THE UNKNOWN STAR

VALERIE I couldn't even form a word after hearing what Goddess had said. I was weeping silently. My heart was breaking. Nothing mattered to me. I would be a living dead without him. I stood in my spot and lowered my head, not knowing what to say or should I even say anything? Then one question rose in my head and so I asked her. "Was it also destiny?" I needed to know it. I needed to know so that I could accept what she was saying. "Yes." she replied. I felt like someone stomped their foot on my heart when I heard her answer. "Just like you saving seven lives." she said and I raised my head to look at her. Seven? I had saved only six so far. I mentally counted again- Evie, Nathan, Veronica, Donald, Patrick and Sheila. I can save Shawn then. "I can save a life then?" I asked her with hope in my voice, my eyes. "You have already saved seven lives!" she said and just like that the hope disappeared. "You will not ask me who the seventh person you saved was?" she asked me. "It was you." I said because she had asked me to form her statue back. She laughed. The goddess laughed and I stood there in bewilderment. "I am not a life my child. I am the creator of your life." she said to me. "To you, I am the Goddess and to some I am just another rock in the universe." "Then who?" I asked in a whisper. "Ask yourself." she said to me. I thought about the way I had saved Evie first. I didn't even know what I was doing when I had saved her life then. But when I saved Donald, Nathan, Veronica and Patrick I knew it because Nelson had told me I could do so. Then Sheila, I regretted hurting her and especially Oscar. I didn't want to kill her so I had saved her. Then who was the seventh person? I tried thinking but it was vain. Blinking and shaking my head a few times, I tried to recall the way I saved them. I would pass the heat burning from every pore of my skin, to them. The ring that used to surround me and them, their wounds healin- The ring. They were the ones who were able to be inside the ring with me. Rest of them had always felt the shock when they touched the ring. Except one person. "Shawn!" I screamed his name. "Shawn is the seventh one!" I said looking at the Goddess expectantly and waiting for her to confirm my thoughts. "Yes my child." she said to me gently. Relief washed over me when she said that. The day after we mated when we were in the ocean, I had felt Mark around and I had spread the ring around him. I didn't know I was crying until I felt the tears on my face. I was really glad that I had saved Shawn before. "But I had saved him before he was attacked." I told her. "True. Once you spread the ring around him that day, you had him come alive out of all the dangers that would kill him in the future thus, giving him new life." she said. "His body is taking time to heal; he will be with you when you go back." Yes. I had saved him. I didn't know I was saving him then but I did save him. I had saved my love. However another question rose in my mind. "The statue?" I asked her. "I was the one who formed it. Your devotion was the most important thing that was needed then." she said proudly. I recalled Shawn telling me about the bright light that had been there while the statue was being formed. Only Goddess shines so brightly. A smile formed in my face at that. I closed my eyes letting myself get adjusted to the fact that I had saved Shawn, however all I could do was think and then more questions popped in my head. "Who is the seventh star?" I asked the Goddess. "Mark." she replied with a peaceful tone and I stared at her with wide eyes. "M-Mark?" "Yes." "But he is the son of evil.... I mean the dark side... I mean evil." I said in confusion. I just couldn't call my goddess, my mother, evil. "Yes. He is. He is also the star that was cursed with others. They had come in the way of a lord, shining brightly and irking him with their glow, hence they were all cursed to be born and live in the earth. Then when they begged for mercy the lord mitigated the curse to be born and die as and when they chose. However one star of the seven, being the closest and brightest was cursed to be born and sustain a death only from the child of the moon Goddess. The remaining six stars chose to be born and die for you so that you could shift into your wolf. It began with your great grandfather, soon after he was blessed to have a white wolf born in his clan. He chose to sacrifice himself and come back to his abode, subsequently, the others followed. Nevertheless the brightest one had to wait for you and would die only after you kill him." the Goddess enlightened me. "Did Mark know about this?" I asked her. "No. Unlike others he was cursed the most and hence had no knowledge about this." she replied calmly. He is the seventh star. I was still trying to digest the fact. "It was destiny wasn't it?" I asked her. "Yes." She replied smiling. "The stars were destined to get cursed. They had pride in being the brightest one in the sky...." "And the curse was to quash their pride." I concluded smiling. "Indeed." She said pleased. "But the evil?" I asked her. I remembered seeing the other half of the Goddess that was dark as night and with a voice that still terrified me. "Evil cannot be destroyed. It will live till the end of the time. One's negative thinking gives birth to evil and only one's positive thinking can destroy it. Evil has to be there so it can come back. Good and evil are the different sides of the same coin. If there is no evil