Chapter 42: The Alpha Shipwrecked

As Desiree became encased in the cold harsh turbulence of the seawater, her life began to flash before her eyes. She found herself remembering her mother and grandmother both alive and healthy. She could see her grandmother standing before her in the fields of Sweetkane, folding a quilt of indigo and gold.

“You will always have a choice,” her grandmother’s voice was a loud echo all around her. “The darkness is tempting. It can make you feel powerful and in control. But you must choose to stay in the light. No matter what this life throws at you, you will always burn bright.”

Then she was five after her youth trials and first solo kill. Her mother took the offering with her to an altar to offer to the moon goddess. Alone at the altar, her mother placed the small animal on a table and waved her hand over it. She watched in awe as the animal caught fire and burned to ash.