The Hidden Goddess

17. Stay with Me.

Erebus woke up to another day without her only to repeat the same actions. Shower, dress, go to Kila's to look after Silva till night, return home and sleep.

He was a mute to all except the occasional child who brought him a gift of a flower or drawing.

No one but those close to him knew the reason for his sudden reservation. The pack was told Selene was away resting after giving birth. Alpha's are more emotional than other shifters so it was understandable for their leader to be under the weather.
Erebus refused acknowledge the idea of her being dead, no matter how cold her flesh felt to his hands and chest; she was alive, gone, but alive. She would return to him. He had to believe in that just to allow him to get up and tend to his son.

"How are you feeling?" asked Kila. Erebus nodded unenthusiastically.

Kila sighed. She walked over to him and handed him a half filled glass.

"What's this?" he asked.
"Bourbon, with three milligrams of silver," said Kila.
"You're trying to poison me?"
"Do you know why silver is deadly to us?" Erebus shrugged.
"Think of a human getting alcohol poisoning. They get drunk to the point of the ethanol becoming deadly. Silver affects us just on a rapid or potent rate. Wearing silver doesn't hurt us. It gets us drunk. Too much? is alcohol poisoning. Too little? The perfect high trip," Kila smirked.

Erebus chest ached. He gripped his shirt tightly.
"What's wrong?" she asked and took the glass away from him.

Erebus bolted out of the house and shifted into his wolf form. His large black paws stomped into the ground and vibrated the earth. He reached the lake in minutes. He sniffed around until a familiar scent caught his snout. He followed it to the same spot he last saw her alive.

Selene stood unclothed in the center of the small pooling water. The water met her just below her hips. Her hair was throughly white and bright with heightened curls that fell into a large mane ending on her waist.  Her silver nails glistened under the evening sun. Erebus shifted back to his naked human form. He found himself afraid to approach her. She looked the same as the first time he looked upon her.

"Selene," his voice was tender. The disbelief that his presumed dead mate  stood in front of him.

"Beloved," her voice had its melodious  tone from the first night they met.

"You're-," he started. She stretched a hand out to him. He reluctantly accepted it and came into the water to meet her.
"I am sorry that I left you, and our child." she told him.

"He looks a lot like me, but he has your hair and eye color," he told her.
She smiled and his heart melted. He pulled her into him and kissed her deeply. He felt the strained bond begin to repair itself. He pulled back and scanned her features again.

"I can't stay with you," she told him. Erebus breathed in harshly. "They'll know where I am. They will come for me, I cannot risk you, our child and the pack's safety."

"You are not leaving me a third time Selene." He gripped her shoulder tightly.

"I won't let you be lonely. I will give you the mate you were supposed to have. She'll love you," said Selene.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! I don't want another mate! I don't care if it was an accident or not. YOU ARE MINE!" He shouted. The birds flew from the trees in fright.

Selene's grey eyes locked with his hazel ones. She sighed in defeat.

"I suppose there's no point in asking you if you're sure about this," she said.

"Do you not want me?" his voice cracked. Her head snapped towards him. Her arm hugged herself as she avoided his eyes.

"I was not supposed to have you. When I created the system, I was not meant to be in it. I resolved myself to spend my eternity on my own," she said. She hugged herself tightly.