Chapter 3 Revelation

The village air was thick with the scent of twilight dew and wildflowers as the girls made theory way back home, giggling between bites of their favorite pastries.The cobblestone path shimmered faintly under the moonlight, arms linked, laughter trailing behind them like petals on a spring breeze.

"Liana, I swear," Elira groaned dramatically, "if I see you eat one more moonberry tart, I might scream."

"Blasphemy," Liana shot back, cradling the last of her flaky treasure like it was sacred. "This is the food of the Moon Goddess herself. If I die, bury me in a tart shell."

Seraphine snorted, but there was a flicker of something behind her eyes-barely noticeable, but Elira caught it. A little wrinkle of annoyance. Maybe even jealousy.

"You act like they're magic," Seraphine said lightly, brushing a crumb off her dress. "They're just berries and sugar."

"Says the girl who literally cried when the bakery ran out last winter," Liana teased, licking moonberry syrup from her thumb.

"That was a dramatic sneeze, thank you very much," Seraphine shot back, though her laugh was thinner now, quieter.

Elira arched her brow but said nothing. She knew Seraphine well enough to know that smile was a mask.

They reached the edge of the village, where lanterns flickered in cottage windows and the air smelled like thyme and smoke. One by one, they peeled off-Seraphine to her family's estate, Liana down the hill toward the willow-lined lane.

"Elira," Liana called back, tossing a wink over her shoulder. "Don't fall in love with a baker, remember your mate awaits you ."

Elira rolled her eyes, laughing as she stepped through the garden gate of her own home. "No promises."

Her mother was waiting on the porch, shawl pulled tight against the breeze, a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Well?" she asked, before Elira could even close the door. "Anything?"

Elira sighed. "Not a hint."

Her mother frowned but said nothing, following Elira into the kitchen. The kettle was already hot, the tea steeping like it had been waiting for them.

"I was younger than you when I found your father," her mother said gently. "It didn't feel like a spark. It felt like falling and flying all at once."

"Maybe mine's broken," Elira muttered into her cup.

"No, darling. The Goddess never forgets

Seraphine's POV

Later that night, Seraphine stood in front of her vanity, brushing her hair out in slow strokes. The mirror reflected a girl with perfect posture, perfect skin, perfect control.

And yet.

She couldn't stop thinking about Liana's words.

"The Moon Goddess is just waiting for the perfect moment."

Her fingers paused mid-brush.

What if Liana's "silly little visions" weren't so silly after all?

She remembered one, clear as day. They'd been thirteen. Sitting by the riverbank. Liana had gone quiet, staring into the water like it held secrets.

"You're going to lose something shiny soon. But it won't be gone forever. When you find it again, someone you love will come with it."

Two days later, Seraphine's mother lost her engagement ring in the market. They found it again a week later-wedged into a book in the library. And when they went to return it, her mother bumped into an old friend she hadn't seen in years... and rekindled their friendship instantly.

Seraphine had brushed it off then. Called it coincidence.

But tonight?

Tonight it clung to her like a whisper.

What if Liana's stories weren't stories at all?

The soft crunch of gravel beneath her boots grounded her, but everything else about the evening felt... strange.

Off.

The wind carried a familiar chill, but it whispered her name in a voice she'd only heard in dreams.

She paused at the gate, her fingers hesitating on the iron latch. The house in front of her-the same one she'd lived in all her life-looked different in the amber dusk. Not haunted, exactly. But waiting.

A deep breath. She stepped forward.

As she moved toward the porch, a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision made her stop.

A figure.

Not imagined this time. Not a whisper or shadow behind the veil of sleep. But real.

Flesh and blood.

He stood beneath the overhang, arms crossed, as if he'd been waiting there all day. The years had carved more into his face than time alone could explain. The light hit his features just right, and her stomach dropped.

She knew him.

But not from memory.

From dreams.

From visions she dismissed, even when her bones trembled with the truth of them. He was the man who walked through the ruins in her nightmares. The man who whispered in broken prophecies. Who looked her dead in the eye and said, "You must tell her. Or she will die not knowing."