we will not know the greatness of good, and if there is no good we will not know how bad the evil is." I nodded in understanding after hearing what she said. I stared at her for a long minute in silence admiring her serenity, admiring everything about her. Her dark hair, her white gown, her.... "You can ask me my child" she said tranquilly. I wondered how she knew I wanted to ask something, but then realised of course she would know she is a goddess, present everywhere. "Why can't I see your face?" I asked her. "I have never seen you and I always wonder why?" I told her sincerely. "You see me how you believe in me my child. Everyone has their own opinion about me. I am the light, I am the dark. I am the beauty, I am the ugly. I am the masculine, I am the feminine. I am the fierce, I am the gentle. I am the actual, I am the abstract. I am the good, I am the evil. You see me how you believe in me my child" she said and I closed my eyes. I remember the one time, when my biological mom was dressing me up to take me to the temple. Maybe my mom had taken me to the temple before but this was the time, I actually recall going to the temple. I was around four years at that time and like most kids of that age, I was nosey and used to question everything. "Mama, where are we going?" I asked my mom while she was brushing my hair. "To the temple sweetie." my mom replied. "Who is there in the temple?" "The moon Goddess." "But you told me moon Goddess is in the sky watching us every day, then what is she doing in the temple?" I asked her confused. "Yes, she does stay in the sky. But every morning she comes down and stays in the temple with us." "Then why does she go up at night?" I asked her. "Um... Because that way she will protect every one of us at night from big bears that take naughty children who don't eat vegetables." my mom said. My eyes widened with fear at the mention of the big bears. Even Jasper and Sheila were scared of the big bears. "But my sweetie eats vegetables, doesn't she?" my mom asked me and I nodded quickly. My mom then proceeded to help me put on a pair of socks. 21 "Is the moon Goddess so strong?" I asked her because mom told me she protects us from big bears. "Yes. She is super strong." my mom replied. I then went on to think. If moon Goddess is strong then I must tell her that I don't like eating Okra, so if the big bear comes to take me the night I don't eat it then she should protect me. I decided to talk to the moon Goddess once I reach the Temple. Later, my thoughts went to how I should tell the moon Goddess without my mother hearing about it, because if she does then she'll spend a good hour scolding me. I decided I will whisper it to her in her ears, but then I frowned because the moon Goddess doesn't have ears. I have seen her in the sky she is round sometimes, other times she is half. She is different every day. How is she to look then? "Mama how is the moon Goddess to look?" I asked her. "She is beautiful." my mom replied sighing. "But she doesn't have ears or nose or eyes." I pointed out. My mom chuckled and then went on to buckle my shoes. "She is beautiful, she wears a beautiful white gown, the hem of which isn't visible to us. She shines very brightly and that is why you can't see her face clearly." my mom explained. "But I can hear her?" I asked my mom. "Yes, you can. She talks like an angel." my mom said slowly pinching my cheeks before kissing my forehead. Opening my eyes I looked at the moon Goddess. The Goddess was right; I see her how I believe in her. She was just like the description my mom had given me about the Goddess. I chuckled softly thinking about it. I can't believe myself, I was a child then, but till now I had remembered the description my mom had told me about the Goddess and held on to it tightly. No wonder I can't see her face. That also explained Mr. Hunter. He thought what happened to him was injustice just like the other side of the Goddess. The shadowed side which we consider being dark and do not worship it. His evil thoughts increased day by day which found more and more comparison between him and the other side of the Goddess leading him to find solace in her. He used to believe in her and that was how he used to see her, follow her, the evil. Then Mark happened who would bring justice to them but in a cruel and twisted way by killing numerous lives and coercing them to follow it. Yes, the other side, the dark side of the Goddess exists and will continue to exist until the end of the time. But it will come to power only if our thoughts are tainted. Wiping the tears with the back of my hand I beamed happily. "My daughter as mild as the river and as fierce as the waves." she said and I laced the proudness in her tone. "Thank you." I said to her falling on my knees and bent my head. "Thank you mother!" I said repeatedly. "And I am sorry for what I said earlier." I apologised to her for the incident where I had lost control to my wolf and threatened to kill everyone. I couldn't believe I would say and think something like that. I recalled the way I attacked and killed Mark. "You will live as long as your mate does and then you will come to me my child." she blessed me and I closed my eyes letting the tears flow. It is what I wanted. I was happy but still the tears wouldn't stop, it felt like I had unlimited supply of those. **** "Drive faster!" that was the first thing I heard when I opened my eyes. I blinked a few times to get adjusted to the scene around me. Okay, I was sitting