Page 121 of Poseidon's Island Flower

Lani leaned back and ran her hands over her brother's soft, smooth cheeks. “You are here, and you aren’t freaking out?” she squeaked, and he grabbed her wrists to pray off her hands.

“No, I was about a month ago, though.” He let go of Lani and extended an arm through the open doorway. A tall brunette woman that didn’t even look a day older than Koma stepped inside. She wrapped her arm around Koma tightly, and Lani’s eyes widened.

“Y-you, what?” Lani shook her head. “What is going on here?”

“Nini, I want you to meet someone. This is Fay. She’s a wolf shifter, a werewolf I guess. That was the only way I could understand it.” Koma scratched the back of his head.

Lani looked at both of them, her mouth still open, her gaze shifting back and forth between them.

“She’s, also my mate. A soul mate, just like you and Poseidon.” Koma nodded toward me.

“You’ve talked to Poseidon?” she asked.

Koma nodded. “Yeah, he made the arrangements to get me out here as quick as I could to see if you were alright. When we arrived, however, I needed to get to a hotel. Fay is possessive of me, which I like,” he said quickly. “She wanted me marked before we came here but agreed to wait until we arrived on the island. She wanted to make sure that everyone knew I was hers.”

She let out a soft purr, her head nestling into the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry we took so long to get here. Koma had a hard time waking up. Just as you did, from the sounds of it,” Fay said.

“Wait, that means.” Lani pointed to the both of them. “You can change into a wolf?”

Lani led them to the couch, their conversation now meant for them alone. The gods would be leaving soon, the sun was setting. It was time for them to go back to their own lives.

Lani listened to Koma and Fay’s story—how they met, how they fell in love, and how they became one in soul. I let them have their moment, having already heard most of their story, and I approached Athena, who was hanging back in the corner.

“You’ve done great,Cy.” She put out her hand to shake. Athena wasn’t one to show much emotion, if any at all, she would show annoyance.

Instead of shaking her hand, I pulled her into a hug. I would normally have shied away from such a hug, but today was too momentous an occasion to not share the warmth I felt.

However, I couldn’t help but think about certain gods in the room. The gods that had used me for their own selfish desires had yet to approach me with congratulations. I could sense their guilt in the air, even without them speaking. So many years ago, many of them begged me to create creatures. They lied, acting as if they wanted to see the earth replenished with not just humans, but supernaturals as well. So, they could all live in harmony.

Only for me to find out much later, that they only wanted to destroy the humans and watch them suffer.

Athena and I stood quietly in the corner as they began to draw nearer, the sound of their footsteps like a drumbeat. They approached with trepidation, their heads bowed low and fingers tightly coiled around their beverages.

“We are sorry,” I heard from one voice. But they all blended together in a perfectly shaken concoction. I no longer saw the faces that betrayed me. I no longer felt the evil emanating from their souls.

These were lesser gods. They held little power in the Celestial Realm. Zeus and Hera made sure they were punished, but they were never required to repent before me.

My heart was now fine-tuned after mating with Lani. I had a new found strength I’d never known. I could feel their heartfelt apologies without even opening my eyes.

I didn’t need to see them. I didn’t need to relive those moments where I thought they were my friends. The burden, the sadness that I held all those years over the few gods that wanted to destroy now lifted. They admitted their wrong.

As they touched me, a sigh of relief escaped my lips as I felt my burden disappear. They were sorry for having wronged me; they were sorry they dared to hurt the innocent humans. These gods now realized how important they were to the different realms of the world we all helped create.

As I opened my eyes to gaze upon them, the gods that apologized were gone, leaving the room empty with only the sweet murmurings of my mate and her brother to fill it.

“How do you feel?” Athena linked her arm through mine as we walked toward the door.

“Relieved, but I will still feel pain for those humans who suffered at my hand.” I lifted my hands to see the proverbial blood. I created many vampires, ogres, orcs, fae, and so on to destroy humans unknowingly. But now, the creatures that were meant to destroy lived in harmony.

“You can’t let that stop you from moving on, Poseidon. The blood is on the hands of the guilty gods who tricked you. They are the ones that suffer.” Athena opened the door, letting in the gentle breeze.

“Besides, I’m sure Ember is working with Hades to give those humans a second chance as well.” She winked and stepped out the door, only to vanish into thin air.

The night was filled with laughter as Lani and Koma spoke of their past. Their late nights eating pizza from a box, doing Koma’s homework until three a.m. because he forgot his project was due the next day. Lani truly raised her brother, and Fay was completely enthralled by Lani’s happiness at their bonding.

Because now Koma would not have a mortal life. Instead, he would live as long as he wasn’t fatally impaled. Koma would not age, nor would he grow sick. He would live on, and now that he was a wolf, he would most likely be the strongest in the pack he’d joined with Fay. He was built like a linebacker, as Lani would say.

Though, I wasn’t sure what a linebacker was, but I would remain silent until she told me in private.

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