Chapter 78
No.
Jack will handle that.
And the world will finally see what happens to those who try to destroy the Moon Goddess’s
chosen.
He stood still, lost in the storm of his thoughts, until the soft sound of footsteps behind him broke the silence,
He didn’t turn–not yet.
Only when a hesitant voice spoke did he stir.
“Your Majesty,” the doctor says, voice taut with nerves. “The results… they’re out.”
The King slowly turns his head, eyes still shadowed with storm. He gives a small nod, “Show
The ”
They walk in silence. Down the polished marble corridor, past guards who lower their heads in respect, past the towering stained glass of the Moon Goddess’s temple within the palace. The air inside the doctor’s office is warm, stifling, and filled with the faint scent of antiseptic and ink
The doctor shuts the door behind them and fumbles with the file in his hand. “I–I ran the tests several times, Your Majesty. Repeated the bloodwork. Cross–checked it with the Queen’s old records.” He swallows hard and sets the paper down in front of the Alpha King, “There’s no doubt. The girl–Kali–is your daughter. Your blood is running through her veins.”
The Alpha King says nothing
He doesn’t need to.
The confirmation only echoes what he already knows. He felt it with every breath he took standing beside her. The moment her scent had returned–he didn’t need science. His wolf had known. His soul had known.
But the guilt? It sharpens now. Like a dagger turned inward.
The doctor clears his throat awkwardly, voice cracking under the weight of the silence. “T- that’s good news though, isn’t it? I mean–it means… it means she can’t die by your sword. You couldn’t have killed her, even if…”
The Alpha King slowly lifts his gaze, One hard, unreadable look shuts the doctor up.
But then, the doctor fidgets, wringing his hands. “There’s more… we found large traces of
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toxin in her blood. Whatever she was injected with–it was meant to silence her wolf. We’re not sure how long it’s been building but-” He hesitates. “Her wolf may not survive.”
The King’s face hardens.
“She will,” he says. His voice is low. Rough.
“She must.”
The doctor flinches at the weight of those words.
“I’ll donate my blood. Mine is strong enough to begin flushing the toxins. And if Jack marks her–his bond will strengthen her wolf further. They’re true mates. That bond is divine. We must do everything we can. She will be nothing without her wolf.”
The doctor nods quickly, grateful for the dismissal when the King brushes past him and leaves the room.
But the Alpha King isn’t going back to Kali’s side just yet.
No.
His feet carry him deeper into the palace–into the part no one visits anymore. Where no servants linger. No advisors speak. Where the chandeliers remain unlit and the scent of dust clings to the air like sorrow.
The gardens are overgrown here.
Roses once tended with loving hands now stretch wild, curling over rusted fences. And at the heart of it, a forgotten playground.
A single, cracked swing sways slowly in the breeze, even though there’s no wind.
And there–beneath a weeping willow that once held a tire swing–is the Queen.
She sits in a wheelchair, draped in silks that were once the envy of the courts but now hang loose on her frame. Her hair, once golden, tumbles in dull waves. Her eyes… they look right through the world.
Fading.
Fading, like everything she once loved.
She spends most of her time here.
Because once, this was where her little girl laughed.
“My love,” the Alpha King says softly, his voice catching in his throat as he approaches.
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No response.
He kneels beside her chair. Takes her frail, cold hand in his.
“Our princess,” he whispers. “She’s back.”
The Queen doesn’t move.
That distant, broken gaze remains locked on the empty slide ahead.
“That girl,” she murmurs hollowly. “She’s not our daughter…”
“No,” he says, gently shaking his head. “Not Celestia.”
He places her hand over his heart, and for the first time in years, his voice cracks with emotion. “I mean our baby girl. Maya.”
At that name, her hand trembles.
“Maya…?” she breathes.
“Our Maya,” he whispers. “She’s alive.”
The Queen’s breath hitches. Her chin quivers. “No,” she says in a strangled voice. “The Goddess took her… She took her from us.‘
“She didn’t,” he says, tears finally burning in his eyes. “She gave her back. She has our blood. Our little girl is back.”
A sob bursts from the Queen’s chest, shaking her thin shoulders. Her hand grips his desperately now, the haze behind her eyes cracking like shattered glass.
“If if she’s truly our daughter…” she whispers brokenly, “then she would have… she would
e my necklace.”
The King freezes.
The necklace.
The moonstone pendant shaped like a crescent moon… the one Maya never took off, the one he had clasped around her neck himself when she turned five. The one she claimed would protect her from nightmares.
He remembers it vividly.
And suddenly, a flicker of hope blooms in his chest–hope that Kali’s return might give the Queen the strength to live again.
He clutches his wife’s hands tightly and murmurs, “When she wakes up… we’ll know for
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certain.”
