Chapter 258
Avery’s POV
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The torchlight flickered across the stone walls, illuminating the red paint. It had chipped and faded with time, but it was still there. Still
remember.
There were multiple
a village
depicting a life I didn’t
in the forest with people dancing in the
square. A baby being born, lifted high above he priest’s head. Some kind of grand ceremony? And then… Disaster. Fire. Destruction.
Fire. Destruction. A child being stolen in the night by
shadows in the shapes of wolves.
The paintings stopped after that, like a history half-written.
I recalled what little I knew of the Lycans from my education. They were often depicted as warring tribes, barbaric and uncivilized. The last ones had allegedly been taken out decades ago. Some scattered and became
the more modernized Werewolf culture.
The rest… were dead.
ues. A few assimilated into
Or maybe they didn’t know they were Lycans at all. Like me.
Was that really me in those paintings? Was wolves?
the infant that was stolen by dark
I had spent my whole life believing that my mother was my biological mother, that I was the product of an Omega and a man who never wanted me. If this was true, then why didn’t my mother tell me? Why didn’t she tell me that she’d found me, by some miracle, after her baby died?
My expression must have shown my disbelief, because the Rogue King stepped forward, tracing his fingers across the paintings.
“The Werewolves attacked on the night of your acceptance ceremony. It was a full moon. The night should have been one of peace and celebration. It should have solidified your connection to the Moon Goddess, and thus your powers.’
Something flickered in his good eye. Pain. As if he had been there. “We weren’t expecting it. They decimated most of our village and took you in the process.”
“We?” I whispered.
He turned to face me fully. “I’m a Lycan, too, Avery. One of the few remaining from our tribe.” He took a step toward me, and I instinctively moved backwards, my spine
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Chapter 258
+25 Bonus
hitting the cold, damp wall behind me. “My name is Asher Moonglow, and we were supposed to be married.”
Married. The word shot through me like an arrow.
I jerked my head back, but my skull smacked the wall painfully. The Rogue King-or Asher, or whatever the hell he called himself-smiled and reached out, brushing his fingertips across my cheek. I slapped his hand away.
“You’re lying.”
–
“I know you have little reason to trust me, Avery. But I’m telling the truth. I was a child then the son of a high ranking official in the tribe. You were the daughter of our leader. Our princess, born of the Moon Goddess’s bloodline. Our marriage was set in stone before you were born. We should have passed down your abilities to our children.”
“No.”
“It’s true. Our families are dead now, but we can rebuild our tribe. Together.” His lips curved, revealing a smile that was monstrous in the flickering torchlight. His one eye gleamed. Slowly, he reached up, removing his eyepatch. It fell into his palm, and when he looked up, I bit back a gasp.
His lids closed over an empty socket. But it wasn’t just empty-it was ruined, his brow bone partially smashed. The scar that ran across it was jagged and deep, a mottled red line that cut through what was once there.
“They took my eye during the fight,” he whispered, “but that was the least of my worries. I spent years searching for you, Avery. Even when I was alone, an orphan stumbling through the forests, I only thought of you.”
“You’re obsessed with me,” I breathed.
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