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192
Valencia POV
"I'm sorry," Ophelia said. Her voice was barely a whisper. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do to you. I'm sorry for the pain you'll suffer. I'm sorry for taking away your chance at a normal life."
I tried to speak. Tried to respond. But no sound came out.
"You'll hate me when you learn the truth," Ophelia continued. "You'll feel betrayed. Manipulated. And you'll be right. I am using you. Using your pain. Using your rage. Turning you into a weapon."
Tears streamed down her face.
"But I'm doing it because I see no other choice. Because every other path I've seen leads to darkness. To Ashwood's complete victory. To the extinction of everything good in this world."
She walked closer to where I stood. Her purple eyes looked right through me.
"So I'm choosing you. Choosing to sacrifice innocent people and steal your freedom. Because the alternative is worse."
She reached out like she was trying to touch my face. But her hand passed through me. I was just a ghost watching the past.
"I hope someday you can forgive me. But if you can't, I understand. Just promise me you'll finish what I started. Promise me you'll stop Ashwood."
I wanted to scream at her. To rage. To tell her she had no right to play with people's lives like this.
But it was no use.
Ophelia's image began to fade. The room dissolved into darkness.
"Thank you," I heard her whisper as she disappeared.
Then she was gone.
I floated alone in the void again.
"Now you know everything," Alduin said. His voice surrounded me. "Now you understand the full truth of your existence."
"My entire life was planned," I said. My voice was hollow. "Every choice I thought I made was already decided for me years before I was born."
"Yes."
"Kevin and Sienna died because Ophelia wanted them to die. Moonfall Ridge Pack was destroyed because she arranged it. My years as a slave were part of her design."
"Yes."
"Even Logan. Even our mate bond. That was something she saw and used."
"The mate bond was natural. Fated. But yes, Ophelia saw it and incorporated it into her plans."
I felt numb.
"How am I supposed to accept this? How am I supposed to live knowing I'm just a weapon someone created?"
"Because you're more than that now," Alduin said. "Yes, Ophelia created you for revenge. But you've become your own person. You've made real choices. Felt real love. Built real connections."
"Have I? Or was everything still part of her plan?"
"Ophelia's foresight was limited. She could see major events. Major turning points. But not every detail. Not every moment. Your personality, your kindness, your strength of character, those weren't planned. Those are genuinely yours."
I wanted to believe that. But doubt gnawed at me.
"Logan will hate me when he learns the truth," I said. "When he finds out his mother abandoned him because of Ophelia's plan. Because of me."
"Logan loves you. That won't change."
"It should change. His mother sacrificed everything because of me. Left him thinking she was dead for eighteen years. All to protect a weapon his family's enemy created."
"Logan is stronger than you think. And wiser. He'll understand."
"How can he understand this? I don't even understand it."
Alduin was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke again.
"You have a choice now, Valencia. You know the full truth. You know what you were created to be. You can reject it. Refuse to be Ophelia's weapon. Let Ashwood win and live whatever life remains to you."
"Or?"
"Or you can accept your purpose. Not because Ophelia chose it for you. But because you choose it for yourself. Fight Ashwood because it's the right thing to do. Because innocent people need protection. Because the man who murdered an entire royal family shouldn't be allowed to rule."
I thought about that. About the difference between being forced into a role and choosing it voluntarily.
"If I fight Ashwood, I do it for myself," I said slowly. "For the people I care about. For the future I want to build. Not because Ophelia programmed me to."
"Exactly. Take ownership of your destiny. Make it yours instead of hers."
"What about the suffering she caused? The innocent people who died because of her plan?"
"Honor them by making sure their deaths weren't meaningless. Kevin and Sienna raised you with love. They gave you everything they could. Make their sacrifice worth it by becoming someone they'd be proud of."
I closed my eyes. Let the truth settle into my bones.
Kevin and Sienna were dead because of Ophelia's plan. But their love for me had been real. Their kindness had been genuine. They'd chosen to protect me even knowing it might cost them everything.
Kiora had abandoned Logan to watch over me. Given up being a mother so I could survive. That sacrifice was real too.
And Ophelia herself had given her life. Transferred her power and essence into me. Died so I could have the strength to fight.
All these people had paid terrible prices. Made horrible sacrifices.
The least I could do was make those sacrifices mean something.
"I'll fight," I said. "Not because Ophelia wants me to. But because it's right. Because Ashwood needs to be stopped. Because innocent people deserve protection."
"Good," Alduin said. "Then we are truly partners now. Not master and slave. Not controller and controlled. Partners working toward the same goal."
Heat began building in my chest. Different from before. Warmer. Gentler.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"You're going back. Your body is calling you. The Heart of Rubia has finished its work. You'll live, Valencia. And when you wake up, everything will be different."
The void around me started dissolving. Light appeared in the distance.
The darkness exploded into brilliant red light.
I felt my body again. Felt lungs that needed air. Felt a heart that struggled to beat.
The Heart of Rubia blazed on my finger. Its power surged through me like liquid fire.
I heard voices. Logan. Sir Aldwyn. Master Theron. All of them shouting in shock and awe.
My eyes opened.
I was floating three feet above the bed. Red light wrapped around my entire body like flames.
The wounds were healing. I could feel it happening. Flesh knitting back together. Blood vessels repairing. Even my severed finger was regenerating. New bone. New tissue. Growing back from the stump.
The silver poisoning burned away. Purged by the dragon's fire.
Power flooded through every cell of my body. More power than I'd ever felt before. But this time it didn't feel foreign. Didn't feel like something invading me.
It felt like coming home.
My eyes met Logan's. He stood beside the bed, his face a mixture of disbelief and desperate hope.
"Valencia?" His voice cracked.