Chapter 130: The Fake Wolf

Author’s POV~

"I know exactly what is going on."

The dowager luna sat very still. Her eyes moved from one Prince to the other.

"You remember the Queen’s Prophecy," she said. "Do you not?"

"Yes," Raven and Keiran answered together.

The luna’s voice dropped low, and she spoke each word slowly.

When the four crowns find the one true soul,

the Lycan Empire shall rise again.

When the Queen’s blood returns,

the four crowns shall answer.

One soul shall bind the divided blood.

Four thrones shall bow to one fate.

And what was divided by the Moon shall be reunited by blood.

The room went quiet.

"Listen carefully to what it says," the dowager luna said. "When the Queen’s blood returns. It does not say a wolf. It does not say a common wolf, or a beta, or an omega. It says the Queen’s blood. It could not be clearer."

Raven’s face went still. His fingers curled slowly into a fist.

"Wait," he said. "Wait. That means she has to be a Lycan. Adeline has to be a Lycan as well. The Queen’s blood is Lycan blood."

"Yes." Keiran said it before the dowager luna could. His voice was flat and cold. "She has to be a Lycan. She cannot be anything else."

Raven turned on him. "But we smelled an omega, Keiran. That is what she smelled like. An omega!"

"I know what we smelled. That is what makes me more confused."

"Then what the fuck does that mean?" Raven’s voice cracked through the room. He slammed his palm against the wall.

"Is she not our mate? Is that what you are telling me? Because that is impossible! She rejected our blood after we healed her. Both of us, one after the other! You do realise what that means, don’t you? That does not happen to normal wolves! It only happens to mates!"

"Raven," the dowager luna said calmly. "Breathe."

"Don’t tell me to breathe!" He spun toward her, his eyes wild. "She is ours! I felt it! I felt it in my chest the moment I saw her! Are you telling me I was wrong? Are you telling me all of that was a lie?"

"Raven."

Keiran’s voice was low, but it cut through the room.

"Shut up for a second. Let me think."

Raven glared at him. His chest rose and fell hard. His jaw shook. But he stayed quiet.

"Okay," Keiran said slowly. "She has an omega scent. So she is an omega. But the prophecy says the Queen’s blood must return, and that blood has to be lycan. Adeline does not have a lycan. She has an omega wolf. But her body rejected our blood. The blood of lycan princes. So, she is definitely our mate." His voice dropped. "And that only happens when..."

He paused.

His eyes snapped wide open. He looked at Raven. Then he looked at the dowager luna.

"Then this is not her wolf."

Raven blinked. "What?"

"This is not her real wolf," Keiran said again, quieter this time. "The omega is not her. It is something else. This is not her wolf."

The luna’s lips curved into a calm, proud smile.

"Yes," she said softly. "You worked it out exactly right."

Raven stared at Keiran. Then at his grandmother. His eyes were burning.

"Then the witch was not lying?"

"No," the dowager luna said. "She was not."

"Her real wolf is still locked away," Raven whispered. The pieces were falling into place now, one by one. "Locked by an ancient curse. Just like the witch said. The one that has been sitting on her since the day she was born." He swallowed hard. "Eighteen years. She has been carrying that for eighteen years, and nobody knew."

"We did not know," the luna said gently.

"Then what is this omega?" Raven’s voice shook. "What is this thing living inside her? What is this fake wolf?"

"That, I do not know." The luna shook her head. "It may be a side effect of the spell. When a curse is strong enough to bury a lycan, it may leave something behind. A small shadow. A false voice. Something to hide what lies underneath. That omega may be the mask the curse put on her."

"A mask," Keiran said quietly. Then his voice turned bitter. "A fucking mask."

"The witch has gone to study the ancient curse," the luna went on. "She is searching the old texts for a way to break it and wake Adeline’s real wolf. When she returns, we will know more."

"And until then?" Raven demanded. "What do we do until then?"

"Raven." The luna’s voice softened, and for the first time it trembled. "I am as afraid as you are."

"So she does not know," he said at last. His voice was rough. "Adeline thinks the witch is lying. She thinks that wolf inside her is real."

"Yes."

"She is going to keep searching for answers. She is going to keep asking why the curse will not go away."

"She will." The luna’s voice went soft. "And that is why I need both of you to listen to me very carefully."

The brothers waited.

"I do not want to tell her about the real wolf and the fake wolf. Not yet."

Raven’s head jerked up. "What? Why not? She has a right to know!"

"She does."

"Then why would we hide it from her?"

"Because she has just found her wolf." The luna looked from one Prince to the other, and her eyes were wet.

"After eighteen years of feeling broken, she finally has a voice inside her. She cried in my arms today, Raven. She cried because she was so happy. Do you understand? Do you know what it would do to her if we told her now that it is not real? That the wolf she finally has is only a shadow?"

Raven’s throat moved. His eyes dropped to the floor.

"It would break her," Keiran said quietly.

"It would," the luna said. "It would destroy her."

"But if she finds out later," Raven said, barely above a whisper, "if she finds out we knew and said nothing..."

"Then she will be angry. And she will have every right to be." The luna stepped closer. "But I would rather she be angry at us than shattered. So we wait. We wait until the witch finds the cure and breaks the curse. When her real wolf is free and standing on her own feet, then we tell her everything. She will be strong enough to hear it. And she will not be alone."