Chapter 214 Elara's POV

Chapter 214 Elara's POV


"Exactly. The prophecy was ambiguous. But the elders chose to believe that separating the twins would prevent the prophecy from coming true at all.’

If the shadow twin never knew her heritage, never met her light twin, then neither salvation nor destruction could occur."

"So they abandoned shadow twins. Let them die."

"Yes. It happened three times in our pack's history. Three sets of twins. Three shadow babies left in the forest." 

Her voice was heavy with shame. "Your parents fought against the tradition. Argued that it was barbaric. That the prophecy could be interpreted differently. But the elders insisted.”

“And when Erebus attacked that very night, they said it was proof. Proof that keeping both twins would bring destruction."

"My sister. What happened to her?"

"We don't know. Your father left her in the forest and never returned. Erebus killed him before he could check if she'd survived. We assumed she died. A baby alone in the wilderness wouldn't last long."

"But what if she didn't die? What if she survived? Was it found by someone?"

"Then she would have grown up with no knowledge of her heritage. No knowledge that she had a twin. No knowledge of the prophecy."

Unless she'd somehow learned the truth. Somehow discovered what had been done to her.

And now she was coming back. Coming for me. Coming to fulfill the prophecy one way or another.

"Is there any record of this? Any documentation?"

"Your parents might have kept journals. Personal records. Many Alphas did, to document important decisions."

I thanked Elder Ruth and ran back to my quarters.

My parents' belongings. The few items that had survived the pack's destruction. They'd been in storage for years, untouched.

I pulled out the boxes and went through them frantically. Clothes, photos, pack documents. Nothing personal, nothing.

Wait. At the bottom of the last box. A small, leather-bound journal. Worn. Well-used. I opened it. My mother's handwriting. Dates going back years.

I flipped to the entries around my birth.

"The twins arrived tonight with two perfect baby girls. Beautiful, healthy. I held them both and felt such overwhelming love. Such joy."

"The elders came this morning. Both babies were examined. Declared one blessed, one cursed. They're demanding we follow the tradition.”

“Abandon the shadow twin. I can't. I won't. She's my daughter. She has as much right to live as her sister."

"We have been arguing for three days. The elders are insistent. They say the prophecy is too dangerous. That keeping both twins will doom our entire pack.’

“James wants to find another way. We've consulted every text, every seer. No one has an alternative solution."

"Tonight Erebus's forces attacked. We're out of time. James says we have to choose. I have to save one daughter to preserve any hope of survival. 

“I'm giving him the shadow twin. I can't watch it. Can't be the one to abandon my baby. I'm a coward. A terrible mother. But I can't watch him take her away."

“James didn't come back. He's dead. Erebus killed him. And our shadow daughter is out there somewhere. Alone. Maybe dead. Maybe suffering.”

“And I will never know, never get to tell her I'm sorry. That I loved her, that abandoning her was the hardest thing I've ever done."

‘I named her even though she will never know it. Even though no one will ever call her by the name I chose. I named her Nyx. For the night she was born. For the shadow she carried for the daughter I lost."

Nyx.

My twin sister's name was Nyx.

I closed the journal, tears streaming down my face.

All this time. All these years. I had a sister. A twin. Someone who should have been beside me, someone who should have shared my life.

And she'd been abandoned. Left to die. Because of a prophecy and fear.

The blackouts the blood, the people reporting seeing me where I'd never been, it was her. Nyx my shadow twin. She had survived growing up. Found out the truth.

And now she was here. In my territory. Doing... what? Trying to connect with me? Trying to fulfill the prophecy? Trying to get revenge on the family that abandoned her?

I didn't know but I needed to find her. Talk to her. Understand what she wanted.

Because the prophecy spoke of salvation or destruction. And right now, I had no idea which path we were on.

Or if it was already too late to change course. I looked at my mother's final entry in the journal.

"If you ever read this, Nyx. If you somehow survived and found these words. Know that I loved you. Know that abandoning you destroyed me.”

“Know that not a day goes by that I don't think about you and wonder if you're alive. Wondering if you're happy. Wondering if you hate me for what I did. I don't ask for forgiveness.”

“What I did is unforgivable. But I want you to know the truth. You weren't abandoned because you were unwanted. You were abandoned because we were afraid. Afraid of what you might become.”

“Afraid of the prophecy and that fear made us into monsters. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

I closed the journal and held it to my chest my sister was out there. Somewhere.

And I had to find her.