The person screamed from the other line.

My heart fell out of my chest.

I haven't called her in years.

"Juliana... what a pleasant surprise. It's nice to hear you again," I say as formally as possible. My voice thick with emotion and restraint.

She sounded enthusiastic on the other line, blubbering out, "Yes! Oh my gosh, you sound so much older. Why haven't you been calling me? It's been almost two years since you last called."

I shut my eyes, blinking them once.

Twice.

"... My friend passed away. It was hard for me to take and I needed to grieve. I'm sorry for not calling sooner, life has gotten hectic since I have a child now," I gritted out.

She stayed silent, whispering and saying how sorry she felt for me.

Why would she say that?

Why apologize when you did nothing wrong?

"It's fine," I replied, depressed.

Juls became silent for a few more seconds, voicing sadly as she tried to return back to the original topic, "Your mate... the head warrior... he's-"

"With the moon goddess? Yes. I cannot say much, since my daughter is next to me," I explained, taking a sideways peek at her swinging her legs back and forth on Chance's and I's bed.

She sighs, "I know this isn't the time nor place, but the World Wide meeting for any high ranks is meeting tomorrow. It's sudden, but you're needed to be there since you're the head warriors mate. Officially, since he is gone, you take his place."

My mind started ticking, "I have to what?"

"Go to the world wide meeting. It's required every year. I'm sure you remember. I mean you are, well, were the head warriors mate," she said, trailing off, sounding bitchy.

I mentally rolled my eyes, no shit Sherlock.

"Alright, thanks for checking in on me. I assume I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes," was her only reply.

I was going to say my farewells when the phone call ended. It pissed me off even further, because the Juls I knew wasn't like that.

Maybe the Luna title fucked her mind set or killed her small brain cells.

I placed my phone gently on the table, starting to pack all the necessary belongings into a suitcase that I needed for the short trip. Glancing back at my daughter, I started packing for her as well.

It wouldn't hurt to bring her, right?

***

"I'm... going to die. I hate riding planes! These services these humans have are terrible! Especially when the police dragged off that poor man off the plane! He reserved a ticket for God's sake!" I complained, holding my daughter's hand.

The alpha and Luna chuckled, while the beta and gamma families laughed alongside them.

We were picking up our bags, and since the airport was where the humans stayed, we kept a low profile and did high security in who we really were.

When we picked up our bags, cars waited for us and picked us up.

We rode to the meeting, coming out in style.

There was an invisible force field, one where we made sure no one followed us as we stepped into it, hiding us from the real world.

As we entered the large building, all sorts of alphas, Luna's, betas, gammas, and even head warrior families were there.

They gathered, laughing and talking around a enormous round table.

The werewolf council suddenly filed in, and at last...

The World Wide Meeting has begun.

"That is stupid shit! Women can't rule packs! Especially this little girl here!" An alpha male named Nero snarled.

Another female wolf, titled Alpha River slammed her fist onto the table, "You better watch it little boy. I am not afraid to sink these pretty little claws to rip off your so called proud díck!"

They both growled, until the council men separated them.

"Enough! This is pointless. You're all acting like children! If you claim you're an adult, act like one! This is getting us nowhere!"

The two alphas sat down, glaring at one another before snapping another way.

I rolled my eyes, "You call this meeting almost twice a year. What are the news you wanted to update us on about?" I asked one of the council men, pausing as I started shooting daggers at the man who was being a sexist pig, "And you... get your head out of your ass and focus. You're ego is absolutely suffocating. Is that how you treat women? How will your mate think of this? Oh, wait... you don't have one."

He sat stunned, not wanting to say anything else.

The beta beside him started grumbling to me, "Your mate was probably a whipped cunt. He probably went down on his knees to eat your fishy kitty 24/7."

Oh, that's it.

My eyes flashed black, fangs enlarging as my alpha stood up from his chair in a hurry, I struggled, spatting out, "He wasn't whipped. In fact, he respected his woman. Maybe you should take a note or two on how to do that, some mate you are!"

He opened his mouth to resort, but I went faster.

"I will call Nero here an alpha when he deserves it! A title is earned, not given. And quite frankly, you two don't deserve shit!" I roared.

The whole room went silent, and I could see from the corner of my eye that someone stood up.

It was Juliana.

She asked my alpha if she could take me outside for a fresh of air, and I reluctantly accepted. The whole room became awkward if I stayed longer anyways.

Juliana walked us to the children's playroom, where all the high ranks pups played.

I scanned the room for my daughter, to see her play with another child. One that looked an exact replica of Juliana herself.

She even had Murphy's eyes.

Juls smiles at me, pulling me into the room and sitting me down by a table.

"I can see you've met my daughter, Iris. She's beautiful, isn't she?" She asked, her pearly white teeth showing.

I timidly nodded, studying my best friend from many years ago. It didn't make sense for the way she was acting, like a total different person.

Time can really change a person.

As I opened my mouth to ask what her problem was, a pitched squeak caused us to snap our heads to where my daughter was.

There was Iris, crying when Odette's little claws were sticking out, covered in her blood.

Odette had scratched her, leading her to bleed.

Oh my fucking god.

Juliana quickly acted, sprinting over to where Iris was crying and pulled her away from my little girl, Odette, who was shakily looking at her little claws.

I came over too, pulling my daughter closer to me.

"Odette, what were you doing?" I demanded softly.

She had tears pricking the edges of her eyes, "I... I don't know mommy. Iris broke my toy that daddy gave me before he went to heaven. I got very mad and I wasn't thinking!" She explained, pointing at the broken ballerina my mate bought her.

I was going to explain to Juls about the situation, but she wasn't having it.

She told her daughter to stay in the corner, as I did to mine to another.

