Book 2 - Chapter 50

He turns to me, and I study his face for a moment after he tells me he’s from the future. Then I throw my head back and start laughing out loud. “That was good. But I want the truth, Nox!”

He doesn’t seem to find his own joke funny. “I’m telling you the truth,” he says sternly as if it’s difficult for him to say every word.

“Do you think I’m dumb?” I place my hands on my hips, enraged.

“What?” he says, seeming to find it outrageous that I didn’t believe his lie. “I swear, Alexa! I’m telling you the truth.”

“No, you’re not!” I snap at him angrily. “Clearly, you are out of your fucking mind!” I bark at every fucking word, I’m tired of his madness.

He takes a deep breath, lowering his head and then pinching the bridge of his nose. “You can feel through our mate bond that I’m not lying to you,” he says firmly, and for a second, I doubt my sanity because I actually feel him telling the truth.

It makes me angrier in a way I didn’t even know was possible. “How are you doing this?” I bark loudly. “How are you pretending to tell the truth?”

“I’m not! I’m telling you the truth!” Nox speaks firmly but never shouts back at me, even though I feel he is desperate for me to believe his lie.

“I’m from the future, Alexa. That’s why I know about some things that would be impossible for me to know.”

I blink. Then, I blink again and try very hard to suppress the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

“What are you hiding from me that’s making you so desperate that you have to lie that you came from the fucking future?” I ask impatiently. “You’re fucking crazy if you think that’s true. That’s bullshit!”

“But it’s the truth! Believe me! I’m from the future! I know what the pack would look like in the fall because I grew up visiting these three sacred trees,” he explains, pointing his hands at the trees around us. Then he runs his hand over his hair. Suddenly, he seems to have an idea and bursts out, “Actually, I’m a real prince!” he speaks with confidence.

And that is my final straw. “Okay, look. I’ve tried hearing you out, but you’re revealing to me you’re a prince?” I ask incredulously at his lie. “A prince? Really, Nox?” how fucking creative!

Nox walks up to me, laughing nervously. When he gets close enough to me, he grabs my hand and leads it to his heart. “Deep down, you know it’s true, baby. You can feel me! You know I’m telling you the truth,” Nox says calmly, with all the patience in the world. His doe eyes look at me with wisdom and confidence. “You realized I was a prince before I could even speak. You discovered the truth about me on your own,” he tilts his head a little to the side and gives a sweet smile. “Well, not the whole truth, but you felt from the beginning that I was your fated mate.”

Well, I can give him that. I really knew that what I felt for him the first time I saw him was not common.

“Nox, tell me the truth,” I whisper, calmer. I look into his eyes, studying every expression. “If you really are from the future, then how did you end up here? And why?”

He laughs but doesn’t seem to have any humor. “That’s an excellent question, and I asked myself this for a long time. For that, I’m going to have to explain a few things to you first. But first of all, let’s sit there because your feet will start to swell if you continue standing for too long,” he says, pulling my hand, and I roll my eyes.

When he gets close to the wishing tree, he sits on the ground and sets me on his lap.

I’m happy to be closer to him physically. It makes me feel calmer.

“Well, for starters, you need to have a very open mind because everything I’m going to say seems really crazy. Believe me, I know. It took me a while to accept all of this, so I imagine that maybe it will take you a while, too.”

“Nox, spill it quickly. I’m losing my patience with you.”

“Okay... So, before I was born, there was a prophecy that said my parents would have an heir who would have powers never seen before,” he says, looking distant and with a certain sadness in his eyes. “And also, that their heir would speak to the Goddess Selena in person.”

I widen my eyes, “Wait. Are you telling me that you are this heir and that you can talk to the Goddess Selena?” I ask, partly in disbelief and partly mockingly.

He looks at me and responds honestly. “Yes!”

“HA! You’re already off to a bad start,” I shake my head.

But he looks at me seriously and cups my face with both of his hands. “It’s the truth, Alexa. You asked me for the truth, and I’m telling you that,” he says harshly, and I shut my mouth instantly.

“Okay,” I say, defeated.

“I have spent my whole life wondering what this power would be and when I would be able to speak to the Goddess Selena, but nothing that the royal prophecy said happened until last winter. Well, the last winter here, which was when you found me, for where I came from, we were in the spring,” he says thoughtfully.

“What do you mean, real prophecy? Are you really a prince?”

He gives me a small smile as an answer, “Yes, I am.” I try to interrupt him, but he puts a finger in my mouth to stop me so he can continue.

“My parents are the Alpha King and the Luna Queen. I have no siblings, I am their only heir,” he says with such sweetness in his eyes as he talks about his parents that it makes me sad for a moment because he is far away from them.

“My parents and I were here at the Three Trees pack to celebrate Mom’s birthday. So I decided to walk at night because I was feeling lost, and that’s when I found the Goddess Selena.”

“Oh, my Goddess!” I say, putting my hands over my mouth in disbelief. Could it really be true? “Did you actually talk to her? What did she say? What does she look like?”

He rubs the back of his neck with his hand with a slight smile. “Well, she doesn’t talk much. However, she is more perfect and majestic than anything you can ever imagine.”

My body shivers at his words, and the air around us seems to go silent, listening to him talk about the Moon Goddess as if they were bowing to Nox and agreeing with him.

“The Goddess Selena told me that my purpose was beyond my realm. At the time, I had no idea she was being so *literal*,” he goes on. “She told me that what I needed to do was something that if I failed, Something terrible could happen, but if I succeeded, she would give me something I could never have imagined.”

“What would that be?” I ask him.

