Chapter 25
1387 Words
The Truth of Silvermoon
Hailey
I wake slowly, unwillingly, as though my body is trying to resist returning to reality for just a few moments longer.
The cabin is quiet.
Not completely silent, but quiet in the way deep forests are quiet — alive beneath the stillness. Wind brushes softly through the trees outside, carrying the scent of pine, damp earth, and distant rain through the shattered remains of the cabin windows. Somewhere far away, birds call cautiously to one another as morning light filters weakly through the forest canopy, pale silver spilling across the wooden floorboards.
For several long seconds, I simply stare at the ceiling above me.
Rough wooden beams.Cracked plaster.Dust floating lazily through strips of sunlight.
Everything feels strangely distant, as though I am waking inside someone else's life instead of my own.
Then memory returns.
Not gently.
Violently.
The bond.The silver light.Selene.My parents.The ruins.The prophecy.
The truth.
A sharp ache tears through my chest so suddenly that it steals the breath from my lungs. My hand presses instinctively against my sternum as though I can physically hold myself together, but the pain sits deeper than bone or muscle. It settles somewhere inside the hollow places I carried my entire life without understanding why they existed.
I know now.
Because part of me always remembered.
Even before Selene awakened.Even before the bond formed.Even before the visions.
Something inside me always knew I had lost something important.
Someone important.
Tears burn unexpectedly behind my eyes as the final image from the vision flashes through my mind again with brutal clarity:
My mother kneeling beside the ancient altar beneath moonlight, her hands trembling as she wrapped me tighter in blankets before kissing my forehead one final time.
The look on her face destroys me now in a way it could not inside the vision itself.
Not fear for herself.
Fear for me.
Love so deep it hurt to look at.
And then my father, blood covering his arms, standing between us and death itself while shadow creatures closed in through the trees around the ruins.
You must survive long enough to awaken, little moon.
My throat tightens painfully.
They knew they were going to die.
And they still walked away from me anyway.
Not because they wanted to.
Because they believed the world needed me more than they needed to live.
The weight of that kind of sacrifice feels unbearable now that I fully understand it.
I sit up slowly against the pillows, wincing as pain radiates sharply through my injured arm. The bandages wrapped around it are fresh, cleaner than before, though dried crimson still stains faintly through the white fabric near my shoulder.
But beneath the pain...
something else moves.
Warmth.
Not external.
Internal.
Alive.
The sensation spreads carefully through me, steady and grounding, wrapping itself around my consciousness with such familiarity that for one terrifyingly emotional moment, I nearly break apart all over again.
The bond.
I can feel them.
Not vaguely.Not distantly.
Clearly.
Kael's presence feels like standing beneath a winter sky just before snowfall — cold, powerful, impossibly controlled, yet carrying something protective beneath the surface that only reveals itself if you look closely enough.
Asher feels steady. Calm. Like ancient forests untouched by time, roots buried deep enough to survive storms that would destroy everything else.
Zane burns through the bond like lightning trapped inside human skin, restless energy constantly moving, emotions striking hard and fast before shifting again just as quickly.
And Rider...
My breath catches slightly.
Rider feels closest.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
A low, steady warmth pulses through the bond between us, protective and instinctive in a way that makes something deep inside me soften before I can stop it. I can feel his awareness brushing constantly against the edges of my consciousness, checking, watching, making sure I am still here.
Making sure I survived the night.
The realisation should terrify me.
Instead...
it makes the unbearable loneliness I carried my entire life feel suddenly, painfully visible.
Because now that the emptiness is gone—
I finally understand how hollow I was before.
A soft knock sounds against the damaged cabin wall before Rider steps partially into view through the broken doorway.
The morning light catches against him immediately, outlining broad shoulders and dark hair still slightly damp from rain or river water. His amber eyes find mine the instant he sees me awake, and relief flashes openly across his face before he can hide it.
Raw.Immediate.Real.
Something inside my chest twists painfully.
"You're awake."
His voice is quieter than usual this morning, roughened slightly by exhaustion. Like he has not slept much. Like he has been listening for movement inside this room all night.
Watching over me.
I hate how much that thought affects me.
I hate how badly I suddenly want someone to stay.
"You were watching me sleep?" I ask softly, trying to force some normal sarcasm into my voice.
The corner of his mouth lifts slightly, though his eyes remain serious.
"Yes."
No embarrassment.No denial.
Just honesty.
Of course.
I stare at him for a moment too long before looking away first.
Dangerous.
All of this feels dangerously easy.
"You should probably stop doing that," I mutter weakly.
"Probably," he agrees.
Neither of us sounds convinced.
Silence settles briefly between us, but unlike the silence I lived with my entire life, this one does not feel empty.
It feels full.
Heavy with things neither of us quite knows how to say yet.
Rider steps further into the cabin slowly, careful not to move too fast around me. I notice now that his clothes have changed since last night, though faint scratches still line one side of his neck where branches or claws must have caught him while searching the forest.
Searching for me.
Gods.
The bond pulses softly again at the thought.
"You remembered," he says quietly after a moment.
Not a question.
I nod once.
The grief returns instantly.
Like drowning.
"My parents..." My voice cracks embarrassingly fast. "They died because of me."
Rider's expression changes immediately, something fierce darkening behind his eyes so quickly it catches me off guard.
"No," he says firmly.
The force behind the single word startles me enough to look up at him again.
"They died protecting you," he continues, stepping closer now. "That is not the same thing."
"But if I didn't exist—"
"Do not do that."
His voice sharpens suddenly, intense enough that I fall silent immediately.
Rider exhales roughly a second later, visibly forcing himself calmer before speaking again.
"You are not responsible for what monsters choose to do," he says more quietly this time. "The witches hunted your family. They made that choice. Not you."
I look down at my hands because holding his gaze suddenly feels too difficult.
Too honest.
Too close.
"She still left me there," I whisper before I can stop myself.
The words sound small.
Childish.
But they have lived somewhere inside me my entire life whether I realised it or not.
Rider kneels slowly in front of the bed until we are nearly eye level.
"She left you somewhere sacred," he says gently. "Somewhere hidden. Somewhere she believed you would survive."
Emotion climbs painfully into my throat.
"She kissed my forehead before she walked away."
His amber eyes soften completely.
Because he understands what I am really saying.
She loved me enough to die terrified.
The thought shatters something open inside my chest.
Tears spill before I can stop them.
And before I even realise what I am doing—
my fingers curl tightly around his.
The bond ignites instantly.
Heat rushes violently through both of us at the contact, sharp enough that Rider's breath catches audibly. My own pulse stumbles hard inside my chest as awareness crashes through the connection between us with overwhelming intensity.
Protection.Relief.Want.Instinct.
Mine.
The word rolls through both of us simultaneously.
Not possessive in the cruel sense.
Something older.
Sacred.
Rider closes his eyes briefly, like the feeling physically hurts.
Or maybe overwhelms.
When he opens them again, the golden warmth in his gaze nearly undoes me completely.
"Oh," I whisper weakly.
Because there are no other words left.
And somewhere beyond the cabin walls, deep within the ancient forest surrounding us—
Selene awakens fully beneath my skin.
Watching.
Waiting.
Remembering.
- Writer
