Chapter 196
With that, she turned and walked away, he shoulders straight but tribbing urghtly, I watched of the Baltos a las night
I stood there, frozen in place as my woll let out a low, mourntal host inside me. The pain in my chest wat gening serie de profound sense el emptiness that made no senso given the circumstances.
I’d been driving for twenty minutes when another wave of pain hit me, forcing me to pull over as I coughed up more hand miss my steerin
wheel.
“Shit, what the fuck is happening to me? I muttered, wiping my lips with the back of my hand.
The pain in my chest had been growing steadily since Lysandra walked away. Each minute that passed seemed to twist the invisible knife deeper.
I slammed my palm against the dashboard, the sharp sting doing nothing to distract from the deeper agony. This made no sense. A verbal rejection shouldn’t affect me this way. Nobody had ever reported physical symptoms from breaking things off with an ex.
But Lysandra had.
The memory hit me unexpectedly–her face contorted in agony during our rejection ceremony, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she doubled over in pain. I’d watched her suffer without an ounce of sympathy, convinced she deserved every second of it for manipulating me.
But what if…
1 made a sudden decision, pulling back onto the road but turning away from Moon Sanctuary. Instead, I headed toward the small cabin where Maelor Silvervein, the Moon Shadow Messenger, resided. If anyone could explain what was happening, it would be him.
My father’s fanatical belief in that prophecy, his insistence that Lysandra was “the one“-he’d never fully explained his reasoning. And I’d never bothered asking the right questions, too busy resenting the arrangement to care about the why.
I barely managed to turn off the engine before another wave of pain hit, doubling me over. I stumbled out of the car, one hand pressed against my chest. Each breath felt like inhaling broken glass.
The old wooden door opened before I could knock, and Maelor’s weathered face appeared in the gap.
“Alpha Tristan,” he said, not sounding the least bit surprised. “I was wondering when you’d return. It seems fate has finally led you back to me.
“Skip the cryptic bullshit,” I growled, pushing past him into the cottage. My legs nearly gave out, and I gripped the back of a chair for support.
Maelor studied me, eyes narrowed with concern. “Your rejection is manifesting physically. Interesting. I’ve only seen this a handful of times in centuries.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I demanded, collapsing into the chair.
“It means your bond with Lysandra is exceptionally strong.” Maelor closed the door, shutting out the night. “A verbal rejection shouldn’t produce these symptoms unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you were truly destined mates.” He moved to a cabinet, extracting a small vial of amber liquid. “Drink this. It will ease the pain temporarily.”
Chapter 198
I downed it without question, too nusprente de repel to cme white has the land by
need to know the tanh, 1 said once I could speak normally arm. About the progary, Alent while haponnette le là
Mielors expression turneul grave. Why now, after all these years?
Because none of this makes sense, 1 tan a hand through my hatt, frustration mounting My fathers bissions with the inexplicable selection as my mate, het apparent betrayal… 1 met his gaze directly. I need to see what really happennt var Messenger. You have access to the crystal records, don’t you??
His eyebrows rose slightly. “Those records are sacred, rarely viewed-
“I don’t give a fuck about sacred. My voice dropped to a dangerous grow!. ‘Show me. Now.
Maelor sighed, hts shoulders slumping in resignation. “Very well. Follow me.”
He led me through a narrow hallway to a hidden door behind a tapestry. The stairs beyond descended steeply into darkness, the air growing colder with each step. At the bottom, he touched his palm to the stone wall, murmuring words in ancient wolf tongue. The wall shimmered and dissolved, revealing a circular chamber filled with crystal spheres of various sizes, each glowing with faint inner light.
“The Moon Ring Council records everything that happens within the sacred temple, Maelor explained, moving between the shelves. There crystals store those memories for generations.”
I watched as he ran his fingers over several spheres, pausing occasionally to examine one more closely.
Then his fingers stopped on a medium–sized crystal that pulsed with smoky purple light. “This is it. But…” He frowned, leaning closer to inspect it. That’s odd.”
“What?”
“There are restricted sections here, areas of the temple that shouldn’t have been recorded at all.” His frown deepened. “Let’s see what they captured.”
He placed the crystal on a central pedestal, waving his hands above it in a complex pattern. The sphere began to spin, pulsing brighter until it projected images into the air between us.
The scene showed a dimly lit preparation room within the temple, walls of ancient stone illuminated by a few flickering candles. Two women entered, one dragging the other forcefully.
My breath caught as I recognized them–Vivian, Lysandra’s cousin, her foster father’s niece and Lysandra, looking young and frightened.
Vivian’s fingers dug into Lysandra’s arm, leaving angry red marks. “Stop struggling,” she hissed, shoving Lysandra against the wall.
“Let go of me!” Lysandra tried to pull away. “Vivian, I don’t understand why you’re doing this!”
Vivian spun around, her hand connecting with Lysandra’s face in a vicious slap that echoed through the small room. Lysandra stumbled backward, a hand flying to her reddening cheek.
“Shut your mouth, you worthless bitch, Vivian snarled. “Who do you think you are? A wolfless nobody trying to take what’s rightfully mine?”
My stomach clenched at the hatred in her voice. This wasn’t a petty argument–this was pure malice.
“What the fuck am I seeing?” I demanded, unable to tear my eyes from the projection.
Maelor shook his head, equally shocked. “I had no idea… This happened before the official ceremony, in the preparation chambers.”
Chapter 196
may tatuation. With a
In the projection, Vivian pulled a scroll from her tobies, shoving if in Lysandra’s fare. See this? The prophesy small change. Her smile tuned cruel. After today, everyone will belleve I’m the woman from the prophecy, not you
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