I didn't know where I was running to until I was already there. I collapsed just in front of the hidden entrance to the temple, pulling on it desperately before climbing down wildly. I stumbled as I tore through the passageway, knocking over preserves of food, and pushed forward anyway.

I ran into the temple, straight towards the stage before the row of pews, and turned blindly. I couldn't see her. I lifted my hands to my head in a panic, my chest rising and falling before I cried out.

"Cynthia!" I yelled, feeling like I had run out of time completely. I forgot about keeping quiet. I couldn't think of anything beyond my panic. "Cynthia!"

I felt her hand on my shoulder before I saw her and turned blindly to bury myself into her arms without even taking a moment to glance at her. It was similar to how I would do my own mother in my most desperate of times. I felt her hand stroking my hair down to my back and over again as I stood shaking in her grasp.

"I can't stop it," I finally said, shaking my head back and forth.

"You can," She answered softly.

"I can't. I've seen it. Even now, after everything, he's going to kill them all," I lifted my head, looking into those dark sable eyes that were wise with knowledge I couldn't dream of gaining. She grasped my face in her hands delicately, peering at me adoringly as though I were her own child. It comforted me.

"You have to be patient, Mila. The Hunter's Moon is still months away," She reminded me easily, patting my face before grasping my shoulders and rubbing them gently.

"It's so close," I denied her logic, the anxiety biting at my soul fearfully. "I won't be able to stop it. I can't."

"You can," Cynthia continued to argue against me warmly. "And if you can't, then so be it. This cycle will end and perhaps a new one will begin, don't you think?" I was struck by her words, as though she had heard Diana speaking to me just a few hours before in the lake. I was also struck by how, despite her past seemingly desperate pleas for me to help the werewolves and humankind, she suddenly didn't seem so bothered by my own ideas of failure.

"I don't want this cycle to end," I frowned unhappily, much calmer now in her presence than before. I turned to look around briefly, noticing the cool emptiness of the temple, as though she hadn't expected me at all. "You didn't know I was coming?"

"I was speaking to the Crone," Cynthia admitted simply, lowering her hands from my shoulder to her sides. Something seemed off about her, but I couldn't pinpoint it.

"When you say speaking..." I hesitated, remembering Diana and I calling to the Crone in the night. Was it different for oracle wolves? Could they hear directly from the Goddess themselves? I wasn't an oracle wolf myself. I had lied about it to protect Cynthia since the beginning, even though I did see visions... but maybe that had been a onetime thing. I didn't ever hear any Goddess speaking directly to me.

"Yes, she was speaking to me through a vision," Cynthia continued, a little hesitant as though she hadn't wanted to tell me this. "About things that may come to pass and things that may not... it's a bit too soon to discern the meaning, so it's nothing for you to worry about now. Are you feeling better?"

I inspected myself slowly. I didn't feel the panic as I had before, but the worry was still there. The pressure was heavy on my shoulders and I wasn't sure I could succeed. However, the warmth of Cynthia's arms had been enough to ease some of it so that I felt sane again. I relaxed further with a sigh.

"I think so," I answered finally.

"Don't lose faith in yourself, Mila. The Goddesses are with you always. Nothing you do will disappoint them. Nothing." She told me firmly with conviction. I nodded mutely, swallowing heavily under her words.

"Can I stay here a little longer?" I asked reproachfully.

Cynthia reached for me once more, brushing her finger over my cheek softly before lowering it again.

"You must go now. He's waiting for you," Cynthia gestured towards the distance. I hesitated, turning towards the general direction she'd indicated and reaching within me to feel for Roman. He was still blocking me; probably waiting in his home for me to return and explain myself.

I turned back to her. "I'll come see you again," I promised, "Soon."

"I'll be waiting for your return," She answered with her own promise.

I walked slowly back towards the hidden exit, a reluctance dragging my feet below me. I both wanted to remain in the comforts of Cynthia's presence and also avoid having to face Roman, but I wouldn't be allowed either reprieve.

As I reached for the ladder, looking up to open the exit, I realized it was still open from my previous panic. Beyond this, lights flickered strangely, which I'd never been greeted with when leaving the temple before. I hesitated, but then climbed up to the surface bravely.

I lifted myself to stand before the secret doorway and Roman was there, his arms crossed as he waited for me. I stiffened before him, a dread flooding me at the cold expression upon his face. I couldn't feel him, even now as he stood so close in front of me.

