THE LOST KINGDOM OF ELARA

(Aurelia POV) The moonstone exploded three seconds before my wolf was supposed to answer. The loud sound rattled my bedroom window, and the birds resting at the window all flew away chirping and scared. The room was engulfed in smoke, and I could barely see the ceiling from where I sat in the awakening circle. The moonstones are broken into more pieces than I can count, scattered on the floor. "Oops," I coughed, smoke oozing from my mouth. The scroll didn't say anything about the explosion and smoke, but I wasn't yet prepared to write it off. At least it got one thing right. Although it shattered into many pieces, it at least got split. I closed my eyes trying to carry out the last part of the ritual. I chanted the words and waited, praying it worked, but who was I deceiving? The response I got was a deafening silence. I collapsed on the floor with my back to the floor and my ears still ringing from the explosion. "Well, that could have gone better." My bedroom door slammed open, and Mira Thorne walked in without knocking. She must have grown impatient after hearing the explosion. She marched straight through the smoke without the slightest concern for her own lungs. At this point, I supposed she'd built an immunity to my terrible decisions. "I swear to the Moon Goddess, Aurelia..." She stopped in the middle of the room and slowly looked around, then she sighed. "...you added another exhibit to your Museum of Failures," she finished. I groaned without moving, staring at the ceiling while ash drifted in the air like grey snow. "Attempt 327," I whispered, she was standing over me at this point. "So, successful?" I turned my head just enough to look at the smoking Moonstone lying in the center of what had once been a perfectly drawn awakening circle. "If my goal was to terrify every bird in Ashmoor and lose another eyebrow..." I sighed. "Absolutely." I let out another sigh. Mira crouched beside me inspecting my face, "You can joke" "I cope with humor," I put on a fake smile. "Can you move?" "I think so" "You thought so after attempting two hundred and one." "That was different," "You drank Poison" "It was only a little poison," I countered; She stared at me. "Aurelia" "Fine, I read it in an old scroll." "You read a stupid scroll." " It was claimed the toxins would force my wolf to awaken." "And instead?" "I lay bedridden for three days, vomiting." Mira pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "You're personally responsible for shortening my future career as a healer." I accepted her hand and let her pull me upright. Immediately, I sat up and another cloud of smoke escaped from the ruined moonstone. I waved it away before looking around my room. I couldn't believe the state it was in, calling it a bedroom felt too generous. It looked more like a museum dedicated to poor life choices. Every shelf held another reminder that my wolf had stubbornly refused to appear. "Do you know what the entire kingdom would say if they saw you right now?" "That the former alpha's daughter has finally lost her mind?" "That too," she replied. "Then it's a shame they're not here." Mira picked up some pieces of the shattered, smoking moonstone, handed it over to me, and dusted off her hand. I labeled it and placed it on the shelf next to three hundred and twenty-six, my last failed attempt. "Your newest exhibit," she smiled. I buried my face in my hand. "I really thought this one was going to work." "You always think that" "I always mean it" "And somehow your Museum keeps expanding." Three hundred and twenty-seven attempts, but somehow I couldn't get my wolf to awaken. I tried meditating beneath the full moon, ancient awakening chants copied from dusty scrolls, herbal tonics that tasted like pigs' urine, ice baths, poisons, fever rituals, and yet nothing, not even a growl or the faintest whisper at the back of my mind. It was though the moon goddess had skipped over my name. Mira's teasing smile faded. "You know..." she began, but I already knew what she was going to say, and I immediately cut her off. "No." She blinked. "I haven't said anything yet." "You were about to tell me to stop." "... I was." she stuttered. "I'm not going to," I said with a tone of finality. "I know." Hope was a stubborn thing, mine had survived twenty-two years of disappointment, and four mate bonds that had never survived long enough to become anything real. Apparently, being wolfless wasn't enough humiliation for the Moon Goddess. A sharp knock echoed from downstairs. "Aurelia!" my mother's voice floated up the staircase. "Are you two alive?" Mira looked around my smoke-filled room. "Barely!" she replied, and I elbowed her. "We're fine!" I called. A pause followed. "Should I prepare the burn ointment?" "Already did!" Mira answered before I could. My mother's laughter drifted upstairs. "I'll leave it on the kitchen table." The sound of her footsteps faded. I looked at Mira. "My mother doesn't even ask what exploded anymore." "She has accepted her fate." "So have the neighbors." Mira snorted. "I'm fairly certain half of Ashmoor uses your room as a weather forecast." "If there's smoke, don't hang your laundry outside?" We both laughed. I glanced around