Chapter 124 CHAPTER 124
The kitchen in Liam’s quarters was quiet except for the soft scrape of a knife against a cutting board. He stood there with his sleeves rolled up, staring down at a half-made sandwich as if it had personally offended him by existing at a moment when his mind was anywhere but there.
Bread. Cheese. Meat. Simple things. Things that required no thinking.
Yet his thoughts refused to stay still.
Cain had already left, slipping away earlier to check on Kael in the wolf realm. The space Kane usually filled - his steady presence at the edge of Liam’s awareness - felt thinner now, stretched by distance. Liam had told himself it was nothing. Bonds flexed. Links weakened and strengthened. That was normal.
Still, the silence lingered.
He added the cheese, then paused, knife hovering in midair as his thoughts drifted, uninvited, to Lisa.
Not in the consuming way that had overtaken him the night before, not in the way that left his chest tight and his breath uneven. This was quieter. Warmer. The simple knowledge that somewhere not far away, she existed, breathing, studying, laughing at something small.
That alone steadied him.
His thoughts slipped from Lisa to Celia, and then, inevitably, to Kane again.
He wondered - only briefly, only carefully - what it would be like if things were simpler. If bonds did not come tangled with rituals and prophecies and sickness. If the four of them could exist in balance, not just humans loving humans and wolves tied to wolves, but something whole.
He shook his head faintly, as if to dislodge the thought.
Not yet. Not without answers.
As much as he loved Lisa, as much as Kane cared for Celia - Liam knew better than to rush what fate itself seemed reluctant to explain. Commitment was not just a feeling. It was a promise. And promises carried weight.
The phone on the counter vibrated.
Liam glanced at it, surprised, then reached over and picked it up. Ethan’s name glowed on the screen.
“Ethan,” he answered, pressing the phone to his ear. “Everything okay?”
“I’ve been trying to mind-link you,” Ethan said, voice tight with concern. “I couldn’t get through. Are you hurt?”
Liam frowned. “No. Nothing’s wrong. Kane left for a while. That might’ve weakened the link for a bit.”
There was a pause. “He did?”
“Yes. He went to the wolf realm to check on Kael.”
Another pause, shorter this time. “That’s why I’m calling,” Ethan said. “Nolan and Celestine are here. They asked for you. It’s important.”
Liam straightened slowly. “Here? In the palace?”
“Yes. They said it couldn’t wait.”
Liam’s stomach tightened. “Is something wrong?”
Ethan hesitated. “No, nothing like that. But it has something to do with the ritual. With Lisa. And with Kael. They have the answers.”
Liam didn’t waste time asking more questions. “I’ll call Kane back.”
“Please do,” Ethan said. “Meet us in the palace study.”
The call ended.
Liam set the phone down, sandwich forgotten. He reached inward, calling out to Kane, feeling the familiar pull snap back into place as Kane answered almost immediately.
“What’s wrong?” Kane asked.
“We’re needed in the palace,” Liam replied. “Now.”
Kane didn’t argue. He never did when Liam sounded like that.
Within minutes, Liam was moving through the night, boots striking stone as he crossed the palace grounds. The familiar halls felt different at this hour - quieter, heavier, as though the walls themselves were listening.
When he reached the study, the door was already open.
Ethan stood near the desk, arms crossed, his expression tight with a mix of anticipation and something that looked close to hope. Celestine paced the room like someone barely holding still, her energy vibrating in the air. Nolan stood beside her, hands clasped, eyes bright in a way Liam had never seen before.
They all turned when he entered.
“You’re here,” Celestine said, relief flooding her voice.
“What’s going on?” Liam asked. “Ethan said you couldn’t wait until morning.”
Nolan laughed softly, almost breathless. “Wait? After what we found?”
Liam’s unease deepened. “Found what?”
Ethan stepped closer. “They said they finally understand why the ritual didn’t behave as expected.”
Liam’s shoulders tensed. “Is Lisa in danger?”
