All Chapters of MINE BEFORE THE BLOOD MOON : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

“Then this time, I remember.” The bond burned. Green, gold, silver, straight through Thea’s chest and into Kael’s. The First and Third Fragments flared. The Door stayed shut, but snow started falling in the chamber from nowhere. This wasn’t the Door attacking. This was her. Kael grabbed her hands. “Thea” Seren’s voice cut in. “Don’t pull her. Let her fall. If you fight it, it’ll tear her apart.” And Thea fell. Snow. The border. But not the border she knew. No blood. No bodies. No burned trees. This was older. Clean. Silent. She knew this place. Eli died here. But this wasn’t Eli. This was centuries before. Astra stood at the edge. And beside her, a man. Young. Guardian armor. Not Alpha Kael, not Moonhold Kael. But his eyes. The same eyes. Thea’s chest ached. They were arguing. “He wants to use you,” the man said. “If I stay, I can help.” Astra shook her head. “If you stay, the Door will use you against me.” “Then let it,” he said. “I’d rather be used than watch you do

The ground moved. Something stepped through the inch of black under the snow. The border trembled. The Fourth Fragment in Kael’s hand burned silver and black. Thea felt it through their bond, but it wasn’t pulling toward her. It was using Kael as a bridge. Kael dropped to one knee. “Thea,” he said, but his eyes weren’t on her. She ran to him. He lifted a hand. “Don’t. I’m not hurt.” His voice was distant. “I’m remembering.” The Fourth Fragment was showing him. Thea saw it in his face. Astra. The border. The first bond. And Seren, standing behind them. “What do you see?” Thea asked. Before he could answer, the snow split. A figure climbed out of the First Lock. Not the entity. Smaller. Human shaped. The Moonhold warriors raised spears. “Don’t,” Seren said. Everyone froze. Seren was staring at the figure like they’d seen a ghost. “One of the First Guardians,” Seren said. “He died at the sealing.” But the Guardian’s face was wrong. Eyes completely black. Skin pale like ash. A body

Black roots tore through the chamber floor like veins splitting stone. Kael did not move. He only stared at the cracked Fifth Heart while silver light bled from the fracture and the entity’s voice rolled from the black water. “Ask your Alpha what he promised me.” Thea grabbed Kael’s arm, her fingers cold. “What did your father promise?” “I don’t know,” Kael said. The Fourth Fragment in his hand flared bright, as if it heard the Heart and remembered something buried in his blood. The chamber filled with silver light and the air went thin. Kael’s father stood before the Fifth Heart years ago. He was not alone. Around him stood the old Alphas from the tapestries, faces Thea knew only from paint and story. Diana gasped and Sylva drew her blade, and they were all seeing it with Kael. “The Four Hearts are weakening,” Kael’s father said, his voice steady. “Winter falters. Spring burns too fast. Summer rots. Autumn won’t release. And the Fifth is unstable.” The water shifted and the

The Fourth Fragment turned to dust in Kael’s hand and the wind of it brushed his skin like ash. He stared at his empty palm because that was the last piece of him that remembered being the Anchor, and it was gone. Thea felt it through the bond. Not pain, but distance. Like a door closing between rooms. Beneath Moonhold the Fifth Heart went completely dark. The Four Hearts answered with a violent flare and the underground passage shook, and waves of light ran down the walls. Diana grabbed the stone to stay upright. “It’s not destroyed,” she said. “It withdrew. It chose to leave him.” Seren’s face was grim. “That means the system is changing. The rules.” From somewhere below the entity laughed and it sounded pleased. Thea turned toward the voice still hanging in the air. “He was meant to be your successor.” “What does that mean?” she demanded. Astra’s voice answered from the walls, calm and tired like she had been waiting to say it. “The Keeper was never meant to remain

Thea lay on the temple floor and the cold of the stone bit through her back, Kael’s hand was in hers but the bond was not what it was, she could feel his thoughts but beneath them she could feel something older, something turning. Her vision was split, one eye silver, one eye gold, Choice and Memory. From across the world the Four Hearts reacted, Winter froze the temple walls, Spring cracked through the floor, Summer lit the ancient symbols and Autumn sent leaves spiraling through air that had no wind. Diana stared, They’re answering her, she said, not him. The First Alpha stood among the roots and they looked sick, The Fifth was never meant to have two bearers, they said, the Alpha carries Choice, the Keeper carries Memory, they were meant to be separate but linked. Thea pushed herself up, Why me? Because you did what Astra couldn’t, the Keeper said, you let him choose without trying to steer it, you proved Memory and Choice can live together without one eating the other.