Chapter 4 The Goddess's Influence

Some members of the Pack started to complain, but when the Alpha looked at them, they stopped murmuring. He gave a quick nod, turned around, and walked away quickly. He was big and disappeared in the dark when it started raining.

As Mia was taken back to her room, she had a lot of questions swirling around in her head. What made the weather change so suddenly and threateningly? And why did she feel like there was something scary and powerful at work, something that didn't seem normal?

The bad feeling got worse as the storm continued. The loud winds and thunder sounded like they were filled with anger.

It felt like something invisible was controlling the elements, making Mia feel very scared.

She couldn't fall asleep that night because she kept thinking about scary things like sharp teeth and loud thunder. It felt like the thunder was shaking her insides.

As the sun started to rise, Mia felt like the challenges ahead were going to be really hard. It seemed like they were going to have to fight against things they couldn't understand, and it could decide what happens to all of them.

Immediately after that, she fell asleep even though she was trying to stay awake. A dream began in a harmless way. Mia walked through a meadow at night. The tall grass was moving in the wind. The fireflies were flying around her, their lights showing her which way to go.

But then the calm view changed. The sky got dark and the moon and stars disappeared. The fireflies disappeared one by one. She got a shiver down her back because she felt something scary nearby.

In the darkness, she could see the outline of a scared young girl. A loud thunder sound and a bright flash of lightning lit up the meadow, showing a tall, almost goddess-like woman standing over the child.

The woman looked really pretty and mysterious. Her hair was gray and long, and it moved around her face. Her dress looked like it was made from the light of the moon. But her eyes sparkled with a cruel brightness.

"Silly child," the woman said in a scary voice. "Do you really want to go against the Moon Goddess?"

She waved her hand and dark, twisting ropes appeared, wrapping around the girl's wrists and ankles. She cried and tried to free herself while the Goddess came closer.

"Listen to the curse I lay on you today," She spoke with a lot of power.

"You Cannot have Any Other Mate than Lucas"

"You're Fated To The Moon Goddess' Son"

"If you try to Have Another Mate outside the Dovey Hill Pack"

"You will be Rejected by Other Suitors and be Drawn back to Lucas Alone."

The girl cried in pain and it made Mia very sad as the curse covered her like a dark blanket. She was really trying hard and then Mia thought she looked at her with a scared expression for a brief moment. Mia's arms and legs felt heavy and she felt paralyzed.

She wanted to yell and hurry to help her. But then everything disappeared in a sudden bright light.

Mia woke up suddenly feeling scared and sweaty, and she could still hear the scary scream in her head. She breathed heavily and took quick, shaky breaths. Such a scary dream.

Soft moonlight came through the window and made spooky shadows in her room. She felt chills and goosebumps on her arms because a creepy cold feeling went through the room.

She held back a shiver, got out of her messy bed, and went to the window. She pressed her sweaty forehead against the cold glass. The big round moon was low in the sky and its light made the forest look spooky and silver.

The moon seemed to be calling to her, making her remember bits and pieces of the dream. The curse is a bad magic spell that causes harm. The Moon Goddess.

She gasped as she realized that it wasn't just a bad dream. It felt too intense, too lifelike. What did it mean? A faraway sound made her feel scared.

"Are you upset by the dream, my lady?"

Mia spun around when she heard a voice she didn't expect, and her heart was beating really fast in her chest. Miguel stood in the doorway, his strong and muscular body outlined in the moonlight.

His dark eyes looked closely at her and noticed everything, including her pale face and scared look. He walked in with an air of strong and quiet confidence.

Before she could speak up, the tough leader came close and put his rough hands on her shoulders. His touch felt really hot, even though it was cold outside.

"You're shaking, little one," Miguel whispered, his warm breath gently brushing over her face. The smell of a man - like trees and smoke - filled her nose. She felt a shiver go down her back when he got close to her without her asking. "What made you so scared?"

She struggled to speak for a moment, then finally whispered the words quietly because it was late. "I had a really scary dream."

Miguel raised one eyebrow without saying anything. Mia licked her dry lips and slowly talked about the cursed girl and the scary Moon Goddess and her mean words that bind people. He listened very carefully, with a hard-to-read expression, but his lips tightened slightly.

