The Predator's Invincible Heir

Chapter 14: The Queen's Confession

"Are you absolutely sure you are going to school today, Aria?" my father asked, his brow furrowed with a deep, unyielding anxiety as he watched me reach for my bag.

"Yes, Dad. I really don't want to miss it," I replied, forcing a lightness into my voice that I didn't entirely feel.

"That roar yesterday night... the beast is clearly angry about something, or perhaps just being mischievous," he pleaded, stepping into my path. "Please, just stay home today to be safe."

I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips. I tilted my head, looking up at him. "Have you ever actually seen a Leorix, Daddy?"

"No," he admitted, his shoulders slumping slightly. "But I have heard so much about them."

"Oh, so all this fear is just from hearsay?" I teased gently, trying to ease the thick tension in the room. "Come on, Dad. Have a little faith in your girl."

A reluctant smile finally broke through his worried expression, though his eyes remained heavy. "Be safe, Aria, please. If anything ever happens to you..." He left the sentence hanging in the air, the unspoken weight of it settling heavily between us. I didn't need him to finish it to understand the sheer depth of his love and terror.

I stepped forward on my tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss against his weathered cheek. "I will be fine, Dad. I promise."

Before he could change his mind or find another reason to keep me locked inside, I quickly slipped out the front door and into the cool morning air.

How could I not go to school today? Better yet, how could I survive today if I just stayed indoors like my father wanted? The four walls of our house felt more like a cage than a sanctuary. I wanted to leave—not because I had a sudden, burning passion for high school geography, though knowing Liam would be there waiting for me certainly made the day endurable. No, I needed to leave because I had an appointment in the shadows. I needed to meet Astraea.

Instead of taking the main road, I slipped directly into the tree line, walking through the dense woods. I moved aimlessly at first, my eyes tracking the sunlight filtering through the canopy, until my feet automatically guided me back to the familiar clearing.

The moment I stepped into the open space, the air began to hum. Bright, concentrated points of light began to gather in the center of the clearing, swirling rapidly like a miniature galaxy. Within seconds, the brilliance faded, and she materialized. Astraea sat gracefully on the damp earth, looking as if she had been sitting there for centuries—fearful, majestic, and entirely an enigma.

My heart skipped several beats against my ribs. Will I ever truly get used to seeing her? I wondered, my breath catching in my throat.

"Here comes the most beautiful of them all," Astraea spoke, a warm, friendly smile softening her fierce, predatory features. The voice echoed directly in my mind, smooth and comforting.

I took a cautious breath. "You were angry yesterday night. What happened?"

"Come closer, Aria. Don't be afraid," she murmured, tilting her massive head. "I would never hurt you."

I took only a few calculated steps forward, still keeping a safe, nervous distance between us. The sheer size of her was enough to keep my survival instincts screaming.

"Your Alpha and his son came looking for me in the dark," Astraea explained casually, though her golden eyes flashed with a remnant of steel. "They brought armed soldiers and that witch, Morrigan."

"Liam!" I gasped, the cold hand of panic instantly gripping my throat.

"Relax, child. I didn't touch a single hair on his head," Astraea assured me, her tone washing over my panic like cool water. "In fact, I spared his people yesterday entirely because of him. But enough of last night, Aria. Come. We have a great deal to talk about."

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. I managed to take another step, but I still couldn't bring myself to stand right beside her. Even with her gentle tone, she was a creature of myth, terrifying to behold.

"Do you not want to go to school today?" she asked, a spark of amusement dancing in her eyes.

"No," I said, the words slipping out unconsciously as I took another step closer, drawn in by the magnetic pull of her presence. "School can wait."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, deciding to lay my cards on the table. "Morrigan told me something. She said I have been born four times, and that I have died before turning nineteen every single time."

Astraea's expression softened into something deeply sorrowful. "It is the absolute truth, Aria. And I have personally witnessed every single one of those births."

A cold dread settled deep in my stomach. "And she said the same thing will kill me again this year. Unless I awaken who I really am." I looked up into her massive, glowing eyes. "Who am I, Astraea? What am I?"

Astraea blinked slowly. "You truly do not know?"

I shook my head, my hands trembling against the straps of my backpack.

"No wonder you are so afraid of me," she murmured softly. "No wonder you allowed that rat, Tanya, to bully you in the school hallways."

"What am I?" I whispered, suddenly terrified of the very answer I was begging for.

Astraea slowly stood up, rising to her full, towering height on all fours. The sheer power radiating off her was intoxicating. "You are one of the strongest creatures to ever exist, Aria. You are unbeatable. You are a Leorix."

I froze. The entire forest went dead silent. The wind stopped rustling the leaves, the birds stopped chirping, and the world completely crystallized around me. Me? A Leorix? How is that even possible? What happened to the ordinary girl I thought I was?

