Amanda's POV

The silence was overwhelming, James and I just stared at her in disbelief, I did not know what to say. Werewolves never believed in higher powers outside of the gods and goddesses that had created the world.

"Strange isn't it," Clara opened the door. All of our attention went to her, and she locked her eyes on me. "Remember," she told me and it all flooded back to me, my conversation with Clara in the courtyard after we rescued her.

I looked at her with betrayal, "Why did you make me forget? I could have protected her better,"

"What are you talking about?" James asked.

"Clara is one of the goddesses, making Shelby the second most powerful being in existence outside of the gods. She was raised to be a sacrifice to the devil in order to kill him and rid the world of evil. Her parents gave her aunt permission to put their daughter up against the devil risking her death,"

"I did not agree to the terms," Clara interrupted. "My mate agreed because it was risk her or give ours up. He told me that he knew she would be strong enough to handle it," Clara looked over to Shelby, "I wanted to protect you, I was willing to give up my life for you because the thought of losing you my love is terrifying,"

Shelby looked at the bed and played with the sheets, she was uncomfortable, it was not normal for her to be uncomfortable. Hell, the task of making Shelby uncomfortable took hours of humiliation alone. "Why did you leave me?" was the only question that she asked.

Her mother stood silent for a minute as if collecting her thoughts, "I was making you strong enough to take him on. My sister came to me telling me that you only had a matter of years until you would come to face your destiny. I was trying to protect my only child," Clara spoke.

"How long?" James asked.

"What?" Clara turned her attention to him.
"How long do we have until we fight?"

"It isn't we, she has to do this alone," Clara said turning to look at Shelby. "Please tell me you can do this,"
"I've gone face to face with him once before," Shelby started.

"What do you mean? When?" I asked.

"When I was staying at Trevor's, I would take walks around the perimeter at night. Almost like guard duty here, but it was not required of me to do so, it helped me to clear my head. One night while I was out on the south side, I encountered a man on the outside of the border. He introduced himself as John but told me that he had gone through many names throughout the ages. We sat and talked for a little bit, he made me feel uneasy and nervous. He was charming but in a dangerous way. I wanted to leave but it was like I was stuck to my seat, no matter how much I willed myself to leave it was like my body didn't want to. Then he said something I will never forget. 'Killing someone as innocent as you will be a conundrum for me, I don't want to hurt you, but you stand no chance against me,' he had a wicked grin on his face as he lunged forward. I defended myself well but I was useless against him, if the guards hadn't shown up I probably would be dead. He is strong," Shelby sighed. I could see a look in her eye that I knew meant she was up to trouble.

"Well with that as Shelby's nurse I have to ask everyone to leave, she needs her rest," I said. Everyone put up a fight except for shelby which meant she wanted to talk to me without prying ears. Eventually, I got everyone out the door, "I don't know what you are planning but no," I turned to her.

"It is the only way," She insisted. "You did not even hear my idea,"

"I know that look in your eye, it never ends good," I sighed. "What is your plan?"

"I need you to break my mate bond with James. I do not plan on surviving this fight, I can not. He is too strong, and I do not have the time to prepare, I will give him the fight of his life but when my life ends so does his. I need James to stay out of this,"

"You know I can not support this," I countered.

"I have a plan," Shelby comforted me. "Do not worry. I promise to save everyone," Shelby gave me her signature smile, but I had a feeling in my gut that when she said everyone, someone would get hurt.

"Ok, but not until you are off bed rest," I said and walked out of the room with a looming fear. I went to the employee lounge where I found my mother and father who were taking a break from patients.

"Hey kiddo, how is Shelby doing?" My dad greeted me.

"She is physically fine, but I am worried about her. I think that she is going to do something dangerous. I do not know how to help her, as her doctor there is nothing more I can do. As her friend, I want to tell her not to do it,"

"Honey, you know that when she makes up her mind there is no changing it," My mother tried to comfort me.

I sighed and sat down closing my eyes, giving myself a minute to think but I could feel my mind slipping from consciousness. I let the darkness consume me, feeling the pressure of my situation dissipate. In the darkness I saw a figure sitting by a fire, when I approached it, I noticed her signature curls. "How did you do this?" I asked who I thought was Shelby.

"I have had a lot of practice," The woman said turning around. "I know I was not who you were expecting, but it is time we meet. I'm Fate," She stood up.

I did not know what to say or how to act, but in my confusion, I took a step back. I observed her with caution, she looked just like Shelby, but her eyes were gold.

"I mean you no harm my child," She chuckled. "I wish we could have met differently, you deserved better. You were taken from me too soon," She reached up a hand to touch my face, when I flinched, I saw the hurt in her eyes. "You do not remember me, I am not surprised I left your life when you were a baby. I have always watched over you and blessed you with my gift,"

"Why did you?" I asked.

"Clara blessed her child, it made sense that I would bless mine," She looked me in the eye.

"What do you mean?" I was confused. Thomas and I had normal parents.

"Just what I said, you and Thomas are my children. To you my daughter, I gave the ability to change one's fate and to Thomas, I gave him strength and a good heart,"

"Our parents died in an attack when we were kids,"

"Yes, I did. However, I am a goddess, my worldly body was destroyed but I am not tied to that body. I can live forever like this, my body will recover slowly for now this is the only way I can talk to you,"

I took a moment to process that information before speaking again, "Why did you curse her?"

