Page 271 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

I could understand the quiver in Bells' voice. Adam was a werewolf, and without a wolf spirit, he was a human in the Forsaken Plane. Vulnerable, defenseless.

“Adam wasn’t born inside the pack. He was born in a hospital. He’s been matched with a wolf spirit, and a mate.”

“Will I ever see him again?”

“I don’t have the answer to that question, Bells. I’m sorry. The Forsaken Plane is out of my reach. I promise I will do my best to figure out how find him and help him get out, but I don’t know how long it will take me.”

“Thank you.”

I thought she was done, but then Selene turned back to us.

“Chris, Violet. Come over here, please.”

I was frozen in my spot, but Chris squeezed my waist reassuringly, and I moved with him as he walked us toward the Moon Goddess. When we arrived, we both bared our necks in submission to her.

“Don’t do that. Please,” she sighed. “I never meant for either of you to suffer as you did. You were supposed to have a happy ending. Yo—”

Chris cleared his throat, prompting Selene to stop talking.

“With all due respect, Moon Goddess. I found my happy ending,” he told her, his hand around my waist pulling me tighter to him.

A tear slipped from my face at his words. This was Chris standing up for us. Against our goddess, the mother of all shifters. Selene smiled, and looked at me.

“You did. I’d been watching you two over the last year, waiting for you to heal, so I could find you a second-chance mate that fit the person you were becoming. Then, you disappeared from my view and when you came back out of Redmon, I find you’ve healed each other. You made each other better. That’s what a mate does.”

My heart was thumping with happiness and relief. She wasn’t here to stop us.

“I know you’ve already chosen each other and don’t need my help, but I don’t think it’s fair that you’re denied more out of life. You don’t need it, but you have my blessing. Once the moon hits the peak tonight, you’re going to feel the sparks and the mate bond that you created—all on your own— snap into place. Chris, you were always enough. You’re a good man and will be a great father and mate. And, Violet, Chantico’s children don’t break, they bend under the heat and stand up stronger.” She looked over at my sister, and caressed her face before she looked back atme. “There is a certain beauty in feeling broken, though, and it’s that you have a chance to remake yourself into something much stronger. You’re not damaged, Violet. You never were. You were evolving, and that’s not always a painless process.”

Selene bent down and kissed my forehead, before doing the same to Chris, and I felt a weight lifting off my shoulders and peace settling into my soul.

“Thank you,” I whispered to her, emotions forming a knot in my throat.

Selene nodded, before she took a couple of steps back.

“You all have a hard road ahead, and for that I’m sorry. I’m doing my best to give you all the tools you need, but my hands will be tied when hell tries to rain down on you for being related to me. I fear before the end is over, some of you will come to hate me.”

A tear spilled from her eyes as she looked at all of us. Her eyes settled on Elim, and a mischievous smile took over her face.

“Don’t worry. Your mate is out there. You more than deserve her, but you might have to convince her of that first.”

There was a blinding light that made me bury my face in Chris’ chest, and then she was gone. We all stood in shocked silence for a few minutes.

“You all saw that right?” Miguel asked. “And we haven’t eaten yet, so this isn’t some sort of mass hysteria food poisoning episode? No one’s eaten Bells’ food lately?”

“It was one time!” my sister whined indignantly, making a few of us chuckle.

“We really just met the Moon Goddess?” Miguel finished from my left.

“Yo-you might want to keep that to yourselves, unless you want her to get in trouble with the other gods,” Uncle Helios warned, and I heard people mumbling in agreement.

“Can you talk to the other gods?” I suddenly asked.

It never occurred to me that Uncle Helios was a god and could technically communicate with them all.

“No. I forwent my ascendance when they decided to leave the physical realm and hide supernatural beings. I’m essentially in exile.”

“Is that why you don’t wield sunfire like in the lore?” I asked.

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