Prologue
“My, my, aren’t we fussy today. What’s wrong, my little one?” The little black wolf whined and sank tiny sharp fangs into the plush teddy bear she’d given him. Diana smiled indulgently as she patted the pup’s head. She dipped the tip of her finger in a small jar of clove oil and rubbed the little wolf’s gums until he released the toy. His little tongue stuck out in disgust and he growled at her, before calming and laying down beside her. His teething time was coming to an end, but he never failed to growl at her whenever she applied the oil to his gums. She gently stroked his fur, helping to soothe him off into dreamland as a gentle drizzle started outside. The gloominess of the sky matched her quickly souring mood as the door to her bedroom opened.
Loki’s black locks hung down in his face, damp from his trek to her home. His emerald green eyes still bore the signs of mischief she’d once loved more than the garden she had created just outside her window. She’d loved the light-heartedness he’d approached life with, until she realized what that mischievous nature covered up. The dark, and deadly cruelty beneath the surface that desired nothing more than to destroy the world around him. He stood gazing at her pup now, his light and carefree expression barely concealing the sinister predator that lurked behind the mask. He didn’t like her pup, no matter that the little wolf was his. Her pup made her wise to his true nature, and Loki despised nothing more than losing a game. Diana sighed sadly, for that’s what she had been, another game, a challenge to conquer the unconquerable.
“You don’t even greet me now, even when I’ve come all this way just to see you.” His voice held a bit of a sad note, but her heart wasn’t prey waiting to be devoured anymore.
“You only come to see what you can take, Loki, and I already know this game. I haven’t anything left to give you.” His gaze returned to her pup, darkening further for a moment, the carefully orchestrated facade peeling back slightly and exposing the monster behind the smile. Diana resisted the urge to shiver and scoop her little one up and out of his line of sight.
“Come now, that’s not true. Once upon a time I came to gaze upon the woman that legend declared more beautiful than the moon and stars in the night sky. I came to bask in her loveliness and shelter myself with her love, but alas, she didn’t love me in return.” Her anger burned hot as she glared at him, the sky outside rumbling with the impending storm.
“You’ve no love for anyone beyond yourself, Trickster. What I once gave to you freely, will never be yours again. Now leave my home, Loki, before the last of my compassion burns away in the pit of hate you’ve created.” He gave up any pretense of playfulness and mischief in that moment, his expression going black in an instant, the hate and loathing he kept at bay exposed to her gaze truthfully for the first time since she’d met the young Norse god.
“You were to be my bride, Diana. I waited for you and indulged your every desire to make it so, for you to dismiss me now. You’ve given the love that was meant to be mine to the little wolf at your side, but I will not be forgotten. Like I burn with need for you, so shall your wolf burn with desire for the one meant to be his. So desperate to possess what he will never own, he’ll destroy this world outside your window you hold so dear, the garden you’ve created in your image, until only despair and agony remain in a land of fire and brimstone.” Diana screamed in fury, her cry of pain morphing into the roar of the beast hidden deep within herself. She attacked the god with all her rage, her white Lycan form crashing into his body with the force of a hurricane. Her claws ripped into his flesh moments before he managed to kick her away from him.
Fleeing in fear, he jumped through her window, into the world outside the heavens in which they resided. Diana howled at the injustice as her pup whined in the corner of the room. She fell to her knees, her form melting away into the goddess she was as the tears streamed down her face. Her arms opened for the little wolf and he raced to her. She cradled him gently as she buried her face in his fur.
“Forgive me, my child, for what I do, but if you’ve any hope of happiness you must know pain. Only with the knowledge of what your actions might bring, will you be able to stay your hand. I am sorry my love, for on this journey I cannot come with you.” The pup whined in confusion as she held him out of the broken window moments before she let go. She watched with a heavy heart as the pup plummeted down to the garden of Earth alone, until he was out of site.
“Dearest sister, Moon, give him strength and keep him safe.”