“No,” Celestine said quickly. “On the contrary.”
“That’s not reassuring,” Liam muttered.
Nolan exchanged a glance with Celestine, then turned fully toward Liam. The look on his face stopped Liam short. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t concern.
It was awe.
“Liam,” Nolan said, voice trembling with excitement, “nothing went wrong because the ritual failed. It went wrong because it succeeded in a way none of us anticipated.”
“I don’t follow.”
“You weren’t meant to,” Celestine said, stepping closer. She reached for his hands without hesitation, holding them gently. “Not until now.”
Liam looked down at their joined hands, then back up at her. “You’re going to have to explain.”
Nolan took a breath. “For centuries, our records have spoken of a figure. A being who appears only when the balance between realms is threatened. Historical manuscripts have always described this being as fae – never a werewolf.”
Liam frowned. “You’re talking about a myth.”
“Most thought so,” Nolan admitted. “Even among scholars. But the signs were always there.”
“What signs?” Ethan asked sharply.
“The ability to move between realms without tearing them,” Nolan said. “To absorb imbalance without being destroyed by it. To act not as a ruler - but as a door.”
Liam felt a strange chill crawl up his spine. “What does that have to do with me?”
Celestine smiled, radiant and almost reverent. “Everything.”
Nolan didn’t delay any longer. “Liam Blackthorne, you are what the old texts called the Warden of the Realms. You hold the key to the stabilization of the realms – you’re the catalyst.”
The words hung in the air.
Liam let out a short, incredulous laugh. “No offence but have you all lost your minds? What am I again?”
“Liam…” Ethan began.
“No,” Liam said, shaking his head. “I’m a soldier. A commander. I bleed. I get tired. I burn food and forget to eat. I don’t hold the balance of existence, or whatever they’re talking about.”
Celestine squeezed his hands. “That’s exactly why you do.”
Nolan stepped forward. “During the ritual, you were emotionally linked to Lisa. You knew it would hurt her physically. You didn’t want her to feel it.”
Liam’s chest tightened. He remembered that moment. The panic. The instinctive need to protect.
“You didn’t cast a spell,” Nolan continued. “You reacted. And your power responded.”
“What power?” Liam demanded.
“The kind that doesn’t announce itself,” Celestine said softly. “It acts.”
“When Lisa left her body,” Nolan said, “it wasn’t her traveling. She was carried. Shielded. Your power removed her from pain and moved her through realms the way breath moves through lungs.”
Liam stared at them. “That’s impossible.”
“And yet it happened,” Ethan said quietly.
Nolan went on. “The same power explains Kael. His sickness isn’t natural. It’s an imbalance. A corruption woven through magic. When Kane touched him, the sickness eased because your wolf holds the same balancing key you do.”
Liam felt dizzy. “Kane doesn’t have powers.”
“He does,” Celestine said. “Through you.”
Ethan stepped forward, hope blazing in his eyes. “Then the dungeon. When Lisa saw someone who looked like our mother… does that mean…”
“Yes,” Celestine said gently. “With training, Liam could take you there.”
The room fell silent.
Ethan’s breath hitched. For the first time since childhood, he allowed himself to hope openly.
Liam, on the other hand, felt like the ground had shifted beneath his feet.
“I don’t feel any different,” he said. “I’m still the same.”
Celestine smiled. “You always were.”
She turned to Nolan, already planning, already thinking ahead. “We’ll begin training as soon as you are ready.”
Liam pulled his hands free slowly, rubbing them together as if to prove they were still his. “I need time.”
“You’ll have it,” Ethan said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “But Liam… if this is true…”
“I know,” Liam said quietly.
He looked at them all - at Ethan’s hope, at Celestine’s excitement, at Nolan’s reverence - and felt the weight of something vast settling around him.
He hadn’t changed.
But the world had finally noticed him.
And somewhere deep inside, a door he had never known existed stood waiting to be opened.