Chapter 48 The Huntress
Chapter 48 The Huntress
Lira’s POV
The word "mate" didn’t just ring through the room; it vibrated inside my very marrow. It was more invasive than the serum that had been clouding my mind. I looked at Cael, the real Cael, my Cael, and for a heartbeat, the agony in my broken arm vanished, replaced by a searing, golden tether that pulled at my soul.
Kael didn't flinch. Instead, he let out a low, melodic laugh that set my teeth on edge. He stood there, holding the shimmering Moonstones, his thumb traced the jagged surface where my blood had just been smeared.
"Mate?" Kael whispered. "The Crown Prince of the Wolf Throne, bonded to the very infection he was born to eradicate. Your father, the Alpha King, would sooner rip your throat out than acknowledge this treason, Cael."
"My father is not here," Cael rasped, "And you...prepare to be a dead man."
Across the room, Riven let out a guttural snarl. He was still pinned, three men leaning their full weight on his back, but the sight of Cael seemed to ignite something primal in him. He wasn't looking at Cael with gratitude; he was looking at him with a territorial fury that matched the Prince’s.
“The powers haven't been activated, I'll have to redo it” kael stated.
"Let her go," Riven roared, as his muscles bulged beneath the heavy chains. "You touch her again, Kael, and I’ll spend eternity finding new ways to make you scream."
Kael sighed, "The rebel and the prince, both barking for a girl who doesn't even know who she is. It’s almost poetic." He turned back to me. "Again!"
He pressed the Moonstone harder against the open wound on my arm. I screamed, my head hit the floor as a fresh explosion of white light blinded me. But this time, the light didn't just stay in the room, it went inward.
“Selene!”
The voice wasn't Nyra’s. It was older. It sounded like the rustle of leaves in a silver forest, like the cold depth of a mountain lake. It was my mother.
“They call us Rogues because we refused to be slaves to their order,” the voice whispered in my mind. “They call us monsters because we hold the balance they want to steal. The stone is not a weapon, Selene. It is a mirror. It only reflects what is already inside you.”
Suddenly, the pain in my arm shifted. It wasn't the dull, throbbing ache of broken bone anymore. It was heat, it was a localized sun, burning away the cold, clinical toxins of the serum. I felt my bones knit together with a sickening, wet crack that only I could hear. Then, I got up with so much energy.
"Something is wrong," one of the guards whispered, stepping back.
The Moonstone in Kael’s hand began to pulse with a rhythmic, violent red. It wasn't the steady white glow from before. It was angry.
"What are you doing?" Kael hissed at me, his face was masked with fear. “Why can't it unlock? The power belongs to me!"
I didn't wait for Kael to strike, I didn't wait for Cael to pull the trigger. I reached out with my hand, which was no longer trembling and I grabbed Kael’s wrist.
The moment our skin touched, the Moonstone reacted. A shockwave of pure energy erupted from the point of contact. It wasn't white or red; it was silver, the color of a winter moon. The windows shattered simultaneously, raining glass like diamonds onto the floor. The men holding Riven were thrown backward as if hit by a freight train, their bodies slammed into the concrete walls.
Kael screamed as the stones were burning him. The silver light was peeling back his skin, revealing the rot underneath. "It's impossible!" he shrieked. "I have the blood! I followed the ritual!"
"You have the blood," I said, standing up slowly, my broken arm now straight and powerful. "But you don't have the soul."
I wrenched the stone from his hand. The heat didn't burn me; it welcomed me. It flowed into my veins, lighting me up from the inside out until I felt like I was made of starlight. I looked down at the man who had helped destroy my family, and for a second, I saw the coward behind the scar.
I didn't kill him, not yet. I turned my back on him, the Moonstone hummed against my palm, and walked toward the two men who mattered.
Cael had dropped to one knee, the effort of staying upright finally failing him. He was watching me with an expression of pure, terrified awe. Riven had scrambled to his feet, his chest heaving, his eyes searching mine for any trace of the girl he had kissed in the hallway.
I stood between them, the center of a storm that was just beginning to brew. The armed men were starting to stir, and Kael was crawling toward the exit, shouting for reinforcements. The house was surrounded. The Academy was probably already in an uproar.
But I felt no fear.
I looked at Cael, then at Riven. I saw the bond in their eyes, the golden thread that linked us together in a way that defied every law of their cruel society.
"Selene?" Cael breathed..
"Lira?" Riven asked.
I closed my eyes for a second, feeling the Moonstone’s power settling into my bones, merging with Nyra until we were one entity. When I opened them, I knew the "Omega" was dead. The "Spy" was gone.
"My name is Selene Veyra," I said, and the air in the room stilled as if the world itself were holding its breath. "I am the daughter of the Rogue Queen, and I am the heir to the silver throne."
I held out my hands, one to the Prince, one to the Rebel.
"If you want to survive the night," I commanded, "then get up. We have an Academy to burn."
The silence that followed was absolute. For the first time in my life, I wasn't running. I wasn't hiding. I was the huntress. And as I felt the twin pulses of my mates reacting to my command, I realized that the High Council hadn't just created a weapon they couldn't control.
They had given the Rogue Queen her crown back. And I was going to make sure every single one of them felt the weight of it.