Chapter 389


    #Chapter 389 – The Temple


    E


    It is, indeed, a long climb. Cora and I are panting by the time we get to the top, and even though


    Sinir took Rafe from me halfway through the hike I have to take a moment to catch my break


    when we pull ourselves up to the final level.


    Roger has the indecency to look a little smug about the fact that he barely looks winded and Cora


    gives him a little shove on the shoulder as she works to take a few deep breaths and wipe the


    sweat from her brow.


    Even as I work to bring my heartrate back down, I absolutely marvel at the sight before me.


    The Goddess’ temple, like the one in the city, is builtpletely with white marble. But unlike


    the one in the city, this one looks….ancient. Vines grow in ropes all over it, looking almost as if the


    structure is part of the forest itself, having grown up organically from it. The temple is tall and


    wide, the pirs in front drawing my eyes upward to the nted roof which curls into a dome. At


    the very peak of the dome is a golden crescent moon, reaching up towards the sky, glinting in the


    bright sunlight.


    “Wow,” Cora says, standing straight next to me and likewise marveling at the temple. “Mom has


    some….impressive property.”


    “I know, right?” I mutter back, crossing my arms and shaking my head. If someone had told me,


    when I was a little girl sleeping in my creaky little orphan bed, that my mom lived here…


    Well. I probably would have believed them.


    But I was a very imaginative child.


    “Um,” Roger says, looking anxiously at Cora. “Shall we?”


    I smile at him, seeing that he’s eager to move on but also that he wants to give her room to process


    this experience. It’s more intense for her than it is for him, and I think that it’s very sweet that he


    realizes this. Roger really hase leaps and bounds as a person from when I first met N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.


    him


    Sinires to stand next to me and I grin at him and then turn to my baby, taking his hands


    and speaking to him quietly, asking him how he likes it here and if he’s ready to meet his granny


    for real this time Rafe ps and gurgles like he really is excited


    “It’s like he understands sometimes,” I say quietly, smiling up at Sinir


    “Well,” Sinir says, grinning proudly down at his son “He’s very clever”


    “Yes,” I say, leaning closer to kiss my baby’s forehead “Yes, he is. The most clever baby the world.


    “He can keep that title for about…five more months,” Roger calls to us, crossing his arms over his


    chest with a smirk.


    Sinir justughs and shakes his head, letting it pass.


    “Are you ready, Cora?” I ask, moving again to her side.


    “I think so,” she says, giving me a nod and reaching for my hand. I give it, and, with another deep.


    breath, the five of us begin to walk towards the temple. As we approach, a woman in dove-colored


    robeses out of the front.


    I hesitate for a moment, going still at the sight of those robes –


    Because thest time I saw them –


    But I feel Sinir behind me, his hand warm against my back, and then a little pulse offort.es


    down the bond and I exhale, skipping forward a little to stay at Cora’s side.


    Because he’s right. This is…this is not the same situation we were in before. This is different, and


    not every priestess we meet is going to try to take my baby away. Some of them, surely, actually


    serve my mother.


    “Wee,” the woman says, bowing a little and giving us a deep smile as we approach. ”


    Daughters of the Goddess – you are wee here. And you are right on time.”


    Cora and I smile at each other and then look back to the woman. “Is she here?” I ask.


    The priestess smiles warmly at me but Cora turns to me with a frown. “Can’t you feel her?”


    1


    I blink at Cora for a second and then, as I realize what she means that she can feel our mother


    here already I bite my lip, feeling a very deep grief.


    —


    Because I cannot feel her. I used up our bond used the magic of it to unbind my wolf and my


    gift so that I could save my child, and Cora, and my mate. Cora realizes this very suddenly, her


    mouth making a startled “o” of concern, but I just shake my head and work hard to give her a


    smile


    “It’s okay,” I say, squeezing her hand “I’m d you can feel her for both of us.”


    She nods to me, sympathetic, and then we both tum back to the priestess.


