Chapter 127
Elowen's POV
"Selene." The name felt heavy on my tongue. "The Moon Goddess."
Both brothers went completely still.
"You're joking," Casper said.
"I'm not."
"The Moon Goddess doesn't just appear to people, Elowen. That's—that's mythology. Stories we tell pups."
"It's real." My voice came out stronger than I felt. "She showed me things. Cindy crying over Ethan. Your mom collapsing beside your dad's body. And then she told me..."
I couldn't finish. The words stuck in my throat like broken glass.
"Told you what?" Cassian demanded.
I looked between them. My mates. My everything. The two men I loved more than my own life.
"She said she could bring your father back."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Casper's amber eyes went wide. "What?"
"She can resurrect him," I whispered. "But there's a price. A sacrifice. Something huge that would affect all of us."
Cassian's face had gone completely pale. "What kind of sacrifice?"
"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me the details. She just said it would change everything. That we'd lose something important."
Casper started to stand, but his legs gave out. Cassian caught him, holding his twin upright.
"Dad could come back," Casper breathed. "We could have him back."
My chest ached at the hope in his voice. The desperate, painful hope.
"But at what cost?" Cassian asked quietly. His ice-blue eyes found mine. "What does Selene want in return?"
"She didn't say. She told me I needed to discuss it with both of you first. That this choice affects all three of us."
Casper grabbed my hand. "When did this happen?"
"Tonight. Right after I left the office where Drake and my mother were being held. I ran into someone in the hallway—Raven. He offered me a different deal."
Both brothers tensed.
"What deal?" Cassian's voice was dangerously soft.
"He said if I gave him a piece of my heart—literally—he'd bring your father back and tell me who really killed him."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.
"And what did you say?" Casper asked through clenched teeth.
"I told him to go to hell." I looked between them. "Which is probably where he went."
Cassian's hands curled into fists. "If he comes near you again—"
"He won't." I squeezed Casper's hand. "Because I have you two protecting me."
Casper's amber eyes were glowing now. Not quite gold. But close.
"You should've told us immediately," he said. "Both about Selene and Raven. We could've helped. We could've—"
"I know." My voice cracked. "I'm sorry. I just... everything was happening so fast. And you were already in so much pain. I didn't want to add more weight to what you were carrying."
"We're mates," Cassian said firmly. "We carry everything together. No more secrets."
I nodded. "No more secrets."
Another long silence fell. This one felt different though. Heavier. Like we were all standing at the edge of a cliff, trying to decide whether to jump.
Finally, Casper spoke.
"What do you think we should do?"
The question hung in the air between us.
I thought about Austin. The way he'd welcomed me into the pack even when my own mother wanted me gone. The way he'd defended me against Drake. The pride in his eyes when he'd announced Casper and Cassian had found their mate.
I thought about Luna Ella. The way she'd held me after Drake hurt me. The way she'd called me daughter. The way she was probably curled up beside her husband's body right now, destroyed by grief.
I thought about Cindy. My best friend. Her father. The man who'd raised her to be strong and kind and brave.
And I thought about the sacrifice. Whatever it was. Whatever Selene would take from us in exchange.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But we need to decide together."
Casper stood slowly, pulling me up with him. Cassian moved to my other side, his hand finding my waist.
"Let's get out of this room first," Cassian said. "Then we'll figure out what to do."
We started toward the door, but Casper stopped suddenly.
"Wait."
I turned to look at him. His face had gone pale again.
"When Raven showed me those memories," he said slowly, "he told me something else. Something I thought was part of the hallucination."
My stomach clenched. "What did he say?"
Casper's eyes found mine. There was something in his expression I couldn't read. Fear. Wonder. Confusion.
"He said you were pregnant."
The world tilted sideways.
"What?" The word barely made it past my lips.
"He said he could hear a second heartbeat. That you were carrying our pup."
Cassian's hand tightened on my waist. "Is that true?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
"I... I don't know. I mean, we haven't exactly been careful, but—"
Juno's presence flooded my mind. Not taking control. Just... there. Warm and protective and absolutely certain.
"He's not wrong," she said softly. "I can feel it too. Small. Barely there. But growing."
My knees went weak. Cassian caught me before I could fall.
"Baby?" His voice sounded strange. Tight. Like he was trying very hard not to lose control.
"I think..." I pressed one hand to my stomach. "I think he might be right."
Casper made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. He dropped to his knees in front of me, his hands covering mine.
"A pup," he whispered. "We're having a pup."
"Maybe." My voice was shaking so hard I could barely get the words out. "I don't know for sure. We'd need to—"
Cassian turned me to face him. His ice-blue eyes were blazing.
"This changes everything," he said.
I knew what he meant. The sacrifice. Selene's offer. Whatever price she was asking.
If I was pregnant, we had more than just ourselves to think about now.