Chapter 113

Elara's POV

"You need to understand where it all began," my mother starts, while she helps apply ointment on my aunt's wounds. She mutters some incantations under her breath, stretching her hands over my aunt's chest. Yet again, like magic, her wounds disappeared.

"Beautiful, isn't it?'' My aunt asked.

"Scary's more the word.'' I admit, setting down the book.

"Elara, you don't have to be afraid of magic.''

"I don't want it.'' I snapped. My mom looks back at me. She approaches me, coming to hold my hands gently.

"Don't!'' I let out. "I don't want to hurt you again.''

"Elara, you're part wolf, part witch. You're a reincarnation of Amaris, and you're carrying a Lycan baby. If you want, you can be the most powerful creature to ever roam this world.''

"I just want a simple life.'' I admitted, leaning back against the chair. "My baby deserves a simple life. Can you take the magic away? I don't want to be cursed like this. I almost killed you for crying out loud.''

"But you didn't!'' My mother argues. "You could have, but you didn't. I think your heart somehow chose to hold back some of the magic that would have finished us. You identify with us, Elara, whether or not you choose it.''

"No. No I don't want this.''

"You're a spoiled brat, you know that?" My aunt stands, pointing a finger at me. "Do you have any idea how many witches, wolves, or Lycans would kill to have the power you're throwing away? And here you are, whining about it like it's some kind of burden. You don't deserve it."

"Isabella, enough!" my mother snapped. She turned to her sister. "Elara needs time to adjust. She's carrying the weight of a prophecy, the spirit of Amaris within her, a Lycan's child, and powers she never asked for. Your cruelty isn't helping."

My aunt hesitated, but her eyes softened. She looked down, muttering an apology like a kid who just got grounded.

My mother sat down beside me, reaching out to brush my hair back. She was gentle, but it only made me cry. "Elara," she said, "is it possible that you're rejecting the magic because of… trauma?"

"Trauma?" I echoed, suddenly surprised.

"Matthew's told me how hard your life has been. The bullying, the isolation… Is it possible that you think if you embrace this power, it will reject you, just like the wolves did? Do you believe you're so… unworthy that even magic would rather destroy you than bless you?"

"No," I whispered, shaking my head. "Stop. Just stop."

But she didn't. "Isabella and I made a mistake abandoning you all those years ago," she continued, "But it was the only way to protect you-to protect the prophecy. A child with a destiny like yours needed to be hardened, to be prepared for what was coming."

"For fuck's sake, Amelia, tell her the truth!" my aunt Isabella suddenly shouted, her voice echoing through the room.

My mother froze, her eyes widening in panic. "Bella, don't!"

But it was too late. Isabella turned to me. "Elara, all your suffering-it wasn't natural. Do you remember the first time you and Matthew met? Do you recall the first time he turned on you?"

I frowned, completely lost. "The first time we met was at the mating ceremony. On the night of the full moon."

Isabella reached out to touch my face. I didn't flinch. "Oh, honey," she said in a condescending voice. "I love you, but you're blind. Matthew has always been your mate. From the very beginning. Your mother and I… we used black magic to try to protect you, to shield you from the future we saw. But the spell backfired. Instead of protecting you, it showed us how you would die."

My breath caught in my throat. "What?"

"At the hands of your mate," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Because of your own weakness."

I stumbled back, my hands clutching at my chest as if I could physically hold myself together. "No," I whispered. "No, this can't be true. Lucas would never-"

"Not Lucas," my mother interrupted in a whisper. "Matthew."

The room started to spin around me. I could feel the walls closing in, the air growing thinner. My hands flew to my head, as if I could block out the words, the truth. "Stop," I begged. "Please, just stop."

But my mother wasn't done. "I knew from the moment you were born that your mate, Matthew, would be the one to kill you," she said. "We tried everything to change that future, but nothing worked. The only way to prevent it was to make you stronger. Matthew loves you, Elara. He loves you more than anything. But that kind of love… It can be dangerous. So we…"

She hesitated, her eyes filling with tears.

"They paid my father to make your life a living hell."

The voice came from the doorway. I turned to see Matthew standing there, his body covered in burns that hadn't fully healed. He looked broken, haunted. But his eyes-his eyes were fixed on me.

"You and I met long before the mating ceremony," he let out, shedding a tear. He was crying, Matthew was crying. "We were best friends, Elara. You just don't remember."

I stared at him, my mind reeling. "Best friends? I don't…."

"Your mother and I took that memory from you," Isabella said, voice full of regret. I looked back at my mom, begging with my eyes for a shroud of doubt. "It was the only way to protect you. Matthew's father, Alpha Gale, and I worked together to make you invisible. With Alpha Darian and the ancient council hunting for Amaris incarnate, we had to hide you. They were looking for powerful wolves-daughters of alphas, warriors. So we made sure you were none of those things. We made sure you were hated, isolated, despised. The bottom of the food chain.''

I took a deep break, feeling completely heart broken. "Why?'' I cried.

"Because if Darian saw you, he'd never suspect you. A worthless omega could never be a threat."

A worthless omega, there's those words again.

A strange calm washes over me as the pieces click into place. All the suffering I've gone through, the hatred, isolation, and eventual self-hatred, it was all a plan? A carefully crafted prison made just for me. I stare back at them. "Congratulations. You succeeded. You made me 'strong'."

Then I start laughing - a broken, hollow sound that makes them all flinch. "'A worthless omega.' You know what's funny? After everything you did to 'protect' me, you just turned me into exactly what they feared - someone with enough power and pain to destroy everything."

The prophecy suddenly feels less like a burden and more like a promise.