The Afterlife

Chapter 10: Friendship

After Allie ended her call with Kaori, she fell asleep in her room, in part due to the late hour and also because she was just so exhausted.

In her dream, a grey-haired woman was speaking to her. She looked like an angel; she was smiling.

"By the shoreline, in the unclaimed territory between your pack and Birdsong Pack to the east," she was saying. Allie instantly recognized her as the Moon Goddess; she was everything she'd imagined her to be. "Find Aphrodite's temple, and ask her to grant you 48 hours of reprieve from death, which you should have gotten if Ares hadn't gotten in your way -- yeah, sorry about that, by the way! -- and then you'll be able to journey to Ares."

Allie nodded, taking it all in, hoping she'd be able to remember.

"You're welcome to bring whichever companions you desire, as long as you believe they will be your benefit." Allie thought about bringing her mate and her friends.

"Be careful who you bring, though, as that will be important to your success," said Selene. Allie wasn't sure what that meant. She was only going to bring her friends, anyway. Instead, she focused on what she was supposed to do. Find Aphrodite's temple, for one. Journey to Ares, which she didn't know where he was at all.

Where is Ares? she wanted to ask.

Selene seemed to understand her question. "Unfortunately, my child, I do not know where Ares resides," she said. "I have not contacted him in a long time. We are not on good terms. You might be able to find him in unclaimed territory, near where some humans may be residing. You must not go alone; go with your mate. And if he tries to shoot you -- or his warriors do again -- run!"

Unclaimed territory. Would that be near... Fawn Valley? Near Dark Moon? Near Waterlux? Allie thought about the place where she'd met up with Kaori the second time she'd been shot by Ares, though she hadn't known it at the time. It was definitely in unclaimed territory, near a pack border not too far from her pack... on the southern border of Deer Mountain, actually. It could be a good place to start.

"My dear. I must depart. Please be careful. Ares has many friends," she warned.

In a thick mist, she disappeared, and Allie woke with a start.

"Are you going to tell him? Don't mind-link him, Allie. Please."

Allie raised her eyebrows, but did as she was asked. "Luna Viv, what do you need?"

"Look, before you do anything, please just don't tell him I asked you, too, because what if it makes things worse?"

Allie sighed. Luna Vivian was right -- she didn't want to make anything worse. And Luna Vivian had been so kind to her during her recovery; even though she was super busy back at her own pack, she called every day with an update on Kaori's status and was a great friend as Allie confided in Vivian regarding her own. "Okay, then." She'd just finished telling Vivian about her plans to take Kaori to Aphrodite's temple to ask for a 48-hour reprieve, as the Moon Goddess had said. "Now explain to me why I shouldn't tell him about it."

"Look, didn't you tell me you didn't want to be a burden? He's busy trying to find Ares, right? We can't bother him. You're perfectly able to do this on your own. You don't need him, girl! I mean, he's probably going to say no, he can't come!" said Viv.

"Oh, he'll come, all right," argued Allie.

"Yeah, but do you really want to make him choose between finding Ares and helping you out with Aphrodite?" pressed Viv. "Come on, Allie. I only want the best for you," Viv said as she ran her right hand through her blonde hair. "You gotta make smart choices."

Allie frowned. Viv was really a nice friend. She trusted her judgment. Besides, she was Kaori's Luna. As Luna, she trusted Viv to make the best decisions for her pack, which obviously included Kaori. And she really didn't want to distract Kaori. He'd had so much less time, and after what he'd told her about Evodia, Allie had told him to get started figuring out how it worked and practicing his skills. Anything she did now -- like Luna Viv said -- would just take away from the time he had.

"Okay," Allie finally said. "But I still don't really want to go alone."

"I'll go with you!" Viv offered, smiling. "And since I'm doing this as part of my Luna duties, it won't be a bother at all, right? Let your other friends Yuki and Sienna enjoy their honeymoon period. Wayne has worked so hard, too."

Allie nodded. "Yeah, I haven't really seen them much. They just celebrated their anniversary, so I really don't want to be around those two horny wolves." She laughed. She loved her friends, really, but Viv, as Kaori's Luna, was just so much more uniquely positioned to help her out. She had been an invaluable resource and Allie regretted that she'd ever felt weird about Luna Vivian's presence.

"So are we good? We'll go together, my friend?" Viv asked, ever so perky and bouncy and smiling so very wide. "The sooner you and your mate get back together, the sooner I can get back to my pack, too, and we can just be normal friends!" Viv smiled again.

Allie couldn't help but smile back. She found herself nodding. "All right. I was planning on leaving day after tomorrow. Does that work for you?"

Viv nodded. "Yes, let me just tell my mate tonight, okay? Love you so much girl! Let's get that curse of yours fixed!"

Allie grinned. "Thanks, Viv. I appreciate your friendship!"