my bedroom, burn marks climbed on one wall, while one curtain had a suspiciously new patch sewn into it. The ceiling had never quite recovered from Attempt One Hundred and Fifty-Two. "It isn't that bad," I muttered. Mira slowly turned in a circle. "Aurelia." "What?" "Your bedroom looks like the Moon Goddess declared war on it." "I prefer to think of it as a fire hazard." She bent to pick up another cracked moonstone before dropping it into my museum with a soft clink and she dusted off her hands. "Now clean yourself up before your father sees you've tried to electrocute yourself again." "I wasn't electrocuting myself." She raised an eyebrow. "What would you call standing inside a circle of Moonstones holding copper rods during a thunderstorm?" "Creative problem solving." She laughed so hard she had to steady herself against the wall. "You are impossible." "So I've been told." "See you," she dashed out of the door, smiling. I came downstairs to find Dad already seated at the kitchen table, silently eating his breakfast. Mom had already dished our portions before leaving for the apothecary, and for once, the house was strangely peaceful. I sat opposite Dad, and he looked at my face, more specifically, at my missing eyebrow. His spoon stopped halfway to his mouth. I pointed at him. "Don't." He lowered the spoon. "I wasn't going to say anything." "You were thinking about it." "I was thinking you should probably stay away from the forge today." I narrowed my eyes. "Why?" "We've run out of bandages." I stared at him. He stared back, then the corner of his mouth twitched. I groaned. "Everyone is a comedian this morning." Dad returned to his breakfast. "You make it easy." I picked up my spoon. "At least the experiment didn't destroy the house." A loud knock sounded at the front door, Dad's spoon stopped again. We exchanged a look, It was too early for customers. Mom had already left for the apothecary. Besides, most people in Ashmoor knew better than to visit our house before breakfast unless something was wrong. Another knock came, three firm knocks, Dad's expression changed. The humor disappeared from his face. "Who is it?" He shook his head. "I don't know." I pushed my chair back. "I'll get it." "Aurelia." I glanced at him. "Yes?" "Don't open the door if it's anyone from the Council." My stomach tightened. "Why would the Council be here?" Dad didn't answer. I crossed the room and opened the door. Cain stood on the other side. For a moment, neither of us spoke. He was still wearing the dark leather vest he'd worn as a Delta, although the silver insignia of his former rank had long since been removed. He wasn't technically Dad's Delta anymore, not since Dad had stepped down as Alpha. But some bonds didn't disappear simply because titles did. Cain's eyes moved over me, and his gaze stopped at my eyebrow. I sighed. "Don't." He blinked. "I didn't say anything." "You were thinking about it." His mouth twitched. "I can see why." I turned my head toward the kitchen. "Dad, it's just Cain." Dad appeared behind me. "Cain." They clasped forearms. "Rowan." The greeting was warm, but something about Cain's expression made me uneasy. He wasn't smiling, Dad noticed too. "What happened?" Cain glanced at me, then back at Dad. "I came with a message." Dad's jaw tightened. "What kind of message?" Cain stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "The Ashmoor Council met this morning." My fingers tightened around the edge of the door. "And?" Cain looked directly at me. "The Final Awakening has been scheduled." The room immediately went silent. For a second, I didn't understand. Then I did and my stomach dropped. "No." The word escaped before I could stop it, Cain's expression softened. "Three days." Dad went completely still. "Three days?" Cain nodded: "Three days from today. At the Moon Altar." I looked between them, and the Council had finally decided to stop waiting. I swallowed "What happens if I fail?" Neither man answered immediately and that was enough. I looked at Dad. He had gone pale. "Cain." Dad's voice was low. "What exactly did the Council say?" Cain hesitated. "They've waited twenty-two years, Aurelia. They want an answer. If you awaken, they'll know the prophecy is real."He paused. "And if you don't..." His eyes dropped. "They'll finally have a reason to stop fearing you." My chest tightened. The room suddenly felt too small. That was it. The Final Awakening wasn't another experiment in my bedroom. This time, the entire kingdom would be watching. Cain reached into his vest and pulled out a sealed envelope, it bore the Ashmoor crest. He held it out to Dad. But Dad looked at me instead, and something in his eyes made my heart sink. "What?" I whispered. He finally took the envelope "We have plenty of time," I said, smiling at him, but he didn't smile back, because we both knew the truth. I'd tried for twenty-two years and failed. Three days wasn't going to change anything. I looked toward the window. Beyond it, the morning sun illuminated Ashmoor as if my world wasn't slowly closing in on me. But for the first time, I wasn't afraid of failing, I was afraid of what would happen if the Moon Goddess finally answered me. And I had no idea why.