Chapter 5 Growing Stronger
AGE 9 - THE ROUTINE
"I'm going for my meditation walk."
I stood in Father's study doorway, notepad in hand with my familiar excuse. After a year of weekly visits, he barely looked up anymore.
"Be back before dawn," he said quietly. "Give her my regards."
The lie had become routine. Young Rafe Sterling took midnight walks for meditation. Odd, but the mute adopted heir was already considered strange. What was one more eccentricity?
I made my way through shortcuts I'd memorized to the school on the outskirts. When I reached the building, I climbed the tree outside the third-floor classroom. Mina was waiting at the window, smiling when she saw me.
One year of weekly meetings had taught me to read every expression on her face. This smile meant she was happy but exhausted from another long day of work.
I climbed through and immediately pulled supplies from my bag: food stolen from the Sterling kitchens, medicine from Father's private stock, clean bandages, and tonight, a new book.
Mina's eyes lit up. She was brilliant—scary brilliant. And no one except Father and me knew it because she spent her days scrubbing floors and being invisible.
We passed our shared notepad back and forth, catching up on our separate lives. I told her about boring tutors and Vivienne's constant criticism. She told me about the headmaster's cruelty.
When I noticed fresh bruises on her wrists that looked like finger marks, anger flooded through me.
What happened? I wrote.
Headmaster grabbed me when I wasn't moving fast enough. It's fine.
It wasn't fine. But we'd had this argument before. I was nine with no real power. She was nine with no legal standing. We couldn't run away together or bring her to the Sterling estate without raising impossible questions.
So I did what I could. I wrapped her wrists with healing salve. Made sure she had enough food. Gave her books and notebooks.
And I promised, like every week, that I'd be back.
After our talk came my favorite part: training. Mina moved through fluid, graceful motions that looked like dance but felt like something more powerful. Ancient combat techniques she somehow knew instinctively.
I mirrored her movements, trying to copy the precision. When we practiced together, I could feel energy flowing through us, making us stronger, more aware.
As dawn approached, we hugged tightly. Through our connection—that bond that had grown stronger over the year—I felt everything she wouldn't write. The loneliness when I left. The way she counted days until our next meeting.
I'll always come back, I thought at her, pushing the feeling through our bond. Always.
She squeezed tighter, receiving the message.
AGE 11 - THE DISCOVERY
I found the restricted section of the Sterling library by accident.
Behind a heavy tapestry was a hidden door leading to a room crammed with ancient texts. One title caught my eye: "The Lost Prophecy: Moon Goddess Twins and the Oracle's Bloodline."
My hands shook as I read about twins born under a blood moon, blessed by the Moon Goddess. Twins who would be sealed and separated to protect them from those who feared their power. Twins who would reunite on their eighteenth birthday and restore balance to a corrupted world.
This was us. This was Mina and me.
The text described how these twins would be hunted from birth. How their mother, an Oracle, would sacrifice herself to save them. How they would be separated until they were strong enough to fulfill their destiny.
Every word felt written specifically about our lives.
Then I reached the final page, and my blood turned to ice.
"But beware - reunited too soon, they will burn out like stars. Reunited at the awakening, they will rise as gods. One twin must die for the other to ascend."
THE VOW
We'd moved our meeting place to an abandoned temple Mina had found deep in the forest. When I climbed through the window that night, she knew immediately something was wrong.
I handed her the pages I'd torn from the prophecy book.
I watched her face as she read, saw the moment she understood. By the time she reached the line about one twin dying, tears were streaming down her face.
I'll die for you if needed, I wrote quickly. You've suffered enough. You deserve to live.
Mina's face crumpled. She grabbed my words and ripped them into pieces, shaking her head violently.
NO. We find another way.
There might not be another way. The prophecy is clear.
I don't care what the prophecy says. You're not dying for me.
She grabbed my hand and pressed it against her heart. Through our bond, I felt her absolute terror at losing me. The certainty that she couldn't survive without me.
