A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood novel Chapter 108

Bonus Chapter – The Chrysalis of a Killer 

This bonus chapter follows the moment Arla committed herself to Aleric in the old timeline. The first leap that led her down her dark past.

AUTHOR NOTE:

This chapter shows where it all started, a nice way to compare to where they ended up. This is the old timeline’s version of Aleric (as we all know), and this is also a version of Aria never seen before either. All of this is way, wayyy in the past. Years before the book even began.

The importance of this chapter is that it shows the moment Aria fully committed herself to Aleric and began her road to becoming the person she eventually became. This is Aria before her guilt, her regret, before Aleric‘s truly harsh treatment and, most importantly, before she was brought back to life the first time. Just a child who didn‘t understand why her mate didn‘t love her; confused as to what she needs to do in order to fulfil the role everyone expects of her. Someone who still has hope that things will work out. 

*Thump, thump*... 

My heart. I could hear it pounding loudly in my chest, screaming at me to reconsider. To walk away and not enter through the doors in front of me. 

*Thump, thump... thump, thump... thump, thump*... 

I looked down at the tray in my hand, reviewing the amount of preparation I‘d put into organising this. It was a small gesture and yet I was hopeful that he would acknowledge my effort.

Really, it had been Sophie‘s idea. She‘d suggested that I find out what he enjoyed… what he liked to eat, drink... what he did for his hobbies. She told me to find ways that showed him I was at least trying to put effort into our relationship. 

‘*“‘You need to be bolder, braver,” *‘ she had said to me. “‘*He‘s never going to love you if you don’t prove to him why he should.”*” 

*“But we‘re mates...,‘*‘ I argued, confused by her suggestion. ‘*“‘I thought... I thought that meant that he would feel the same way as me.“‘*‘ 

She then looked at me with her sad eyes, a sight that was slowly becoming more and more common over these last few months, and sighed. “*“This man is an Alpha, Aria, and predicted t 

o become the most powerful one at that. You were fated to help him achieve that goal. So… help him.“* 

…But it was so much easier said than done.

Aleric and I had been mates for over a year now but I still struggled with how to properly show him how I felt. He was cold, unreadable, imposing… impossible to understand. And yet I loved him. Loved his quiet, unquestionable aura, his strength... the way he made my body shiver when he was close. It‘s just that he didn’t see me that way… yet.

…So what do you give a man who already has everything? 

What do you do so that he‘ll maybe look at you with the affection you so badly crave?

A tray of treats and tea delivered to his office? Would he even want to be bothered right now? 

He normally allocated time for me in his schedule for… mate things. Unfortunately, today wasn’t one of those days. He would probably be spending the night with Thea again since she normally kept his bed warm during the week. 

Soon, though. Soon she would be leaving. Everyone had told me so. ‘A mistress can‘t compete with a mate,‘they all said. ‘He‘ll get bored of her eventually.’ 

But I hated waiting... and I wanted to see him even if it wasn‘t one of my designated days. Being around him made my wolf happier and made me feel better too. Would it be possible to help him see that I could do everything Thea could? ...That I could make him happy if he just gave me a chance?

‘I shouldn‘t do this,‘I thought, quickly talking myself out of it. ‘I‘m only going to annoy him.‘ 

But my wolf whined inside, wanting to see her mate. She was too greedy sometimes, too demanding. Didn’t she see the way he looked at us? How much he didn‘t want us around? 

I sighed, caving to her pining. 

‘Fine.’

Taking a deep breath, I extended my hand... and hesitantly knocked on the office door. 

A moment of silence instantly followed, something that dragged on for what felt like an eternity. Was he ignoring me? Was I wrong in thinking he was even here right now? 

But no, I could smell he was in there. I‘d followed his scent all the way from his quarters this morning until it lead me to the general office downstairs. He was in there, I was sure.

“...Who is it?” his voice then called out from the other side. 

‘I should turn back. It‘s not too late. I can just apologise and leave quickly...‘ 

“Umm... sorry! I didn‘t–.” 

“...Come in, Ariadne.” to the 

hottest The Chrysalis tits Killer 

Too late.

The only thing stopping my hands from violently shaking was knowing that if I dropped this tray outside his front office, that it would be even scarier than going in to face him. I needed t o keep my composure or all of this was going to be so much worse.

As best I could with one hand, I maneuvered the door open, twisting the handle, and lightly pushed it ajar.

…And instantly regretted intruding.

Aleric sat at his desk, documents sprawled everywhere, and was accompanied by three Elders.

They were in a meeting... and I‘d just interrupted. 

One of the Elders I recognised immediately as Elder Luke. How could I not know who he was? Inside the pack vault, I‘d avidly read all of his political strategies from the last five years and immensely enjoyed the way he tackled a lot of the major issues surrounding pack relations. He was a genius in his field and I held nothing but respect for him. 

Though it was a little strange I hadn‘t realised Aleric was in a meeting. For whatever reason, I hadn‘t noticed the extra scents that lead through the door. Maybe I was just too focused on just the one very intoxicating one of my mate.

…A mate whose cold eyes were now glaring at me, piercing the small ounce of confidence I‘d tried to muster up before coming in here. 

The air was tense, serious, the sort of atmosphere you wouldn‘t normally want to intrude on. They were all huddled around where Aleric sat, their eyes now all on me expectantly to explain why I had interrupted.

“What do you want?” Aleric asked impatiently. 

I quickly looked down at my hands to where I held the tray, my mind flustered. This had been a terrible idea.

“I–I just umm...,” I stuttered. 

‘Pathetic.’ 

I couldn‘t even speak properly now. Was this really the best I could do? 

