Chapter 249: Hallowed
FIA
The dream ca for
again.
I was back in that body. Athena’s body. Strapped down with iron thick restraints biting into my wrists and ankles while fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
The vold tal sheet that pressed against my spine was perhaps the worst of it. That and the sickening feeling the injection the man thrust into
gave .
The chainsaw roared to life again.
My throat seed raw from screaming as the blade descended toward my exposed belly, and I thrashed against the leather straps. They didn’t give.
Then my stomach lurched.
Bile rose in my throat or would I classify it as Athena’s throat. I couldn’t stop it or hold it back. I turned my head and vomited.
The chainsaw stopped.
"Odd." The man’s voice still had that sa clinical and detached cadence to it. He set the chainsaw down on a tal tray where it clattered against surgical instrunts. "Why would you be rejecting what I injected inside of you?"
His footsteps echoed on the stone floor as he inched closer. I struggled the closer it got.
A valiant waste of ti.
His gloved hands gripped my chin and forced my head back as he peeled my eyelids open wider and studied my eyes like I was a specin under a microscope. Then he grabbed my hand and examined my fingernails with the sa cold precision.
"Huh."
He made a sound that might have been surprise or perhaps it was just plain old curiosity. Still... it was nothing kind.
Then he spoke in a language I didn’t recognize. The syllables were harsh. Angular. They scraped against my ears like broken glass.
A spell?
His hand pressed flat against my stomach.
Sothing moved beneath his palm. Inside of .
"You’re pregnant?"
I woke up gasping.
Cold sweat soaked through my nightdress. The sheets tangled around my legs. My heart hamred so hard I thought it might crack my ribs.
Fuck! That icky dream again.
I hated that room. That stone cold space that kept stealing my sleep. That kept denying
the rest my body desperately needed.
But...
One dream could be stashed as a simple coincidence. A trick of an exhausted mind trying to process trauma.
Two? Two had to be a ssage.
The goddess didn’t do anything by accident. Lady Selene had made that clear. And this revelation that kept hitting
like ice water had to be a sign she wanted sothing. Perhaps I was grasping at straws. But I didn’t think so.
I threw off the covers.
My feet hit the floor before I’d fully thought through what I was doing. The bond humd gently in the back of my mind. Cian was close. Probably in his room. Probably sleeping. I was glad he was at least resting instead of hyper fixing in the fact that his best friend and brother-in-arms was a fucking traitor.
I opened my door and stepped into the hallway.
The estate was quiet. Most of the pack was asleep. But sentinels stood at their posts throughout the building.
I walked down the corridor until I found one. He straightened when he saw
and imdiately bowed his head to show respect.
"Luna," He said, "Do you need
to get the Alpha?"
"No." I shook my head. "I just want to know where the library is."
He gave
directions.
I thanked him and went.
The library door was heavy oak. It swung open on well-oiled hinges and I stepped inside.
The space took my breath away.
Books lined every wall from floor to ceiling. Shelves stretched back into shadows that the moonlight streaming through tall windows couldn’t quite reach. The sll hit
first. Old paper and leather bindings. There was also the lingering scent of dust and wood polish that all libraries seed to carry.
And I’d thought Silver Creek’s library was impressive.
This was a cathedral to knowledge.
I moved between the shelves, letting my fingers trail along the spines of books as I passed. So were so old the titles had faded to nothing. Others were newer. Their leather still supple under my touch.
I was looking for genealogy records. Family histories. Anything that might explain more about this Athena figure.
When I turned the corner into another row of shelves, soone stood there.
I gasped. Stumbled back a step.
Like I hadn’t realized there was a possibility that anyone could even be here.
The woman did the sa. The book in her hands clattered to the floor.
My heart was still on edge from the dream. From the shock. So it took
a mont to actually see her for her.
Silver hair... With deep blue beads woven throughout and pale eyes that seed to look straight through .
I recognized her. She was the elder... my mind did a few flips on what her na was before it clicked.
Elder Moira; the spiritual guide who’d perford our bonding ceremony.
"I didn’t see you there." I pressed a hand to my chest and felt my heart hamring beneath my palm. "I’m sorry, Elder Moira."
I bent down to pick up the book she’d dropped.
"I apologize too, Luna Fia." Her voice was gentle. The sa tone she’d used during the ceremony. It was calm, as it was steady and it reminded
of still water.
"I heard about the horrid accident," she continued. "It is great to see you are fine now." She then paused. "But that is a given, considering you have awakened."
I handed her the book.
She took it and moved past
to return it to its place on the shelf.
Her words echoed in my head. Considering you have awakened. At first they didn’t register. It seed like just pleasantries and simple concern, until it did not and that was when it clicked into place.
"Did you say awakened?"
Elder Moira slid the book back into its spot before she turned to face . "Of course." She studied my face. "I knew not to panic because you were my Lady’s favored child. She goes above and beyond for us."
My Lady? Was she talking about Lady Selene?
Imdiately it ca, I scoffed. Who else would she be talking about?
"Lady Selene said that too." The words ca out quieter than I’d intended.
The elder walked back toward . Her footsteps were silent on the library floor. "I saw it the day you wore your sister’s veil." Her eyes held mine and they stayed unwavering. "I saw you were the one ant for him. You were this pack’s salvation."
The air left my lungs.
"You knew?" My voice cracked. "You knew it was ? Before Cian took off the veil?"
"The goddess shows
what she needs
to know." She said it simply. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. "And I saw you covered in her source. I had to make sure he didn’t let you go in blind rage. I had to play my part. Just like my Lady would have wanted."
The pieces fell into place. The way she’d stepped forward during the ceremony. The way she’d spoken with such conviction. The way she’d looked at Cian when he’d been ready to reject
on sight.
"Right." I breathed out slowly. "You are the reason he didn’t imdiately reject ."
Elder Moira chuckled. The sound was warm and almost fond. "I wouldn’t give myself that much credit." She tilted her head. "The Alpha saw reason too."
But she’d been the catalyst. She’d been the one to make him pause. To make him think before acting on rage and perceived betrayal.
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