Chapter 60

Chapter 60
Clemencia POV
Darkness didn’t stay heavy for long. My eyes fluttered open, blinking against the harsh, filtering sunlight cutting through the dense canopy of trees. My head was throbbing, a vicious migraine pulsing right behind my scarlett eyes. I could taste the metallic tang of dry blood on my lips, running down from a nasty cut near my hairline.
‘Terra? Are you there?’ I called out into the quiet void of my mind, my chest tightening with a sudden, suffocating panic. After years of being drugged with wolfsbane, the fear of losing her was a ghost that never truly stopped haunting me.
‘I’m here, Mencia. I’m here,’ her voice echoed back, weak but steady, purring softly against my consciousness to soothe the pain. ‘We took a hard hit. The car… it’s entirely wrecked. But our bloodline… the Chiron magic inside us, it’s already working. Your ribs are mending. Just breathe.’
I let out a shaky breath, pressing my palm against the damp earth. I looked around, my vision blurry. The black SUV was completely flipped on its side, smoke billowing from under the crumpled hood, hissing aggressively against the humid air.
"Everybody's alright?" I called out, my voice coming out as a raspy, broken whisper. My throat burned. I scrambled backward on my hands and knees, dragging my sore legs away from the wreckage.
"They’re already with us. Don’t look for them."
The voice hit my ears like a physical blow. It was a feminine voice, but it carried a strange, heavy resonance that vibrated right through my bones. I forced my head up, squinting through the haze. Standing just a few feet away from me was a woman. No—a she-wolf in her human form.
My heart skipped a beat. Dusty blond hair cut to the shoulders, fierce green eyes, and an aura that oozed pure alpha warrior discipline, even while covered in dirt and sweat.
Malia Lobo.
The missing twin. The one the Elders had stopped the entire registry to search for. She was standing right here, looking down at me with a complex mix of worry and guarded hostility. But she wasn't alone. Beside her stood another wolf—or rather, a presence that made my skin crawl with an otherworldly warmth. A magnificent, glowing white wolf whose aura was so thick it looked like a halo of pure moonlight.
‘The light…’ Terra gasped in my head, her spirit suddenly perking up, her paws scratching at the walls of my mind. ‘Mencia, look at her! She smells like Sarabella, but different. It’s her wolf. It’s the other half of the vessel!’
My brain swirled with the sheer magnitude of the realization. I tried to focus on Malia’s face, tried to find my voice to ask her where Kylon was, where her sister was. But the strain on my body was too much. The ancient, double-edged blessing of my Chiron bloodline was pulling every ounce of my energy down to heal the internal bleeding.
"What... what happened?" I managed to mutter, my eyes rolling back into my head as the ground tilted beneath me.
"Stay down, Clemencia," Malia’s voice softened, a genuine note of panic breaking through her warrior facade as she stepped toward me. But before her hand could touch my skin, the world slipped away from me once more. I fainted, my face hitting the dirt right beside their paws.

‘Wake up, sleepy head. Mate is going crazy outside.’
Terra’s playful nudge broke through the darkness. When I opened my eyes again, the smell of smoke and gasoline was gone, replaced by the scent of roasted coconut and mango. I was lying on a makeshift bed of moss and furs inside a deep, subterranean stone cavern.
I sat up abruptly, a soft grunt escaping my lips. The migraine was gone. My skin was completely clean, the blood washed away, and the deep cuts on my flank were already reduced to faint pink scars.
"Clem! Oh my Goddess, thank the Moon, you're awake."
Sarabella rushed into my field of view, her platinum hair swaying as she dropped to her knees beside my bed. She grabbed my hands, and the instant contact of her skin sent a rush of electricity up my spine. My eyes widened. Her dark blue eyes were clear, free from the foggy, drugged daze she had carried at the mansion.
"Sarabella? You... you remember me?" I whispered, my voice trembling with hope.
"I remember everything," she said, a beautiful, crystalline tear rolling down her cheek. "When the car crashed, my sister's wolf... Belinay... she lunged at me. The moment we touched, the bond snapped back in place. The block Kodard put in my head shattered. I know who I am now. I know Jasper is my mate."
I let out a long sigh of relief, squeezing her fingers in return. But as I looked past her shoulder toward the entrance of the cave, my heart sank. Kylon was leaning against the stone wall, his broad shoulders tensed, his hands balled into tight fists. His bright blue eyes were riveted on the ground, completely avoiding my gaze. He looked hollow, as if his pride had been stripped away and trampled on.
‘He’s hurting, Mencia,’ Terra whispered, her tail tucking in sorrow. ‘He feels the slave mark on our back. He thinks he failed us as a protector.’
"Kylon?" I called out softly, untangling my fingers from Sarabella's.
He didn't move. He didn't even look up. "I'll leave you ladies to talk," he muttered, his voice dangerously low, cracking under a heavy weight of shame. "I need to check on the scouts."
Without giving me a chance to reply, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the dark maze of the underground tunnels.
I grumbled, a fierce surge of frustration rushing through my veins. After everything we had been through, I wasn't about to let him hide behind his Alpha-Beta pride. I threw the fur blanket off my legs and stood up, my stance firm and decided.
"Clem, wait," Sarabella stopped me, her hand brushing my arm. "He's been like this since we carried you down here. He discovered the mark. The blood-red one Kodard gave you. He feels useless because he couldn't stop it."
"Well, he's a dumb, stubborn wolf if he thinks a piece of magic can make me love him less," I spat, my scarlet eyes glowing with determination. "I survived four years in a cell under the Elders' noses. I am not letting my mate avoid me because he’s throwing a pity party."
Sarabella offered a soft, encouraging smile, her own aura radiating a powerful, protective warmth. "Go get him. I'll stay here and talk with Malia. We need to figure out how to get Jasper out of that stronghold before Kodard realizes the transport was ambushed."
I nodded firmly, my resolve hardening. I walked out of the room, my steps echoing sharply through the stone hallways. If Kylon Greer thought he could run away from me, he was very, very wrong. I was a Chiron hybrid, and it was time to show my Beta exactly what that meant.