Chapter 10 The Reward

Liora

“You’re not dead.”

The voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once. I spun in circles until the glittering cavern blurred into a smear of violet and silver.

“Who’s there?” My voice trembled despite myself. “And where the hell is this place?”

Beautiful as it was something ripped straight from a fever dream I didn’t want to stay another minute. I wanted to go back to a place I knew. A familiar place even if it was the werewolf pack house. 

A man appeared out of thin air.

He looked… official. His black hair was cropped short and slicked back, not a strand out of place. He looked like those nerds who wore glasses and worked in a library except he didn’t wear glasses. 

And there was no library. 

His eyes were black, empty and emotionless with no trace of humanity.

I jumped back, claws scraping against the crystal floor, every hair on my body standing on end.

“Who are you?” I growled, flashing my teeth like that would intimidate anyone.

The man just stared at me. Then he made a gesture with his hand and a filled glass appeared from nowhere.

“What the hell?”

“Grape juice,” he said, his voice echoing in my bones. “You’ll need this.”

My stomach chose that moment to rumble. When was the last time I had anything to eat? I’d been so busy trying to save Alpha Zane’s life and well, my own life as well that I’d forgotten to eat something. 

“I don’t fucking know you,” I spat, hissing at the inviting glass. “Who the hell are you, and why am I here?”

He downed the drink in one gulp. The glass vanished the same way it had come.

“Means.”

“Means?”

“That is my name.” His voice was flat and clinical. “I’m one of the Moon Goddess’s messengers.”

“You’re that swindler’s messenger!” I hurled it like an accusation. He didn’t react. I glanced around the impossible cavern. “Where is she? The swindler. I want to see her.”

Silence.

“Where is the Moon Goddess?”

“She’s quite busy.” Means folded his hands behind his back. “I’ll deliver her message to you. Whatever messages you have for her, you can give me.”

I snorted. Typical. Goddess too important to show her face.

“Fine. Where are we? And how did I suddenly appear here?”

“This is Thream.” He gestured vaguely at the glowing spires and upside-down waterfalls. “A plane that exists and does not exist at the same time. The Moon Goddess lives on the other side. You’ve been there once.”

Right. Of course I have.

“Wait when you say it exists and doesn’t”

“That doesn’t matter.” He cut me off without apology. “I’m here to deliver the Moon Goddess’s messages and your reward.”

My ears flattened. “Reward?”

My heart jumped. I can see Kael again. Finally,

“Can I finally go back to my world? I can see”

“Congratulations on completing your first mission, Liora.” Means cut me off again. His voice was utterly devoid of warmth. “You have eight missions to go before you can finally return to your world. Each mission will bring you closer to Kael and unlock new potentials for you.”

The words hit me like a physical blow.

Eight fucking missions more.

I opened my mouth. I closed it. I opened it again.

“Eight?” My voice cracked. “You’re telling me I almost died twice and that was just the first one?”

Means tilted his head. “Yes. If you want the Moon Goddess to return you to your former life.”

“That’s not ” I sputtered, my tail lashing. “That’s not what I you can’t just ”

“The Moon Goddess can,” he said calmly. “And she has.”

I stared at him, my claws digging into the glowing floor beneath me. This wasn’t a negotiation. This wasn’t even a conversation. This was a demand. It was basically a “If-you-want-your-life-back-you-have-to-do-what-I-want” kind of bargain. 

It meant it didn’t matter what I wanted or what I thought was comfortable for me. 

“Fine,” I bit out, forcing the word past my teeth. “Fine. What’s mission number two?”

Means tilted his head –the first hint of anything resembling expression. “You have to find the second spy.”

I blinked. “The… what?”

“Whoever Cassius was working for planted a second man in Silvercrest.” He said matter-of-factly. “You have to find them before it’s too late.”

“That’s it?” My tail lashed. “That’s my mission? Find a spy with absolutely nothing to go on? And what do you mean by too late? What’s the catch?”

“Who knows?” Means said. “It could be that Alpha Zane is the target again. Or you.”

I frowned. “What does that even mean?”

“It means I cannot tell you who it is. No, I cannot give you a specific location. I cannot tell you when they will strike next or who.” His black eyes bored into mine. “You must discover them yourself.”

“That’s insane!” I yowled. “There are thousands of werewolves in this pack! How am I supposed to”

“You will figure it out.” He cut me off again, utterly unmoved. “Or you won’t, and you’ll remain you’ll really die this time. The choice is yours.”

My claws scraped against the crystal floor. I wanted to scratch his perfect, emotionless face. I wanted to scream. I wanted to curl into a ball and cry. I wanted hot chocolate and a warm bath in a tub, sprinkled with rose petals.

Fuck! I missed my old life 

I forced myself to breathe. “What about my reward?” I said through gritted teeth . “You said I was getting something.”

Means nodded slowly. “The Moon Goddess has seen fit to reward your efforts. Close your eyes.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not closing my”

My eyes pressed shut. Without my consent. I tried to force them open but it was as though someone had applied glue to them. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t pry them open. Then finally, after countless tries, it finally opened.

And my eyes immediately fell on 

“What am I looking at?”

“That is your reward,” I could have sworn that I heard a slight tinge of amusement in his voice when he spoke. “Your human body.”

“No way,” I breathed, turning my hands over. “No freaking way.”

I caught my reflection in a crystalline wall and froze. The woman staring back at me was me and wasn’t. 

The face was the same one I’d worn in my old life, the one I’d died with. But everything else had changed. My body was graceful, almost ethereal. My skin was supple, my limbs longer and more elegant. I looked like I’d been sculpted rather than born.

And my hair.

In my past life, I’d had black hair like midnight which I always kept shoulder length. Now it cascaded past my waist in waves, the color of sunset and wine. My eyes were different too. The blue was deeper, richer, almost emerald in this light. 

“What did you do to me?” I whispered.

Means folded his arms. “Nothing. Your human form has been… cleaned. As you complete more missions, you will unlock more of your potential. For now, you can shift between this form and your cat form at will.”

I stared at my reflection. At this stranger who was also me.

“Why?” I asked, my voice barely audible. “Why keep the cat form?”

“The Moon Goddess’s mercy,” Means said. “She knows you have grown attached to that form. She allows you to keep it.”

Attached? I scoffed internally. I won’t say I was attached, but I definitely miss it if she decided to take it away. 

I turned to face him. “I want to see her as the Moon Goddess. I want to speak to her myself.”

“She’s busy.”

“With what?!”

The word echoed off the crystalline spires, bouncing back at me like an accusation. Means didn’t flinch. He just stared at me with those empty black eyes.

“That is not for you to know.”

“You’re impossible!” My fists clenched at my sides. “I’m grateful she gave me my body back and all and maybe I want to thank her! Look, I just want”

“Your time is up.”

“What?”

Means raised his hand again and the carven began to fade at the edges. The glowing spires dissolved slowly. 

“Wait, I still have questions! What happens if I fail? Can I talk to Echo in this form? How do I ”

I was suddenly back at the pack house, standing in the same spot I’d been when they yanked me into that plane. That was in the hallway leading away from the private room where they’d arrested Cassius. 

And I was naked! In my human form!

I spun around as I heard footsteps approaching, my heart hammering frantically in my chest, and 

Well, fuck me.