After she finished, the leader didn't say anything for a long time. His rough thumb gently touched her shaking jaw. "You worry too much about this bad dream, little Mia," he said in his deep, rumbling voice.

"Dreams are just the thoughts of a mind that can't sit still - they're like weak copies of what we see when we're awake. Don't let unrealistic ideas grow in your beautiful mind."

His words were supposed to calm her down, but instead they made her more anxious. This dream felt like a message to be careful, not just a scary dream.

But Miguel's worried expression showed that he also had doubts. Maybe he felt the same darkness as she did.

"I agree with you," she said, even though her voice was shaking. "It's best not to let fears based on superstition get worse and turn into strong feelings of panic. It was just a dream, nothing else."

Miguel looked at her quietly, gently touching her skin with his thumb. His eyes looked intense and made her unable to move. Something powerful and out of control was ignited in them.

Suddenly, his hands moved down to her waist and pulled her close to him. She took a sharp breath when they touched, and she felt a warm, intense feeling inside her. His strong, manly smell made her feel really close to him and reignited her desire for him.

"My strong little female wolf," he said in a low voice next to her pounding heartbeat. His lips touched her sensitive skin, making goosebumps appear and making her feel very excited. "I will always keep you safe from harm. You are mine, Mia - only mine."

She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears, like the sound of drums at a ceremony. Miguel's words made her feel like he was grabbing hold of her. Her bones felt like they turned into liquid and the feeling between her legs turned into a strong sensation.

She wanted to run her fingers through his thick, dark hair, to lean against his strong body, and to kiss him deeply. But before she could act on those strong feelings, Miguel pulled away with a loud breath.

"The sun hasn't come up yet," he said, running a nervous hand through his messy hair. He gulped, his throat moving up and down visibly. "Go to sleep again, Mia." She wouldn't wake up again until the morning.

The Alpha quickly left, leaving behind a mix of strong feelings. Mia sat unsteadily on the window seat and put her shaky hand on her hurting forehead.

She saw the dream images again when she closed her eyes. The Moon Goddess is a powerful and important deity associated with the moon. Bad luck. That poor girl was frozen in fear and despair and had no hope.

Mia felt terrified, and it made her forget her feelings of wanting something.

Dreams might just be thoughts in our head, but this one felt like a warning.

No matter how much she tried in the following days, Mia couldn't get the scary images of that bad dream out of her head. They flickered like scary signs at the edges of her thoughts, making every shadow feel unsettling.

Miguel noticed that she was getting more and more distracted, and several times he saw her deep in thought and stared off into the distance. Every time, a small muscle moved in his strong jaw, and she could almost hear him starting to ask questions.

However, he didn't say anything - and she had to deal with her problems by herself.

That would not be acceptable. In the end, Mia felt really uncomfortable and it made her think too much. She knew she had to talk about her wild thoughts before they took over her completely.

One night, while it was getting dark outside, Mia went to find the old man Ezra in his room. The old wolf stayed up at strange times, and tonight he seemed to be more alert than usual.

She saw the old man sitting by the warm fire, trying to read a big, dusty book. He looked at her when she entered the room. His eyes were watery and shining in the light of the fire.

"Oh, the young female wolf is here," whispered Ezra, closing the old book with a puff of musty air. "Why are you here, my child?"

Mia took a deep breath and started telling the scary story of the cursed girl and the mean Moon Goddess from her dream. Ezra sat quietly with his hands crossed, thinking deeply.

As she was almost done, she heard a loud rumbling noise in the distance that made her feel very scared. The old man looked really surprised, with his eyes wide open and his mouth forming a shocked "O" shape. But before he could say what had him so scared, the heavy oak door behind Mia suddenly broke open with a loud cracking sound.

"Elder! We're under attack!" A frightened scout stood at the entrance, breathing heavily. "The Dovey Hill Pack is attacking us and they are almost at our gates!"

Ezra jumped up surprisingly quickly for his age. His face looked deeply troubled as he turned to Mia. "This is grave news indeed. You must hide, child. This battle will be fierce."

Mia's heart pounded in her chest. Was her dream a warning about this attack? Did the Moon Goddess curse trigger these events?

There was no time to ponder it. Ezra was already ushering her out of the room toward a secluded area to take shelter. As Mia hurried away, she looked back one last time at the old wolf's wizened face, etched with worry. A cold chill went down her spine at the uncertainty of what was to come.