I took another deep breath and looked back up towards him, willing myself to at least get through to the end of this interaction with a shred of my dignity left. I was a Luna. His Luna. I could come to see him if I wanted to... right? 

“I know how hard you’ve been working lately… with the Silver Lake war and everything,“I continued, finally meeting his cold eyes. “I just... I thought you might like something to help keep you going.”

preparations of dites 

He stared back at me, his face completely unreadable. Almost as if waiting for me to get to the point. 

“I prepared it all myself… apologies, if it‘s not to your liking.” 

The three Elders then turned to look at Aleric, waiting to see what his reaction would be. It wasn’t often Aleric and I interacted in public so their curiosity was probably piqued. Though I was sure they already knew of his distaste for me by now.

Aleric then sighed and let go of the papers from his hand. 

“Fine. You can leave it on the table here,” he said, pointing to an empty space on the desk.

My heart leapt a little at his approval. He hadn‘t instantly rejected the idea... but that could have just been because there were others present.

Without wasting any more time, I quickly walked over to leave the tray where he instructed, doing my best not to cause any further trouble for him. 

…But I couldn’t stop my eyes as they naturally wandered over to the documents in front of him.

War correspondence, schematics, and field reports littered the area before him, filling the space so much I was surprised there had been room for the tray. 

They‘d been at this for months, I knew that much. After Aleric had killed Alpha Tobias, the world seemingly descended into madness, constantly in fear that we were going to be under attack at any moment.

But I had been hiding something from Aleric this entire time too. It was wrong, I knew, but I

couldn‘t help it. 

The truth was that I was familiar with most of the documents here already, having snuck into the pack vault at midnight a few times out of curiosity, a place reserved for ranked members only. Not that I wasn‘t technically a ranked member... more so Aleric had expressly forbidden me from going in there. Apparently, there was no reason I needed to be involved with that side of pack management, but I couldn‘t seem to stop myself. 

I’d always been taught growing up that a good Luna was a prepared one. And so I had studied. 

he expectations of the Elders, beyond what any Luna should have to, but it was a responsibility placed on me nevertheless. Somewhere along the line, I even started learning about how intricate political strategies could be, how much of a fascinating puzzle they could 

become. 

Sometimes, if I focused enough, it was like I could see it all playing out in my head. See how moving people in certain ways would lead to correlated outcomes, anticipating what they may do in retaliation to those results. Almost as if it were a game.

And the war with the Silver Lake was proving to be one of the most interesting ones yet. I had

Housewho‘in the list of a kitter 

a few theories for how it could play out but was waiting to see which side would move next. Would Aleric end up winning the next battle? Or would their new Alpha, Caius, prove victorious?

The problem was Aleric didn‘t like it when I left the packhouse for too long but there wasn’t much else to do in terms of entertainment. Looking over the war documents had become a hobby of sorts. A passion. Even giving me a tiny bit of a thrill when I thought of new ways to g o about certain issues.

…Suddenly, I was dragged out of my thoughts and thrown back into reality.

Without looking, Aleric had reached out to grab something on top of the desk and accidentally brushed my arm in the process.

…And a small gasp escaped my lips.

Sparks immediately erupted from where our skin made contact, igniting my body inside. And, just like every other time, a euphoric rush shivered through me. I wanted to reach out, to touch him again, to feel it for just a few seconds more…

“You can go now,” Aleric said, verbally dismissing me when I stood standing there without moving

“Ah, a–apologies,” I hurriedly replied, my brain still frazzled from the bond. But I quickly took a step backwards to leave, not wanting to tarnish the small positive experience I‘d already accomplished so far. “I‘ll leave you to it. I hope—.” 

“Your name is Ariadne Chrysalis, right?” Elder Luke then chimed in, cutting off my final words.

I looked over at him confused, unsure why he was asking me something he already knew the answer to.

“We’ve never actually had the chance to speak before, Luna,” he said, taking a step forward to extend his hand. “My name is Luke Hastings, the newest Elder on the council.” 

I instantly looked over at Aleric for his approval but he only stared back at me expressionlessly. Was he okay with this? With me talking with the Elders? 

...But wouldn‘t it be rude if I declined his greeting? 

I quickly looked back over at Elder Luke and accepted his hand, shaking it within mine. 

“Yes, I‘m familiar with your work,” I said quietly. “You have accomplished a great deal in such a short amount of time. It‘s very commendable.” 

• He chuckled and pulled away, his eyes holding a glint of deep intelligence that made me wonder what vast knowledge he was hiding. I was sure there was so much more he could tell m e than just what I’d read in the reports.

“You flatter me, Luna,” he said humbly. “Though I couldn‘t help but notice your own

curiosity with the work we’re doing here. And given that you‘re familiar with my history, do 1 mean to take that as confirmation that you, too, are well studied in this field?” 

“Humour me,” he insisted, reaching down to hand me some of the documents from the desk.

I scrutinised the pages in my hand, already having several ideas on the issues they were facing, but knew that my opinion wouldn‘t matter anyway. My suggestions were just silly fantasies of a young Luna, not that of an experienced strategist. 

I would have loved the opportunity to speak freely with Elder Luke, to revel in a proper academic conversation relating to the current affairs of the pack. But instead, I gave him a small smile, leaving towards the door once more. 

Was that how he really saw me? Useless? 

...If I could make myself useful to him, help him get what he so desperately wanted… then would he finally have time for me? Finally want to make time for me? 

But I was scared. Scared that, even if I did try, he would just laugh off my ideas. I had no real life experience with any of this. All of my theories were just based on books, old records and m y own imagination.

“*”You need to be bokler, braver,”* Sophie’s words then echoed in my head.”*”He’s never going to love you if you don’t prove to him why he should.“*”