Page 128 of Moon Kissed

“That’s a lie!” Spittle dotted the dirt. “You’re trying to confuse me again. You—”

“You don’t have to tell me Cygnus is a monster. I’ve been taking his confession for years, I know exactly what he’s like. But the day he came into the temple with Castor,” I whispered. “Everything changed.

“After Cygnus finished pouring his vileness into my ears, Castor came in and did something no one’s ever done. He spoke to me and just me.”

Badr quieted, his brows furrowing.

“He asked me if I was bored sitting around in a cold temple all day, and if I wanted half of his empanada. I didn’t answer,” I admitted. “I was just so confused that he was talking to me. So, bold as ever, Castor threw aside the curtain, climbed up next to me, and put half his food on my lap.” Amidst my pain and fear... a smile found its way on my lips. “From that moment on I was hooked.

“But you know the rules placed on the mother wolf. I wasn’t allowed to date, and I damn sure wasn’t allowed to have sex with anyone other than my fates. We had no choice but to keep our relationship secret,” I said. “The only times my guards left me in peace was when I was taking confessions in the temple, so that’s where we’d meet.

“I was supposed to be saving myself for that fateful night, but we couldn’t stop. It wasn’t long before I gave him all of me. I was completely addicted to Castor Tahan. If he asked me to set myself on fire to keep him warm, I’d have done it,” I croaked, eyes fluttering shut. “Long before Luame made him my mate, I knew he was my fate.Weknew that we belonged together. Forever.”

“That... That’s not possible.” I heard thethudof the shovel falling. “If you were so in love with him, why did you kill him? If he loved you, why didn’t he tell me about you?”

“Didn’t you hear me?” I snapped. “Our relationship was forbidden. Castor could’ve hooked up with a vampire and he wouldn’t have gotten into as much trouble as he would if anyone knew he was sleeping with the mother wolf. He wasn’t going to risk bringing you down too if we were discovered.”

“But he—!”

“Don’t be a hypocrite, Badr.” My eyes snapped open to glare at him. “I doubt you told your brother every single detail of your sex life. There are some things a person is allowed to keep private. And the things that will get you and your loved ones killed are at the top of the list.”

Badr clenched his teeth, jaw ticcing, but he didn’t argue that point. “You still haven’t told me why the fuck you would kill a man you were madly in love with?”

I stared at him, gaze steady. “Do you really want to know, Badr? Because I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything right here, right now, and rip away everything you thought you knew about the world and the people you love.

“This moment will mark the end for you,” I said. “The end of blissful ignorance. When it’s gone, you’ll never get it back, but you’ll always wish you could.”

“What the fuck are you blathering about!” He kicked more dirt in the hole. “Tell me why you killed my brother!”

“Because he asked me to!”

“What?” Badr rocked back. Feet slipping on the loose dirt, he dropped flat on his ass. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. I killed Castor because he asked me to. He begged me to,” I shouted, wetness leaking from my eyes. “Even though he knew it would tear me apart. That I would break into a million pieces and never be the same again—he made mepromise to do the worst thing I’ve ever done, and for that, I will hate him... and myself... for the rest of my life.”

“No. No, no, no,” he cried, tearing at his hair. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would Castor make you do that?”

“Badr, you think you want to know the whole truth, but believe me, you’re better off—”

“TELL ME!”

The bellow resounded in my chest, blowing my ears back.You don’t have a choice anymore. He needs to know. They all need to know. You can’t protect them from this anymore.

“Okay, Badr. Okay.” I dropped my aching head back on the dirt wall, breathing deep. “Castor asked me to kill him because he was already dying. Because he’d already been... murdered.”

“What? What does that—?”

I held up a hand, and shockingly Badr went quiet. This would be hard enough to get out without him interrupting me.

Lips parting, I began, “Two years ago, Luame sent me a vision. She’d never done that before. She hadn’t done it in centuries, but what’s coming was so bad, she needed me to see.”

“See what?” he rasped when I lapsed into silence.

I smiled mirthlessly. “She needed me to see the Golden Age of Wolves. Because it happens, Badr. Everything that was prophesied and dreamed of when I was born with her mark on my stomach. When I make history and mate with two sun wolves, an earth wolf, a water wolf, a fire wolf, and a wind wolf. The new generations and the powers they’ll have will be... astounding.

“The wolves born from moon and wind—me and Edric—will have the power of invisibility. Not on one night of the month like me, but every day and anytime. The moon and water wolves will have the power of drought. They’ll be able to suck the water out of anything—oceans, plants, people—and leave them nothing but a dried-up, desiccated husk.”

Badr’s eyes widened with every word.

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