Chapter 198

[ 1,210 words ]

Emilia’s POV

The spell worked. It actually worked.

My hands shook as I pulled the letter closer, desperate to read every word my mother had left for me.

[ To my dearest, most precious daughter, Emmy,

If you’re reading this, then I know you’ve awakened your wolf. Your witch powers have emerged. The seal I placed on you has finally broken.]

My breath caught. Seal?

[And I’m so happy, my darling girl, because this means you’ve found your fated mate, and you love each other truly.]

The words blurred. I blinked hard, forcing myself to keep reading.

[I know you must be confused. But please, Emmy, try to understand why I did what I did.

First, I must apologize.

As your mother, I had to leave you far too soon. I know how lonely life is for a child without a mother’s support and encouragement. But I had no choice.]

The tears came then, hot and fast, spilling down my cheeks. My chest felt like it was caving in. I could see her, sick and dying, writing these words with trembling hands, knowing she’d never see me grow up.

I wiped my eyes roughly and kept reading.

[Emmy, it’s all my fault. When I was young and foolish, I let love blind me. I fell for the wrong man, and because of my mistake, you suffered alongside me.

When you were born, I used my magic to divine your future. What I saw both thrilled and terrified me. You would have a powerful wolf, Emmy. And your witch powers would be formidable.

But I also knew about fated mates. I knew because Henry abandoned me when he found his. The pain nearly destroyed me.

I couldn’t bear the thought of you suffering that same agony. What if you met your fated mate, but he rejected you? What if he didn’t love you back? The bond would tear you apart from the inside.

So I made a choice. I sealed your wolf and your witch powers. The seal would only break under one condition: when you met your fated mate, and he truly loved you, and he marked you as his.

I know it was selfish. I know I took that choice away from you. But Emmy, I couldn’t watch my daughter’s heart shatter the way mine did.]

The words swam on the page. I pressed my fist against my chest, trying to breathe through the ache.

[I also believed eighteen was too young to understand matters of the heart. So I gave you a gift, a safeguard until you were ready.

Before I died, I poured every ounce of my remaining magic into one final spell: the ability to read minds. It would awaken when you needed it most, to help you see through lies and false friends. To protect you when I no longer could.

But there was one mind you could never read: your fated mate’s. Consider it a hint from your mother, my darling. They say when werewolves find their mates, their wolves scream “Mate! Mate! Mate!” over and over until it drives them mad.

Doesn’t that sound exhausting? I always thought true love should arrive quietly, in peaceful moments. Not with all that howling.

The mind-reading gift will fade once the seal was broken. Because your mate will protect you better than any magic I could give.]

I let out a choked laugh through my tears. Even now, even in a letter from beyond the grave, she was trying to make me smile.

The next lines broke me completely.

[Emmy, I hope you can forgive me for being selfish. For leaving you. For interfering with your life without asking.

Please don’t hate me for it.

My darling, from the moment I first held you, you were my whole heart. I memorized your tiny fingers, the weight of you against my chest, the way you looked at me like I was your entire world. I wanted to be there for all of it. Your first heartbreak. Your wedding day. The morning you’d hold your own child and finally understand how fiercely a mother can love. It is the great sorrow of my life that I won’t see any of it.

So let me say now what I won’t be there to say later. I am proud of you. I have always been proud of you. Whatever you become, whoever you love, however far you go, you carry me with you. Every time you are brave, that is me. Every time you are kind, that is me. I am in your blood and your bones, and I am never truly gone.

All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. To live peacefully. To be loved the way you deserve.

And know this: I will always, always love you. Across every life, in every world, no matter how many years pass. You were the kindest, the most precious gift I was ever given, and loving you was the best thing I ever did.

Forever yours,

Mom ]

The letter slipped from my fingers and drifted to the floor.

For a moment I just sat there, as if the room had gone very quiet and very far away. Then the first sob climbed up my throat, and after that I couldn’t hold any of it back.

I broke.

A sound tore out of me, raw and guttural.

I doubled over on the floor, arms wrapped tight around my middle like I could hold myself together by force. I couldn’t. The grief came in waves, one after another, each one dragging me under before I could catch my breath.

I cried until my whole body shook with it.

She’d sacrificed everything for me. Her magic. Her life. And even in death, she’d been reaching across all these years just to hold me.

“Mom,” I sobbed into my hands. “Mom, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Sorry I hadn’t been there. Sorry I couldn’t save her. Sorry I’d wasted so many years hating the father who never loved her, when all she’d ever wanted was for me to be happy.

I cried until my throat was raw, until my eyes swelled and burned, until there was nothing left in me but a hollow, aching emptiness.

Hours passed. I didn’t move. I sat on the floor of my study, the letter clutched to my chest, and let the grief run its course.

“She loved you,” Eve whispered gently. “She loved you so much.”

“I know,” I choked out. “I know she did.”

That only made it hurt more.

The door opened.

Footsteps crossed the room, quick and purposeful. Then Sebastian was kneeling in front of me, his hands cupping my face, tilting it up.

“Emilia.” His voice was rough, urgent. “What happened? Talk to me.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Just another sob.

He pulled me into his arms, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other wrapped tight around my waist.

“It’s okay,” he murmured into my hair. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

I clung to him and cried into his shoulder, my fingers twisted in his shirt like he was the only thing keeping me tethered to the earth.

And maybe he was.

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