A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Detention was just as boring as I had always imagined it would be. Mrs Newman kept a close eye on met o make sure I sat in silence doing nothing as she marked reports.

“I honestly don‘t know what‘s gotten into you lately, Aria,” she said. “You‘re my best student. Why have yo u been acting out so much?”

I looked at her and shrugged my shoulder. I wouldn‘t be able to explain that I‘d literally learnt all of this alr eady and was busy trying to stop my death. But I sighed, knowing inside I really had gone too far.

“I‘m sorry I was rude to you,” I said sincerely.

It was true. I hadn’t meant to embarrass her in front of the entire class, but she had challenged me and trie d to make me look like an idiot. It had set off a wave of anger inside me, a strong new emotion I was still l earning to handle.

Before the events leading to my death, I would get frustrated, but never this passionately angry. It was an incredibly selfish and negative emotion that I had been trained growing up to avoid. It wasn‘t until Thea‘s pregnancy announcement that I‘d started giving in to it, realising there was no point holding back anymore. Now, along with the emotional body of a teenager, I was finding it harder than ever to stifle my emotions. 2

The teacher took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes.

“You‘re forgiven,” she said, sounding exhausted. “Just try and pay a little more attention, please? You mi ght not have noticed but the kids in class look up to you more than you realise. You‘re a role model. If yo u start acting thoughtlessly, they will follow suit.”

I‘d never even considered that before. Was it even true? Why would they care what I did?

“You‘ll most likely be our Luna one day,” she explained, seeing my confused face. “You will be a mother to the entire pack and be responsible for them. It‘s true some m ay be scared of you or even hate you right now, but they still respect and look up to you regardless.”

When she put it into perspective like that, I could see how she could be right. If Aleric was here and start ed skipping classes, I was sure most of the school would start doing it too. I may not want to be a Luna a gain, but I couldn‘t deny that as of right now I still held that uncertain influence over them.

I nodded, agreeing with what she‘d said. “You‘re right… and I’m sorry. I‘ll do better.”

She waved it off and went back to her papers. However, she only managed to make a few more notes be fore her pen gave out.

“Ah, shoot,” she grumbled. “I‘ll be right back. Stay here and don‘t move.”

Without waiting for a reply, I watched as she left, leaving the door open behind her.

Since she would be gone for a little while to retrieve another pen from the stationery room, I took up the opportunity to work on my plans some more. I reached my hand down into my bag, s earching for my notebook, but the feeling of a thick hardcover book touched my fingers instead.

It was Myra‘s book that I’d basically forgotten about. After thinking about it for a moment, I realised that it would be as good a time as any to read it. Even if I didn‘t get very far, I was sure it would still make Myra happy to know I‘d picked it up.

I grabbed it from my bag to rest it on the desk, taking in the worn edges and faded colours; something indicative of the number of times Myra had reread it ove r many years. I traced my fingers along the outside and was about to open it when something then stopp ed me.

Chapter Fourteen

Before I could lift even a single page, my vision then blurred… and suddenly I wasn‘t in the classroom an ymore.

I was in a clearing to the north that I vaguely recognised. I‘d gone running here a few times as my wolf and remembered the small dirt path and nearb y lake. And though I looked around desperately, trying to make sense of my situation, I was still confused over how I‘ d gotten there.

But as I was about to search the area further, a small figure then came into view, making me pause to observe. They were walking along the dirt trail into the clearing and started to pick at some of the flowers along the trees. I recognised her immediately, of course.

It was Myra.

“Myra!” I called out to her.

Only she didn‘t hear me. She continued to collect the flowers, completely oblivious to my presence.

“Myra?” I called again.

I tried to walk to her but it felt like my legs were bound and stuck in one place.

She continued to walk towards the lake… and that‘s when I saw it. Four wolves appeared from the bushe s and surrounded her, snarling. Their faces were full of malice with intent to attack.

“Myra!” I screamed. “You need to leave! Now!”

But it was no use, she couldn‘t hear me. By the time she did finally look up… it was too late.

The larger brown wolf lunged at her and attacked so quickly that there was no chance of saving her. She bled out instantly

I could hear myself screaming but none of the wolves paid attention to me. It was as if I wasn‘t even there. I screamed at them to leave, to beg them to save her, but it wasn‘t any use.

I started to feel like I was drowning, my brain not focusing after witnessing the murder of the poor girl. I n eeded to leave, to get out… anything. Anything to make this all stop.

