Chapter 47: Calm and Terrified - Callista's POV

The silence in the car after my revelation was deafening. I thought he would know it, because he said he gave me that vision. Now, to hear that the demon didn’t show him that made me question things even more.

His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, but clearly not seeing it fully. I could feel panic radiating through our bond, mixing with my own fear until I couldn’t tell where his emotions ended and mine began.

“Say something,” I whispered. “Anything”

"I don't know what to say." His voice was strained. "You're telling me that in your vision, the one where I slaughtered your entire pack, I claimed to be the Alpha King?"

"Yes,” I said, my voice cracking.

“And I never heard that. In my version of the vision, there was no voice or explanation. Just carnage…and then you were crying over your family.” He finally looked at me, and the fear in his red-gold eyes was devastating. “Callista, if you’re right and accepting this offer leads to that vision coming true, then—”

“We can’t accept it,” I finished. “We have to refuse and find another way.”

“But what if there is no other way?” He asked, his voice hesitant and unsure. “What other way is there? Without his help, the demon wins. With his help, the demon wins. Either way, I’m going to destroy everything.”

"We don't know that for certain—"

“But don’t we?” He pulled the car over suddenly, parking on the side of the road. Our parents’ vehicles slowed, but continued past us, probably assuming we needed a moment alone. “Think about it. The Alpha King offers to train me, make me his successor, and in your vision, I’m the Alpha King. That’s not a coincidence.”

“Maybe it’s not meant to be literal,” I argued, even though I didn’t believe my own words. “Maybe you just have a similar power to him, but you’re not actually—”

“Did I or did I not use an Alpha command on you?” His hands gripped the steering wheel again. “You said I made you bend to me.”

“But you are my mate and my Alpha,” I said, still trying to make sense of everything. “In the dream I didn’t know that, so you would be able to make me submit.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Yes, I could, but you said I told you I was the Alpha King in the vision.”

He was right. I had said that and that is what happened in the vision. It wasn’t just his authority as an Alpha.

"So, what are you saying?" I asked quietly. "That we refuse his offer because it leads to the vision? Or that we should accept it because the vision happens either way?"

"I don't know." He leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes. "I don't know anything anymore. Every choice feels like the wrong one."

I reached over, taking his hand. “Then let’s think this through. What do we actually know?”

We know that I have a demon, he’s getting stronger, and the Alpha King claims he can help me, but he really wants to use me to save his son.” Riven’s eyes opened, meeting mine. “And we know that somehow, whether through his training or something else, I become powerful enough to slaughter entire packs and claim to be the Alpha King.”

"But you also saved me for last," I pointed out. "In the vision, everyone else was dead, but I was still alive. You were trying to break me, not kill me. Doesn't that mean something? Maybe the dream isn’t literal. We need to stop and think about this.”

“It means the demon wanted to torture you before ending you,” he said bitterly. “It’s not exactly comforting.”

“Or, you could have fought him until you couldn’t, which meant I was last,” I said, working through the thought. “You were still trying to protect me even when the demon controlled your body.”

Riven was quiet for a long moment. "You really think that's what it was?"

“I think you would rather die than end my life. The demon is cruel and calculated. If it just wanted us all dead, then it would have killed me first to ensure you fell into his trap. Instead, it kept me alive, made me watch, and used me to hurt you as much as you were being used to hurt me,” I said, my voice low. I squeezed his hand, trying to give him some kind of comfort. “That feels like the demon is still afraid of our bond and worried that even with that much power, I could pull you back.”

"But I was the Alpha King, Callista. That means I accepted his offer. That means we walked right into whatever trap he's setting." His voice dropped. "How do we avoid the vision if we're already on the path toward it?"

“Maybe we can’t avoid it,” I admitted. “Maybe it’s inevitable. Or it could be the demon trying to trick us. If he can impersonate the Moon Goddess, who is to say that vision is even real. Maybe everything he says is the opposite, just to scare you.”

“That’s a lot of maybes for me,” he said, looking away. “I get what you are saying, but it still doesn’t make me comfortable with all this. Doing what is opposite might be what he wants. If he confuses me enough and I think I know what he wants, so I do the opposite thing, it may be a trap and he gets what he wants, anyway.”

"All we have are theories,” I whispered. “And we know he wants out.”

He turned to look at me fully. "So, what do you want to do? Because I can't make this decision alone. Whatever we choose affects both of us."

I thought about the offer and about his son locked in the east wing, then all the documented cases. The Moon Goddess’s words were last.

She told me to stay with him and love him through the darkness. I don’t know why the demon would say such a thing.

“I think that we need more information, though I’m not sure how we’ll even get it.”

He reached up, rubbing his chin. “Well, we’re out of school tomorrow, because of this with the Alpha King. Our parents called them and told them we wouldn’t be in for a couple of days. Maybe we could check the public pack library?”

“But we may not find anything there, either. No one knows about the demons.”

Riven shook his head. “If we can’t find anything, then we’ll just make the best decision with what we know, but we’ll do it together,” he said, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles.

"But we go in with our eyes open," I finished. "Knowing this might be exactly what leads to the vision."

"You'd still go? Even knowing that?" His voice held disbelief.

“Everything we’ve seen and know is a possibility,” I pointed out. “Maybe if we do this, then…we might learn something that helps prevent it.”

Riven studied me for a long moment, his red-gold eyes searching mine. "How are you so calm about this? We're talking about a future where I murder your entire family."

“I’m not calm, though. I’m terrified,” I said, moving closer. “But I’d rather be terrified and fighting, then terrified and helpless. Maybe taking this opportunity will be what saves you.”

"Or we walk right into the trap."

"Maybe." I wouldn't lie to him. "But Riven, we're already in a trap. The demon is a trap. The vision is a trap. At least this way, we're making a choice instead of just waiting for something to happen to us."

He pulled me against him, tucking my head under his chin. "When did you get so brave?"

"When I realized I might lose you if I wasn't." I breathed in his scent, letting it ground me. "We face this together. That's what the Moon Goddess said. That's what the bond means. So whether we accept or refuse, we do it as a team."

"Together," he murmured against my hair.

We sat there for another moment before Riven finally pulled back onto the road. The drive to his house felt quick, but that was probably because I was dreading the conversation with our parents.