He wasn't the only one here. Beta Caleb stood just in the distance and others not far from him, all of them holding torches in their grasps as though they had been searching for me. I recognized some of the wolves from the King's Corner... messengers of other packs or perhaps Alpha's as well. My eyes didn't linger on them for more than a second; drawn back to Roman's form as though he were a magnetic force on his own.

"Who else is in there?" Roman asked me, his voice even and steely.

"No one," I answered quickly. Even now, I would protect Cynthia.

"Who else is in there?" He repeated dangerously.

"No one else is in there. I was...," I hesitated to come up with an excuse as to why I'd just come from the abandoned temple. "I was speaking to the Crone." I echoed Cynthia's words, uncertain if this was the correct answer or not.

"Speaking. To the Crone." Roman repeated my words and a hint of his anger sparked between us. "And what did the Crone tell you, Milena? What did you ask of her?" I was confused by his anger, even if I couldn't completely feel it.

"You don't trust me?" I asked, a splash of pain coating my heart quite suddenly.

"What did the Crone tell you?" Roman ignored my own question.

"She told me of... things that may come to pass... and things that may not," I flinched when he took a sharp step towards me, tensing further before him.

"Typical oracle nonsense," He said with venom before raising his voice. "Burn it."

"What?" I replied with confusion, but then realized he hadn't been speaking to me. I turned quickly, inhaling sharply in surprise, but Roman had my arms in his grasp just as quickly to stop me from fleeing. "Wait!"

The wolves were throwing the torches into the temple as demanded, except for Beta Caleb. It happened so quickly that it felt unreal, if only for a moment. Roman's hands were hot on my arms, firm and impossible to get away from. And then I was stunned by a new thought. Cynthia was in there.

"Wait!" I screamed, "Don't!"

The power within me flared at my command, tearing into the wolves by the temple with such ferocity that they fell to their knees. But it was already too late. The torches had already been thrown. And I couldn't control fire.

I twisted to face Roman.

"Roman, don't! Put it out," I demanded him, my focus entirely jumbled in my panic. He was looking at the temple coldly, the flames beginning to rise and reflect in his eyes. Instead of putting it out, he dragged me to Caleb's form, still panting on his knees painfully, and lifted his torch before pulling me back roughly to the hidden door.

"I am done with your Goddesses' games. I should've burned this down years ago," Roman told me angrily before dropping the torch into the only escape Cynthia would have and slamming the door shut behind it.

"No!" I screamed, all shock that may have frozen my body now turned into a wild panic. "No!" The word tore from my throat furiously as I clawed at Roman, twisting in his impossibly strong grip in any effort I could make to get free.

"Cynthia," I screamed her name, abandoning all ideas of keeping her presence a secret. I screamed for her, even as the flames roared to life around the temple angrily. "Cynthia!" I screamed even as it hurt my throat and then my scream only rose wordlessly when a portion of the ceiling fell damningly into the terrifying and destructive fire.

"Let go!" I mustered every bit of pain and rage into my command, turning my attention on Roman with such heat that when the command hit him, there was no resistance. He was knocked back, stumbling, and then on one knee as though winded.

I immediately used my freedom to run towards the temple as though I could pull Cynthia out myself. I ignored the wolves nearby, approaching as close as I could before the heat of the fire was too much for me to move closer. The smoke was terrible and vast, billowing from the destroyed building as though it wanted to blot out the sky completely. I tried to step even closer, but the flames licked at my skin painfully until I had no choice but to step back.

"Cynthia," I cried out hopelessly, stepping back further and falling down onto my own knees. She was gone. In just moments, she was gone. Without a word or a cry, she was gone. Had the Crone told her this would happen? Was that why she didn't follow me out? She knew Roman would be waiting and there would be no escape regardless... had she been protecting me?

It was my fault. I wasn't careful enough.

Tears were falling over my cheeks and I didn't know for how long. The wolves nearby had begun to stand again and still I remained, crying helplessly in pain. One reached out for me, whether to console or to obey whatever command Roman may have given in my grief, but my power rose within me angrily before they could.

"Don't touch me," I snarled furiously and they were unable to approach any further. I wasn't sure of so many things in that moment except for one. I was done. I was done with the wolves. I was done with Goddesses and paths. I was done.