    “Please,” the priestess says, smiling around at our whole party and taking a moment to let her


    gaze linger on the baby, admiring him “Please, doe inside ‘


    And so, as a group, we follow the priestess into my mother’s temple And as we go, I wonder a


    everyone’s heart is pounding as much as mine


    The temple, inside, is different than the ones that we’ve been in before. While the desert temple. was


    elegantly sparse, and the city temple was sweeping and impressive, this one is…cozy. The architecture


    is still bright and wide, but you can tell that women live here and treat it as a home. As I look around at


    the padded benches by the windows, at the well-loved books neatly tucked into alcoves and the little


    worn stick broom tucked into a corner, I decide quite suddenly that this is my favorite temple of all –


    and that I quite like it here.


    The priestess does not pause in the middle of therge central room of the temple, the space beneath


    the dome, but instead leads us across it to a door at the back. Before she opens it, she turns to us with


    a warm smile. “Are you ready?” she asks, giving us a moment to prepare.


    Cora tucks her hair behind her ears and Rogeres to stand behind her, straightening his shoulders,


    his face very serious. He is, after all, about to be introduced to his mate’s mother as such for the first


    time. I smile at both of them as I reach for the baby, who Sinir helps me unbuckle from the carrier. I


    don’t know why I do it, but somehow I want Rafe quite close to me as we go to see his grandmother. It


    feels…right.


    –


    Then, once we’re all ready and Sinir has ced a warm hand on my shoulder – Cora nods to the


    priestess who opens the door and leads us inside.


    We see her immediately, we all do –


    The beautiful Goddess, standing at the far end of the room, glowing with the faint luminescence of


    moonlight. Her face breaks into a smile as we cross the room, her eyes shing over all of us but


    focusing on Cora. I can’t help the tears that well in my eyes when I see her, as I study her


    form. And this time, as I look at her –


    I see Cora all over her, in her face, in her expression, in the way she holds herself. Her hair is still


    like mine, but it seems like everything – everything else is my sister. How did I not see it before?


    Was I such a fool?


    But as I think the thought, I dismiss it. Because she’s a Goddess, she’s divine. I think…she lets us


    see what we want or need to see in her.


    As I think that my mother’s eyes move to me, and she smiles. And a few tears slip down my


    cheeks as I smile back.


    Then, as she should, she refocuses on Cora, moving forward to take her hands. “I’m so d that


    you’vee to see me, daughter. Finally*


    “Hey ” Cora says, tears slipping down her own cheeks, and then sheughs a little at her


    awkward start “Hello, mom”


    The Goddess reaches a hand to Cora’s cheek, smiling at her.


    “Um,” Cora says, half turning to her mate “You remember Roger, right?”


    “I do,” the Goddess says,ughing a little, the sound ringing in my ears like tinkling bells. “I’m d.


    Roger, that you finally figured out what I meant in my message to you. By the desert.”


    “Yeah,” he says, smiling and grimacing awkwardly at once as he runs a hand through his hair.” I’m


    sorry about that I…overthought it.”


    The Goddess’ smile grows then and she reaches a hand out to him as well. “You wille with me,”


    she says, turning towards another door, to an even more private room. “So that we may speak.”


    I step back then, towards my mate, but before she goes my mother turns to me and gives me a special


    smile. “E,” she says warmly, and then her eyes shift to Rafe in my arms. “Thank you,” she says, “for


    bringing my first grandchild to meet me. I had a glimpse of him before, of course, when had him


    dedicated to me. But to see him now in the flesh? It is…a gift.”


    you


    –


    “He’s a gift,” I whisper, holding my baby tight, tugging at the little bond I have with him and passing a


    great deal of love down it, so much that my baby looks up at me curiously and squeaks a little with his


    happy joy. Iugh and look down at him.


    “As you are to me,” my mother says, and I look back up at her, tears still dripping down my face.


    And I nod, understanding – finally-exactly what she means.


    The goddess tuns then, taking Cora and Roger’s hands, leading them away.


    As the door closes behind them, I take a step backwards into Sinir’s arms, which I know were


    waiting to wrap around me.


    “You okay, gorgeous?” he murmurs, bringing his lips down close to my ear to whisper the words.


    “Yeah,” I say, snuggling against him and dipping my head to kiss Rafe’s. “I really, really am,


    Dominic. I’m perfect.”


    “Yes,” he sighs, kissing my own head now, just as I did Rafe’s. “Yes, you are.”


    ay