Chapter 16

Eldric’s Pov

I walked back to my tower from the King’s private chamber. My old legs felt heavy on the cold stone stairs, my heart felt even heavier inside my chest. I had just told Kael, the Alpha, a terrible truth, and I had kept an even greater one hidden. I told him he couldn’t kill the Moon Child because their lives were linked by ancient magic, i saw the fear and the cold, violent rage in his silver eyes when I spoke the final line of the prophecy. He was an Alpha King who had just been told his power was limited by a human servant.

I knew I hadn’t told him the whole truth. I couldn’t tell him then, because he wouldn’t have believed it. The King was too angry and stressed by the danger to hear the full curse, he needed time to accept the first part, that he was bound to the girl. I had to study the ancient texts again before I spoke the rest of the frightening words, i needed to be completely sure I understood them right.

I climbed the last stairs to my study. It was the highest room in the whole palace tower. It was dusty, quiet, and far from the world. It was full of very old books and scrolls holding all the forgotten knowledge. I went straight to the large stone tablet that held the original Prophecy of the Ruin. This tablet was protected by powerful magic, and only the High Priest could read it without harming his mind.

I took a deep breath and lit three thick white candles on the stone table next to the tablet. I needed the pure white light to see the delicate carvings, i pushed back the heavy velvet cloth covering the ancient text. The carvings were thousands of years old, deeply etched into the stone. I ran my old finger over the symbols, the magic felt cold and strong, and a chill ran up my spine.

I began to read the ancient text slowly and carefully. It foretold the end of the Lycan species, i searched for any loophole I might have missed before. I searched for any tiny hope.

The prophecy was clear and dark. It said the Moon Child would be born under the blood moon. The child would bear the Moon Mark on their back. The child’s power would bring down the beast kingdoms and end our reign. The old ways would end.

I read the part about the King and Moon Child again to confirm my translation. It was the same part I had just told Kael as a curse.

“The life of the Child shall be woven with the life of the Ruler.

The breath she takes is the breath he shall take.

To spill the blood of the Ruin is to spill the blood of the Alpha.

The King cannot survive her final end.

Their fate is one.”

The King’s fears were true, and so were mine. He couldn’t kill Elvanya to save his kingdom. He had to keep her alive to keep himself alive and to keep the Lycans calm, this was a terrible burden for any Alpha and a deep form of ancient control over his power.

I moved my finger down the cold stone tablet. I came to the section I had carefully chosen not to mention in the King’s chambers. It was often overlooked because it didn’t speak of violence or death, it spoke of a different terrible destiny and a twisted hope.

I read those lines again, translating the ancient language and focusing hard.

“The Moon Child will either bring about the fall of the beast kingdoms and the dark night or she shall become the bridge between species and the beginning of the new dawn.”

I stopped reading and leaned back on my stool. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, this was the most important part Kael needed to know now. The prophecy gave two paths for the girl, destruction or connection, death or terrifying change.

“The girl is the key to our survival,” I muttered. “She is not just the ruin. She is the solution if the Alpha chooses the second, harder path, she is the bridge that can connect the two worlds and save us from extinction.”

But becoming the bridge would mean changing everything about Lycan laws and society. It would mean accepting a human girl as an equal, giving her status and power. The Lycans would never accept that easily. Thorne and the other high beasts would fight until their last breath and call it a weakness in the King.

I looked back at the cold stone text. The text explained how the bridge was built, and this was the secret I was hiding. The hardest part of the prophecy to deliver to a proud and powerful Alpha King. I took a deep breath and read the lines about the joining bond.

“The Ruler and the Ruin are destined for a final joining.

The Beast King and the Moon Child are fated to become mates.

The life bond that protects them from death also binds their spirits and powers.

Fighting the bond will destroy them both and bring ruin faster than any sword or army.

Acceptance brings the new dawn and the peace that follows.”

My hands began shaking again, but this time it wasn’t the cold stone, it was the power of this fate and the cruel joke of the Moon Goddess. The King and the servant girl were destined to become mates. The Lycan mating bond was sacred and unbreakable, rarely found between the highest beasts. It joined souls and power. If Kael accepted her as his mate, he would tie his life and rule to the prophecy forever. If he refused, fighting the magic would destroy them both slowly and painfully, tearing their minds and bodies apart until death. This was a cruel torture from ancient powers and a terrible dilemma for the King.

I knew Kael better than anyone. He would never accept this destiny easily. He was proud, already planning to marry a strong Lycan female from the northern pack for politics. He hated human intimacy and barely tolerated their presence as slaves. He saw Elvanya as a threat, not a mate. I couldn’t tell him this part yet. He needed time to digest the first truth: the shared life.

I read the final section of the text, needing to know the deadline for this terrible fate. There had to be a way to slow the process and give the King more time.

I read through the dates and signs carved in the stone. They were confusing because the moon signs were complex. I searched for the last part of the calendar.

I read about the final awakening of the Moon Child’s full power, the power to destroy the beast kingdoms completely.

“The Moon Child sleeps while the shadows lengthen and the time passes.

When the blood moon returns to the high sky, her eyes will turn silver and the ruin will begin with a strong force.

Her magic will be whole on that night and destiny will be set in stone.”

I reached the last line and stopped. I stared at the carved symbols. I had always thought this line meant a far future time when signs were right. I missed the precise detail before because I focused on destruction and the mating bond.

The final line was not a guess. It was a clear date quickly approaching.

“The blood moon shall rise again one moon cycle from the marking.”

I checked my calendar scroll on the desk. The Moon Mark appeared on Elvanya’s back three nights ago. A moon cycle is about one month or thirty days.

“One month,” I whispered, startled by my own voice. “The King has only one month to decide between death and destiny and accepting the mate bond.”

In one month, the Moon Child’s power would fully awaken. The prophecy would start its terrible course, and the bond between her and Kael would become urgent and destructive. If Kael hadn’t accepted the bond by then, destruction would begin without delay, and the pain would start. He would have no choice left.

I stood up fast, and my old legs almost gave way from shock and urgency. I had to tell Kael now about the deadline, he was running out of time to make the only choice that could save us. I had to tell him that in thirty days he would either be mated to a human servant or dead. I had to warn him about the coming blood moon.

I covered the tablet with the heavy cloth again and rushed out of my cold tower. I didn’t care how much my old legs hurt. I had to reach the King before he made a fatal mistake. The time for waiting was over.