Chapter 68: Tonight Changes Everything
Kael
Tomorrow is the day. Everything hinges on how prepared we are for this realm opening. By evening, the strategy room feels overheated and exhausted. Empty coffee cups cover half the table beside scattered maps and printed reports while someone’s untouched tray of food sits going cold on the dining room table. Maps cover nearly every surface. Adrian has rewritten the perimeter routes three times in the last hour, and Marcus keeps pacing between the windows like sitting still might physically kill him. Mara sits near the edge of the long table beside Elowyn, quietly twisting one of the silver rings around her finger while the witches continue discussing stabilization placements. No one has left this room for long all day. No one wants to because the moment we stop planning, the reality of what is coming settles in too heavily. Elowyn presses one hand against the center of her chest briefly before exhaling slowly. It isn’t drastic or dramatic, but it’s still enough to make everyone look up.
Nevaeh exhales quietly. “The barrier is getting more reactive.”
Marcus folds his arms over his chest. “I’m starting to really hate the word reactive.”
“That makes two of us,” Adrian mutters without looking up from the map.
I glance toward Elowyn automatically. She’s staring down at the map in front of her, but I catch the slight tension in her shoulders when Nevaeh mentions the realm becoming more reactive. Most people in this room would miss it, but I don’t. Every time the connection strengthens, she goes quieter afterward like part of her attention is somewhere else entirely. I hate it because I can feel the realm pulling harder at her every day we wait. The thought alone makes my jaw tighten. Elowyn notices immediately and her hand slides quietly into mine beneath the table, grounding me before I even realize I need it. I squeeze her fingers once.
A knock sounds against the strategy room door before anyone can speak again. Sharp and formal. Every person in the room goes still. Marcus straightens first. Adrian’s eyes narrow slightly. I already know who it is before the door opens. My father steps inside first. My mother follows beside him. And behind them is Cassian Valerius. Adrian goes rigid the second Cassian steps into the room because his father should not be here. Marcus pushes away from the wall slowly while Mara’s shrinks back behind the rest of us. Cassian looks around the strategy room once, his gaze catching on the maps spread across the table and the witches gathered near the monitors along the far wall.
“The guards said this was urgent,” he says, looking at my father confused then back to all of us, but no one answers him.
My father looks tired tonight. Not physically weaker. Just worn down in a way I have never seen from him before. He closes the door quietly behind them before looking directly at me.
“We need to talk.”
Marcus mutters under his breath, “That’s never a good sentence.”
Normally Adrian would answer him. Tonight he stays completely silent. His attention remains fixed on his father.
I stand slowly from my chair. “If this is about perimeter positioning, Adrian already updated the northern routes.”
“It isn’t.”
My father’s voice cuts through the room quietly. Not commanding. Not kingly. Something worse. Resigned. The witches exchange glances near the back wall. Cassian looks between all of us carefully now. Suspicion beginning to settle across his face.
“You’re all acting like someone died.”
My father’s throat moves once.
“No,” he says quietly. “But a great many people suffered because of me.”
The room goes silent. Even Marcus stops moving and I feel Elowyn stiffen beside me immediately.
Cassian frowns slightly. “What do you mean, Theron?”
My father looks directly at Adrian first. Then Marcus. Then Mara. Then finally Elowyn.
“You all deserve the truth before you do what you're going to do.”
My stomach hardens instantly because I know what he is about to do. My mother moves quietly toward the side of the room but does not interrupt him. She already knows and knows what he’s about to do. Cassian, however, does not. I can see that realization beginning to form across Adrian’s face too. His father has no idea.
“Theron,” Cassian says again, slower this time.
My father exhales carefully.
“Moonstone was never destroyed,” he says with a sigh. The words hit the room like a physical force and Cassian goes completely still. Beside me, Elowyn’s fingers tighten painfully around mine. Marcus looks toward my father sharply despite already knowing the truth himself. No one speaks. My father continues anyway.
“We sealed them inside the lunar realm nearly two decades ago.” Cassian stares at him in disbelief.
“What?”
“I believed they were becoming dangerous,” my father says quietly. “There was a witch advising the crown at the time. She convinced me Moonstone’s power would eventually threaten the entire kingdom.”
“You sealed an entire pack into another realm?” Cassian’s voice rises sharply now. “Theron, what the hell are you talking about?”
Pain flashes briefly across my father’s face.
“It was supposed to be temporary.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“No,” Elowyn says quietly. “It doesn’t.” The room shifts again immediately. My father looks at her slowly. Elowyn stands from her chair beside me and her voice stays calm somehow. That makes it worse. “You knew what would happen to them?”
“No,” my father says immediately. “Not fully.”
“But you still did it.”
Silence. My father does not defend himself this time. That alone unsettles me more than anger would have. Cassian looks between all of us in visible confusion now before his attention lands on Adrian.
“You knew about this?”
Adrian hesitates.
“Yes.”
Cassian physically recoils slightly.
“How long?”
“Not long.”
“And you helped plan around this without telling me?”
Adrian’s jaw tightens.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell.”
Cassian laughs once. Sharp and disbelieving.
“You asked my son to help clean up a crime you committed twenty years ago?!” Cassian shouts, the words landing hard enough that even Marcus looks uncomfortable.
“No,” Elowyn speaks again. “Mine and Kael’s Beta and Gamma were helping their King and Queen ensure we could reverse the actions of Theron without interference. My father absorbs the accusation without argument because it is true. Cassian turns back toward him.
