“Without wolf essence, no mate recognition possible,” the dark half of the Goddess intoned, her voice like obsidian shards grinding together, the sound sending involuntary shivers crawling down my spine.
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The silver half leaned forward, her luminous eye catching the impossible light in a way that made it shimmer like a diamond. “Your wolf retreated to heal, which rendered the young Alpha prince unable to identify you as his fated partner when your paths crossed again at the training camp.”
Her bell–like laughter rippled through the air, the sound simultaneously beautiful and maddening in its lack of empathy for our suffering. “Such delicious irony–so close to each other for months, yet separated by a veil neither could perceive. Still, that didn’t prevent him from being drawn to you again and again, did it? The threads of destiny cannot be severed so easily, no matter how many attempt to interfere.”
I raked my fingers through my hair, pulling at the roots until the physical discomfort provided a momentary distraction from the emotional turmoil threatening to drown me. Frustration burned behind my eyes, turning my vision blurry. “Enough with these cryptic half–truths and this… this cosmic amusement at our expensel”
My fists clenched at my sides as I forced myself to stand taller, drawing on reserves of strength I didn’t know I possessed. “I need to return to my body. Now that I understand what happened, can’t I reconnect with Cassandra and complete the mate bond with Ethan properly? We’ve lost enough time already!”
“NO!” The obsidian half shrieked with such force that the mirrored lake beneath us rippled violently in response, the perfect reflection of the divided sky above distorting into chaotic patterns, “UNWISE! DANGEROUS!”
The force of her reaction startled me into taking a step backward, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“Calm yourself,” the silver half murmured, placing a gleaming hand on her darker counterpart in a gesture that seemed almost tender. Both mismatched eyes -one radiant silver, one bottomless black–fixed on me with penetrating intensity that made me feel utterly exposed, as if they could see through flesh and- bone to the very core of my being.
“You’ve been poisoned a second time, child,” she continued, her voice gentling in a way that somehow increased my unease rather than alleviating it. “Cassandra shields you and your unborn cubs from the worst effects, but at great cost to herself. She requires more time to fully recover from this new assault.”
The obsidian side’s voice dropped to a guttural growl that seemed to vibrate through the ground beneath my feet. Attempting to force a shift now would be catastrophic–she would manifest as something unnatural, neither truly living nor dead, a shadow creature born of pain and poison.”
The gravity of those words settled over me like a physical weight, pressing down on my shoulders until I could no longer remain standing. I dropped to my knees beside Cassandra, the fight draining from me in an instant, replaced by a bone–deep weariness and grief so profound it seemed to hollow me out from within
i buried my face in her thick, warm far as tears leaked unchecked from my eyes, soaking into her coat. Her familiar scent filled my senses, unleashing a flood of memories from before our separation. The perfect unity of two beings sharing une purpose, one heart, one soul.
“Thank you,” I whispered against her coat, my fingers curling into the warm softness as if I could somehow anchor her to me through sheer force of will. My voice broke on a sob. “For everything you’ve sacrificed to keep us alive. You saved me from that first poisoning, you saved Lucas when we were alone and vulnerable, and now you’re protecting our twins when I couldn’t. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay such devotion.”
Cassandra turned her massive head, her rough tongue gently licking away the tears on my cheek in a gesture so achingly familiar that it nearly broke me all over again. “One day, we will be truly whole again, her response flowed through me like honey, warm and certain, carrying with it a promise I desperately needed to believe. “But until then, you must be strong enough for both of us. For our cubs. For our mate.”
Chapter Comments
is this really how it ends? how long before more chapters?
