Chapter 218 Elara's POV

Chapter 218 Elara's POV


"You got parents. I got abandonment, you got love. I got Erebus, you got the lunar blessing. I got void eyes and shadow magic you got everything and I got nothing!"

Kaden stepped forward carefully. "Nyx. I understand you're angry. You have every right to be. But Elara isn't your enemy, she is your sister, your twin, you should be allies, not adversaries."

"Should be but we are not because she's the real Elara, isn't she? The true daughter of the Silvercrest line, the blessed one, the chosen one." 

Nyx looked directly at Kaden. "But what if I told you that's a lie? What if I told you I'm the real Elara and she's the imposter?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Think about it, Alpha. Our parents had seconds to choose which baby to keep and which to abandon.”

“In the chaos of Erebus's attack, in the darkness and fear, how could they be certain they marked the right one? How do you know they didn't abandon the wrong twin?"

I felt cold dread spread through me. "They checked. My father looked for the crescent mark-"

"A mark that appears on the blessed twin. But who's to say which of us was actually blessed? What if the mark was wrong?”

“What if they marked the wrong baby? Or what if your mother, in her grief and desperation, switched us? Kept the shadow twin and abandoned the light?"

"That's not possible-"

"Isn't it? You have the crescent mark, yes. But you also have blackouts. Lost time, dark magic in your blood. Symptoms that sound an awful lot like shadow corruption to me."

Kaden looked at me, and I saw doubt creeping into his eyes. "Elara?"

"I'm me. I'm your mate, the mother of your child. You know me-"

"Do you?" Nyx interrupted. 

"Know her? Or know the persona she's built? The role she's playing? How well can you know someone who doesn't even know herself? Someone who loses time and wakes up covered in blood?"

"How do you know about that?" I demanded.

"Because I've been watching. Following. Studying my dear twin sister and her perfect life. I know about the blackouts, the violence the confusion.”

“I know because I caused some of it. Appearing where you'd been. Doing things wearing your face makes you question your own sanity."

"You've been framing me. Making people think I'm dangerous-”

"I'm showing them the truth. That the line between us isn't as clear as they think that light and shadow can't be separated so easily."

Kaden moved between us. "Enough. I don't care which of you is light or shadow or who was supposed to be abandoned. Elara is my mate, the mother of my child. That's what matters."

"Are you sure?" Nyx moved closer to him.

"Because we're identical, Alpha. Same face. Same body, same everything except the eyes. If you close your eyes, could you tell us apart? Could you be certain you were touching the right twin?"

"Stay away from him," I warned.

"Why? Afraid he might like me better? Prefer the shadow to the light?"

"I said stay away!"

The lunar pulse flared inside me. Protective defensive. Ready to destroy anything that threatened my family.

Nyx's eyes widened with excitement. "There it is. The divine power the blessing shows me, sister. Show me what makes you so special. What makes you worth keeping while I was worth abandoning."

"I won't fight you-"

"You will. Eventually. Because the prophecy requires it. Salvation or destruction, remember? One of us has to win, one has to lose, there is no middle ground."

"We could choose differently. Choose to work together instead of against each other-"

"I don't want to work with you. I want to defeat you. I want to prove that the shadow is stronger than the light. That the abandoned twin is more powerful than the chosen one."

She stepped back, darkness swirling around her hands. "I will be seeing you again soon, sister. And next time, we'll find out which of us is truly worthy of the Silvercrest legacy."

Then she disappeared. Literally vanished into shadows, leaving no trace she'd ever been there.

I collapsed. Kaden caught me, holding me up. "Was that real? Did we just do that really?"

"It was real." His voice was shaken. 

"She is real, your twin is real. And she's dangerous."

"She wants to destroy everything that packs our family. She has chosen destruction."

"Then we choose salvation. We figure out how to stop her before she can fulfill the dark half of the prophecy."

"What if she's right? What if I'm the imposter? What if they abandoned the wrong twin and I'm actually the shadow?"

"You're not. I know you know your heart, know your soul. You're Elara my mate my Luna. Nothing Nyx says can change that."

But I could see the doubt in his eyes. The uncertainty. The fear that maybe, just maybe, she was right.

And I felt that same doubt in myself. How could I be sure? How could anyone be sure when we were identical in every way except our choices?

The prophecy spoke of hearts, not blood. Of choices, not destiny.

But what if I'd already made the wrong choices? What if the blackouts and violence were my shadow nature emerging despite the crescent mark?

What if Nyx was the light twin, and I was the darkness pretending to be blessed?

I didn't know and that uncertainty terrified me more than any enemy ever could. Because if I couldn't trust myself, couldn't trust my own identity, how could anyone else?

How could Kaden? How could our pack? How could I?