6 Chapter 6
The old priestess knew she was in trouble.
She looked up and realized Elder Lyra was one of the mysterious figures who had presided over Damien’s forbidden life–extending ritual years ago–and one of the few who knew my long–lost maternal line had the gift of “twin Soul–Sparks.”
The distant pack elders were also stunned.
How did I become the old priestess’s kin, and what was this about twin Soul–Sparks? All they knew was I was a she–wolf with ordinary gifts.
Damien grabbed Elder Lyra’s hand excitedly. “Mentor? What did you just say? Twin Soul–Sparks? Moon–Touched?”
Elder Lyra didn’t know about the deal between Damien’s mother and the old priestess’s family. or how they’d deliberately hidden my true heritage later on.
She only knew that years ago, a little Moon–Touched girl with twin Soul–Sparks had been brought by her then–pack and had sacrificed one Soul–Spark to the dying Damien. So, I should be Damien’s savior.
“Weren’t you just asking me about that life extending ritual I did for you?”
“Her little kinswoman,” Elder Lyra pointed at the old priestess, “is the one who gave up half her Soul–Spark for you back then, the one whose soul is bonded to yours.”
The old priestess quickly denied it. “No, you’re mistaken. We ho family, and certainly no girl with twin Soul–Sparks.”
Her Chieftain brother nodded in agreement.
But the distant pack elders looked very uneasy.
They’d never cared about me, their distant, orphaned relative. When Damien’s pack took me in, they just thought I got lucky.
Elder Lyra was surprised that the woman herself would deny it.
no Moon–Touched in our
The situation grew even more awkward. The Pack Chieftain tried to smooth things over.
Just then, Damien’s mother walked in.
She had meant to talk to the old priestess and keep the secret buried.
But she hadn’t expected so many people to be there.
i Chacter
And she certainly hadn’t expected Damien’s mentor, one of the few who knew the truth from back then, to be present.
Secing Damien’s mother, Elder Lyra’s voice rose. “Your mother is here too. You can ask her if it’s
true.”
Suddenly, all eyes were on Damien’s mother.
She felt like she was carrying a mountain on her shoulders, barely able to stand.
When Damien saw his mother’s face, he mostly understood.
But he needed to hear it.
Otherwise, he thought he might actually go insane. He could feel that familiar thrumming in his chest, the connection to my Soul–Spark, growing wild.
“Mother, what Mentor just said… is it true?”
Hearing Elder Lyra’s words, Damien’s mother knew the truth couldn’t be hidden any longer.
As everyone waited, she slowly, heavily, nodded.
The old priestess and her brother saw it was all over.
They didn’t care about anything else; they just turned to run.
But Damien moved like a black blur, blocking their path. The Alpha power rolling off him was suffocating.
Seraphina, on her stone bed, was completely lost. It felt like things were spiraling out of her
control.
She already felt the new Soul–Spark clashing inside her, causing her agonizing pain. Now, her vision went black, and she fainted.
The Pack Chieftain was the first to notice Seraphina had collapsed.
He immediately went to check on her.
The other priests reacted quickly, ushering everyone else out of the den.
Damien stood outside the door, his golden wolf eyes fixed on the old priestess and her brother, looking like he wanted to tear them apart.
The distant pack elders, though worried about Seraphina, now had something far more important to figure out.
The old priestess and her brother were desperately trying to think of an explanation.
Suddenly, Damien’s mother fell to her knees before the distant pack elders, then turned to the
Chapter B
old priestess and her brother. “Kinsmen… Elders… It’s my fault. I’ve wronged you all, wronged
that child Elara.”
Everything happened too fast for Damien to react.
He tried to help his mother up, but she started sobbing, telling the whole story.
Damien listened as his mother explained how he’d been a weak pup, close to death. His family had desperately searched for a way to save him.
By chance, they found my maternal line, who possessed the secret of the twin Soul–Sparks.
So, with a fortune in gold and promises of pack protection, they’d “bought” one of my Soul–Sparks from the old priestess and her brother, whose own pack was in dire straits at the time. They’d bonded it to his soul through a forbidden ritual.
They thought that after that, he and I would never cross paths again.
So when Damien grew up and forgot about his near–death experience, his mother decided to keep it a secret forever.
But she never imagined the Moon Goddess would play such a cruel trick, making me Damien’s fated mate.
His mother said she’d wronged my maternal line, and she’d wronged me.
Back then, she thought the old priestess and her brother had the right to make decisions for
- me.
The distant pack elders felt like their world had shattered. They’d never cared about me, so they had no idea I’d suffered so much as a child, or that I’d indirectly saved the powerful Alpha Damien.
The old priestess and her brother stood before Damien, utterly ashamed.
They knew I was born special, with two Soul–Sparks. Their pack had been on the brink of collapse, desperate for resources. That’s why they’d stooped so low, trading me, a child, like a commodity.
The old priestess hesitated, then tried to salvage the situation. “Alpha Damien is already mated with Elara, isn’t he? Mates with hearts as one, Soul–Sparks intertwined… surely that’s a match made by the heavens. Their life together will be blessed and powerful”
But Damien let out a low, agonized howl, like a wounded wolf. “A life together? There won’t be a life together!”
