CHAPTER SIX
976 Words
Mira
That thought echoed in my bones as I half-dragged, half-supported Arden out of the forest. Every step felt wrong and heavy, as if the world itself were holding its breath. When we finally broke free of the trees, the Wolf King stumbled, collapsing to one knee.
His skin was burning hot under my grip.
His wolf was pushing through his skin in jagged, violent surges.
"We need… to get back to the palace," he rasped.
The curse clawed at him like invisible talons.
I swallowed the fear rising in my throat.
"Come on," I whispered, hooking my shoulder under his arm. "Lean on me."
He stiffened
And as we walked, something between us shifted.
Not forgiveness.
Not trust.
Something darker.
Something forbidden.
Something dangerous.
I hated it.
But I couldn't escape it.
By the time we reached the palace gates, Arden was barely conscious.
The guards froze when they saw me.
Omega.
Traitor.
Rejected mate.
I braced for them to grab me. But Arden's voice cracked through the air, sharp as a blade:
"She stays with me."
The tone was lethal enough to stop their hearts.
And for the first time, they looked afraid but not of me… but of what he had become.
His wolf snarled beneath his skin, eyes flashing gold then pitch black.
He wasn't just losing control.
He was breaking.
I swallowed hard and guided him inside.
The palace, once grand and cold, felt different now, darker, sick with something festering. Shadows crawled along the walls. The air was colder than outside.
The curse was here.
Arden collapsed the second we reached his chamber, his body convulsing. I lunged to steady him, and silver fire burst from my palms.
I screamed.
He gasped.
Light poured from my hands into his chest. Not burning him—but healing. Patching the cracks in his aura. Pulling his wolf back from the edge.
I couldn't stop. I didn't know how to stop.
When the light finally faded, he was breathing normally again.
I wasn't.
I stared at my trembling hands. "What… what was that?"
Arden pushed himself up on shaking elbows, eyes wide and terrified, but not of himself.
Of me.
"Mira," he whispered. "That was Luna magic."
My heart dropped.
"No. No, I don't."
"You're not just an omega," he said hoarsely. "You are…."
"Don't say it." My voice cracked. "Don't you dare say it."
Because if he said it out loud, everything would change.
He said it anyway.
"You're the reborn Luna."
The room seemed to tilt.
I backed away from him, my pulse roaring in my ears.
"No. I'm nobody. A rejected mate"
"You healed me," Arden growled, struggling to his feet. "You channeled a power that only a Luna can wield, a power the curse cannot touch."
His eyes burned with something that scared me more than the curse.
Hope.
Desperation.
Possession.
Forbidden longing.
"You're my mate," he said quietly. "And more than that, you're the only thing keeping me alive."
I froze.
The problem was that I couldn't escape.
The truth I had been running from.
A sudden crash thundered through the palace, followed by a scream. Arden grabbed the wall, grimacing as the sound sent a shock through his wolf.
"What was that?" I whispered.
He looked at me with a truth he'd been hiding until now.
"The curse has reached the heart of the citadel," he said. "If we don't stop it soon, the entire palace will turn to ash."
A chill ran down my spine.
"How soon?"
He hesitated. "Days."
But the flicker in his eyes betrayed him.
Hours.
"We're out of time," he said. "Which means you need to know everything."
My heartbeat faltered. "Everything… what?"
His throat bobbed.
"The night I rejected you," he said quietly, "I wasn't disgusted by you."
My breath caught.
He stepped closer. Slowly. Carefully. Like approaching a wounded animal.
"I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?" I whispered.
He held my gaze, and the truth shattered the air between us.
"Afraid that if I accepted you… The kingdom would fall."
My heart twisted. "Because I'm weak?"
He winced.
"No. Because the Council told me accepting my mate would trigger an ancient prophecy. One they fear more than any enemy."
"What prophecy?" I demanded.
He swallowed hard.
"One that says the Luna reborn will rise from nothing… and overthrow the Wolf King."
Silence hit like a physical blow.
Me.
Overthrow him.
His downfall.
"Now you understand," he whispered. "You weren't rejected because you were weak. You were rejected because you were destined to be powerful."
The world felt like it had cracked beneath my feet.
Another scream echoed through the palace. Then another. The lights flickered as the curse pulsed, spreading.
Arden grabbed his head, wincing. "It's accelerating. The Wraith… it knows you've awakened."
A shiver crawled down my spine.
"You mean… It's coming here?"
He nodded once, eyes darkening as a violent tremor shook his body.
"Yes. And if we don't find the Moonspire Temple before sunrise, the curse will consume me."
Sunrise.
Hours.
Not days.
I swallowed hard.
"We need to move," he said. "Now."
His eyes fixed on mine in a way that made my breath catch.
"We're enemies, Mira. We want different things. But for now… we have to work together."
My chest tightened painfully.
"Because if we don't," he whispered, voice low and raw, "we both die."
The curse, the secrets, the prophecy… everything tightened around me like a noose.
My wolf stirred in my bones, awake, alert, and hungry for truth.
I should have run.
I should have left him to his fate.
But the way he looked at me…
Broken king.
Dying mate.
Enemy I shouldn't want.
And the fire under my skin whispered one word:
Luna.
I exhaled shakily.
"Fine," I whispered. "We do this. Together."
Arden's expression shifted, relief, fear, something deeper.
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