Page 105 of A Chance at Love for the Twin Alphas

“What’s wrong, man?” I ask him.

“I’m just trying to wrap my mind around what Zahra told us,” he mutters. “The black cat—”

“What’s with the black cat?” Uncle Elden asks as he sits down.

“Zahra said that Nephthys was accompanied by a black cat when she saved Dalila and her mother. She further told us the black cat is a sign of the goddess Bastet.” He pauses. “So the annoying black cat I carried around in Auset’s mind could indeed be the goddess Bastet in person?” Arman asks, and for the first time ever, I see him with a dumbfounded, slightly horrified expression instead of a regal one. “For real? Not just a hallucination of her or a being she sent to help me? It was her, in person!?”

It’s silent in the room. “I didn’t even think about that,” Cassiopeia breathes out. “But yes, she guided you there. It probably was her!”

“She is responsible for me having all these scratches.” Arman sighs.

I blink. “I thought that was the lynx?” It’s true that Arman returned from his trip into Auset’s mind with lots of scratches, but we just assumed it was Auset’s werecat spirit, not the goddess in person. “Now that I think about it… it is weird.”

“I thought of her as the psycho cat!” Arman says.

“If it helps,” Cassiopeia says. “We cats don’t necessarily think of it as an insult if we are called sociopaths.”

“Does this rule also work for a goddess?” Arman asks.

“Alright,” Elden interrupts them. “Please start from the beginning.” So we do, telling him everything that Zahra told us about how Dalila came into the world, how she is partly a deity’s offspring.

“I know more,” Dalila says into the silence of the room. Tony is holding her hand, their fingers intertwined, and he looks worried.

Elden, who has been listening with a serious expression, looks at her now, his gaze softer than before. “What did you find out, Dalila?”

“When I collapsed, I actually met.” She pauses. “My mother, my second mother, Nephthys.”

“She visited you in your dream?” Elden asks.

She nods. “We talked shortly but didn’t have much time. She verified everything Zahra said. She said we did the right thing by freeing Auset’s lynx and that the lycan with the dream walking gift should continue.”

“That’s Arman,” Tony tells her softly.

“Arman is on the right track,” she says.

“Did she say something else?”

“She told me that there is a cult, the one Zahra mentioned.” She pauses. “And she mentioned the name Apophis. I don’t know who that is, though.”

For a second, I believe I didn’t hear correctly, but Uncle Elden seems to be speechless, too. He stares at her, minutes dripping by before he clears his throat. “Apophis?”

“Forgive my ignorance,” Tony finally says. “But who is Apophis?”

“Apophis is the ancient god of chaos,” Elden mutters.

“Now, chaos normally is important for a balance, but Apophis is said to have always pushed it a bit further than necessary,” I add.

“What else do you know?” Elodie asks me curiously.

I feel uncertain all of a sudden. I’m sitting here with two alpha leaders. Now, Ezra is a young alpha, a werewolf, and while he appears smart and level-headed, I wouldn’t feel insecure in front of him. But Elden is said to be one of the wisest reigning lycan alphas, and he is going to be king soon. My knowledge can’t even remotely compare to his.

“What are you waiting for?” Elden says, smiling encouragingly at me.

“I don’t want to overstep,” I say earnestly.

“You aren’t overstepping. In fact, I’m delighted that the youth, or at least some of them, are so invested in ancient mythology.” He smiles. “Marius loves it too.”

“Yes,” Tony jumps in, as always, having my back. Marius is Uncle Elden’s second oldest child. He was even more rebellious than Tony and I back in the day, and while we grew up with Elden’s kids, we didn’t know about Marius’ hobbies. Now we know that he was battling his own trauma. “You and Marius should totally meet eventually to geek together,” he says before turning to Elden, smiling proudly. “Henry loves to read. He said he would like to tackle ancient Persian mythology next.”

---