Chapter 87 The Ancient Haven (Part 2)

Chapter 87 The Ancient Haven (Part 2)

The potion’s haze thickened, wrapping around Livia like a heavy blanket. Her eyelids fluttered as exhaustion tugged at her, and her breaths came in uneven shudders. But sleep would not come.

Every time she closed her eyes, she felt him.

His scent. His voice. The ghost of his touch.

Every heartbeat carried his name.

Every breath burned for his presence.

And beneath the numbing potion, her wolf whimpered — pleaded — for the bond to be fulfilled.

“Aldus…” she whispered, though she wasn’t sure if she was calling for Aldus or the part of him that was animal and soul intertwined with hers.

“It shouldn't be like this. Earlier, I rejected Aldrake and suffered from bond breaking. And now, here I am still suffering from the pull of a new bond with you. I was planning on leaving, to start over to stop my feelings for you, but here we are bound to be the second fated pair..."

As much as she hated it — as much as she tried to deny it — she still craved him. Every part of her still belonged to him.

And somewhere far away, in a chamber forged from silver and rage, her mate was calling for her too — louder and more desperate with every passing second.

Day 1

A faint golden light seeped through the thin slit on the wall — not a window, but a narrow shaft carved into the stone, letting morning’s first breath slip into the room. It was cold and soft, brushing against Livia’s cheek like a gentle hand urging her awake.

Her eyelids fluttered open.

The world swam in and out of focus at first. Her body felt heavy, her head clouded, as if she’d been drifting between waking and dreaming for an eternity.

The ceiling above her was unfamiliar — carved with swirling sigils that pulsed faintly with ancient magic. This wasn’t a Blood Moon Pack. This wasn’t the room she had been locked in before.

She blinked slowly, pushing herself up with trembling arms. Every muscle protested, weak and sluggish, and the soft blanket covering her slipped down to her waist as she sat up.

“Where…?” Her voice came out hoarse, raw from the hours of crying and calling for someone who wasn’t there.

Her gaze darted around, confusion creeping in. The walls were darker here — polished obsidian streaked with veins of glowing silver. There were no doors once sealed, no windows, there's no furniture aside for a table, a drawer and a door to the bathroom. It felt ancient, sacred… untouched by time.

And then, like a slow, cruel tide, the memories returned.

The trial.

The Elder’s words are clearing her name.

The heavy silence that followed her rejection of Aldrake.

The words she had spoken with trembling lips — “We are free.”

The tearing of her heart as the bond snapped.

And then… the rut.

The heat that burned through her veins.

Her body was betraying her, crying out for touch.

Aldus’s voice — no, Alaric’s voice — calling her name through snarls and roars.

Her chest tightened as it all crashed back into her mind.

“Oh… Goddess…” she whispered, her hand flying to her chest. Her heart was racing again, the ghost of that unbearable heat still flickering beneath her skin.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, though her knees nearly buckled beneath her. The floor was cool under her bare feet, grounding her in a reality she didn’t quite want to face.

This was real.

She wasn’t in Blood Moon anymore.

And Aldus… wasn’t here.

Livia pressed a shaking hand against the wall, steadying herself. The faint hum of ancient power tingled against her palm — a silent confirmation of where she was. The Elder’s sanctuary. The place where no wolf or Lycan dared enter.

“So they really took me here…” she breathed.

Her wolf stirred weakly inside her, tail curled low, still aching, still yearning. The new bond with her second mate hadn’t disappeared completely — no, it was still there, frayed but unbroken, like a thread stretched too thin but refusing to snap. And with every breath, she could feel him. Faint. Distant. But there.

“Aldus…” she murmured, eyes falling shut. Her lips trembled. “Why do I still feel you?”

Her wolf answered with a low whine, an ache that came from deep within her soul.

Livia turned toward the small bathroom and dipped her hands into the sink, splashing the icy liquid on her face.

The cold chased away the last traces of sleep and tears clinging to her lashes. She studied her reflection in the shimmering surface — pale cheeks, tired eyes rimmed with red, lips swollen from biting back screams.

She barely recognized herself anymore.

Luna who once walked with her chin high was gone. In her place was a woman broken and reborn — a woman who had fought for her freedom and won, only to realize that freedom came with a different kind of chain.

“Free…” she whispered the word again, as if saying it aloud would make it real.

She was free from Aldrake.

Free from the lies.

Free from the pack that turned its back on her.

And now, unexpectedly the new bond to her new mate came sooner than anyone expected.

The door hummed with magic and slid open, and Elder Arcturus stepped inside. His flowing silver robes whispered against the floor as he approached, carrying a small tray with water and a steaming bowl of broth.

“You’re awake,” he said gently without looking at her in an open door of the bathroom. “How do you feel?”

Livia’s laugh was hollow, stepping out. “Like I’ve been ripped apart and stitched back together… badly.”

Arcturus lips twitched in something like sympathy. “The first morning is always the hardest. Your body is still fighting the bond and rut. The potion helped you rest, but it cannot erase what ties you to him.”

“Where am I?” Livia asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“In our home,” Arcturus confirmed. “The heart of the Forbidden Forest. No one can enter without our permission. You are safe here.”

“Safe,” Livia echoed bitterly. “Is that what this is? Being trapped in a cage I can’t break?”

“Safety and prison are often the same thing, child,” Arcturus said softly. “But we had no choice. The bond between you and Aldus is stronger than we anticipated. If you were anywhere near each other, neither of you would survive the rut without… consequences.”

Livia’s fingers clenched around the edge of the bed as she sat on. “And what happens now?”

“You stay here,” Arcturus said simply. “Until the rut ends.”

Her breath caught. “And if it doesn’t?”

“It will,” the Elder said. “But it may take — more than a few days, perhaps even weeks. Until then, you will be watched over. Fed. Protected. No harm will come to you here.”

Livia sank back down onto the bed, her strength draining away again. Weeks. It could take weeks before her body stopped screaming for him. Before her wolf stopped calling out his name. Before this agony faded.

And in that time… what would become of her? Of him?

Her throat tightened as she stared at the floor. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Yes,” Arcturus murmured, placing a warm, wrinkled hand over hers. “You can. And you will.”

When the Elder left, the room fell silent once more. Livia pulled the blanket around her shoulders and curled up on the bed, her gaze fixed on the faint line of sunlight spilling across the floor.

She was free.

And yet, she was anything but.

And somewhere far beyond the forest walls, she could feel him — raging, calling, searching — and her soul trembled with the effort it took not to answer.