Althea - The Dark Goddess

#Chapter1

Prologue - Lost

Aries Blackwood

Without her, the world was a dark place to live.

Day. Night.

It all felt the same. One came after the other. Continuously. Without a pause.

Time did not wait for anyone. It just moved on as if it held no one dear or didn’t care enough to slow down or even pause, just for a second.

I had come to realise it the hard way, after existing years after years, in this lonely place that I called home.

Waiting for her. Another chance to be with her.

Hoping to get just one more glimpse of her.

But she never came. A decade became two then three. It just kept going. And I slowly started to lose hope.

When Noah was of age, I gave him the title of the Alpha. He deserved it much more than I did. I became a wreck while he became a true Alpha. A warrior. Brave and strong but caring and understanding. Everything one needed to be an Alpha. Everything that I was not.

Well, not anymore.

I left my home, my pack. I left everything behind. I was a wolf with a pack. An Alpha only in blood. I was changing. Into what, that I don’t know.

I was no one as I roamed the earth in search of what my heart, my soul desired.

I only needed one thing in this life.

Her.

But since I couldn’t be with her, I chose to just exist. My encounter with Harmony had made me realise how much I held onto my memories. Memories of her. With her. They were my only treasure. Now my life.

Without it, I was as good as dead.

But as time moved on, even those memories of her seemed to fade. Along with the hopes to be with her again.

Cities after cities. Continents after continents. I travelled across, till the end of the earth. There was no land that I hadn’t stepped a foot on, but still I couldn’t find her. Not a whiff of her existence.

The goddess couldn’t have lied to me. Not again.

No. She wouldn’t lie to me. She promised that she would return. That she would be with me again.

But when?

How long did I have to wait? I didn’t have long until this madness would eventually eat me up. Every morning that I wake up without her in my arms, it crushes my already broken heart even more.

Every now and then, the Lycans crossed my mind. One specific Lycan. With eyes as green as the darkest forest and hair as black as a Raven. Just what was it about her? What did I want from her? Would I have found out if I stayed with her a little longer?

Well, there was no way of finding out now. I haven’t seen them after I walked out of their door in Greece, decades ago. No matter how much I tried looking for her, I just couldn’t seem to find her as well.

Eighty years.

I have lived decades in hopes that she would soon come to me.

I chuckle darkly as I look out the tall glass window to the world outside, crowded with people, buzzing with bright lights. So full of life.

I take another big sip of the whisky before I throw it across the room. The glass shatters into pieces and scatters in the open living area of the penthouse that I have been living in for the past few months.

The California heat couldn’t melt the loneliness in my heart. Neither could it ignite the diminishing life in me. It was all lies when they said, you will find what you are looking for when you are here.

Rage fills my heart once again on the mere thought. I was becoming a monster in the midst of these humans each day I prolonged without shifting. But there was no need to anymore. My wolf has stopped responding to me since she left.

I can feel him deep inside, but he never demands anything, nor does he desires to be set free. He is as lost without her as I am.

I walk away from the glass wall and move across the room to the bedroom upstairs. The sharp pieces of glass digs deep into my feet as I walk barefoot on the marble floor which was now decorated with the deadly pieces of the whiskey glass.

I feel myself bleed as the sharp glass pierces through the sole of my feet with every step I take. It should hurt, but I was immune to physical pain now. It didn’t hurt anymore, not when my heart was gaping open and bleeding continuously.

No pain was equal to or ever surpass the pain of losing her.

I let the cold water hit my body and wash away another night of alcohol. Or was it day?

I release a deep sigh. It doesn’t matter anymore.

Alcohol was the only thing that kept me going for a while. But its effects slowly wore off as the years passed by. I was now completely immune to alcohol. Or any other drugs.

Even though werewolves have a long lifespan and age slower, I seem to have stopped ageing altogether. I haven’t aged a day since the day she left me. I am ninety-nine years old. I have lived almost a century.

But I don’t look past my nineteen-year old self.

Having enough, I walk out the shower with a towel around my hip and walk into the closet with the water dripping down my body and creating a fresh puddle of water next to my bloody footprint which was already paved in the white marble floor. I scan through the selections of suits and once again grab the black one.

Over the decades, I built an empire of my own in the midst of humans. I earned a name for myself. Although I kept a low profile, I had money flowing from everywhere.

I started by investing a few millions in the Ray business which was now blooming. So, I ended up investing some of those money in different parts of the world. Like this penthouse and a club a few miles from here.

At least I had a source of income and non-stop supply of alcohol.

I look at the full-length mirror and adjust my suit. Light stubbles had grown over time, but I couldn’t be bothered to pamper myself. My once light blue eyes now stares back at me, lifeless and dull.

Just like my soul.

The loose-fitting black shirt with the black blazer hid my body from the lust filled eyes of the humans who I wanted nothing with.

A shrill scream breaks me out of my thoughts.

I close my eyes and release a deep breath before I walk out of the bedroom. My head already pounding. I see the housekeeper by the glass window with her hands over her mouth. Her eyes wide open. Shocked. She looked terrified as if someone had been murdered right in front of her eyes.

But I couldn’t blame her. Afterall, it was too much for a human. There was a trail of bloody footprint, leading up the stairs and into the bedroom.

/"Don’t worry about it, it’s only a little blood, just get it cleaned./"

She sucks in a breath and takes a step back but stops once she sees me. I can hear her heart almost beating out of her chest. She was still in a shock. /"Mr. Blackwood. I-I…/" She shallows her dry throat as she looks down at the bloodied marble floor.

/"I-it’s, that’s a lot of b-blood./" Then her eyes follow the trail of footprint and stops right on my feet. /"A-are you okay?/"

/"As I said, Ms. Hudson. Don’t worry about it. Just get it cleaned./" She gulps timidly but nods her head regardless. Although she had seen traces of blood in the penthouse over the months that I had stayed, I guess today was too much for her.

I sigh as I turn around, grabbing the car key from the table by the door and enter the elevator. I know I was being a rude a**hole, but I can’t help it. I get pissed at every little thing now.

I step out the elevator and into the parking lot, my mood already worsening. I unlock the black Porsche and hit the brightly lit road.

In no time, I was at the club.

Alcohol. Sweat. Sex.

It fills the air inside. I walk right past the security and up the stairs to my usual VVIP lounge, covered with tinted glass window so no one could pry.

As usual, Tim serves me a tray with all kinds of beverages for me to drown in for the night. I sit back on the sofa and watch the humans outside, dancing along to the obnoxiously loud music. The disco light adding more fuel to rotting my mood.

I close my eyes and rest my head on top of the sofa. The loud music vibrates the entire place and makes my own heart thump along with the beat, reminding myself of how alive I actually was in reality.

Alcohol was just an excuse as I drown myself in misery. Yet another day passed. Yet another moment without you.

Please come back to me while I’m still sane. Please come back, before I lose myself in the midst of this dark, crazy world.

Without you, I am just a half of us. Without you, I am nothing.

Althea…my soul,

Just where are you…