The Moon-Pool
862 Words
The Citadel at night was a labyrinth of cold marble and whispering shadows. I moved through the corridors like a thief, my bare feet silent. The silver gown Malachi had given me felt like a shroud, clinging to my skin as the mountain air grew frigid.
I followed the map etched into my mind. The Moon-Pool sat at the base of the fortress, where natural springs met the starlight. It was restricted, yet the guards were strangely absent. It felt like a path had been cleared—or a trap set.
When I stepped into the cavern, I gasped. The pool was a vast basin of obsidian water reflecting the night sky.
"You’re late, Elara."
The voice came from the water. Professor Lang emerged from the glowing center, clad in a simple white slip. She walked on the surface of the pool as if it were glass.
"How did you get in here?" I demanded, my hands igniting with white-hot energy.
"The University was here before the Lycans," Lang said coolly. "Do you really think Malachi found you by accident? He marked you to claim his property. The ‘White Origin’ is a biological key, Elara. It is the only thing that can stabilize the Lycans' decaying DNA. Malachi is dying. His race is infertile. You aren't a mate; you are a walking pharmacy for a monster."
My heart plummeted. He waited two hundred years... for my blood?
"You’re lying," I whispered. "Why would my father sell me if I was so important?"
"He sold you for a cure," Lang countered. "Your mother didn't die of sickness. Her blood was harvested to keep the Silver Moon pack alive. Your father made a deal: your life for the pack's survival."
The cavern spun. Every cold look from my father, every moment of neglect... it wasn't because I was weak. It was because I was a reminder of the woman he had sacrificed.
"Touch the water," Lang urged. "See the truth."
Hunger for the truth overrode my fear. I knelt and dipped my fingers into the freezing obsidian depths.
The world vanished. I was in a laboratory filled with the scent of ozone. I saw a woman who looked exactly like me—my mother—strapped to a table. Men in silver masks were drawing a glowing substance from her veins.
And standing in the shadows, watching with cold, detached interest, was a man in black armor.
Malachi.
He looked younger, but his violet eyes held the same hunger. He wasn't saving her; he was supervising the harvest.
"The dosage is insufficient," Malachi’s voice rang out in the vision. "Ensure the daughter is kept sheltered. We will need her when she comes of age."
I ripped my hand back, gasping. My skin burned; the mark on my neck throbbed with agonizing heat. "He... he was there," I choked out. "He killed her."
"He didn't kill her," Lang hissed. "The University did. But he placed the order. Every hardship you faced, every moment of abuse from Silas... it was orchestrated to drive you into his arms. A broken wolf is easier to control."
"Elara!"
Malachi burst into the cavern, his eyes wild. He saw me shaking on the ground and Lang standing on the water. "Get away from her!" he roared, his body contorting into his Lycan form.
"Which monster are you running from tonight?" Lang whispered as her body dissolved into silver mist. "The one who rejects you, or the one who harvests you?"
She vanished with a chilling laugh.
Malachi reached me in a heartbeat, his massive hands catching my shoulders. "Elara! What did she show you?"
I looked at the man who had given me a palace and a promise. All I could see were those violet eyes watching my mother die. I pulled away, my hands igniting with a violent, white flame.
"Is it true?" I screamed. "Am I a cure, or am I your mate?"
Malachi’s expression shifted. For the first time, I saw a flicker of something human on a King’s face: Guilt.
"Elara, I can explain," he began, his voice desperate.
"Did you watch her die?" I demanded. "Did you order my father to keep me in a cage until I was ready to be bled?"
Malachi took a step toward me. "I was a different man two hundred years ago. I did what I had to do to save my kind. But you... you changed everything."
"Don't lie to me!"
I used my soul. A wave of white kinetic energy erupted from my body, slamming into Malachi with the force of a falling mountain. He was thrown back, crashing through the obsidian basin. The Moon-Pool shattered.
As the water drained, a hidden door beneath the basin was revealed—a staircase leading to the "Phase Two" facility.
I didn't wait for his explanation. I turned and ran into the dark heart of the secret lab, located right underneath the King's own palace.
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