The First Moon Blood Has Returned

Chapter 13

The Moonstone turned black.

Not dimmed.

Not faded.

Black.

The entire temple seemed to inhale at once.

"Away from the dais!" the priest shouted. "Everyone, move away!"

"Restrain her!"

An elder pointed at Elara.

"Now, before"

"No one touches her."

Kael's voice cut through the panic.

The guards froze.

The elder turned toward him.

"Your Majesty, she has corrupted the sacred stone."

"She hasn't done anything."

"Her existence is the corruption!"

Elara's chest tightened.

"Then stop calling me dangerous."

She looked directly at the elder.

"Tell me what I am."

The elder opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Elara looked around the temple.

"Go on. Everyone here seems to know."

Her eyes settled on Kael.

"Everyone except me."

Kael said nothing.

"Then tell me."

Before he could answer

CRACK!

Silver light split across the black Moonstone.

The crowd screamed.

Jagged lines spread across its surface, glowing brighter with every second.

The temple shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

"Your Majesty!" Sarn shouted.

"Get everyone back," Kael ordered.

"Already doing it!"

The guards forced the nearest nobles away from the dais.

Elara didn't move.

She couldn't.

The black stone seemed to be staring back at her.

Then a voice filled the chamber.

It wasn't loud.

It didn't need to be.

It came from the stone, the walls, and the floor beneath their feet.

"The First Moon Blood has returned."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

An elder stumbled backward.

"It can't be her."

Elara heard him.

She turned.

"Who were you expecting?"

The elder's face went pale.

He didn't answer.

Kael stepped forward.

Two elders immediately moved into his path.

"Your Majesty, don't approach her."

Kael stopped.

"Give me one reason."

The elder swallowed.

"Because if the prophecy is true..."

His eyes moved toward Elara.

"She isn't merely a candidate."

Elara's heart hammered.

"Then what am I?"

The elder hesitated.

"The bloodline the crown buried."

Elara went still.

"My father?"

The elder's mouth closed.

Kael's voice hardened.

"Enough."

"No."

Elara turned toward him.

"Not this time."

Her voice shook, but she didn't lower it.

"Everyone in this temple knows something about me."

She pointed toward the Moonstone.

"That thing knows something about me."

Then she looked at the elders.

"You know something."

Finally, her eyes found Kael.

"And you do too."

Kael didn't deny it.

The Moonstone pulsed.

A violent burst of silver light shot from its surface and struck Elara in the chest.

She gasped.

Her knees nearly buckled.

Something moved inside her.

Something deep.

Something that had been silent for eighteen years.

Then

It woke.

Elara grabbed her chest.

"What..."

A second pulse tore across the temple.

This one struck Kael.

He staggered.

His hand flew to his chest.

"Your Majesty!"

Kael ignored the voice.

Between him and Elara, a thin thread of silver light appeared.

It stretched across the temple.

Straight.

Unbroken.

Alive.

Someone screamed.

"The mate bond!"

The priest stared at them.

His face had gone white.

"The Alpha King..."

His voice trembled.

"He's been bonded."

Elara stared at Kael.

Kael stared back.

Neither spoke.

The silver thread pulsed between them.

Once.

Twice.

Like a second heartbeat.

Then the voice returned.

"The First Moon Blood has chosen the King."

Chaos erupted.

"Sever it!"

"A king cannot be bound to traitorous blood!"

"He must break the bond!"

"Kill her before"

"Enough!"

Kael's roar silenced the chamber.

Elara looked at him.

"Sever it?"

Kael's eyes met hers.

"Don't listen to them."

"Why?"

Her voice shook.

"Because you're my king?"

Kael took a step toward her.

"Because you're my mate."

The words struck harder than the Moonstone.

Elara stopped breathing.

For one terrible second, the entire world seemed to disappear.

Then her heart slammed against her ribs.

"No."

Kael's expression tightened.

"Elara"

"No."

She stepped backward.

"You don't get to say that as if it explains everything."

Her gaze swept across the temple.

"For eighteen years, your kingdom called me a traitor's daughter."

She looked at Kael again.

"They called me broken."

Another step.

"Wolfless."

Her eyes burned.

"And now fate says I'm yours?"

"I didn't choose this."

"Neither did I."

The silver thread tightened between them.

Elara flinched.

