REJECTED AND REBORN AS THE ALPHA KING'S LUNA のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 31 - チャプター 40

POV: Narrator The witch's lair was hidden deep in the Shadowpeak Mountains, a place where sunlight never quite reached and the air tasted of ancient magic. Neon dragged Thelma through a stone archway covered in runes that glowed with sickly green light. Behind them, his men carried the unconscious Theo, still paralyzed from the silver dust. "Welcome," a voice purred from the darkness. "I've been waiting so very long to meet you, child." A woman emerged from the shadows. She looked perhaps forty, with long black hair streaked with silver and eyes that held centuries of knowledge and cruelty. Morgana the Dark Witch, though she looked nothing like the monster Thelma had imagined. "Let me go," Thelma demanded, trying to pull free from Neon's grip. But her body was still weak from healing Xavier, and she could barely stand. "In time, dear. In time." Morgana circled them slowly, studying Thelma like a scientist examining a specimen. "You're even more perfect than I'd hoped. The

POV: Thelma The moment Marcus's blood touched the ritual circle, I felt everything shift. The dark energy that had been pulling at my life force reversed direction, and suddenly, instead of draining me, it was exploding outward in waves of uncontrolled magic. "No!" Morgana screamed, her hands raised as she tried to contain the backlash. "NO! This can't be happening!" But it was happening. Marcus's willing sacrifice, his choice to give his life to save mine, had done something to her spell. Something she hadn't anticipated. Elena's sobs filled the air as she held Marcus's body, rocking back and forth. "You fool," she wept. "You stupid, stubborn fool. Why would you do this? Why?" I wanted to say something to her, to comfort her somehow, but words felt impossible. This man had murdered my birth parents. He'd raised me as a tool, poisoned me, tried to steal my power. He'd been my enemy in every possible way. And yet, in his final moment, he'd saved me. "Thelma, we need to mo

POV: Thelma I was alive. I could move my fingers, blink my eyes, breathe air into my lungs. But something was terribly, horribly wrong. Xavier pulled back from our embrace, his face filled with relief and love. I could see the emotion in his eyes, read it in his expression. But I couldn't feel it. Not through the mate bond. Not in my chest where my heart should have been racing with joy. Nothing. "Thelma?" Xavier's smile faltered. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?" I pressed my hand to my chest, searching for that familiar warmth I'd always felt when he was near. The flutter of excitement. The pull of the mate bond. But there was nothing there except a cold, empty space. "I can't feel anything," I whispered. "What do you mean?" Theo moved closer, concern replacing his earlier relief. "My heart." I looked down at my chest, half expecting to see gray stone still visible beneath my skin. But it looked normal. Flesh-colored. Human. "It's beating. I know it's beating. But I

POV: Thelma The morning air should have felt cold against my skin. Luna said it was freezing, the kind of cold that bit through layers of clothing and settled into bones. I watched her wrap her cloak tighter, saw the visible shiver that ran through her body, but I felt nothing. "There's one person who might break your curse," Luna had said the night before, her eyes tired and worried. "An ancient Oracle who lives in the Forbidden Peaks. But the journey is treacherous, Thelma. Many who seek her never return." I had simply nodded. Fear of death meant nothing to someone who couldn't feel fear at all. Now, as our group trudged through the snow covered mountain path, I observed them with the detached interest of a scientist studying specimens. Xavier walked closest to me, his eyes constantly flickering in my direction. Through our mate bond, I sensed his anguish, a deep churning pain that should have made me want to comfort him. Instead, I noted it clinically, filed it away as informa

POV: Xavier I watched her walk into that darkness, and every instinct in my body screamed at me to follow. My wolf clawed at my chest, demanding I protect our mate. But Thelma had simply looked at me with those empty eyes and said, "I have to go. You know I do." Then she disappeared into the cave, swallowed by shadows so thick they seemed solid. The shadow creature remained at the entrance, a silent guardian that promised death to anyone who tried to pass. I stood there, fists clenched, breathing hard, feeling like someone had carved out my insides with a dull knife. "Xavier." Luna's hand touched my shoulder. "We should make camp. There's nothing we can do but wait." "Wait?" The word tasted like poison. "She's in there alone. Anything could be happening to her." "The Oracle won't harm her," Luna said, but she didn't sound entirely certain. "This is her only chance." I wanted to argue, to rage, to tear down the mountain with my bare hands. Instead, I turned away from the cave a