"It was not my choice; our father is obsessed with balance. I was hoping that my sister would take on the beast, then I could have helped. Stella would have too, we would have fought as a family but her mate was selfish. Now I can only delay the inevitable," Fate looked at the ground. "I can not delay it anymore,"

"Is she..." I could not finish the sentence.

"Yes, Shelby will die. I gave her as fair of a shot as I could, Stella helped too. When he gets there he will be in his weakest state, Shelby has one chance to kill him. She figured it out by herself too. Going to you to protect the pack by breaking her mate bond was an absolute genius, she would have made the perfect Luna,"

"Can't you do anything else?" I begged her.

"No, but you can. Those two witches in your school, the twins, will be the most important key to this. If they stay by your side, Shelby has a chance to live. If not her fate is sealed,"

"Why did you not show yourself until now?"

"I can only appear when the stars are aligned. Stella and Clara can do more because they are bound by the sun and the moon. Don't get me wrong I have great powers, but I can only walk on the earth a couple of months out of the year. I know that you think I cursed our family, but you have to know that I did not have a choice,"

"What can I do to save her?" I asked.

"Mandy," a voice called, and my vision started to fade and suddenly I was back in the doctor's lounge on the couch.

"Hey, are you ok?" Thomas asked and I suddenly paid attention to my surroundings to see Thomas, James, and Shelby looking at me with concern. Shelby held my eye contact longer as if she had something to say, but only to me.

"Yea, I am just tired," I lied.

"I can take you home," Both Shelby and Thomas offered at the same time.

"Thanks, but I have some patients left to take care of,"

"No, you don't. Go home and get some rest," My mother came into the room. "Take Shelby with you. Both of you need to get rest,"

"Yes mom," I said trying not to laugh at the smug look Shelby shot at Thomas.

"Be safe," James said giving Shelby a kiss on the cheek. Shelby smiled at him, but I could see the sorrow behind her smile.

"We will," Shelby said grabbing my arm and running out the doors to the parking lot.

"Wait, I don't have my..." Shelby cut me off by holding up my car keys with such pride. "When did you get them?"

"I took them when you were doing your examination earlier. I was planning on stealing your car and getting as far away as fast as possible," Shelby admitted.

"Why didn't you?"

"I can not run forever. If I did run, there would not be a home for me to come back to." Shelby opened the car door and got in the driver's side. The rest of the car ride was silent, I looked out the window thinking about my interaction with my birth mother. I felt guilty knowing that she was still alive while Thomas was still mourning her. I also knew that I could not break the bond of an Alpha mate, but I knew someone who could. I just did not know how to reach her. When we got to the house as we were walking up to the door I broke the silence.

"Do you know how to reach your aunt? The goddess of fate?" I took a long shot.

"Yea, why?"

"I need to talk to her,"

"Why?"
"Do you really think that I can break the mate bond of an Alpha pairing without fate on my side?" I responded trying not to give anything away.

"Fine," Shelby sounded skeptical but did not question it further. We walked into the house and Shelby got to work lighting candles and setting up an area in low lightroom. She closed the blinds and drew something on the wall that I could not make out in the low light. "Tell her I am sorry," Shelby said with sorrow in her eyes.

"For what?" I asked.

"She will know," Shelby walked out of the room without giving me any instructions. I went over and sat on the couch waiting patiently but I began to fall asleep. As I drifted off, I heard a lullaby pulling me further into my slumber. I found myself in a hallway with many pictures lining the walls.

"My child," Her voice called out from the cracked door at the end of the hallway. "You can not keep calling on me for help, but this time I do understand," She took a brief pause to collect her thoughts. "Is Shelby sure? If I break this bond, it will never come back. Breaking an Alpha bond pairing takes a lot of power and is always permanent," there was a gravity to her words that weighed me down.

"Shelby seems pretty sure. I can not speak for her, but from our talks, she knows what she is doing," I responded with what I thought was the best answer. Her blue eyes were piercing my soul and making me question my answer.

"Alright then," She responded.

"Couldn't you ask her yourself? She is your niece," I baited her.

"I have asked her myself; Shelby knows what she is getting into. I knew her decision months ago when she came to me,"

"Then why did you wait to actually break their bond?"

"I was hoping that if she felt the bond she would change her mind, fate does change when people change their minds. However, your cousin seems to have her mindset," She looked at me with sorrow in her eyes. "Tell her that it will be done in time and wish her luck for me. I truly do not wish to see her get hurt," She gave me a sorrow-filled smile.

With that, I woke up in the living room on the couch with a blanket over me and Shelby sitting in the corner asleep on a chair. I could not bring myself to wake her, but I had so many questions that I wanted to ask her. Did she know that we were related? How long had she known about breaking the mate bond? Did she hate my birth mother for doing this to her? How was she planning to do this all alone? Was she worried about being alone? Did she have to do it alone? How could I help her? Why was she being so secretive with everyone about what she was planning? I mean she was going face to face with the devil, is she going to be ok?

"Take a picture it will last longer," Shelby said causing me to jump a little bit.

"Are you going to be ok?" I asked her.

"Let's just focus on the time we have before, I don't want to waste a second," Shelby gave me her signature smile but I still had a pit in my stomach.