Desired Fate

Rue, is that you?

Caleb POV

That night he did not sleep. For the first time in weeks he had left the curtains of his chambers open so that the light of the moon shone right in his face, but not even the Moon Goddess could get him to sleep. His body trembled, his eyes kept moving, and his thoughts were either too fast or too distracted.

Grumpy, he threw off the covers and sat up in bed. He often suffered from insomnia, but not from palpitations. It seemed as if his body was stressed; as if he felt fear. But what would he be afraid of?

Maybe he used too many hallucinogenic mushrooms after all; perhaps he should cut back on his memory of Rue after all… But even the mere thought of that made his anxiety worse.

With a deep sigh, he slid out of bed and sauntered over to the window. With his hands in the pockets of his sleeping pants, he stared out. The snow had melted; but it wasn't really spring yet. The sun shone every now and then and felt warm; but most people still complained that it was too cold outside.

And it was… For humans. Or maybe even Omegas.

Not for Alphas.

He stretched his neck, eliciting a satisfying crack, and fixed his gaze on a section of the palace gardens. Through his bedroom window, he could glimpse the pathway that led to the small square where he had last embraced Rue in his arms...

He yanked the curtain and slammed it shut before pivoting on his heels towards the burning hearth. Caleb roughly seized another log to throw it onto the fire. Despite the fact that there was enough wood to keep the fire burning throughout the night, his frustration and boredom compelled him to grab another log and toss it into the flames with more force than necessary.

“Caleb,” a soft voice called out to him.

Startled, Caleb looked up from his thoughts and immediately pricked up his ears, trying to identify the source of the voice. He concentrated and sniffed the air discreetly, but saw or heard nothing out of the ordinary.

“Who's there?” he asked, surprised.

There was a brief pause, and just as Caleb was beginning to doubt himself, the voice spoke again.

“Caleb…”

It sounded like Rue's voice. Was it the mushrooms? Did he finally go crazy?

“Who's there?” he said again, suspiciously. “Show yourself.”

“Caleb, come outside.” Now he was sure it was Rue's voice; he would recognize it out of thousands. Even though the voice was soft and sounded like it had an echo hidden in it; he was sure it was hers.

His heart began to beat faster and his voice cracked as he said her name aloud. “Rue?”

Was it just a figment of his imagination, or was there something more to it? An uncertain glimmer of hope caused his throat to go dry.

“Outside?” he asked, his voice trembling slightly. “Where?”

“Where you last saw me,” he heard her voice. For a moment the fire began to burn more fiercely, before it died down again.

Caleb slowly sank to his knees. He put his hands flat on the floor to use his magical powers to feel whether someone was present in - or nearby - his room. But there was nobody. He was all alone.

“I'm going crazy…” he whispered to himself.

You've been crazy for years, he heard Callum, his wolf, mutter jokingly. But I think we should listen.

Caleb nodded slowly. There was something there, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it might really be Rue. Even if it turned out to be a figment of his own imagination, or some trick being played on him by someone else, he knew he had to take the chance and investigate.

He didn't bother covering his bare torso as he walked barefoot from his sleeping quarters. His slightly too-long black hair hung in a mess around his face and he knew it was time to shave his stubble again. But, suspicious of what he was about to encounter, he decided not to waste time before heading to the spot the voice had mentioned. All he wore was blue-purple sleeping pants with a checkered pattern.

Without encountering too many people, he managed to make his way out of the palace. It wasn't long before he walked barefooted down a brick path toward the place where he'd last held Rue in his arms.

He had visited this place many times over the past eight years and was no longer frightened by it. In the spot where he had last held Rue, he had erected a white marble statue of her wolf, Naya. The sculpture was a true masterpiece, and even Callum had commented that it resembled the girl's wolf. Caleb often came here to think about Rue.

Yet today felt different.

Every step he took closer to the statue made his heart beat faster. It seemed as if there was a presence that made his body tremble. What happened to him? Why did his body react so strangely?

“Rue?” he whispered, afraid someone from his court might be within earshot. But nobody responded. Not a ghostly voice, nor a simple gardener.

It was dark outside, but also quite cold. There were almost no clouds in the sky, so the stars sparkled brightly and the moon lit his path.

As Caleb turned to leave, a glimmer of light caught his eye. He froze in place, his heart pounding with a mix of fear and excitement. The light grew brighter and brighter, spinning wildly next to Rue's statue. Caleb couldn't believe what he was seeing. What was happening? Was this real, or was it just his mind playing tricks on him?

The light continued to spin faster and faster, until it expanded into a large, glowing circle. Caleb's eyes widened in disbelief as the circle grew bigger and bigger, until it was the size of a door. He could feel a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he realized that something was about to happen. He hesitated for a moment, weighing his options, before finally deciding to take a step closer to the glowing light.

His heart skipped a beat as the silhouette of a woman appeared before him. “Rue?” he whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. The slender figure was shrouded in a brilliant white light, slowly emerging from the doorway as the light dimmed...until the girl finally came into view.