Prologue
If the goddess in front of her could move, she would have smacked her in the head or hit her with a lightening bolt to get rid of her.
Not that she would have blamed her though. Imagine being a sculpture in an abandoned temple and a silly teenager finds you then visits you for four years and asks for the same thing over and over again.
Lillian scattered the poppy flowers at the altar of the moon goddess like any other day. Golden candles lit on the banisters of the premises, yellow light reflecting off her caramel skin under the embrace of the moonlight flooding the open temple.
The place was frail, cracked, abandoned, the paint long covered in moss. The pillars of the altar were chipped and lonely. Their only companion was Lily who took care of the orphaned sanctuary because she could relate to the void inside. And well, she needed the favor of the goddess.
"You know, I had this nightmare." She spoke to the moon goddess as if she were there. "There was a dead butterfly in my hands and I was standing with a man I felt immense love for. But when I gave him the butterfly, he crumbled like a sand castle, suffocating me in its grains." Her brown eyes flickered up. "Are you trying to tell me something? Is it a sign for all consuming love or is there no love for me?"
Her brown hair looked almost red in the warm glow, her lips swollen from her anxious biting and her brown cat eyes flickering in anticipation.
"You already know how compassionate I am about my mate," Lily kneeled at the foot of the sculpture, desperately trying to convey the depth of her feelings. "This is the last time in five years I'll have the opportunity to nag for a perfect mate. I promise you I'll do my best to be everything he's lacking and make him whole. We'll mold into one another. My entire life, I've dreamt about him. Maybe I already know who he is."
Tilting her head, Lily glanced up at the beautiful ceramic statue of the moon goddess hoping she could listen and assure her.
"I'm going to shift tomorrow. With the freedom of the wolf in me, she'll link with our mate instantly. I will finally see who belongs to me and to whom I belong."
Suppressing the fear in her heart, Lily struggled to swallow. Her eyes drifted away from the statue and swept over the scattered flower petals on the neat tiles of the temple.
"I come here with offerings, greedy and selfish. I pray every time I see you. I need him, want him, dream of him. Every time I come for your blessing, my heart withers in doubt and worry. I–" her voice cracked, "I-I just..." holding back caution, her eyes dropped to her hands in her lap.
She had lost her parents, her sister, her childhood. The doubt of separation from her other half pierced her heart into two. Half misery, half pain.
"Please don't include me in those who never met their mates, found out they're dead or died when they met. I'm afraid I will scatter if you put me through another heartbreak. He will be my lifeline, my anchor, my pride and home...don't take him away from me."
Letting out a burdened breath, Lily rose to her feet and brushed down her white gown that covered all her body. Her taste was modest, simple, calm yet strong, just like her mother. There wasn't much to her, no adventures, no wild teenage, no risks, no trouble. She lived by her moral code and had a passion for cooking.
She was simply boring and too busy to gossip about her problems.
That was concerning to her. What if he didn't like a plain girl who wanted nothing but calm, quiet and peace? She just wanted to settle down somewhere.
Firm. Rooted. Secure.
Tense and hopeful, Lily sought her flower basket and patted her braid down before heading to the Packhouse. Her light steps down the stairs halted once more. She glanced over her shoulder one last time and whispered, "Please, no more pain, no more suffering. Keep him safe until I find him. Then he's mine. I will never share him, not even with you. I hope you understand."
Rough draft from an insomniac literary student. I get random flashes of these two nuclear balls and jot it down immediately. Straightening out a few things and might fix it completely someday when my soul returns to my body. Currently adding and subtracting some parts of it.