"Then why does it feel like it's pulling me toward you?"

Kael's expression changed.

"I don't know."

"You're the king."

"And I have never been bound by a mate bond before."

That answer silenced her.

For the first time, Kael looked as uncertain as she felt.

Then silver letters began forming across the black Moonstone.

Elara turned.

The first line appeared.

THE KING MAY CLAIM THE MATE.

A murmur swept through the temple.

Then the stone went dark.

For one heartbeat, nothing happened.

A second line appeared.

OR KILL HER BEFORE THE BLOOD AWAKENS.

Silence.

Kael's expression hardened.

The elders exchanged glances.

Elara stared at the words.

Her stomach dropped.

"That's what it meant," she whispered.

Kael looked at her.

"What?"

"The inscription from before."

She pointed at the stone.

"The king chooses whether I live."

The lead elder stepped forward.

"The prophecy has given you a choice."

Kael didn't look at him.

"I can read."

"Then choose."

Elara's gaze moved between them.

"Is that why you were afraid?"

Kael finally looked at her.

"Partly."

"Partly?"

"The prophecy was never supposed to awaken."

"Why?"

"Because the last time it was mentioned, the crown sealed every record connected to it."

"Because of my family?"

Kael's silence answered her.

Elara's voice dropped.

"What happened to the First Moon Blood?"

The elders shifted uneasily.

Kael answered.

"It disappeared."

"That's all?"

"No."

His eyes hardened.

"It was hunted."

Elara stared at him.

"By whom?"

"People who believed its return would destroy the kingdom."

"And my father?"

"I don't know if your father was involved."

"You don't know?"

"I know his name was in the sealed records."

Elara's breath caught.

"My father's name."

"Yes."

"Then stop telling me you don't know anything."

Kael looked at the elders.

"She deserves answers."

The lead elder's expression darkened.

"Your Majesty, answers may be exactly what gets her killed."

Elara stepped forward.

"Then someone should have told me the truth before now."

The Moonstone pulsed.

Everyone turned.

Kael looked back at Elara.

Something settled over his face.

He walked toward her.

One step.

Then another.

The silver bond between them brightened with every step.

Elara's instincts screamed at her to move.

She didn't.

Kael stopped directly in front of her.

"You wanted my choice."

His voice carried through the temple.

"Then hear it."

He reached for her hand.

Elara hesitated.

"Kael..."

"I won't hurt you."

"You can't promise that."

His eyes held hers.

"Then watch what I do."

His fingers closed around hers.

The silver bond flashed.

A gasp swept through the crowd.

Kael didn't let go.

"She lives."

The temple erupted.

"You cannot!"

"Your Majesty!"

"Think of the kingdom!"

"The prophecy"

"Enough!"

Kael's command silenced them.

Elara could barely hear the arguing.

She stared at their joined hands.

The warmth spreading through her palm was unfamiliar.

So was the pull in her chest.

So was the strange certainty that this man had somehow become tied to her future.

She looked up.

"Why did you choose me?"

Kael's eyes didn't leave hers.

"Because you're innocent until proven otherwise."

"That's all?"

A pause.

"No."

Elara's heart stumbled.

"Then what else?"

Kael looked toward the glowing bond.

"I don't know yet."

It was the first answer he had given her that didn't sound like a secret.

Before Elara could respond

CRACK!

The Moonstone split.

A deep fissure ran from its crown to its base.

Silver light poured through the opening.

The temple shook violently.

People screamed.

The guards stumbled.

The priest dropped to his knees.

"What is happening?"

Kael turned toward the stone.

Elara followed his gaze.

Something moved behind the crack.

Not light.

Not smoke.

Something alive.

"Kael," Elara whispered.

"I see it."

"What's inside?"

"I don't know."

The Moonstone cracked again.

A piece of ancient stone fell from the dais.

Behind it was darkness.

Then two faint points of silver appeared within that darkness.

Eyes.

Elara's blood ran cold.

The entire temple went silent.

The ancient voice returned, but this time it sounded closer.

"Blood has chosen."

Kael tightened his grip around Elara's hand.

The voice continued.

"King has chosen."

The silver eyes opened wider.

"And now..."

The temple doors slammed shut.

"...the buried kingdom wakes."

The Moonstone shattered.

Something inside it inhaled.

Then the darkness moved.

And every candle in the temple went out.

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