Chapter 55 The Truth Buried in Shelves and Dust

Chapter 55 The Truth Buried in Shelves and Dust

55: The Truth Buried in Shelves and Dust

I have learned three painful realities in life. One. If a noble smiles too sweetly at you, you are either about to be invited to tea or assassinated politely. Two. Fate is rude and does not respect personal boundaries. Three. Libraries are the most dangerous places in the world, not because of books, but because of truths you wish you never learned.

Which is exactly why I found myself inside the Silvermoon Palace Library at an hour so ungodly that even ghosts were probably on break.

The place was massive. Not a normal library. More like a cathedral that ate encyclopedias for breakfast. Marble floors are cold enough to freeze my ankle bones. Chandeliers dripping crystals like snowflakes. Stacks that reached the ceiling were glowing vines wrapped around carvings of wolves, moons, and goddesses who probably enjoyed ruining people’s emotional stability.

I traced the shelves with my fingers, whispering to myself like a lunatic, or as academics prefer to call it, focused research mode.

“Okay Keira. First Alpha. First Luna. First Goddess. Fate drama. Betrayal. Curse. Hopefully a step by step guide on how to undo all that before someone forces you into marriage.”

Silence answered. Which was expected. If libraries started talking back I would pass away immediately.

The memory of Lady Elowen’s expression earlier echoed in my mind. Not cruel. Not mocking. Just the kind of sad that trembles quietly in the throat. She told me the Halecrest bloodline was bound to the Quinn bloodline because of what the first Goddess did. The bond that should have belonged to the Drevane line was stolen and rewritten. Aria was not supposed to be Rowan’s Luna at all and was supposed to be Lucian’s. Then my plot armor? The fae says I am the reincarnation of the goddess herself. A whole lineage of lovers separated because one divine being had jealousy issues.

Fantastic.

I moved deeper between shelves labeled Ancient Divine Lore and Romantic Poetry of the Lunareth Golden Age. Because apparently the universe likes mixing heartbreak and folklore together.

A long table sat under a moonlit window and I dropped my pile of books. They thudded loud enough that even the shadows flinched.

“Alright then. Let us ruin my night.”

I opened a cracked leather volume titled Chronicles of the First Moonbinding. Pages thick like dried petals. Ink swooping elegantly as if the author had way too much self confidence.

The first part I scanned casually. History of werewolf dominions. Evolution of the mark.

Yawn.

Then I found it. A name that punched the air out of my lungs.

Drevane. First Alpha of Lunareth.

I read slowly, hands shaking just a little.

The Alpha was a creature of twilight, forged in flame and shadow. His devotion to the Goddess of the Moon was absolute, fierce, and unending. He worshipped her not as a god but as a soulmate.

My throat tightened.

I kept going.

He waited for her in every lifetime. Guarded her shrines. Fought beasts of the dark in her name. And when she descended from the heavens, she loved him in return. Their union stirred the stars.

I leaned back against the chair, whispering, “The first alpha loved her. The Goddess was loved by him. Oh my god! Now this is a plot twist we say!”

The next paragraph ripped the warmth straight out of the air.

Yet when the Goddess saw the Alpha look upon another woman with warmth, she heard not friendship but betrayal. She feared losing the love she claimed. Jealousy consumed her. She severed the bond and cursed the Alpha’s soul to wander lifetime after lifetime without his true mate.

I covered my mouth.

The room spun. My pulse rang in my ears like drums.

So the Goddess did not just curse the Alpha. She cursed love itself. She cursed every generation that came after him.

The next lines hit even harder.

The woman the Alpha looked upon was the First Luna. She did not desire him. She did not steal him. She was simply kind and living and mortal. Yet she became the punishment. The bond of Drevane was forcefully broken and placed upon the Halecrest line. A bond not meant for them.

My vision blurred.

I whispered shakily, “Now this must be the climax part!”

The page answered with brutal clarity.

Every First Luna reincarnation will seek Drevane unconsciously. And every Drevane heir will be drawn to her. They will both feel the bond even though the Halecrest line will hold the mark.

Forbidden. Torn. Intertwined wrong.

I closed the book and pressed a hand to my chest. My heart hurt in a way that was not physical. The air in the library suddenly felt like it weighed too much.

A stack of parchment slid sideways on the table and I forced myself to keep reading from another document. My eyes scanned quickly. I needed answers. Not tragedy.

The Goddess, upon witnessing his execution by her own hand, realized her error too late. Her grief cracked the heavens. She vowed to undo her sin in another era. But the curse could not be undone by divine power. Only by mortal choice. When both lovers choose each other freely in spite of suffering, the broken bond will reseal. The curse will shatter. And the Goddess will be set free from her own guilt.

So that was it. That’s the reason why she choose to put her soul onto Aria so she can correct her error? My error? Technically the fae says I’m the Goddess myself. The hell with this entangled red strings.

If Lucian and I choose each other freely, even after all the pain, the curse breaks.

But that meant Rowan.

That meant Halecrest.

That meant tearing apart a future someone else has been waiting for.

I rested my forehead on the table.

“Why does every chapter of my life feel like a poorly timed telenovela plot twist.”

A soft thump echoed in the distance. The sound of heavy boots. A guard doing a night patrol. I stayed still. Libraries are sacred here but sneaking around them is still considered suspicious.

I reopened a final scroll. My gaze hit the last lines like a punch.

When the First Luna and the Drevane heir reunite without divine intervention. When the choice is not destiny but love. Then the moon will burn silver and the curse will die.

My heart whispered a name.

Lucian.

Every instinct in me wanted to cry, scream, laugh, explode, or preferably sleep for 500 years. Instead I whispered the one sentence running in circles inside my ribs.

“I was always yours.”

And then guilt hit.

Rowan.

The way he looked at me when he saved me.

The way his voice softened when he said I did not hate him.

He did not force this bond. He inherited a burden.

It was not fair to him either.

Tears stung my eyes as I shut the book. They did not fall. I refused to give the library satisfaction.

I stood and exhaled shakily.

“I need air before I set something on fire.”

The giant moonlit window called me. I climbed onto the ledge, sitting on the cold marble, staring down at the Silvermoon courtyard. Frost blooming on stone. Lanterns glowing soft blue. Halecrest elegance at its finest.

Somewhere out there Rowan was probably awake, organizing guards to watch over me. Because he cared. Not possessively. Not violently. But quietly. The way someone cares even when it hurts.

But somewhere beyond those borders, another man was waiting. Not because he wanted ownership of me. But because he had spent lifetimes searching.

I tilted my face to the window, whispering to the sky, “I do not know how to choose.”

For once no prophecy answered.

Just the wind.

Just my own heartbeat.

Just the terrifying truth that whatever path I take, someone will bleed.

I climbed down from the ledge, dusted off my cloak, and whispered to myself, “I need to find the next relic. I need to end this curse. I need to stop just surviving and start doing something for once.”

The library creaked. A candle guttered. The books fell silent again, as if they had already said too much.

I held the map close to my chest and walked toward the exit. My footsteps echoed through the hall like a promise.

Not running this time.

Not hiding.

Not choosing blindly.

I would finish what the Goddess started and destroyed.

And I would do it with my eyes open.

Whether fate liked it or not.