The Temple

"Okay, let me get this straight."

Cedric shook his head—a pathetic attempt to regain his mind—and look at Beatrice. 

"My dear crazy friend who never thought of love as her priority, and never had ever—in her entire life—think of choosing a mate for herself like any normal werewolves—even when she started to love someone—is now asking me to help her find her mate?"

It wasn't about 'help me to find a mate', no. If that was the case, Cedric would be dumbfounded but still relatively collected. 

But his precious friend casually announced that she had a mate and she needed to find him. In order to do that, she needed his help. 

To his incredulous expression, the werewolf easily nodded. 

"Trice, darling, did the shock shake you this much?"

The Saint's expression filled with sympathy as he patted her back. 

"It's okay, I understand, almost dying must've been terrifying.'

'It's normal that you'll find yourself with a few loose screws,' he figured. 

However, Beatrice merely laughed at him before clarifying. 

"When I was being 'resurrected'—I believe—I saw my mate in my dream. You know how we werewolves can easily figure out such things. That 'dream' was surely a vision. And although I have no idea about the reason for our meeting to be like that, I can imagine it was the only way."

She crossed her arms and hummed before adding, "I don't think this cute Lycan of mine is close to here. That's why I need to find him."

Cedric shook his head at her as if he couldn't believe her. 

"Seriously, you bunch of mutts are weird. One day you would never prioritize romance and love, and here you are trying to secure your mate before even getting your revenge. Isn't that too laughable?"

With a bright smile, Beatrice nudged his side. Her elbow skillfully exerted enough strength to make the elven Saint hunch over. 

"We mutts were damned like that by your goddess, send your complains to her~"

'Seriously…' Cedric groaned, 'How did I become friends with this bitch?'

Despite his inner thoughts, Cedric only pushed Beatrice away before dragging her with him toward the temple while grumbling softly. 

"If you want my help, you must help me as well, then."

The cool air of the night embraced the two as they headed toward the temple, both relieved in the fact that they were together and well. 

•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•

'This place is really an eyesore.'

Beatrice mused while standing in front of the bright, fully white building of the temple before her. It had three floors from what she could remember, and everything was damn white. 

The deity didn't even say she liked white, mind you. It was all the fault of her believers who assumed whatever they wanted because of her position as the Moon Goddess. 

Those weren't the biggest concerns for Beatrice, though. 

"It glows so much."

Instead, she felt her eyes stinging from how this temple was illuminating their surroundings. Her eyes ached under the glow of this sacred place. 

Cedric, who was standing next to her, did his best to cover his smirk while nodding in agreement. 

The temple has always been like this. For the lost people, this beam of light was their supposed salvation as it'll guide them to the Lord's territory and to their safety. 

'Even though I don't fully agree with that.'

As he had been alive for hundreds of years, he knew this was a double-edged sword for the poor souls. But that wasn't a point he'd like to discuss now, especially not with Beatrice who had just survived death thanks to the Goddess' mercy. 

Dragging her by her elbow, the Saint put on his perfect holy smile as he entered the temple. 

"Saint!"

"Oh, thank the Goddess!"

"Where were you, Saint Cedric??"

Three desperate-looking priests jumped at him immediately with haggard expressions. Beatrice had to hold back from snorting. The guy who wanted to scold her about worrying him had been doing worse than her, it seems. 

"The Saint was there to get me. Nice to meet you all, Moonlit's believers."

Beatrice put her palm against her chest and gave them a slight bow—she didn't wish to disrespect anyone at this temple. For one, they would be her benefactors. And second, she didn't want them to be angry with her friend and start to doubt his judgement. 

'Being the Saint isn't easy.' 

Just like how being the Protector of the pack wasn't a child play either. 

'The responsibility that comes with these titles always hung up on our backs until we break.'

Thus she mustn't let herself be another burden on Cedric even if she was utterly helpless. 

As the former Protector of her pack and the dear friend of the Saint, her decision was made before they met earlier. She would only ask him for help that doesn't hurt him. Otherwise, she wouldn't drag her buddy down. 

'Never.'

The three priests quickly bowed toward her as well and greeted her with respectful attitude. 

"Welcome, may the moonlight shine upon you."

"May the moonlight shine upon you, welcome to the temple of the Moon Goddess."

"Saint's guest, welcome."

Cedric nodded his head lightly and introduced them to each other. 

"In order—Jasmine, Zed, and Avion. And this is my guest and an old friend of mine, Beatrice. As you possibly could've discovered, she's a werewolf."

The priests were quick to note her status as a werewolf and their attitude seemed to soften a bit. 

"May I ask what brings an esteemed guest such as herself here?" Jasmine asked cautiously while observing Beatrice's condition. 

Haggard appearance, shabby outfit, but wonderful, agile body and stunning beauty nonetheless. Despite how she clearly was injured and her body was healing very slowly, the strength that the body of this werewolf held remained evident. 

Add to that, the Saint brought her here as his old friend. 

Their gazes held respect and curiosity rather than suspicion and discomfort after observing the werewolf for a while. Beatrice nodded approvingly at them, they carried themselves well. 

Cedric saw that all before finally answering Jasmine when he noticed that his friend had no intention of answering on her own.

And honestly, curse her for that, she was making him do so much after not meeting for such a long time. 

"My friend faced some difficulty in her pack. Some internal struggle happened and the result was her exile." he paused before adding 'reluctantly', "She will be staying under our care for some time. The Goddess herself had bestowed her blessing on this person, and thus she is important."

The three priests' eyes widened just as quickly as they returned to normal. However, their gazes were now headed to Beatrice's neck where the gruesome scar—gifted to her by her dearest sister—was obnoxiously visible. 

Traces of divine power settled silently inside that scar, making the priests have no choice but to accept the Saint's words and lower their heads more. 

Whether the Saint was telling the full truth or not, they had no intention of figuring out. After all, the divine power in the female werewolf's neck was evidence that she was someone their Lord had approved of. 

Nothing matters to them other than that.