in Shawn's lap and my face was buried against his chest. We were in a car and he was the one who gave that order to someone. Sighing softly, I looked up at him and saw that he was busy frowning at the person who was driving. I snuggled closer to him and buried my nose against his neck inhaling his scent. He immediately wrapped his arms around me, pressing me closer to himself. He quickly pulled away and looked at my eyes first. I swear I saw him let out a breath when he saw my eyes. He probably thought I still wasn't in control so I smiled at him. "Are you okay?" he asked me worried and I nodded at him. It was then when I noticed that I was wearing a long loose shirt. Where was my dress? "I'm fine." I said to him and tried to get off his lap but that only ended up with my head getting hit to the top of the car. I groaned and Shawn pulled me down to check the top of my head. He gently rubbed his hands where I got hit and then pulled me back to his lap. "Valerie." I heard Oscar calling and I saw him in the passenger seat. Jasper was the one driving the car. "Hi." I said smiling to both of them. "Holy Goddess Valerie, you scared us out there!" Oscar said in a worried tone. "You are okay!" Shawn said pressing me closer to him. It was like he was assuring himself that I was okay. "Yeah.... Just tired." I said and closed my eyes to take some rest. I woke up content from having a good sleep. As soon as I woke up, I realised that I wasn't alone and I had some company. I could smell Evie in the same room as me. "What time is it?" I asked her, rubbing my eyes. "Two-thirty in the afternoon." she replied getting up from the couch. "But it is dark." I said. "That's because Shawn closed the curtains for you." she said and sat beside me in the bed our backs resting against the headboard of the bed. "Where is he now?" I asked her. "He is down talking with guys and he is really pissed off at you so-" "What?" I squealed. "What did I do?" "What did I do?" Evie mimicked me and I frowned at her. "You promised you will not leave me and just like that you left the function alone to attack Mark?" she shouted at me. "I had to, okay? I had received a letter from him!" I replied shouting. "A letter from Mark?" she asked and I nodded. If I thought that would make her calm then I was wrong, because I could see smoke coming from her nose in anger. "You received a letter and you didn't think it was necessary enough to share with us?" she asked me. "It was addressed to me, not you." I snapped. "And besides it was my duty to kill him. I had to do that and no one else will question it!" I said using my Alpha tone and she lowered her head and nodded once at the tone. Sighing, I placed my arms around her shoulders and she shrugged it off. When I bumped my shoulders against hers she looked away grudgingly. "I am sorry." I told her. "I had to do it. It was the only way that would assure me that the Pack was safe, you were safe!" I told her and she turned to look at me. I saw the tears in her eyes and hugged her tightly. She too hugged me back. "I will not forgive you again if you repeat it." she said and I nodded at her. "No, promise me you will not do it again!" she told me while pulling away. "I promise." I told her and she hugged me once again. "I thought I lost you just like Zelia!" Evie told me after pulling away. I looked at her in confusion. "We couldn't feel your pulse." she told me and I raised my eyebrows. "You don't recall anything do you?" she asked me. I do recall killing Mark and what my wolf swore to do if Shawn wasn't saved. "The storm passed away and that was how we were able to reach the cliff. When we reached there I saw you decapitating his head in your wolf form." she said and I flinched. "After killing him you dared all of us to come and challenge you. You were still in your wolf form and we knew you didn't have any control over yourself. After everyone stepped back you shifted into your human form and I don't know how, but you were in a white dress already. That surprised every one of us. I think it was your appearance as the daughter of the Goddess, at least that's what Nelson said, and you never looked so beautiful before." she said smiling and I stared at her. "Believe me when I say you looked just like a Goddess, but a little ferocious. Anyway back to the topic, you went to Shawn who was unconscious all this time. I don't know how he was there like-" "He saved me!" I said cutting her off and she nodded in understanding. "Like I said, you tried waking Shawn up and when I approached you, you snarled at me. Same with everyone who tried to talk to you. You had no control and when there was no response from him, you started screaming loudly. Then I don't know what happened you started growling at us, left Shawn on the ground and came forward to attack all of us. I swear the look on your face made me want to piss on my pants!" Evie said chuckling humorlessly. "That is why I said you looked ferocious." she pointed. "But before you could attack, you closed your eyes and fell on the ground, naked I must add, because you clothes vanished just like that. We were all scared to approach you even then but somehow oscar dared, but there was no response from you this time. Shawn woke up a few minutes later and this time it was him trying to wake you up. No one could feel your pulse and that scared all of us especially because there wasn't any injury in your body. Then we decided to take you to the doctor and so here you are right now." she finished.