Page 14 of A Crown of Fates

Tears burn in my eyes and my throat aches with the pressure of my emotions, but I manage to get off the phone without my sister knowing how out of sorts I really am.

I take a few extra moments to let myself feel the importance of this situation before I rein in my pain. The need to escape nearly overwhelms me. The walls feel like they’re closing in, whispering thoughts I don’t want to hear. I need air, and I need to be anywhere but inside. I push myself to my feet, then go to the wardrobe, hastily putting a long jacket over the silk pajamas I’d changed into before dinner. Black flats slip easily onto my feet, and I head to the exit.

The door swings shut behind me with a faint click, and the silence of the castle wraps around me once I’m in the hallway. There’s a stillness in the air, heavy and old, as if this place is holding its breath, waiting for some long-forgotten secret to surface. My shoes tap lightly on the stone floors as I walk down the corridor, each sound echoing like a question I’m trying to ignore. The halls are dark except for the occasional flickering torch, and the castle feels like a maze of shadows, hiding passageways and doors I have no interest in uncovering right now.

I pass ornate paintings of past kings, their eyes following me as I move, judging. There’s no life in these faces, only history and expectation. Heavy curtains line the walls, their fabric rippling as I rush past. In a different mood, I might have paused to study the intricate designs woven into their depths—the ancient stories of Selaris hidden in thread—but tonight I have no patience for anything that reminds me of Theo’s kingdom.

I quicken my pace, the air growing colder as I descend a stone staircase. I have no clear path in mind, only a desperate need to be outside to rid myself of the ache in my skin and bones. Around me, the castle shifts from grand hallways to more utilitarian spaces. Rougher walls, older beams. Everything feels less polished, more real and raw. There’s a freedom in it that I crave—a place that hasn’t been forced into being something it’s not.

At last, I find a door that leads outdoors. As I push it open, the night air hits me like a rush of icy water. It’s bracing and cleansing, filling my lungs with the smell of damp earth and pine, a scent so different from the castle’s stifling stone walls. The twin moons, both bright and silver, hang heavy in the sky, bathing the castle grounds in an ethereal light. The grass beneath my feet is soft, and for a moment, I just stand there,allowing the earth to ground me as the breeze whispers through my hair, over my heated skin.

I let out a long breath, and as I do, my wolf stirs within me, her presence urgent and strong. It’s not like I can ignore her—not now. I pull my focus inward, and without a second thought, I release her, encouraging the shift to come.

In mere seconds, my bones crack, muscles contort, and my vision sharpens as I fall onto my hands and knees. My senses expand as my body reshapes itself, and then I’m there—my wolf, my truest self. The world comes alive in ways my human form could never perceive: the flutter of a bird’s wing miles away, the scurrying of small creatures in the underbrush, the gentle rustle of the trees as they sway in the wind. Every sound is louder, every smell more potent. And then there’s the castle itself—an unwelcome presence behind me, looming like a weight pressing down on my furred back.

But here, outside, under the warmth of the moons, I’m free.

I run, paws digging into the earth as I dart across the grounds, heading for the tree line just beyond the castle. The cool night air rushes against my thick coat, and with every stride, my mind clears a little more. My wolf lets out a triumphant howl, a sound that slices through the night and makes the castle seem small and insignificant. This is what I need to let go of all the expectations and fears clouding my thoughts.

My wolf senses my confusion, my doubt, and I feel her response—protective and certain. She doesn’t understand why I’m fighting this so hard. To her, even the glimmer of a connection to Theo is enough. It doesn’t matter if the bond isn’t perfect. She sensed thesomething, and that was that.

But for me, for my mind, this is all terrifying. And I can’t help but wonder if she’s wrong—if whatever temporary draw we felt is merely a trick.

I run faster, pushing myself through the tall grass until the castle is far behind me, nothing more than a shadow on the horizon. The forest opens for me like a welcoming embrace. The scents of pine and earth nearly overwhelm my nose as I weave through the trees, dodging branches, leaping over fallen logs. My wolf’s joy is infectious, her exhilaration at being free spreads through me like wildfire. There’s no room for thoughts here, no space for doubt—only the run, the feeling of being alive, of every muscle burning with exertion, every heartbeat pounding in time with the rhythm of the forest around me.

The world blurs into streaks of green, black, and silver, the light of the moons filtering through the shadows and leaves above. For this moment, at least, there’s no Theo, no confusion, no mate bond that feels broken. There’s just the outdoors and the wild abandon of the run.

I finally slow to a stop, breathless, chest heaving. I stand in a small clearing, the moons bright overhead, their glow cascading down and bathing everything in a shimmering light. My wolf’s energy hums around us, her joy mingling with my own exhaustion. For a heartbeat, I let myself bask in the beauty of the evening, in the cool breeze moving through my fur.

Her low rumble reminds me that I don’t have to be afraid, that I can take the euphoria of this freedom she’s just shown me and bring that back to the castle with me. I don’t have to fight the unknown. At least not yet.

I can be free no matter what answers I find.

Giving the moons and stars another longing gaze, my wolf howls into the air, her cry filling me with strength until there’s no more room for fear.

Tomorrow, I’ll speak with Theo.

Tomorrow, I’ll do my best to trust the fates and the spirit inside me.

Tomorrow will be better.

It has to be.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THEO

The sun rises slowly, spreading a golden glow over the forest, but the sight that used to bring me solace now only reminds me of the burden I carry. There was a time when all I needed was my mother and the close-knit pack members who were more like family than friends. We didn’t live near the castle. Instead, we formed our own pack far from prying eyes. It was a life lived in seclusion and simplicity—a pack carved out of strength and loyalty, where bonds ran deep. I grew up being called an alpha without realizing what it meant, without understanding what I could lose.

Then, they came for us. For me.

The memories haunt me even now. Darkness fell around me then, but it wasn’t just the absence of the sun that night. A storm of death swept through our lands, cloaked in shadow and silence. I awoke not to screams, but to an eerie, suffocating quiet. And when I stepped outside, blood rained down on me—every person I’d loved was slaughtered, each felled by their own hunter. My mother, the last soul still alive, crawled toward me, begging me with her dying breath to stay hidden.

But the intruders were gone. They’d come for me, but not with the intention of taking my life. They sought to destroy mein the worst way possible, leaving me to live with the guilt of surviving and the weight of the lives that had been so cruelly stolen.

That was the end of everything I once knew about our world.

It’s been three years, but the silence of that evening never truly ended. It lingers, darkening my mind, never allowing me peace. And now, I’ve found myself further ensnared in a web of choices I can’t untangle, some of my own making and others thrust on me by one who wields his power like a weapon, unstoppable and uncontrollable.

---