7

Chapter 7

Theron's POV

A loud noise echoed through my room as a firm knock landed on my bedroom door.

Three sharp knocks, one pause, then another.

Coren!

He's for sure the only one brave enough to risk his life to disturbing my sleep. 

I opened my eyes immediately, and the sky beyond the tall windows was still pitch black, the first hint of dawn nowhere in sight.

"Enter." I finally spoke. 

The heavy wooden door swung inward, revealing my Beta standing in full battle attire. His expression was as stern as ever, but the tightly rolled parchment in his hand told me this wasn't a routine report.

"A messenger arrived from the northern mountains. He insisted this reach only you." Coren said quietly, walking toward my desk.

I sat upright and accepted the scroll.

The seal pressed into the dark wax made my expression harden instantly, and a crescent moon enclosed within a circle.

The Seer….

Without another word, I broke the seal and unrolled the parchment.

“Come alone… The moon has spoken again.”

There was no signature beneath the message, there didn't need to be as I already know who this is and what it meant. 

I burned the parchment over the nearby candle until nothing remained except black ash, and Coren watched silently without uttering a single word. 

"I will be leaving immediately." I ordered. 

"I will saddle the horses." He bowed his head. 

A few minutes later, the stable doors creaked open beneath the cold night air.

My black horse stamped impatiently against the ground while Coren approached carrying his own riding horse. 

"I will accompany you." He offered.

"No." I exhaled sharply. 

"The northern mountains aren't safe before sunrise." His brows pulled together.

"I know." I chuckled.

"Then allow me to ride beside you." He insisted. 

"You'll remain here. In case someone attacks the territory, or something happens while I'm gone." I tightened my gloves before taking the reins.

"I dislike not knowing where my Alpha is riding before dawn." Coren folded his arms.

"You know where, Coren" I laughed softly. 

"The mountains." His eyes descended. 

"And you know who waits there." I looked at him steadily.

"I do." His expression shifted almost imperceptibly.

"Then you also know why I must go alone." I looked at him. 

"As you command." After several seconds, Coren gave a single respectful nod, and I mounted the horse.

The cold wind rushed to my face as the horse pressed forward, galloping through Ironveil's open gates.

The northern mountains stood untouched by any pack as only few wolves willingly climbed them.

The ancient cliffs were wrapped in permanent mist, and even experienced warriors claimed strange voices sometimes echoed between the rocks after sunset.

I ignored the stories because the only voice I had ever heard here belonged to one woman.

Nearly two hours later, my horse stopped before the entrance of a narrow stone cave, and I climbed down quietly.

"You are late." The calm voice echoed within the darkness.

"I arrived exactly when your letter requested." My brows furrowed together. 

"You always were literal, Theron." A soft chuckle answered me.

The old woman stepped into the faint morning light, and her silver hair reached almost to the ground, while her pale eyes carried the strangest emotions ever one can't even explain. 

Every Alpha on the continent knew of the mountain Seer, but very few ever found her.

"You summoned me." I inhaled. 

"I did." She nodded. 

"You've met her." She studied my face for a long moment before smiling knowingly, but I remained silent.

"The girl." She added. 

"I have." I admitted. 

"And?" She continued.

"She isn't what I expected." I looked toward the valley below.

"Nobody ever is." The Seer laughed quietly.

"I came because I require certainty." I folded my arms.

"There is no certainty in prophecy." She clicked her tongue. 

"There should be." I argued. 

"There never has been." She sighed. 

"For years you've told me to watch for a woman carrying two wolves inside one soul." My jaw tightened.

"Yes." She answered slowly. 

"You told me she would change the balance between every Alpha territory. You told me the future of every pack would eventually depend on whether she lived. " I questioned. 

"Yes, I did." Her voice was firm.

"Is Lyra truly that woman?" I looked directly into her pale eyes.

"The Moon Goddess does not repeat herself." The Seer's smile slowly disappeared.

"Answer the question." My eyes widened.

"When you first came to me eleven years ago, you asked whether your father's death had meaning." She stepped closer.

"I remember."

"I told you then that your path would one day cross the last daughter of the forgotten bloodline. You doubted me." She recounted. 

"I only doubted the silly stories." My voice carried frustration.

"You questioned destiny." She stamped her feet on the floor. 

"I questioned stories!” I yelled. 

"The woman sleeping beneath your roof carries two wolves."

"I know."

"One belongs to this lifetime, but the other doesn't" Her icy voice echoed in my ears. 

I remained perfectly still as goosebumps crept across my arms despite the cold.

"The prophecy never named her," I said quietly.

"It didn't need to." She answered.

"How can you be so certain?" I refused to let it go. 

"Because there has only ever been one surviving bloodline capable of awakening a second wolf." She lowered her hand.

"And someone has spent decades trying to erase it."

"Who is it, and why can't you stop him?" My eyes narrowed, and the Seer's expression softened.

"A prophecy may be guided, but it cannot be lived by someone else." She looked towards me, and silence settled between us.

"You searched for the child of prophecy." She smiled once more.

"But you are no longer asking about the prophecy." Her pale eyes seemed to look straight through me.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"You keep asking whether Lyra is the chosen woman."

The Seer turned and slowly walked back toward her cave.

"The better question, Alpha is whether you still see only the prophecy when you look at her." She paused without looking back.

She disappeared before I could even answer her. 

The journey back to Ironveil was quieter than the ride there. The Seer's words refused to leave my mind.

I had searched for the woman from the prophecy for years. Every rumour, whisper, and story.

All of it had led me to Lyra.

Yet somewhere between finding an unconscious stranger bleeding beneath the trees and watching her glare at me from a healing bed

Something had become unexpectedly complicated. I tightened my grip on the reins as my thoughts ran deeper. 

Complications were dangerous, especially for an Alpha.

By the time Ironveil's gates appeared ahead, the morning sun had climbed above the mountains.

The guards saluted as I rode through the courtyard, but I acknowledged none of them. My expression remained cold as I crossed toward my residence.

Suddenly some movement caught the corner of my eye, and I looked toward the garden.

Lyra stood among the flowering hedges beside Sable, the sunlight catching the strands of her dark brown hair as the breeze gently blew them. 

She seemed healthier than she had a week ago, though the faint stiffness in her movements reminded me she was still recovering.

She was listening to something Sable had said.

Then, unexpectedly, she smiled. Even though it was small, it transformed her entire face.

Something unfamiliar stirred inside my chest, warm enough to chase away the lingering chill of the mountains, and I frowned.

For no reason I could explain, I found myself unable to look away.