Chapter 33

Chapter 33
Memory’s Edge
Kael’s Pov

The grove was quiet.Not the kind of quiet that lulled you into peace—but the heavy kind. The kind that settled on your chest and made breathing feel like a battle. Wind moved gently through the old trees, brushing against my skin like ghost hands. Every time the leaves rustled, I expected to hear her voice.

Selene.

No, Alice. Not Selene. Alice.But the memories blurred. And this grove—this cursed, sacred grove—had a way of dragging the past out of me whether I wanted it or not.I took a slow breath and stared at the altar in the center. Smooth stone, etched with ancient markings. My knees had hit that stone centuries ago. The blood—her blood—still stained it in my mind. And the dagger… I’d dropped it after she fell. No one ever found it.Because I’d buried it. Buried it like I buried the truth.And now she knew.The snap of a twig behind me sliced through the quiet. My shoulders tensed before her scent hit me—lavender and something more. I turned.Alice stood just outside the treeline, arms crossed, hair whipping around her face.“I followed,” she said. No anger. No warmth. Just… resolve.I nodded once. “Obviously,”

Silence stretched between us. I didn’t move. Neither did she.Then, she took a step forward. “Tell me everything. All of it. No riddles. No half-truths. You owe me that much.”I looked away for a second, jaw tightening. I didn’t want to do this here. But maybe this was the only place it made sense.“I didn’t lie,” I started. “Not completely. But yeah… I killed Selene.”Her fingers twitched at her side, but she didn’t interrupt.“I didn’t do it out of hatred. Or rage. I did it because she made me.”

That made her blink.“Made you?”“She sacrificed herself,” I said, voice low. “To the Moon shade. She offered herself in exchange for my life. For the pack’s freedom. They wouldn’t accept anything less. The ritual required royal blood.”“You’re not making sense.”“She was the royal blood,” I said, eyes meeting hers. “And I… I was chosen to carry it out. If I didn’t, they would’ve taken her anyway—and then they’d have taken the rest of us. Tortured her. Used her.”She shook her head, stepping closer. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

I gave a short, bitter laugh. “Because I watched you die, Alice. I watched you fall with my blade in your chest. I wasn’t about to stand there and say, ‘Hey, don’t worry, it was for a good reason.’ There’s no good reason for that. None.”Her mouth parted slightly. Her eyes shimmered—but no tears fell. “I needed to know.”I swallowed hard. “Selene wasn’t just a warrior or a mate. She was a protector. And when she looked me in the eyes and asked me to do it… begged me to do it… I couldn’t say no. I hated her for it. And I still hate myself.”The breeze picked up. Leaves fluttered down around us like dying stars.Alice took a step forward, slow and uncertain. “Why didn’t you fight it?”

“I did. I begged her. Fought the priestess. Tried to take her place. But Selene was the last daughter of the Lunar Bloodline. I was just a cursed warrior with a prophecy no one believed in. No one was going to stop the ritual.”My voice cracked. I didn’t care anymore. “So I did it. I took the blade. I looked in her eyes. And I drove it through her heart. She smiled. She smiled when it happened.”Alice's breath hitched.

“She smiled… because she knew it would buy us time. She knew you—her next life—would live long enough to stop them.”I looked down at my hands.“I’ve had blood on these for centuries. But hers… hers never faded.”Silence again. Heavy. Loaded.

When she spoke, her voice was softer. “Why didn’t you tell me who I was?”“I didn’t want to scare you,” I admitted. “Not for sure. Until today. Until that vision hit you. You were different. And I… I didn’t want to force anything on you. You deserved to be Alice. Not Selene's ghost.”I turned away from her, jaw tight. “You want to hate me? Go ahead. You want to strike me down, do it. I’ll kneel. I’ve earned it.”Her steps moved closer. Then stopped. I didn’t look at her.“I saw it,” she said.My head jerked toward her.

“In the infirmary, when you touched me. The vision—it wasn’t just Astrid’s. There was something else. Like I was remembering through someone else’s eyes. Through Selene’s.”A lump rose in my throat. “Then you saw it all.”“I saw enough.”Her gaze bore into mine. “You were crying when you did it.”I blinked fast, the memory threatening to rip me open all over again. “Doesn’t make it right.”“No. But it makes you relatable.”

I didn’t expect her hand. But it was there—reaching out slowly, touching my chest, right where the memories lived.And then something shifted.Like lightning through my veins.Our breaths caught at the same time. And then I saw it in her eyes—the flicker. The glow. The same one Selene had when the moonlight hit her just right.She gasped, lips parting. “I remember…”She stumbled, and I caught her. Her hands clutched my shoulders, eyes wide.“I remember.”

My throat tightened. “Alice—”“I remember dying,” she whispered. “But I also remember loving you.”My heart pounded. “Say that again.”“I loved you, Kael,” she said, eyes shimmering. “And I think… I still do.”My hand slid to her cheek before I could stop myself. Her skin was warm beneath my palm. She didn’t pull away. Not this time.

Our faces were inches apart. My chest rose and fell against hers. The pain, the grief, the years of silence… all of it coiled into that moment.“I never stopped loving you,” I murmured. “Not for one damn second.”She tilted her face up.“Then shut up and kiss me,” she whispered.And I did.

I kissed her like the world was about to end. Like I’d waited lifetimes. Like if I stopped, I’d forget how to breathe. Her hands threaded into my hair, and mine wrapped around her waist, pulling her close, grounding us both.The air around us crackled. The grove shimmered faintly with silver light.I didn’t care.All I could feel was her.All I could taste was the girl I killed and the woman who came back. But in that moment, I promised myself never to cause her any more harm.