I'm already dead inside without you, she wrote. You're my ONLY reason to keep going. If you die, I die anyway. So your sacrifice would be pointless.
Then what do we do?
We research. We find every text about prophecies and Oracle bloodlines. We learn everything. And we find a way to break this curse.
That could take years.
Good thing we have seven years until we turn eighteen.
I stared at her determined face. She wasn't giving up. She wasn't letting either of us die without a fight.
Together, Mina wrote, underlining the word twice.
Together, I agreed.
We spent that night making plans. I would search Father's library for every relevant book. Mina would study the ancient texts in the temple ruins. We'd share everything and piece together a solution.
We had seven years. It had to be enough.
As I prepared to leave at dawn, Mina grabbed my hand one more time.
Promise me something. Promise you won't do anything stupid or heroic. Promise you won't sacrifice yourself thinking you're saving me.
Only if you promise the same thing.
We pressed our foreheads together, sealing the vow.
Neither of us was going to die. We'd find another way.
AGE 12-14 - THE SANCTUARY
The temple became our world.
Over two years, we transformed the forgotten ruins into something that belonged to us. I brought supplies—blankets, candles, food, books. Mina discovered hidden chambers and secret passages.
Our telepathic bond evolved. At first, we only sensed emotions when touching. Then at a distance. Now we were starting to share actual thoughts.
I tried to project a combat move directly into her mind, and it worked. Knowledge transferred instantly.
We can share thoughts now, she wrote, hands shaking with excitement. Not just emotions. Actual information.
From that night on, we practiced sharing memories and thoughts. It made our training faster, our connection deeper.
We were becoming more than just connected. We were becoming synchronized.
When Mina was fourteen, she discovered a hidden chamber deep beneath the temple. At its center was a stone altar with two hand-shaped indentations.
Together, we placed our hands in the indentations.
The room exploded with silver and gold light. Visions flooded both our minds simultaneously.
Our mother standing in this very chamber. Our father beside her, both placing their hands on this altar.
"The Twin Moons must be born here," our mother's voice echoed. "Where the ancient magic is strongest."
We'd been born in this temple.
This temple isn't just a sanctuary, I wrote when the vision ended. It's our birthplace.
That's why it responds to me, Mina wrote. My blood is in these stones.
Two more years until the seal broke completely.
Two more years to find a way to change our fate.
AGE 15 - THE FIRST SHIFT
My Awakening Ceremony happened during the full moon after my fifteenth birthday.
When the moon reached its peak, pain hit like my bones were being ripped apart. My wolf emerged massive—far larger than any first-shift wolf should be. Golden-white fur gleaming like precious metal.
But inside, I felt incomplete. Hollow. Like half my wolf was missing.
My wolf went berserk, desperately trying to break free and run toward the eastern territories. Toward Mina.
It took five adult wolves to pin me down while my wolf howled silently for its other half.
Everyone whispered about how wrong it was. How violent. How incomplete.
Miles away, Mina felt my shift through our bond. And for the first time, she felt her own wolf stir—responding to mine but unable to emerge. The seal held it back.
When I finally made it to the temple, we rushed together and grabbed hands.
The instant we touched, everything settled. My wolf calmed. Through our connection, I felt her wolf finally relax.
Your wolf tried to come to me, she wrote.
It was desperate. Like it couldn't exist without finding you.
We understood then what the sealing spell had truly done. It hadn't just hidden our power—it had split one soul into two bodies. My wolf had part of hers. Her wolf had part of mine.
The prophecy says one twin must die for the other to ascend, Mina wrote slowly. What if it doesn't mean death? What if it means merging?
Or it could mean actual death. We don't know.
Three more years until we turned eighteen. Three more years until the seal broke completely.
We sat together in the temple, hands clasped, both our wolves finally at peace because we were together.
And we vowed again: we would find another way. We would break the curse. We would change our destiny.
We had three years to figure out how.
And we would use every single day.