Juls asked me to follow her, and I did. She went out to the hall and closed the door behind me. I followed her out to where the balcony was, the cool air blowing in.

Suddenly, she lashed out at me, "What the hell does your daughter think she's doing to my daughter?!"

I clenched my fists, trying to calmly explain to her, "It was an accident. Your daughter and my daughter were playing with their toys. Iris accidentally broke my Odette's toy, the last gift my mate gave her before he died."

She rolled her eyes, "Like I would believe that."

I leaned forward, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Look, I know your mate passed away and all and got killed by some rogue dick, boo hoo. I'm just trying to let you know that your daughter needs to stay away from my daughter."

I tried cutting in, but she didn't let me.

"What the hell were you thinking? Going to some foreign lands to look for your mate? You changed so much and look what happened. Your daughter attacked my daughter just because of some stupid toy that can be rep-"

"Shut up, Juliana!" I shouted.

She shut her mouth, not expecting it from me.

Through all my life, I've never spoken up to her, but I had have enough.

"If I have changed, so have you. I stuck by you because I thought we were friends, but friends don't treat each off like this. Sure, you were a two-faced bitch sometimes, but I didn't care. But if you're going to bring family into this... over some cut that your daughter probably healed by now since she's an alpha offspring... then you're losing some screws in that fucktarded brain you have there," I grumbled, empathizing each word with a pause.

She raised a hand, and suddenly slapped me.

"No wonder your mate died. The moon goddess probably saw how sick and ugly you are, and your mate is probably fucking some-"

My head that was whipped to the side snapped back, my arms lashing around her throat.

We struggled, pulling on each other's hairs as we growled and snarled with one another.

"Oh, and by the way, the sex with Murphy was amazing. Too bad you weren't paired up with him because you aren't worth-"

And then Erei's amulet glowed. The anger I kept inside, the sadness, the betrayal, everything unleashed from inside me and went into the amulet.

It suddenly grasped Juliana away from me and pushed her over the balcony.

Her screams were pitchy, until a loud splat echoed to my ears.

I froze, the amulet stopped glowing.

I slowly walked over to the edge of the railing, looking over to see her body pooling around the dark crimson blood.

And then I remembered Erei's words.

'That amulent can grant you three things. To erase ones memory, to represent your emotions, and to grant the host of the amulent any wish they desire. However, that wish is very limited. It cannot grant the beyond.'

The amulet had represented my emotions... making it kill Juliana.

What have I done?

My heart started pounding, the scenarios playing out in my head.

Not a moment after, an agonizing howl ripped through the building. It was full of pain, hopelessness, and desperation.

I sprinted towards the meeting room, seeing Murphy staggering.

He glared daggers at me, his eyes pitched black with anger. "You! You did this! She was just with you! Where the fuck is she?!"

I stuttered, and he stomped pass me, looking for the scent of fresh blood.

I followed after the rows and rows of high ranks that scattered after him, until they muttered and started pointing fingers.

They found her body.

Murphy snarled at me, "IT'S YOUR FAULT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING SL-"

I couldn't handle it anymore.

The amulet glowed once more, as I pleaded, "Erase the memories of everyone in this hall! Please! I wish for them to assume that Juliana Reed committed suicide and that we never existed!"

Everyone froze, their eyes blank.

I stepped back, stumbling.

The amulet glowing softly, in its process as I had made a wish and erased their memories. Just as Erei had told me of.

I opened the door to the playroom, the pups continued playing, unaware of the noise outside. The walls were sound proof, keeping the melody of the music boxes.

I peeked the door open just a bit, mind linking to my little pup, 'Sweetie, leave your corner and come out the door. We're going back to the hotel.'

Not a second later, her little head pops out with her broken ballerina toy in hand. I extend a hand to her and she takes it, and asks me what was going on.

I didn't answer her.

We needed to get away from here.

To disappear.

And it will start now.

***

Several more years later ~

"Mom, are you hungry?"

I moved my head to the side, seeing Odette come back with some bread and fruits. I weakly shook my head, "No ... eat ... it yourself," I replied.

Odette sat beside me, "... Mom, you're growing weaker. It's Dad isn't it? A wolf without her mate is catching up to you."

I nodded, swallowing the water she fed me.

My daughter has been working double shifts for the past year or so. Trying to take care of me since I could no longer work or move around for us.

My time was almost up.

And it was time for her to know everything.

Including the amulet.

***

"You're kidding... this amulet does those three things?" Odette mocked.

I smiled to the best of my abilities, "Yes, it does."

I had finished telling her the story from beginning to end, and that only increased her hatred for the Reeds. Our old friends, and now nemesis.

I coughed, my eyes starting to close.

Odette slipped the amulet into her pocket, quickly grasping my hand, "Mom, keep your eyes open! Please don't leave me. Erei left, Dad left, and now you. Please, don't do this."

I could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, falling onto my arms.

I tried my best to stay awake, but I was too weak.

I wanted my mate.

I wanted to feel alive again.

"I have so much to say to you, Odette. I'm sorry mommy can't be here any longer. Take care of  yourself. Do what must be done. I love you, and I am so blessed to have a daughter like you," I breathed, the light growing dimmer at each second.

The faint reply of, "I love you too, mommy," was the last thing I heard before the darkness enveloped me.

Soon enough a bright light greeted me.

I walked towards the end of the bright lighted hall, thinking I would see my daughter. Strangely, I couldn't find her anywhere. A figure stood in the distance, and as I got closer, it revealed someone I had longed to see for so many years.

My mate.

My love.

My life.

Chance.

I let out a cry of relief, running into his arms. His arms wrapped around me tightly, welcoming me into the afterlife. Saying how much he loved me and missed me.

I'm home again.