Chapter 7: His Regret, Her Awakening
839 Words
Kaelen leaned against the stone balcony of his packhouse, eyes fixed on the moonlit forest below. The night was quiet, but inside him, everything was loud.
He could still smell her. Feel her.
Even when he closed his eyes, she was there. Aelira. The girl he rejected.
He clenched his jaw. Why did he do it?
Everyone expected him to pick someone strong. Someone powerful. A Luna who could stand beside an Alpha without question.
Aelira had been kind, soft-spoken, different.
And Kaelen had been afraid.
Afraid of what she could become.
Afraid of what she made him feel.
He hadn’t understood it then. He thought rejecting her would make the bond disappear. That she’d forget, and he’d forget, and everything would go back to normal.
But now he knew, there was no going back.
He turned away from the balcony and stormed into his office.
“Send another scout team to the east,” he ordered his Beta, Malric, who was waiting inside. Quietly.
Malric blinked. “You think she’s moved?”
“No,” Kaelen said. “I think she’s being moved.”
Malric narrowed his eyes. “By who?”
Kaelen didn’t answer. But deep inside, he felt it again, that twist in his gut, the same one he felt the day he let her go.
Someone was watching her. Someone dangerous.
And it wasn’t just about her anymore.
---
Back in the forest, Aelira stirred from her dreams. Her breathing was heavy, her skin damp with sweat. She sat up fast, the cave around her dark except for the soft embers of the fire.
She had dreamed again.
But it wasn’t just any dream.
It was a memory.
She stood in a throne room, dressed in silver and red. Her hands glowed with light, and people bowed before her. A crown rested on her head, but it wasn’t made of gold.
It was shaped like the moon.
And then, she had seen him.
Kaelen. Dressed in black, standing at her side. His hand in hers. His eyes filled with something she had never seen in the real him.
Devotion.
Aelira pressed her fingers to her forehead.
It wasn’t just a dream. It was a past.
A past life?
She didn’t know how to make sense of it. But the more she remembered, the more she realized, this was not her first time walking this path.
“Thalia,” she whispered, gently waking her friend who slept nearby. “I saw him again.”
Thalia rubbed her eyes. “Kaelen?”
Aelira nodded. “But it was different. We were… together. In another time. I was Luna. And he was proud of me. Not ashamed.”
Thalia sat up straighter. “You think it’s real?”
“I do. I think… I’m remembering who I was before. And maybe, who I’m meant to be again.”
---
Later that day, Aelira and Thalia walked deeper into the forest, guided by instinct.
The moon mark on Aelira’s wrist pulsed again, warm and steady like a heartbeat.
“We’re close to something,” she whispered. “I can feel it.”
The trees thinned, revealing an old stone arch covered in vines. It was almost hidden behind thick brush.
As they stepped through it, the air shimmered.
And suddenly, they were standing in a place that didn’t feel like the forest anymore.
The air was clearer, the ground covered in white flowers that glowed faintly.
Aelira spun slowly, taking in the sight.
“This… this was mine,” she said. “I remember this place.”
Thalia looked around, stunned. “It’s beautiful. Sacred.”
“Yes,” Aelira nodded. “It’s where I was crowned. Where I became Luna before.”
Aelira walked to the center of the circle and knelt, placing her hand on the ground.
The moment she did, the flowers around her lit up brighter.
And her mind filled with a voice, familiar and deep.
“You are the moon reborn. Rise, Luna, and remember your light.”
Aelira’s body trembled. The mark on her wrist turned silver-blue, and for a moment, she felt a rush of strength like power flowing through her veins.
She opened her eyes.
“I’m not the weak Omega they said I was,” she whispered.
Thalia stepped closer, smiling softly. “You never were.”
---
At the same moment, Kaelen stumbled in his study, holding his chest.
His wolf growled inside him, restless and wild.
“Alpha, are you alright?” Malric asked, worried.
Kaelen’s eyes flashed silver.
“I felt her,” he said, breath shaking. “She’s awakened.”
Malric stepped back. “Then… it’s starting.”
Kaelen nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the window.
“Yes. And I was wrong to push her away.”
He turned, looking directly at his Beta.
“I need to find her. Not as her Alpha. Not even as her mate.”
He paused.
“But as the one who broke her and must help her rise.”
- Writer
