The night when the exhibition attack det like it stretched forum
1st by the window of my new room at the Lycan state my room now, App Mantly weappeti my skin from the healing bath.
with the started beveride
The moonlight bathed the room in silver, and I could see the guards pacing the perimeter outside, shadows flicketing along riv gardenwall, reuna, E was quiet, warm, safe. But my heart was anything but will
Francesco hadn’t let my side since the moment he arrived
He’d held me as the campus chaos reveled, his arms fight around me, shielding me from more than just
- It was at if he needed to confirm i was real, alive, breathing. And once we returned to the estate, he sat beside me through every medical check, every heerst every debrief with hiệ
warnons
Now, he was asleep on the couch across the room, his large frame curled uncomfortably against the cushion, mit in his far short and bonts. His cost had been draped over me earlier, before i slipped out of bed to clear my thoughts.
I looked at him. The Alpha
But here, this, he was just Francesco
Mine
Not Anastasia’s.
I shivered, even though the room was warm.
Not from fear, but from the weight of what I’d learned. What the rogue had said. What I’d felt in my own body–magc
Old magic. Wich–born,
Anastasia’s magic. But passed to me?
My reflection in the window flickered, and for a moment, I saw not myself, but the blue fire dancing in my hands.
Was this truly who I was now?
Asoft rustle made me turn.
Francesco stimed, groaning low as he sat up, running a hand over his lace. His hair was a tousled mess. His shit clung to his chest, and the exhaustion etched into his features pulled at something deep in me
He looked at me then, eyes hary but focused. “You should be in bed.”
I smiled faintly. “So should you.”
He rose and walked over, wrapping the cost tighter around my shoulders. His hand lingered there, warm and solid.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I murmured.
“Neither could. He replied quietly.
There was a long pause.
Then I turn my game back at him before ked, “Did you know Anastasia was a witch!”
1/3
11:05 Mon
Chapter 45
He stiffened.
Just slightly, but enough for me to feel it.
“I suspected,” he said quietly. “But she never confirmed it. And I never
Tilt my head “Why?”
He looked out the window with me, “Because I didn’t want it to change bowl saw her. And because love can make fools of even the strongest of men.”
The silence that followed was heavy. Not awkward, but thoughtful.
“She did love you,” said softly with a small smile forming on my
He turned to me, surprise flickering in his game. “How do you know that?”
She showed me.” I whispered with a shrug. “Or maybe her magic did. Her memories. When used that fire felt her. And her sorrow. She betrayed the rogue leader because she chose you. But it started as a lie.?
Francesco closed his eyes for a long moment.
He sighed “I know,” he finally said. “I didn’t back then. But after she died. I began to wonder. Especially when the rogues didn’t stop.
see….Yes, he must notice.
“Do you hate her?”
The answered without hesitation. “But it was never what I feel for you, Elaine. That was youth. Hope. What I feel for you is something else. Deeper Stronger. I think it always has been–even before admitted it to myself,”
My heart tightened by the way he want to explained even though I know but still.. hearing from him, means a lot.
leaned into his side, and he pulled me gently into his arms.
We stood like that for a while, wrapped in each other, until sleep began to pull at the edge of my mind.
The next morning, I woke in his bed, the spot beside me empty but still warm.
A tray of warm tea and croissants waited on the nightstand, along with a folded note:
Gone to the council meeting. Stay inside the estate. We doubled the guards. I’ll be back before lunch
I smiled at the scrawled signature, then moved to the window. The garden outside looked peaceful. I felt strangely drawn to it, like the first time I come into the Alpha manor, but something feel different since I get this magic things inside me
Later that morning, her confirming with Audrey that fd be safe within the grounds, I ventured outside.
The garden stretched wide and wild, roses blooming in spirals and ivy climbing up marble columns. But at the far end, near the oldest part of the estate, noticed something strange–gate I hadn’t seen before.
It was rusted, covered in vines, and partially hidden behind a willow tree
My fingers brushed over the iron latch
Magic shimmered faintly.
A memory Anastasia’s?-flashed behind my eyes. This gate had been sealed. By her
2/3
Chapter 45
1 pressed my palm to the metal
Blue light pulsed,
The wines withered befor the pate creaked open.
Inside was a hidden gaiden–evergrown but beautiful Wild herbs and moonflowers swayed under the morning light.
At the center stood a stone pedestal with a crystal nib resting atop it.
I stepped forward…
The moment my fingers touched the orb, it lit up, and a projection shimmered to be before me
Anastasia’s image.
Not solid. It’s a memory. A message.
“Ellaine,” she said, voice echoing softly. “If you’ve found this, then the bloodline has accepted you. The bond has chosen. Francesco’s heart belongs to
you now
I never meant to fall in love with him. But I did. And for that, I betrayed the one who created me. The one who sought to destroy the Lycan bloodine.
You are more than a Luna. You are the second flame the bridge between magic and moon. The one who can end what I began, I’m sorry. I hope he forgives me. And I hope you forgive me, too”
The vision faded.
I stood free
The second flame.
A Luns. A witch. A wolf.
I didn’t know what it meant yet, but I knew one thing: I couldn’t tell Francesco. Not now. Not yet. It would hurt him to know Anastasia’s love began as a lie –even if it ended in truth.
So, I turned and left the hidden garden, sealing the gate behind me
For now, I would carry the secret. For him. For
And when the time came to face the rogue leader–the one Anastasia once served–I would be ready.
Because I wasn’t just Francesco’s Lund anymore.
I was the fire born under moonlight.
And I was done hiding.
12
