18: Beneath the Twilight Sky
Celeste’s POV
The garden behind the royal building had become my refuge, a place where the chaos of the world couldn’t reach me. I sat in the center of it, the soft grass cool beneath me, surrounded by flowers whose gentle scents swirled in the evening air. The twilight sky was painted in hues of lavender and gold, the fading light casting long shadows that danced across the garden paths.
Irina had left not long ago. She had sat with me, her sharp wit and warm laughter a balm to my restless mind.
“I should go,” she’d said, rising gracefully to her feet. “If I don’t take my medicine soon, Dorian will lecture me for days.”
I’d smiled at her, grateful for her company. “You’re lucky to have someone looking out for you.”
She’d hesitated, her blue eyes fixed intently on mine. “You’re fortunate too, Celeste. Although Kaelen seldom reveals it, he seems to watch out for you the best way he can.” Her words had continued to echo in my head well after she disappeared into the house. I wasn’t quite sure if I should take her words to heart. Kaelen was given to rare moments of softness, buried really deep beneath his stoicism. But perhaps she did speak the truth.
Still, I remained in the garden, not quite ready to go inside yet. The thought of being surrounded by the stone walls of Shadow Keep made my chest constrict. Out here, under the open sky, I could breathe.
My mind started to wander, as it always did when I was alone. This time, it drifted to my family.
I leaned my head back, letting my gaze go up toward the first stars that came out in the darkening sky. The ache inside my chest grew sharper and heavier, the old weight of guilt weighing down on me.
I’d lost it all in one night, my parents, my brother, my pack. All Reduced to ashes, Thornclaw burned to the ground, and I’d done nothing to stop that.
Nothing.
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as the memories threatened to overwhelm me. I could still see the flames consuming our home, hear the screams of my people, and smell the acrid smoke that had filled the air.
“I should have done something,” successfully unlocked! ds slipping out before I could stop them.
But what could I have done? I had been powerless, just an Omega who was barely strong enough to defend herself, let alone an entire pack. Still, the guilt lingered,
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18: Beneath the Twilight Sky
gnawing at the edges of my mind.
I closed my eyes, a single tear sliding down my cheek. “I’ll never forgive myself,” I murmured.
Not until I took my revenge.
But revenge felt so far away, like a dream I could never reach. Who would I even take revenge on? The rogues who had attacked us? The nameless, faceless wolves who had torn my life apart?
Or Alden?
The thought of him made my stomach twist. Alden had been my first love, my everything. But his betrayal had shattered my world. He had made promises and whispered words of love, and I had believed him.
And then he had destroyed me.
If I hadn’t fallen in love with him, would any of this have happened? Would Thornclaw still be standing? Would my parents still be alive? Would my brother still be here?
My brother.
The thought of him was like a knife to my chest, the memory always felt sharp and unrelenting. He had been so young, so full of life. His laughter had always been infectious, his energy boundless.
I didn’t know if he was alive or dead, and the not knowing was driving me slowly mad.
“Please,” I whispered, staring up at the stars. “Please let him be alive,” I begged
As the night deepened, the garden got quieter, save for soft cricket chirping. I just sat and wrapped my legs with my arms pressed against my chest as the burden of my memories weighed heavier.
I have no idea how much longer I sat there, lost in the mazes of my thoughts.
Then I heard it, the sound of footsteps behind me.
My body tensed, my heart leaping into my throat as I whipped around to peer hard into the shadows. My eyes settled on a familiar figure.
Kaelen.
He moved with that quiet grace that always was his, a tall frame cutting an imposing figure across the garden, moonlight catching in dark hair and gray eyes that were sharp, focused, as they met mine.
He walked towards me slowly, deliberately, looking confident. There was something almost regal about the way he moved, as though he owned every inch of the ground he walked.
When he reached me, he dropped to the ground wordlessly to sit beside me, stretching his legs out before him.
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- Beneath the Twilight Sky
We didn’t speak, and I hadn’t expected him to. Kaelen wasn’t the type to fill silences with inconsequential chatter. But his presence was steady, and grounding, and for the first time in hours, I felt a flicker of calm.
I turned my gaze back to the stars, my thoughts still tangled but somehow quieter now. Kaelen didn’t need to say anything. Just having him here, sitting beside me in the quiet of the garden, was enough.
For now.
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