She shook her head. “I remember every spell in my book, my love. But that one, that one, was new. You took my protection spell that my mother and I created long ago, and you twisted it.”
“What are you talking about?” I grabbed the shovel again and crouched by Carl’s head. “I’ll protect her with my life.” Then I stood and started to fill in the grave as my grandmother paced.
“My spell, or I should say, my mother’s spell, was created when I was a child. She created a protection spell, and when I came into my power, we perfected it together. But you, you took it, and created a shield.”
“How could I do that?”
“I don’t know.” She turned to me.. “Wolves with magic have never been able to create new spells. Your father’s book, he has spent these last years finding spells for his book. Not creating them. The three headed Goddess has never blessed a wolf as she has a witch.”
“Until now.” A voice called from the trees. Instantly, I was on edge. I looked behind at the fire, but no one was looking this way. “Don’t worry, wolf, the others will not see.” She stepped from the woods. The Goddess I saw in my dream from the beginning. “I see you recognize my faces.” She shifted from an old woman to a young one. Every time my eyes landed on her face, it shifted. Young, old, light-skinned, and dark. Shewas every woman and none, all at once. It was dizzying trying to track the changes. So I focused on her eyes. Her eyes that seemed to be lit with the same light that I found years ago deep inside of myself. Magic.
There was a crack, and another shape took form next to her. “I have shown her the way, sister.” My grandmother came to stand next to me. I could feel the tension in her body, even though she was just here in spirit.
The Moon Goddess and the Three Headed Goddess both stood next to the oak. I looked between them and then at my grandmother. She bowed as she looked at the two goddesses. “Mother, Maiden, Crone. Welcome. Moon Goddess, welcome.” Her eyes met mine and there was a tiny spark of fear in her eyes.
“Merry meet my child.” The shifting Goddess stepped closer, staring into my eyes, but I just placed down the shovel and faced them. Surprise flashed across her face. “You are not afraid of me?” Her voice held amusement as I looked up at her. She was a very tall woman.
“Should I be?” My voice was soft as I answered.
The Moon Goddess chuckled, but the witch Goddess threw back her head and cackled. “No, my child, you shouldn’t. But even the most devoted of my followers hold a bit of fear.”
I looked back to the Moon Goddess, and she gave me a tiny nod. “I have walked with a Goddess before.” She smirked back at me. “And the thing I have learned was that if she wanted me dead, then I would be dead. There is no changing my fate once it is set by a Goddess. But my wolf, my Lycan, and my magic are all telling me the same thing.”
“And what is that?” Her face shifted to a motherly face.
“You need me for something.”
Chapter Nine
My grandmother gasped, but the two goddesses looked at each other. “You are right.” The Three-Faced Goddess smiled back at her sister. “She is the one.” The Moon Goddess just nodded.
“I’m the one for what?” My mouth moved too fast for me to even consider who I was questioning.
My grandmother gasped. “We do not question a Goddess, Amy. Nevermind two.” She eyed the two and bowed again. But the two just smirked.
“We do not need blind followers. You can question our judgement, or our cause.” The Moon Goddess smiled as she walked closer to us. “We expect it. Crave it really. Because it means that we have done our jobs.”
“Your jobs?” I looked over my shoulder at my grandmother, but she shrugged.
The three faced Goddess stepped up next to her sister. “Yes. We want our followers, our children, to have free will. To demand it. To walk through their day and fight back tooth and nail because that is what life is about. Making choices. Striving for greatness. Living.”
The Moon Goddess nodded. “When I created Lycans and wolves, I wanted them to choose their own lives. Their own paths. I gave them mates because I saw what would happen if people were left to find their own partners. I have watched over the humans and seen their heartbreak. I have felt their heartbreak myself.” She looked down at her hands. “But free will doesn’t always mean walking the path of good. And within the light, the shadows grow.”
“The shadows? The rogues?” I questioned and the Moon Goddess nodded.
“And those that wield their magic for evil. Evil, in all forms, is a choice.” The crone stood in front of me now, pale yet strong. “And sometimes, sometimes, we need a champion.”
My grandmother gasped. “No, you can’t mean Amy.”
I looked at her, but she looked terrified. “What?” I was tired, and slow.
“We do.” The Moon Goddess came to my side and cupped my face. “You are from my flesh, my power, my blood. But you also stem from my sister. Her kernel is in you, and you have nourished it.”
“Three-spirited one. You walk on both paths, and both paths need a champion.”
“Champion? I just want to live.” I stared up into the bright eyes of the Moon Goddess.
“You have seen the future, lived it. You had to have seen the dark times coming?” I nodded. Before I died, there were murmurs. But I didn’t believe them.