I wiped my face, my hands blackened by the nearby smoke, and then pushed myself from the ground stiffly. I turned silently towards the wolves, most of them familiar to me. I felt I might kill them all, Caleb included, if they tried to say one word to me. They must have felt it as well because they all merely stepped away, the wolves from the other packs as well, submissively.

I walked towards that hidden door, now flooded with thick smoke. Roman stood next to it, his own features carefully expressionless as he watched me approach. I stopped just before it, turning to look where Cynthia had stood the first night I'd met her. I remembered her lifting her candle, pointing south, and I turned towards this directly stiffly.

And then I began to head home.

The way in which I walked through the trees could only be described as puppet-like. A string tugged on one foot, lifting my leg, and released it before doing the same with the other. I didn't run. I didn't walk with the speed of someone making an escape. I walked, mindlessly yet entirely determined, towards my past. I could still taste the smoke on my tongue and its flames flickered behind my eyes like a never ending nightmare. It was all I could think about as I walked forward.

"Milena," Roman's voice followed me, much softer than before.

I ignored him. I didn't want to hear his voice. I didn't want to see his face. I wouldn't even give the beast inside of me its own voice. If it was even there, it was buried deep, hiding from the pain I was suffering without it.

"Milena," Roman repeated and I felt the touch of his grip wrap around my arm.

I paused, turning to look at his hand as though it were something inexplicable. I was done. Didn't he know I was done? Why did this beast follow me? I looked from his grip to his face slowly in confusion.

"Let go," I suggested, my voice light as though I were offering him a drink of water rather than demanding him to release me.

"Come back," He made his own suggestion.

"No," I answered, my mind and tone sharpening. He tightened his grip on my arm firmly.

"I didn't know there was someone in there," Roman said, beginning to explain himself unlike the typical 'no mercy, no remorse' type of demeanor he took. "I had to make a statement for the brother packs. I didn't know-"

"Let go," I interrupted him, "Or else I'll make you let go."

"Milena," He began.

"Don't call my name," I snapped. "I'm done with all of this. Whatever all of this is... I didn't ask to be here. And unless you're going to kill me right now, I'm going home." I reached determinedly for my own arm just above his grip, my hand shifting into dangerous claws without a second thought, and aimed to slice into the meat of my own flesh. Roman released me immediately in surprise.

"You would rip your own arm off?" He asked me, but I only let my hand slip back into that of a human's before beginning my trek back towards where I would find my village. I could hear his steps behind me, following me quietly. Each step was like a pinch of pain on my spine, irking me further and further until I stopped.

"Do you want to know what I said to the Crone?" I asked the emptiness in front of me. Roman had halted behind me, waiting for me to answer my own question quietly. "I asked her to stop punishing you. Isn't that... stupid of me? I asked her to stop punishing you and you punished me. You killed..." I saw a flash of Cynthia's face in my mind and stopped speaking for fear of losing control of myself.

"Mila-," Roman began, but I cut him off again.

"I think I'm in love with you," I said painfully, reaching for my chest as though I could just rip my own heart out, "But I can't stand to look at you right now. You're a... a monster. An actual, real life monster. You kill... so many people every year. And you're going to kill so many more. I can't stop it. I already know..."

Roman had grown eerie silent and yet I still couldn't face him. I waited, but I wasn't sure what I was waiting for. Maybe, if by some miracle, he could renounce his plan right this moment... maybe I would be able to turn to him then. But instead, there was just us in this darkness and silence surrounding us.

I took a deep, surrendering breath, and looked down at my hand though I wasn't sure what I was looking for.

"Diana is pregnant." I said, the life gone from my voice. "Mates. Children. If you stop being stubborn, you could bring back the oracles, I'm sure. The blessings are back. Your plan is pointless. But you-" I finally turned, just slightly, to look at him.

Roman stood just steps away, solid like a statue, and almost just as lifeless as one.

"You don't even want to stop being punished, do you?" I asked him quietly. I looked at him as though this would be the last time I would be allowed to. I took in those steel blue eyes, nearly glowing as the sky began to lighten around us. I looked beyond those scars that marked his immortal body. How sad this creature was; a curse I had fallen for. "I'll be waiting for you. When you come for the humans, you'll have to kill me, too."

I didn't wait for his response, nor did I check to see what expression might cross his face. I only turned away and this time when I walked forward, I didn't hear his steps following behind.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Music:  Illenium- Crawl Outta Love (feat. Annika Wells)