Chapter 787
Third Person POV
The night was thick with fog that clung to the skin like breath and dulled the moonlight. Inside the old study of the Blackwell estate, candles burned low, their flames trembling as if they, too, were afraid.
Daisy stood at the edge of the room, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she watched Lila work. Her mind was calculating; she was sick of this. Last night was the worst night she’s had in a long time. The pain she felt made her black out entirely; she was vulnerable in the forest and could have been killed by rogues. Thankfully, she wasn’t, and she sought Lila out shortly after waking up.
It wasn’t normal pain; it wasn’t from Noah having his way with yet another woman. That kind of pain she was used to. No… this pain was different.
He had marked this other woman.
For a normal wolf, marking another woman would tear apart a mate bond, no matter how strong. A wolf only bonds with one at a time; a new mark would replace an old one. But Noah could mark multiple wolves at a time. Daisy knew she wasn’t the only one he had marked, but it was the first time he had marked someone else after her and the first time she had ever felt that kind of pain.
She couldn’t do it anymore. Her love for him was gone, and the only thing left was this aching void meant to be the bond. Her wolf had long disappeared, unable to handle her chosen mate being unfaithful for all these years.
Daisy was weak and needed this bond to be broken so she could start to heal. She wanted to start over. She hoped that once Lila activated the gem and got her powers back, she could break the bond between Noah and Daisy and then give Daisy’s wolf the strength to recover so Daisy could finally get her life back.
But it looked like it wasn’t Lila that Diasy needed because the gem clearly doesn’t belong to her. It didn’t work for her. It was supposed to be her blood that activated the gem, but it didn’t work. Lila was stubborn, though, and refused to admit defeat; in her mind, she was the true daughter of the Blackwells, but Daisy knew that wasn’t the case, regardless of her denial.
The moon gem sat on the table between them, its surface alive with a faint pulse of silvery light. It had been quiet for days, though it still won’t let Lila wear it without burning her. It still pulsed with life like a heartbeat, waiting for its true owner to return.
Lila placed another rune stone beside the gem, her eyes sparkling with new ideas.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Daisy finally asked, her voice barely a whisper. “Last time it-”
“I know what I’m doing,” Lila snapped, her hands trembling. “You saw the power that this thing has. It’s my power… I don’t know why it’s rejecting me, but once it’s restored from this stone, we can have everything we want and then some.”
Daisy’s stomach twisted.
“Or it could destroy us.
Lila ignored her. Her eyes, once warm, looked nearly black in the candlelight–wild and desperate.
“The gem has been dormant because it doesn’t recognize me as its bearer. It’s been separated from me from birth, so I can’t blame it for being wary. But I’ve found a way to change that,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips.
She pulled a dagger from her belt and drew it across her palm without hesitation, hissing as blood welled to the surface. Daisy pressed her lips together as she watched Lila draw blood from her own hand. She knew it was no use… it wasn’t Lila’s blood that the gem wanted, and it would only anger it further. But she kept her lips sealed because she knew Lila wouldn’t listen to her regardless of what she said.
“Blood of the Blackwell line,” Lila said, hovering over the stones, letting the crimson drops fall.
The reaction was immediate.
The air snapped with energy, the candles guttered out, and the silvery light flared ot life, filling the room with a glow too bright to look at.
Lila’s smile grew as the stone began to radiate an energy so great that Daisy had to look away. In Lila’s mind, her plan was finally working, but Diasy knew better than that.
“Lila, stop!”
But Lila wasn’t listening; she only smiled… radiant and mad.
“It’s working!”
The gem began to hum, the sound low and thrumming through the floorboards. The blood on its surface shimmered, spreading like veins across the table, until the whole room pulsed with a heartbeat that wasn’t
human.
And then all at once, the sound changed.
The hum became a scream.
The light burst outward violently, throwing Lila backwards into the wall. The fumes shattered, and the candles exploded. Daisy hit the floor hard, gasping as the air was sucked from the room.
Sara is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.