The Other Mate
765 Words
The room went still—too still.
I stared at Selene. “What did you just say?”
She didn’t even blink. “You heard me.”
Adrian’s voice dropped, sharp as steel. “Get out.”
Selene ignored him completely. Her attention stayed locked on me as she stepped closer.
“My family has been searching for your bloodline for centuries.”
My throat tightened. “Why?”
Her gaze dropped briefly to the pendant at my chest. “Because only your blood can open the gate.”
My pulse stuttered. “What gate?”
Selene exhaled slowly, like I was slow to understand. “The one sealed beneath the first Moon Queen’s temple. The one that keeps the old power locked away.”
Adrian moved instantly, grabbing her wrist. “Stop speaking to her like she’s a weapon.”
Selene finally looked at him—calm, almost bored. “You rejected her because you were afraid of what she is.”
His grip tightened. “Careful.”
“You didn’t understand the prophecy,” she continued, unfazed. “It was never a warning of destruction. It was a warning of choice.”
Her eyes returned to me, colder now. Certain.
“The Moon Queen’s heir doesn’t belong to an Alpha King.”
My breath caught. “Then who do I belong to?”
Selene’s lips curved faintly. “A royal mate.”
I shook my head. “That’s not real. That doesn’t explain anything.”
“It explains everything,” she said softly. “You just haven’t accepted it yet.”
Adrian shoved her hand away. “Enough.”
For the first time, Selene’s expression shifted.
The air snapped.
Her eyes turned completely black.
The lights in the room shattered.
“Liana—” Adrian started.
But pain exploded through me before he could finish.
Blue light burst from my body.
Selene was thrown backward.
Adrian froze. “Liana…”
I stared at my hands, glowing like frozen fire. “What is happening to me?”
He didn’t answer.
The palace trembled.
Stone cracked like something alive beneath it was waking.
Then—
A voice slid into my mind.
Cold. Absolute.
Run.
My head snapped up. “Did you hear that?”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened. “Hear what?”
“Someone just—” My breath broke. “Someone told me to run.”
His expression changed instantly. “We’re leaving.”
“Why?”
A deafening explosion ripped through the corridor.
Adrian looked toward the ceiling. “Because they’re already inside.”
The doors blew open.
Rogues flooded in—too many, too fast.
Adrian shoved me behind him. “Don’t move.”
He shifted in an instant.
Bone. Fur. Fury.
A massive black wolf tore through the first wave like they were nothing.
Screams filled the hall. Blood hit the stone.
I couldn’t breathe.
One rogue broke through the chaos.
Straight at me.
My body reacted before my mind did.
I lifted my hand.
Blue light snapped outward.
The rogue slammed into the wall—and didn’t rise again.
Silence crashed down like a weight.
Even Adrian stopped.
I stared at my shaking hand.
Then—
Selene’s voice came from behind me, calm as ever.
“Now you understand.”
I turned slowly.
She stood in the smoke like it couldn’t touch her.
Smiling.
“The prophecy was never about destruction,” she said. “It was about awakening.”
My chest tightened. “What are you talking about?”
Her gaze sharpened.
“The Moon Queen’s heir isn’t chosen to serve an Alpha King.”
A pause.
“She is the key that unlocks the gate… and the force that decides what comes through it.”
My breath caught.
Selene lifted a finger toward me.
“And that is why you are not his weakness.”
Her smile deepened.
“You are the most dangerous thing in this kingdom.”
And then—
She vanished.
Adrian shifted back, breathing hard, stepping toward me like I might shatter the world if he touched me.
“Liana…”
I shook my head. “Don’t.”
He stopped immediately.
“I thought I was protecting you when I rejected you,” he said quietly.
My chest ached. “And now?”
His eyes darkened with something raw.
“Now I think I was trying to protect the world from what you are becoming.”
I looked down at my glowing hands, at the ruin around us.
My voice came out barely a whisper.
“…or maybe you were protecting yourself from me.”
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