He lifts his head to look at the sky as if searching for answers and then looks at me with a bright smile. “She never told me exactly what it would be, but I suspect what it is,” he says, hugging me tight. Then he looks at my belly in between us.

“So does that mean the Three Trees pack really survives?” I ask, daring myself to believe in all he’s saying.

“Yes,” he responds then. “Well, the Three Trees pack doesn’t grow much; it remains a small pack, but yes, it survives and becomes even more beautiful in the future,” his bright smile almost makes me cry as I think that everything I have done will not be in vain.

“How far into the future are you?”

He seems thoughtful about his choice of words for a moment before responding, “Uhm, I’m from the future after two generations of Alphas here in the pack.”

Suddenly, the smile on my face is completely erased. “Wait a second,” I look straight into his eyes. “If you came from the future where only two generations of Alphas have passed from our reality, then that means you at least know about our history,” I say firmly. “Did you know what would happen to everyone who died?” I ask him suddenly feeling ill, like I have no air to breathe.

He widens his eyes and looks away for a second, and that’s enough for me to get up abruptly from his lap. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.

I place my hand on my heart. He also gets up, Nox tries to get closer to me, but I shout at him. “Don’t come near me!” He looks at me, scared, “Did you know they were going to die? Did you know Dana was going to die, and you did absolutely fucking nothing?”

He takes two steps towards me, and I take the same number of steps back. “Princess—”

“Do not call me that!” I scream. “Tell me the truth. Did you know Dana was going to die?”

His entire face turns red with guilt, and he blinks heavily before looking at me, “You have to understand that—”

“No!” the power of my scream seems to come from my core. “Don’t you dare say that!” I point my index finger at him. “Dana... You knew this whole time... She loved you! She considered you as her brother, and you knew she was going to die, and you didn’t do anything! All the people in the central cave died, and you did nothing to stop it!

You could have told me! I could have done something to avoid it!”

I start to cry with anger and hatred for him. I hate myself for knowing that I could have saved them all, and again, I failed.

“Alexa, try to calm down. This isn’t good for our baby,” he says, his hands up as if surrendering.

“Our baby? There is no such thing as our baby! This baby is mine! You betrayed me, Nox! You betrayed my fucking trust! I don’t want you around me anymore!”

“What do you mean?” he says, lowering his hands slowly, looking scared.

“Get out of here! Get out of my pack immediately, and don’t you ever come back!” I command with my Alpha aura.

He tries to get closer to me, “Alexa, please, let me explain—”

“Don’t come near me,” I interrupt him, and he stops approaching instantly. “I don’t want you anymore! Get out of my pack now! You’re not welcome here. I never want to see you in front of me again!”

“You can’t be serious!”

“I am! I’ve never been so serious in my entire life! I don’t want you anymore! Don’t you understand?”

“I—”

“You come from the future? So go back to it!” I accuse.

He looks away as if he’s hiding something else. “Wait. You want to go back to the future, don’t you?” I whisper. “You were going to leave me anyway!” Goddess, my heart hurts so much.

“You don’t understand, I have no choice.” His voice comes out defeated. He sounds like he’s in as much pain as I am, which is fucking bullshit.

“You were going to abandon me? You were going to leave me alone with a child?” I ask in disbelief. “You died to me! Dana and Letum believed your lies just like me. Fuck! We were such idiots! Oh, my Goddess! Nigel was right to distrust you! He knew something was wrong!”

His eyes darkened. “I know I didn’t tell you the truth, but I have a reason for that. I couldn’t tell you because—”

“I don’t want to know. I don’t trust you. I never want to see you again! Get out of here immediately, Nox!” I scream like a mad woman.

“I’m not leaving your side—”

“If you don’t immediately get out of my fucking territory, I will reject you. And I can assure you that I don’t say anything in vain. I keep my promises,” I tell him firmly, tears coming from my eyes.

He takes a step back, “Reject me?” his voice comes out low and cracks.

“Yes, get out of my sight now, or I will reject you. Don’t come here again!”

“You can’t rej—”

“I, Alexa Wright, reject—”

“No!” he screams. “No, please. I’m leaving!” He takes a few desperate steps back. “Please, do not do that!”

I hold my chin high, determination in my face. Time seemed to slow, leaving nothing but him and I. My voice is steady.

“You lied to me about who you are, Nox. You lied to me this entire time. I treated you honestly, and in return, you only disappointed me. You knew that part of my pack would be slaughtered, and you didn’t say anything. You let Dana die, and you didn’t do anything.

You didn’t lift a finger to save any of them. How could you?” I ask, still in disbelief. My vision is blurred by the tears in my eyes. “I thought you were the kindest and sweetest person I had ever met. But no, you are the coldest, cruelest, and most lying person I have ever met!”

Every word I speak feels like a stab to my heart and his. Nox’s pained face almost stops me from expelling him from my territory. His sweet eyes fill with tears, and I have to use all my strength to not console him.

“You were already going to abandon me... Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Get out of here,” I say in a whisper. “GET OUT!” I scream at him, and he startles with me.

I look at Nox with hate in my eyes, hate for everything he could have done and didn’t do. I stare at him so vehemently that he has nothing else to do but get out of my territory.

There is nothing more to be said.

There is no more mate bond.

Nox keeps moving further and further away from me until he disappears from my sight. However, I continue to feel his presence. I continue to feel him moving away from me until he leaves my territory — until I can’t feel him anymore.

I didn’t even see the time when I knelt on the ground. But now I’m kneeling, screaming and crying. I’m in despair at everything that just happened.

And just like that, I lost my fated mate. Because he granted my wish, as the legend says that this tree in front of me grants the wishes of those who ask for it.

He disappeared.