Chapter 249

“It was unsure if my Beloved King would have ever risen again and to what world,” she said. “It was for the best that I changed the path.”

“We’re mates,” I said again. “We’re mates. Nothing you say can change that.”

“Mates,” she scoffed. “A tool for conquest. Were you not listening? The vampiric power you inherited from your mother was the only reason you could fake the moon mark. The white fur you inherited from your father turned platinum because of it. When you were no longer a vampire, after Cillian had drained the last of that power out of you, you were just a plain werewolf…”

“I don’t believe you,” I said. “I won’t believe you. You’re just trying to trick me.”

“Your real moon mark vanished the night that your mate died trying to protect you.”

I saw the senior diving in front of me and jerking as the bullets hit him in the chest.

“Him?” I growled. “No. I can’t believe that.”

“Neither could your mother,” she laughed. “By the time you met your grandfather, I had already been making moves to neutralize you completely. Your offer of anything was all that was needed.”

She turned as I saw a scene starting somewhere in the distance. I couldn’t make it out.

“If you’re so powerful to do all of this,” I sniffled. “Why not just kill me?”

“Power comes in many forms,” she said. “My Beloved, the man you call Candido, asked… so little of me while he was alive… He asked nothing for himself. In the end, he did not even ask to be reunited with Estella. I could not deny him the few precious requests he wished.”

My jaw trembled as she sighed again.

“The future that will be is not the future I wanted for him and my star.” Her voice was soft and solemn as she let out another sigh. “But it is the future we will all have to live with, including you.”

“No!” I yelled at her. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anything you’ve said. I don’t care who you think you are. The Moon Goddess made me to be with Candido. Estella did nothing but try to take him from me. Candido loves me. He’ll come back to me. He’ll get free of you and we’ll be together.”

She said nothing for a moment. Then, the glow of her eyes seemed to explode and fill the space between us.

“I am sick of your drivel!” She yelled. Her voice thundered and blew me back. I slammed back into something hard. I felt it ripping through me.

“I am sick of your selfishness!”

“Never again will I allow anyone to sway me,” she growled. “No matter how pure of heart, no matter how kind and selfless.”

She wrapped her hand around my throat as I felt blood sliding down my chest. I couldn’t breathe around the thing that had rammed through my chest. I couldn’t die here. Her eyes were filled with tears and glowing with fury the way Raven’s eyes had been the last time I saw her.

“You…” she growled. Her hand shaking. “Do not deserve this kindness. You do not deserve his mercy nor how much he cares for your wretched, wicked existence…”

I couldn’t breathe around her hand on my throat.

“You asked me once,” she said softly. “What I wanted of you. You refused to learn what it meant to be one of my descendants… refused to acknowledge me though you wished for my help. And at every turn, every time I answered you, you didn’t listen. You didn’t take the training; you didn’t enter the field. You didn’t step through the door and meet your family… You refused it because you didn’t want to work for it.”

She yanked her hand back and I shuddered, choking as I fell to my knees.

“You were meant to be the bridge between Lunae and Solare!” She screamed at me. “You were supposed to right the wrongs of your mother and heal those wounds, and you refused. You failed because of your selfishness…”

I shook my head. “You’re wrong. You’re just a dream. You’re just—”

I fell through space again and landed in a heap. The world spun around me, but I heard Candido’s voice.

“And what’s your name?”

“I’m Hedy.”

I frowned as I landed in a banquet hall I didn’t recognize. I was standing beside Steven. I didn’t see Lilian or anyone else. He looked younger, but so did Candido. He crouched down in front of a version of me that was probably barely two or three years old.

He smiled at me as he offered me his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hedy.”

He shook my little hand, and my heart lurched.

I didn’t remember this. I didn’t remember ever meeting Candido before that night I ran away.

The younger me looked at Candido with big eyes. Her eyes flashed with golden light and a touch of red.

“Are you really going to protect me?”

He chuckled. “You and everyone else under my rule. For as long as I’m Alpha King… From the monsters under the bed too.”

“You were adorable then…” I turned around and burst into tears seeing Candido standing there in a white tunic. “I wish I had known then what that flash of light really meant.”

I crawled to him as he kneeled and gathered me in his arms. He hushed me, stroking my hair.

“I’m so sorry, Hedy,” he whispered into my hair.

“You have to be with me. W-We—”

“And I forgive you,” he said softly. “For everything… Will you ever forgive me for not protecting you better?”

“You have to come back,” I sobbed. “You have to.”

“All I’ve ever wanted for you was for you to be happy,” he said gently. “For you to graduate, get a job you love, find real love and happiness. For you to put everything that Lilian and Steven put you through in the past and rise to your destiny. It was… my honor to take care of you those years, and I’m so sorry that I’ve failed you.”

“Candido,” I whined as he pulled back and cupped my face. He lifted my head and looked into my eyes. “Y-You don’t understand.”

“I do, Hedy. Your happiness is the only thing I’ve asked from the Goddess, and now that I’ve done all that I’ve been fated to do, she will grant that wish. But you have to let yourself be happy, Hedy. You have to let go of what you think you want and accept what you need.”

“I need you to protect me. I need us to be real mates and live happily ever after. That’s all I’ve ever needed. Candido, don’t you know that I love you?”

He let out a soft breath. Over his shoulder, I saw that woman with moonlight hair watching us with a firm stare. He drew me close and pressed another kiss to my temple.

“I promised to protect you for all the days that I was Alpha King,” he whispered. “So, be patient, okay?”

He wiped my tears. “Can you do that, Hedy? Can you be patient?”

“I’ll wait forever for you, Candido.”

His eyes glimmered with something then he kissed my forehead and vanished.

The light went out and plunged me back into darkness.

I took a deep startled breath of early morning air. I looked up at the mountain and sat up. My heart was racing as I pressed my hands to my chest. There was no injury, but everything still hurt as if it had all been real.

I shuddered and got to my feet. I looked around and realized that no one had come looking for me. How long had I been gone? I headed back to the camp as fast as I could. The air felt different. I saw someone sitting on the ground, shaking and staring blankly. He looked up at me and reached for me.

“I—I… The king… When will the king wake?” He asked.

I pulled away from him. “Don’t touch me.”

“I can’t shift! What does it mean?”

My heart lurched and I rushed toward the house where I had left Candido. He was still in his wolf form and relief filled me. I laughed and shook my head.

It was only a nightmare.

“What?” I looked over at the doctor who was kneeling beside Candido’s body. There was a roll of equipment beside her.

“N-Nothing. I must have imagined it all.” I shook my head.

Everything I knew to be true was still true. Candido and I were mates. We had to be together, so I had to be with Candido. He promised me that he would come back to me. Even if it was mostly a nightmare, there had to be some truth in it.

I just had to make sure that Candido didn’t die.

I looked at the doctor. “How are the transfusions going?”