CHAPTER 32: The Revelation
Alora’s POV
“You’re taking forever to freshen up and meet us for breakfast”, a voice that sounded like the devilish Xavier bellowed from outside the door.
“I’m sorry, Alpha. "We’ll be out in a few minutes,” Leo responded quickly.
“You have five minutes, and I’m coming in there” he snapped, before sauntering away.
I turned my gaze to the bed. A yellow floral gown was neatly spread across the duvet. It looked like something a princess should wear, and I was no princess.
“Luna, please, we need to hurry. "I’ll be outside, ready to escort you,” Leo added quietly before leaving the room.
“This isn’t your style,” came a smug voice in my head.
I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat.
I had forgotten all about the voice in my head. The one that refused to leave.
“It’s Nyx, Luna. "My name is Nyx,” she said again.
I rolled my eyes in frustration.
God, she was still here. This voice in my head had refused to leave. Not only was she ever-present, she was beginning to feel real…too real.
I laughed under my breath, trying to dismiss the rising panic.
“I’m officially losing it. "I always suspected something was off about me,” I muttered to myself, dragging the gown toward me with trembling fingers.
“I mean, look at my life. Getting kidnapped twice, nearly killed... maybe I created you. Maybe I finally cracked. "This is a new low, even for me.” I rambled on.
“If you call us crazy one more time, I swear I’ll show you what crazy really looks like,” Nyx snapped inside my head, her voice sharp with warning.
I felt a surge of anger so great I wanted to scream for it to stop.
“Shut the fk up!” I hissed. You’re not real and I am not crazy. You’re just some broken part of me trying to cope. You’re not me! Getting kidnapped twice in a row is driving me crazy. Please stop tormenting me” I rambled, feeling close to tears.
I heard a whimper in my head and then everywhere was silent.
I wiped angrily at my tears and dressed up in the annoying yellow dress that was not my style.
Leo led me to the dining room.
The dining room looked like it belonged in a palace. There was a long mahogany table, lined up with high-backed chairs, and a spread of English breakfast big enough to feed a small army.
Seated at the head table was Xavier and close to him was the strange man that looked awfully familiar.
“Sit down,” the man said, tapping a chair close to him.
I ignored him and walked to the farthest end of the table, sliding into a seat directly across from Xavier.
Xavier had a smirk on his face at my action, but I rolled my eyes.
“Listen to them, but do not believe anything they say,” Nyx whispered suddenly. “And don’t eat too much.”
So much for silence. I rolled my eyes. Somehow, I was glad she was back. I thought I had scared her away.
“Shut up,” I whispered, low under my breath, but with relief.
“I know you don't mean that” she whispered back, giggling like a little girl.
A smile crossed my features, and I shook my head in amusement.
The stranger glanced over. “Something you would like to share with the rest of the class?”
I shook my head, clenching my jaw. “Nothing.”
“Eat” he commanded.
“I’m not hungry,”
“This was made specially to welcome you,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He scooped some rice onto a plate and pushed it toward me. “You need your strength.”
I eyed the food, my stomach twisting with hunger. It looked safe. I was starving. And I was so tired of being paranoid.
If they wanted me dead, I’d be dead already.
I picked up a fork and took a bite. Nyx groaned in my head like she was in pain.
How was I supposed to live with this voice constantly fighting me?
After the meal, the stranger led me to a study and directed me to sit on a sofa because he had something to discuss with me.
Looking at him, he looked like he was in his late forties. He was a handsome man, and had probably broken one or two hearts with his looks, but I was not interested in that at the moment.
He stood in front of me, his gaze unwavering. “You don’t know me, but I know everything about you, Alora.”
“Clearly,” I said with a snort. “You even know my name. That’s impressive for a stranger.”
He didn’t smile. “My name is Lucien. I am the first son of your grandfather’s mistress, your father’s half-brother. Your uncle by blood, even if I was never part of your life… until now.”
“Right. And we’re the tooth fairy.”
I laughed so hard I fell out of my chair.
“You're so hilarious, Mr Lucien. My uncle, you say? I am an orphan and I don't have a family. I literally grew up in an orphanage”.
“And there’s a reason for that, only if you will listen”. He sat down on the heavy office chair in the room, leaned down and locked his gaze on mine.
“What I'm about to tell you may sound like a fairytale to you, but everything I say is true.
I smirked, “I don't believe anything that comes out of your mouth but humor me”, I replied.
“Many years ago, in The Crimson Order pack, during the reign of King Lucien, the mad king, as he was later called, there was a prophecy.
It spoke of a child born of ancient blood, a hybrid with the power to either bring salvation or ruin. A child who would be both the Moon’s Curse and the Alpha’s Fate.”
“What has that got to do with me”? I asked, barely keeping my voice from trembling, and trying to hide the way my hands were shaking under the table.
My mind is spiraling out of control. The Crimson Order Pack sounded familiar to me somehow. I was still trying to remember where I heard the name when the voice in my head startled me.
“You heard it in your dream Alora”
I nodded, yes, the crazy dream about werewolves. Could this be true? Could this lunatic be telling the truth?
“Everything,” Lucien said quietly. Your father, Alpha Darian, was King Lucien’s legitimate heir, his son by the queen. I, Lucien, am your father’s half-brother.
"We are both from a royal bloodline of Lycan kings. "Your father, Alpha Darian, fell in love with Elena, a healer from a cursed bloodline of witches".
"Lycans were forbidden to mate with witches, especially after the prophecy surfaced. But Darian and Elena didn’t care, so Darian was forced to choose between Elena and his pack, but he eventually chose Elena, who later became your mother".
"King Lucien was furious and disappointed when his son chose a witch instead of protecting his pack, so he laid a curse on them, and they were both cast out of the pack and our father ordered them hunted down. So, they fled, and became rogues. And when Elena became pregnant… you were born.”
I stared at him, my whole body trembling. The room felt like it was closing in on me. Suddenly, the dream flashed through my mind again.
“You’re lying…” I whispered. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” Lucien asked, calmly. “Then why have you always felt different, Alora? Why did no one ever come for you at the orphanage? Why are you dreaming of things no ordinary girl should remember?”
The truth was… I remembered the dream like the back of my mind.
The pregnant woman with the silver necklace and a crescent moon, and the man with a wolf's head crown at the top of a hill holding hands.
They had called out to me.
“My name is Alora Darian. First and only child of the Alpha of the Crimson Order Pack, I am The Moon’s curse and the Alpha’s fate”.
The voice in my head kept repeating like a mantra, and I was transported back to the dream I had vowed to forget.
“You’re a cursed hybrid, Alora. Born of both a wolf and a witch. Your awakening or inability to awaken your wolf could change the hierarchy of everything in the Crimson Pack, and you're at the risk of losing yourself.”
Nyx whimpered.
I didn't understand what he meant by that. My eyes grew wide like saucers, and I was too stunned by his words to reply.
Then he crouched in front of me, eyes gleaming. “I am here to stop that from happening.
“How”? I asked, my eyes wide with fear.
“You’re going to marry Alpha Xavier.”