Astraea kept talking, her voice echoing in my head, but for a few seconds, I couldn't process a single syllable. The sheer absurdity of it hummed in my veins.

"That is exactly what I need to tell you," Astraea continued gently, noticing my shock.

Driven by a sudden, desperate need to understand, I moved completely across the clearing, closing the distance between us entirely. Astraea reached out with a massive, furred paw, gently nudging me even closer until I was standing right against her warmth. She looked directly into my eyes, a sad, maternal smile playing on her lips.

"There was a time, a thousand years ago, when the portal between our realms was wide open," she began, her voice taking on a distant, legendary quality. "The Leorix mixed freely with the creatures of the earth—the humans, the werewolves, and the others. Back then, the inhabitants of this earth were arrogant, and yet they were entirely the weakest. Whenever there was a clash between realms, the mortals took the worst hit. Eventually, the portal was sealed shut from our side, backed by a severe, ancient punishment awaiting anyone who dared to open it again."

She paused, her golden eyes dimming with a profound weight. "In our realm, you were a fine, incredibly strong soldier. Even though you were only eighteen years old, you had achieved things that warriors twice your age couldn't dream of. Many feared you. And my daughter, Lea, was deeply, bitterly jealous of your glory."

Astraea looked down, her massive shoulders slumping. "But I never realized her jealousy would drive her to plot such evil against you. One day, she lured you to the edge of the portal. She broke the ancient laws, forced it open, and pushed you down into the vortex. As the two of you struggled in the breach, a cosmic lightning strike hit your heart, knocking you completely unconscious and sending you falling straight to this earth."

I held my breath, listening to the tragic folktale of my own past.

"The fall wounded your immortal body and shattered your inner spirit," Astraea continued softly. "Our soldiers were immediately sent down to retrieve you, but when they found you, we realized the horrifying truth: you no longer possessed an immortal form, and your spirit was too badly damaged to survive the realm transition. You were at the very verge of death."

"Lea was caught and given a strict punishment," she said, a tear glistening in the corner of her eye. "She was sentenced to come down to earth and beg for your true forgiveness. The ancestors decreed that only your absolute forgiveness could ever open the portal and allow her to return home."

Astraea leaned her massive head down, pressing it gently against my shoulder. "But I chose to take her place, Aria. I decided to come down to this earth instead of her. I came because, back home, you were like a daughter to me. I knew your heart; I knew you would listen to me, but you would never listen to Lea after what she did. I foolishly thought it would be simple—that I would find you, ask for your forgiveness on her behalf, and bring you straight home with me. But you died in my very arms during that first lifetime."

A heavy silence blanketed the clearing.

"So, I became marooned here," Astraea whispered, her voice cracking with an ancient, lonely grief. "Trapped on this earth for a millennium, waiting for you to be reborn over and over again, just so I could receive that forgiveness. Four times you were reborn, and four times you died at the exact hour of your original fall. I searched desperately for a way to save you, and I finally discovered the truth: for you to regain your immortality and survive past your nineteenth year, you must actively awaken your Leorix spirit and completely shed your mortal body. But how you are supposed to do that... I truly do not know."

What a story. I stared at the massive beast, my mind spinning so fast I felt dizzy. It felt entirely like a folktale, a myth meant for a history book, not a reality meant for a wolfless girl from a small pack.

"Please, Aria," Astraea pleaded, her golden eyes searching mine with a raw, heartbreaking desperation. "I didn't take Lea's place just because she is my child. I took her place because I truly believed I could mediate better and bring you back to where you belong. I have been entirely alone on this earth for a thousand years. Please, my child... have mercy."

I looked at the towering, magnificent creature standing before me. In that split second, the terrifying, dangerous beast vanished. I didn't see an alpha predator capable of snapping a werewolf's bones. I saw a deeply wounded, grieving mother who had spoiled her child, made catastrophic decisions, and paid for it with a millennium of isolation.

But as the truth settled into my chest, a sudden, sharp coldness overtook my shock.

"You did absolutely nothing to me, Astraea," I said, my voice steadying as I pulled myself back a fraction. "There is nothing for me to forgive you for. If Lea wants absolution, bring her here to ask for it herself. Otherwise, there is no forgiveness. And if that means I am destined to die again this year, then I am ready to die, and let the cycle keep spinning."

Without waiting for her response, I grabbed the straps of my backpack, turned on my heel, and walked out of the clearing.

My mind was a complete blur. The trees slipped past me like ghosts, and my feet moved on pure survival instinct. I didn't even know how I managed to navigate the trails, but before I knew it, the forest thinned, and the brick walls of the high school loomed ahead of me. I had a universe of ancient secrets crashing around inside my head, and absolutely no idea how I was going to sit through a single class.