Forget Me Not (Phased Moonlight Series Book 2) (21 page)

              Sera whimpered, lying down. She kept her glowing eyes on him but crept forward on her stomach.

              “No!”

              They both looked at Bianca, who had gotten up.

              “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she screamed.

              She raised her hands to cast a spell, but a sudden blast of white light appeared in the middle of the room, causing everyone to freeze. From that white light, a white wolf raced forward and attacked her.

As the wolf tore at her throat, Koda noticed a stripe running down its back. “Sera?” he said.

              The wolf looked up from Bianca’s dead body. She whimpered and ran over to him.

              “Sera!”

              “Not yet.”

              Koda looked up and saw Shego.

              “What the…?”

              “I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me.”

              She raised her hand and shot a lightning bolt at the white wolf, knocking the animal to the ground.

              “What are you doing!?”              

              She raised her hand to the pacing gray wolf.

              “No! Don’t!”

              The lightning bolt launched and hit Sera in the leg. She whimpered and fell to the ground.

              Koda tried to attack Shego in a rage, but she was already gone.

              He ran to Sera and watched as she slowly shifted back into her human form. Koda cradled her close.

              She moaned and looked up at him. “Koda…” she said hoarsely.

              “Do you... Do you remember?”

              She closed her eyes, nodded, and reached up to wrap her arm around his neck. She pulled up close to him and cried into his shoulder.

Koda pulled away, wiping away her tears. “I am so sorry, Sera. I should have told you about Ceolus. I failed you, failed our pack. I almost killed several of them. I am so, so sorry.”

              Koda refused to meet her eyes, and Sera’s heart broke. “Koda, look at me,” she whispered.

              He slowly raised his eyes, and she gasped when she saw them red and cluttered with tears.

She tried to smile at him, wiping away his tears. “You haven’t failed me, Koda. You had no idea I was even alive or not. You did what any other would have done in your place. You couldn’t reach for me because our bond was broken when he turned me human. I can’t even hold a mate bond anymore.” She stopped talking as a sharp pain jolted through her heart.

              “Please don’t say that, Sera,” Koda whispered.

              “You need to face the facts, Koda,” she whispered.

              “No!” he said, letting out a fierce, pained snarl. “I can’t lose you again. We can work around this.”

              “Death comes for us all, Koda, and I cannot cheat it.”

              “No, Sera! Please,” he begged, gripping her face in his hands.

              Sera’s heart constricted painfully, and she squeezed her eyes closed. She gripped his hands tightly, trying to keep her heart beating. She began to taste blood and felt liquid seeping through her pale lips. “Koda,” she croaked out, “please take care of my pack.” After she took her last breath, she looked into his eyes one last time before blackness claimed her.

* * *

              Sera gasped as her body shot upward. She looked around, confused. She was no longer in the castle but in a place of total whiteness. There were no walls and no roof, just empty whiteness. She was now dressed, in a simple linen frock.

              “So this is what it’s like to die? Go figure,” she said.

              She froze when she heard a deep, memorable laugh behind her. She spun around in shock and ran to throw herself into his arms. “John! God, I’ve missed you!” she cried as tears fell from her cheeks.

              She pulled away and looked into his eyes. She swiped at his chest, making him grunt. “What in the hell were you thinking, going to Ryan alone?” she scolded.

              “Ow!” He laughed. “I did it to save you!”

              “I don’t give a damn. You shouldn’t have been so reckless.”
              He put his hands on his hips and arched his eyebrow at her. “You done?”

              She hit his chest one more time. “Now I am.”

              He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

              “Am I dead?”

              “That’s the question, isn’t it?” John said, bowing.

              She turned around and saw five hooded figures. Following her brother’s lead, she bowed.

              “Sera Kalihan, Alpha to the Moon Shine Pack, mate to Koda Stephano, we are the Fates of Time.”

              “Holy All Mother,” Sera said under her breath as she looked at the fates.

              “We have watched you grow from a simple embryo to the woman you are today. You were meant to live far longer than this. We did not expect a member of our appointed Council to take your life from you. Because of this, we will grant you your life back.”

              Sera smiled. “Really?”

              “You were not meant to leave the world yet. Mistress Shego of the High Council has abused her power and unjustly taken your life from you.”

              “But why? I never even met the woman.”

              “You were the key to end the curse of her lover. The spell cast by a hybrid on her lover was meant to keep him in his animal skin until the death of the Ghost Wolf.”

              Sera nodded, indicating that she finally understood. “What will happen to her?”

              “She will be sentenced to death.”

              Sera sighed. “Must you be so harsh?”

              “You do not wish her death, even after what she has done to you?”

              “She did what she felt she had to do to get her love back. I cannot fault her for that. I do not think she deserves to go free, but I don’t wish for her to die.”

              The fates nodded. “Very well. Her life will be spared.”

              Sera bowed to them. “Thank you.”

              “We will now send you back into your body. Since you died as a wolf you were not connected to, you must be bitten by your mate to awaken the wolf you were born with.”

              Sera nodded. “I understand, and thank you.”

              She turned to say goodbye to John, but he was gone. Before she could ask where he was, dizziness swept over her, and she fell to the ground.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Till Death Do Us Part

Ask for my blessings, and I will hear you. You may not understand my blessings or the path I have chosen for you, but understand that my love for you is unconditional, and I will always be there when you call 
~  All Mother

            
 
K
oda sighed as he breathed in the familiar scent of his homeland. The ride home from Italy had been torture. His mate’s cold body lay in his arms as his driver solemnly escorted him onto the property. He wasn’t ready to face his pack and tell them he had failed not only Sera but them as well. He couldn’t keep her safe, and now she was gone.

              As they pulled into view of the main house, he saw the entirety of both their packs waiting there, with large, expectant smiles on their faces.

