She lowers her head. “Yes.”
“And I would go alone?”
“Maybe, maybe not, but you would have to make this decision knowing that you might not have company with you.”
I step back from her, lifting my shaking hand to my chest. “No, I mean, I can’t. This is my home, my life, my powers. You ask too much.”
“I know. But I have seen terrible things, evil that spreads across the worlds and destroys this one. Our home blighted and dry. Not a single leaf of green, gods lying dead in dusty fields.”
The title and name All-Seer suddenly blooms into my mind. The legendary and mysterious omega who is older even than I. No one knowswhere she and her ilk came from, just that they were, and they have gifts even we can’t fathom. People think I’m the oldest, but it’s not true, though few remember.
“Could I come home one day?” I whisper.
“No,” she says sadly. “This would no longer be your home. You would no longer be a goddess.”
I sniff, trying to fathom it. “But will it save all those lives? On both worlds?”
“It will save so many lives. You will be a bastion of hope, a light in the dark; people who do not know the Luna Omega will remember your name. You will be the moon, and you will illuminate the dark heart of the world and lead it back to balance.”
“It will hurt, won’t it?” I murmur.
She stares at me. “Your lives will be painful, but it will be worth it in the end. For what you save.”
I turn away, looking at the forest and feeling a deep grief that I will never see it again. It’s not a question of if. I am going. We both know it. The green leaves glow with health, the flowers bloom, and all around me, I hear the sounds of the world that I will soon depart from.
“If it helps, I have seen your scent matches, and I will send them with you. If I can.”
I whip around. “Really?”
It’s impossible not to think of my Winter Wolf. If he’s with me, I can do anything. I know I can.
“Yes,” I say. “I will fall to save the worlds.”
She smiles, but it’s a sad and bitter kind of smile.
“He’s not here,” I tell her again after the Alpha God of the Hunt steps through and gives up his god powers. “You said my scent mates, but he’s not here.”
The All-Seer looks speechless. “If you fell in love with another god, it is not a scent match; it is simply love of the heart.”
I shake my head. “You’re wrong. He is mine.”
“Impossible; my visions are never wrong. You have two scent matches, and they are waiting for you.”
“I have three!” I say to her, trying not to whine.
My eyes well with tears, and I turn frantically towards the forest. I don’t know his name; it was a coy game, just a way to play with him. How stupid can I be? I should have asked. I should have found out.
“He’s going to be waiting for me. When winter comes, he will be waiting, and I won’t be there.”
Her eyes sharpen. “I will find him and tell him.”
I turn away, gripping the fabric of my gown and clenching hard. I want to scream. How can this be happening?
“Do you know the difference between falling and not?” she asks.
“No.” I want to snap at her, shout that I don’t care.
My wolf.
