THE LUNA'S CHOSEN DAUGHTER

CHAPTER FOUR- THE CROWN BENEATH THE TEMPLE

The growl came again.

This time, the floor beneath my feet trembled.

I grabbed the wall to steady myself.

“What was that?” I whispered.

Kael's eyes moved toward the darkness ahead.

“I don't know.”

“You said you knew this temple.”

“I know where it is. That doesn't mean I know everything inside it.”

Another growl shook the walls.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

The wolves behind us began to whine.

For the first time since I had met them, they looked afraid.

That frightened me more than the sound itself.

I turned toward Kael.

“We should leave.”

He shook his head.

“We can't.”

“Why?”

He pointed behind us.

The stone door had sealed itself.

I rushed toward it and pushed.

Nothing happened.

I pushed harder.

The door didn't move.

“Open!”

My voice echoed through the temple.

Nothing.

I turned around.

Kael was watching me.

“The temple has chosen to keep us inside.”

I stared at him.

“The temple can't choose anything.”

“It just did.”

I hated how calm he sounded.

“What do we do?”

“Find what your mother left here.”

I remembered her words.

Your mother left something there.

I looked around.

The temple was enormous.

Tall stone pillars stretched toward the ceiling. Symbols covered the walls, most of them worn away by time.

At the center of the room stood a circular platform.

Above it was a carving of the Moon.

I stepped closer.

The moment I entered the circle, my wrist began burning.

“Elara.”

Kael's voice sounded distant.

I couldn't answer.

Silver light spread from beneath my feet.

The symbols on the floor began glowing.

Then I heard her voice.

My daughter.

I closed my eyes.

The Luna appeared before me.

This time, she looked different.

She wasn't standing beneath the Moon.

She was sitting on a throne.

A crown rested on her head.

And beside her stood a man I didn't recognize.

He looked like a king.

“The kingdom believes I died,” she said.

I stared at her.

“Did you?”

She smiled sadly.

“No.”

“Where are you?”

“Somewhere between life and death.”

My chest tightened.

“Why?”

“Because I chose you.”

I didn't understand.

“Why me?”

“Because you are the only one who can finish what I started.”

“What did you start?”

Her expression became serious.

“A war.”

The vision changed.

I saw wolves fighting.

Villages burning.

A palace surrounded by flames.

Then I saw the Luna standing before a huge army.

She raised her hand.

The Moon turned silver.

The battle stopped.

“I ended the war,” she said.

“Then why are they still afraid of you?”

“Because peace made some people powerless.”

I watched as several figures entered the vision.

Men from the royal council.

“They wanted my power,” the Luna continued. “When I refused to give it to them, they tried to destroy me.”

“What happened?”

“I disappeared before they could take everything.”

She looked directly into my eyes.

“But I couldn't disappear forever.”

I felt tears forming.

“You left me.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“Because I loved you.”

The answer hurt more than I expected.

“If you loved me, why didn't you stay?”

“Because staying would have gotten you killed.”

I looked away.

For seventeen years, I had wondered why I was different.

Why I had no wolf.

Why I had never felt that connection everyone else seemed to have.

And now I finally had answers.

But they only created more questions.

“What happened to you?”

The Luna looked toward the darkness.

“They found me.”

“Who?”

“The ones who now hunt you.”

My heart dropped.

“Where is my mother?”

“Alive.”

I opened my eyes.

The vision disappeared.

“Elara!”

Kael was standing beside me.

“What happened?”

“My mother is alive.”

His expression changed.

“How do you know?”

“She told me.”

“Who?”

“The Luna.”

He went completely still.

Before he could say anything, the ground opened.

A staircase appeared beneath the circular platform.

Kael stared down.

“Well…”

“What?”

“I think we found what we're looking for.”

We descended.

The deeper we went, the colder the air became.

The walls were covered with paintings.

The first showed the Luna being crowned.

The second showed her standing before the Moon.

The third showed her holding a baby.

Me.

I stopped.

“That painting…”

Kael looked at it.

“So that's you.”

I touched the stone wall.

“She knew I would come here.”

“Yes.”

At the bottom of the stairs stood a small chamber.

In the center was a stone pedestal.

Something was resting on it.

A crown.

It was beautiful.

Silver metal formed a delicate circle, with a crescent-shaped stone at its center.

I felt drawn toward it.

Kael grabbed my arm.

“Don't.”

“Why?”

“We don't know what it does.”

“I think I do.”

I stepped toward the pedestal.

The crown began glowing.

A voice filled the chamber.

The blood has returned.

Kael released my arm.

The crown rose from the pedestal.

It floated toward me.

I backed away.

“No.”

It followed.

“I don't want it.”

The voice returned.

You were born for it.

The crown touched my head.

Pain exploded through me.

I screamed.

Images flooded my mind.

The kingdom.

The palace.

The royal council.

My mother running through the forest with me as a baby.

The Luna placing a silver necklace around my tiny neck.

And then—

A man standing before the Luna.

His eyes were black.

His voice was cold.

“You cannot hide her forever.”

The Luna held me tightly.

“No.”

“She will belong to the kingdom.”

“She belongs to herself.”

The vision shattered.

I fell to my knees.

Kael caught me before I hit the floor.

“Elara!”

I opened my eyes.

The crown was gone.

But something had changed.

I could hear everything.

The heartbeat of the wolves.

The sound of Kael breathing.

Even the distant movement of something beneath the temple.

Then I heard another heartbeat.

Slow.

Weak.

Familiar.

My mother's.

I stood immediately.

“She is here.”

Kael frowned.

“What?”

“My mother.”

I pointed toward the wall.

“She is beneath us.”

Kael stared at the stone.

Then he drew his sword.

“We're going down.”

A c***k suddenly appeared in the wall.

Silver light poured through it.

The stone split open.

Beyond it was a narrow passage.

And at the end of that passage came a woman's voice.

“Elara…”

My mother's voice.

I ran.

Kael followed.

We reached the end of the passage and found a room.

My mother was there.

She was chained to the wall.

“Mother!”

I rushed toward her.

She lifted her head.

Her eyes widened when she saw the silver light surrounding me.

“No…”

“What?”

Her face filled with fear.

“You found the crown.”

I nodded.

She shook her head.

“You must take it off.”

“I can't.”

“You don't understand.”

She struggled against the chains.

“The crown doesn't choose the strongest person.”

I stared at her.

“It chooses the person who can survive what is coming.”

A cold voice echoed from behind us.

“Exactly.”

I turned.

A man stood in the doorway.

He was dressed in royal black.

His eyes were fixed on me.

And unlike the guards from Moonridge, he wasn't afraid.

He smiled.

“My little Luna.”

Kael stepped in front of me.

“Who are you?”

The man ignored him.

His eyes remained on me.

“Your mother spent seventeen years hiding you.”

He took one step forward.

“Now the entire kingdom knows you exist.”

My mother screamed.

“Run, Elara!”

The man smiled wider.

“You can run.”

His eyes darkened.

“But there is nowhere left for the Luna's chosen daughter to hide.”