             
Here goes nothing,
he thought.

              Koda exited the car, and the packs immediately started cheering. He kept his face hidden behind the car door and gently lifted Sera into his arms. He slowly walked out from behind the door, and the packs broke into loud gasps when they saw the fallen alpha. 

              “No! Sera!” Trisha cried, running toward them.

              Unable to help himself, Koda growled at her and pulled Sera away.

Trisha snarled at him.

              “Don’t make me hurt you, Trisha,” Koda said, shaking.

              Jackson quickly pulled his mate away, keeping his eyes averted.

Koda walked past them, not wanting to hear Trisha’s screams. The packs separated to create a path for him. He walked through, keeping his eyes forward. He noticed that the house was completely clean, and the broken furniture had been replaced with new things. He wanted to feel grateful, but he only felt grief.

              He entered their room and laid her gently on their bed. He held her cold, limp hand in his own as he pressed a tender kiss to her palm. When Koda heard the door open and his mother’s scent wafted into his nose, he kept his head down and continued to hold Sera’s hand.

              “Son,” she said softly, placing her hand on his shoulder, “you must let me clean her for her ceremony. Give her the respect she deserves as an alpha.”

              Koda stood, nodding. “Fine, Mother, but no one else may touch her.”

              Nichole bared her neck to indicate she understood and would comply with his wishes.

Koda then left the room and walked into his office. He sat in front of the empty fireplace, staring at the empty hearth. He heard Jackson enter, but he couldn’t move; he was frozen in his own chaos. Jackson wrapped his arm around him, offering his strength. Koda broke down, allowing his tears to flow in front of his brother.

              “I am so sorry,” Jackson said, as his own tears fell.

              Koda couldn’t speak; he had no words left.

              “I hate to be the one to tell you this,” Jackson said, “but we are ready for you to start the ceremony.”

              Koda stood. “I need to see her first. I will meet you in the mating house.”

              “All right,” Jackson said quietly, then left the room.

              Koda followed his mother’s scent, which led him to the sunroom of the mansion. There, in a coffin surrounded by flowers, Sera lay peacefully, as if asleep.

              She was wearing the dress she had planned to wear for their mating ceremony. It was simple yet beautiful, enhancing Sera’s beauty even more. Her hair was curled and lay elegantly over her shoulders. She held a small bouquet of American adventure lilies, her favorite flower. She was angelic and perfect.

              Koda leaned over and set his hand on hers. “I know I have failed you as a mate, and for that I will be forever sorry, but I will be with you soon. I am giving the pack to Trisha and Jackson. They are much better for our people, and it is for the best.”

              He gave her one last look, then walked toward the mating house. As he entered, the room silenced. He walked up to the altar and faced his pack. “We will begin with her friends and family saying tribute.”

              He then sat down in the front aisle, and Faith walked forward.

              “I remember the day when I first met Sera...”

              Koda tuned out their words, as he honestly didn’t want to hear them. Everything said about his mate made his heart ache worse, made him want to take his life even sooner. He closed his eyes and leaned forward.
Soon, my love.

             
He felt his mother tap his arm, and he looked up.

              “It is your turn, son.”

              He stood on shaky legs, facing his pack and his mate’s. “Sera completed me before I even realized there was piece missing. I never realized how fulfilling a mate bond could be. The feeling of completeness was so euphoric, and having it ripped away is torture. Because I was not fully bonded to my mate, my life did not end with her like it was destined to. I have come to peace with that. Before I continue, though, I would like my beta, Jackson and his mate, Trisha, to please join me.”

              As they stood beside him, he clasped Jackson’s arm. “Brother, you have always been there for me, and you have proven yourself more than enough times. You are more than qualified to run my pack when I am gone.”

              “Koda—”

              Koda shook his head and cut him off. “Don’t. Please don’t try to change my mind. It is my right to join my mate in the afterlife, and that is what I plan to do.” He stood straighter, holding out his hands to Jackson, who laid his own on top of his. “I, Koda Stephano, hereby pass over—”

              “Koda, don’t!”

              Koda froze, not believing his own ears. Footsteps came closer to him, and by the gasp Trisha made and the tears growing in her eyes, he knew he wasn’t just imagining things.

              “Koda, please look at me.”

              He shook his head. “You aren’t real,” he whispered.

              “Mate,” she said, “I am very, very real.”

              He turned slowly and found Sera smiling before him, with tears in her eyes. “How?” he whispered, brushing his fingers over her soft cheek.

              “I guess I can defy death,” she smiled.

              He grabbed her, crushing her to his chest as his pack cheered. She cried into his shoulder, but he could tell they were happy tears. He pulled back and kissed her like it was the last kiss they would ever share.

              “God, I’ve missed you,” Koda said against her lips.

              “And I you!” She pulled away and looked into his glowing eyes. “Koda, you have to bite me. It’s the only way to awaken my wolf.”

              He smiled as his teeth lengthened. “You won’t have to ask me twice.”

              He kissed her shoulder gently, then opened his mouth and bit down. She gasped as the burn at first, but where pain was, pleasure quickly took its place. She fought the urge to moan as she felt her wolf stirring inside her. Koda released her, watching with a wide smile as her eyes began to glow. She winked at him before she shifted into her wolf.

              Koda cried out happily as he watched his white-haired wolf shake out her fur. She no longer bore the red mark, but she was still as large as ever. Koda shifted into his wolf, letting out a howl. She joined him in the howl, and the packs followed suit. Together, they ran out of the pack house and into the woods, racing side by side. They stopped at the cove, where Koda had asked Sera to be his forever, and they shifted.

Koda wrapped his around her and kissed her tender lips. “I can’t believe you’re back.”

              Sera smiled, nipping his lips. “I told you once before that I’m not going anywhere. I am yours, always and forever.”