Before too long had passed, everything started to go black. I scrunched my eyes up and willed my body to regain control….

...And then my vision flickered… and I was back in the classroom, the book having fallen to the ground.

| gasped at the air, frantically trying to consume as much oxygen as possible which my body had just bee n so deprived of. What was that? Had they really killed Myra?

But then it all clicked. I knew why Myra looked so familiar now. She was the girl who had died in our grad e years ago. A neighbouring pack called Jade Moon had tried to declare war due to unfair taxes, breakin g the alliance previously held.

The tax system was a constant thorn in the side of the neighbouring territories. Our pack was so large that, as an incentive to not take over their land , the smaller packs would need to pay a fee in protection. The Jade Moon pack had recently had a new Alpha take over and they were young and ambitious. They carelessly tried to start something that they would never be able to finish.

But Myra was the first victim, I remember now. They didn‘t find her body until the next day and they held a memorial for her at the school. Her picture was plastered everywhere in remembrance for months. Ho w could I have possibly forgotten that?

Was this vision something that had already happened, or was it yet to come? I knew it wasn‘t a memory because I hadn‘t been present during the att ack in the past. This was something new, something I was being shown by a higher power for a reason.

tirouricen

Think, Aria… what do I remember?

I cleared my mind and pushed aside the sickness I felt at seeing Myra‘s death, trying to think it out logical ly. In the vision, the sky was darker… perhaps just past sunset. That gave me only about an hour to get t here. One hour to try and save her. Even if she was already dead, I still had to try.

Standing up quickly, I then ran out of the room. There was no time to wait for Mrs Newman to come back, I would need to start the journey and hope I passed by someone on the way there.

| sprinted down the hallway going as fast as I could. This would have been so much easier had I been a shifted wolf, but I didn‘t have time to feel frustrated. I just needed to move as swiftly as possible. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Faster and faster, I ran through the school. Running until I turned the corner… and instantly hit somethin g solid in my path.

Instinctively, I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact against the hard polished floor, however, much to my relief, strong arms reached out and grabbed me before I hit the ground.

“Woah, kiddo,” said a familiar voice. “Where are you running to in such a hurry?”

I opened my eyes and saw Cai. He had an amused expression with a cocky smile to match, finding my fr azzled appearance hilarious.

He gently steadied me on my feet before letting go, but my legs were still shaky with adrenaline.

“I need to go,” I said frantically between my gasps for air. “I need to leave right now. Someone is in danger.

“Woah, calm down and talk to me,” he said, now realising the situation was serious. His attitude changed immediately. “Who‘s in danger?”

I shook my head. “No time. Need to leave. Now.”

“Then I‘m coming with you,” he said. “Lead the way.”

“No, you should tell one of the teachers. Get them to alert the Alpha and send warriors to the north near th

He scoffed. “I doubt letting you go alone is a good idea, not to mention I‘m stronger than your teachers he

Thesitated, pausing to consider. He wasn‘t wrong. I had felt his strength from the first time I‘d met him. If h

“What‘s going on?” a voice then abruptly called out behind us.

| spun around startled and saw Mrs Newman returning from the stationery room.

“I thought I told you to stay in the room, Aria,” she said, irritated.

“Not now, Mrs Newman!” I yelled, increasingly getting angrier as every minute wasted went by. “I need yo to tell the Alpha. I… I saw something yesterday in the north near the lake clearing. We‘re under attack. I ju

She looked at me as if I were making up a story just to get out of detention. Which was partially correct. S

“Nice try, Aria, but back to class,” she snapped.

I screamed out in frustration and Cai looked at me, startled by my outburst. Clearly, he hadn‘t expected m

Chapter Fourteen

e to react so strongly.

Sensing how urgent this really was, he quickly turned to Mrs Newman to diffuse the situation.

“Mrs Newman… Lucinda, if I may?” Cai said charmingly, taking a step towards her. “I just bumped into po

The teacher hesitated, thinking.

“I‘m sure you can give her detention for a month if she‘s lying,” he bargained. “I stake my rank and reputat

She stared me up and down, examining my dishevelled appearance and wild eyes. Something that thankf

After a few more seconds had passed, she finally nodded and conceded to going to get help whilst we ran

“Lead the way,” Cai said to me once Mrs Newman had left.

And I didn‘t waste even a single second longer as I began sprinting towards the north clearing, praying tha until we arrived.