“You condemned an entire pack.”
“I know.”
“You kidnapped a child.”
Elowyn flinches almost imperceptibly beside me. My hands curl into fists instantly. My father notices.
“I did not know she was still alive,” he says quietly. “I assumed without her wolf or lycan she would have died.”
“You should have made sure,” Elowyn says.
The room falls silent again because there it is. The truth stripped completely bare. Not Moonstone. Not politics. A child. My father closes his eyes briefly.
“When the binding broke weeks ago and we realized who you were…” His voice roughens slightly. “That was the first time I understood the full weight of what I’d done.”
Anger surges hot through my chest immediately.
“You understood it years too late.”
My father looks at me.
“I know.”
“You left innocent people trapped inside a realm for decades.”
“I know.”
“You let Elowyn grow up without her family.”
Pain flashes visibly across his face now.
“I know.”
The quietness of it almost makes the room harder to breathe inside because he is not fighting anymore. No excuses. No royal authority. No justifications. Only guilt. Cassian drags one hand over his face roughly before turning toward my mother.
“You knew too?”
“Yes.”
His expression hardens immediately.
“And neither of you thought the kingdom deserved the truth?”
“The kingdom was built on fear by that point,” my mother says quietly. “And fear makes people convince themselves terrible things are necessary.”
Marcus mutters softly, “That’s optimistic wording.”
No one argues with him. Elowyn slowly pulls her hand from mine before stepping farther into the center of the room. My entire body tightens immediately. Not because I think she is unsafe. She’s not. I’d kill everyone in this room before they could touch her. But I can feel the emotion rolling off her in waves now.
“You knew I was a child,” she says quietly. My father physically freezes. The room goes dead silent. Elowyn’s voice trembles slightly despite how hard she tries to steady it. “You knew my parents lost their daughter.” No one moves. “You knew an entire pack lost their future.” Tears gather in her eyes now. Still she keeps going. “And then you all moved on like they were dead.”
My father looks wrecked. Truly wrecked. Not politically cornered. Not guilty because he got caught. Destroyed by it.
“I was afraid,” he says quietly.
The admission settles heavily into the room. No king. No title. Just a man admitting fear ruined everything. Cassian stares at him in disbelief.
“You let fear justify this?”
“Yes.”
The honesty almost hurts worse than denial would have. My father looks directly at Elowyn again.
“There is nothing I can say that will undo what happened to your family.” Elowyn wipes angrily at one of the tears slipping down her cheek.
“No,” she whispers. “There isn’t.”
She suddenly sucks in a sharp breath beside me and every witch in the room goes still immediately. Nevaeh’s attention snaps toward her as she presses one hand against the center of her chest, visibly trying to steady her breathing.
“The connection just got stronger.”
Cold settles heavily into my stomach. Liora exchanges a quick look with Seren before turning back toward the maps spread across the table.
“That shouldn’t be happening this quickly,” Seren says quietly.
Marcus looks between all of them sharply. “Can someone explain what that means without sounding horrifying for once?”
Nevaeh exhales slowly. “The realm is becoming more active on the other side of the barrier.”
“Moonstone?” Adrian asks immediately and Nevaeh nods once.
“The bond between both sides is strengthening faster than we expected.”
Elowyn lowers her hand slowly, but I can still see the strain in her expression.
I move closer automatically.
“How much time do we have?” Adrian asks.
The witches exchange another look. Not a reassuring one. Finally, Nevaeh answers quietly.
“Less than a day. Likely tonight.”
Silence settles heavily over the room. Cassian looks between all of us in confusion.
“What is happening tonight?”
My father closes his eyes briefly before answering.
“We’re bringing Moonstone home.”
Cassian physically recoils.
“Tonight?”
No one answers him immediately because the silence itself is answer enough.
Elowyn grips my arm suddenly as another wave of connection strain hits her.
Pain flashes across her face before she forces herself to steady again. I catch her automatically.
“Easy.”
“I’m fine,” she says quietly, though neither of us believes it.
Adrian moves toward the maps again. “If the connection is strengthening this fast, we need to move the timeline up.”
Marcus swears softly under his breath. “We’re seriously doing this tonight?”
“We may not have another safe chance,” Liora says.
Cassian still looks horrified.
“You’re opening the realm tonight?”
Again, no one answers. My father studies the maps spread across the table for several long seconds before finally speaking.
“Tell me where you need me.”
The room stills instantly.
I stare at him. “What?”
His gaze lifts toward mine slowly.
“If the barrier destabilizes during the opening, you’ll need additional anchors around the perimeter.” His throat works once. “Tell me where I stand.”
Marcus looks stunned. Adrian looks suspicious. My mother simply watches my father quietly like she has been waiting years for him to finally say those words.
“You want to help now?” I ask.
The bitterness in my voice is impossible to hide.
“Yes.”
The answer comes immediately. Certain. My father steps farther into the room.
“I cannot undo what I did to Moonstone.” His eyes flick briefly toward Elowyn. “But I can stop running from it.”
Silence settles heavily after that. For the first time in years, I look at my father and do not see a king trying to protect his throne. I see a man finally willing to carry the weight of what his fear created. Nevaeh looks toward Elowyn again before speaking quietly.
“I don’t think we should wait until morning.”
My pulse pounds immediately. Everyone in the room is focused on Elowyn now. On the strain the connection is putting on her. On the reality settling over all of us at the same time.
Tonight changes everything.