Her blood ran cold.

"Uncle Kade?" she breathed.

But it didn't feel right, saying his name out loud. Not now. Not here.

He didn't smile. Didn't move closer. "You remember."

Liana nodded slowly. "Only in pieces."

"That's all you were allowed to see... until now."

Something unseen passed between them. The weight of a bond not forged by blood, but by fate. By a secret too dangerous to name in daylight.

"The dreams," she whispered. "They weren't just mine, were they?"

"No." His voice was lower now. "They belong to her. You were only the vessel."

"Elira."

He nodded. "Her awakening has begun. And with it, the paths are shifting. Your role in her story... it's not passive, Liana. You were never meant to be just a friend."

A cold gust swept through the porch. The candle in the lantern beside the door flickered violently.

She shivered, but not from the cold.

"You mean the fairytales-my visions-they're real?"

"More real than anything you've been told."

She took a shaky step back. "I'm not ready for this."

"Too late," he said gently. "The threads are already pulling tight."

A flash of something shimmered behind him-a memory? A shadow? She blinked and it was gone. But her heart thundered.

"The fate of the Luna Queen does not rest on her shoulders alone."

Liana's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"The fate of the Luna Queen doesn't rest on her shoulders alone," he said quietly, eyes piercing.

Liana blinked. "Then where does it rest?"

Kade stepped forward, gaze fierce. "Both of you."

A beat passed.

"What?"

"You are Elira's wolf, Liana. Her other half. Her strength. Her tether. She cannot rise without you... and you were never meant to walk this world apart."

Silence thundered around them.

Liana's voice came out cracked, trembling. "So... she's me?"

Kade shook his head. "No. You are her. She staggered back, barely making it to the steps before her knees gave out.

"What do you mean I was never just a friend?" Her voice came out choked, half-wind, half-sob. "You're saying I'm part of her?"

Uncle Kade-no, the man who once wore that name-watched her with heavy eyes. Eyes that no longer held the simple warmth of family. "Not part of her, Liana. You are hers."

The world tilted. Something cracked in her chest.

"You're not making sense-"

"You've always known you were different. The dreams. The instincts. The way your bones howl when she's hurting. That isn't friendship, child." His voice dropped low. "That's bond. Soul-deep. Ancient."

He stepped down onto the grass, the distance between them too wide for what he was about to say. "You are Elira's wolf."

Her heart stopped.

"No," she whispered.

But the truth shivered down her spine like a long-forgotten song.

"You're lying."

He didn't flinch. "You were born of the Nightborne bloodline. A forbidden bloodline. The last clan whose wolves walked in human flesh-free-willed, bound only by soulmark and fate. Your kind terrified the Elders Council. Terrified the Aetherclaw Pack."

"The Aetherclaw-" Her breath caught.

"They called your people abominations. They feared the bond you shared with your human counterparts. Two souls, one fate. Not the wolf inside the human... but the wolf beside the human."

Liana's vision blurred.

"All of you were hunted down, scattered, erased from history," he said. "And the Aetherclaw? They led the charge. Your death-or so they thought-was the reason they earned their seat on the Council."

"But... Why me? Why was I spared?"

"You weren't spared," he said softly. "You were hidden. You were severed. Torn from Elira when she was still in her mother's womb. They wanted her weak. Vulnerable. The future Luna Queen without the power her kind was born to wield."

He knelt in front of her, voice grave. "But you survived. You found your way back to her, Liana. Even without knowing what you were. You never left her side."

A thousand moments flashed through her mind. Every instinct to protect Elira. The way her body burned when Elira was in danger. The soul-crushing ache when Elira cried.

It was never just love.

It was destiny.

Tears spilled down Liana's cheeks as the weight of it all crushed her. "Then what am I now?"

"You are her wolf... but you are also more. You are the Nightborne's last spark. The balance keeper. And they will come for you both when they find out."

She stood shakily, the wind wrapping around her like a cloak of storm and stars.

No more fairytales. No more wondering if her visions meant something.

They did.

And the world wasn't ready.