Chapter 100: The Strategy of Scars
Kael appeared in the middle of their burning pack house, alone. Smoke filled his lungs as he spun around, looking for his mates. "Elara! Ronan! Darian!" Only silence answered him.
The Moon Goddess had separated them, just like she promised. But where were the others? And where was Celeste’s army? A growl echoed from the kitchen.
Kael created ice daggers in both hands, moving carefully through the destroyed tunnel.
Family pictures lay broken on the floor. Claw marks gouged the walls. "Looking for someone?" a familiar voice purred. Celeste stepped out from behind the ruined stairs, but she looked different.
Her blonde hair now had silver streaks, and her eyes glowed with the same eerie light as the trial beings. "Where are my mates?" Kael ordered, ice forming around his feet for better grip. "Safe," Celeste smiled coldly.
"For now. Each in their own special spot, facing their worst memories. Just like you’re about to." She snapped her fingers, and the destroyed pack house began to change.
The walls moved and reformed until Kael found himself standing in a place he’d hoped never to see again. The delivery room where his mother died giving birth to him and his brothers. "No," he breathed. "Oh yes," Celeste laughed.
"Let’s watch the show, shall we?" The room filled with ghostly forms. Doctors running around. His father pacing nervously. And there, on the bed, his mother screaming in pain.
"It’s happening again," Celeste whispered in his ear. "And just like before, you can’t save her." Young Luna Evelyn looked straight at Kael, her face pale and sweating.
"My son," she gasped. "Why are you just standing there? Help me!" "This isn’t real," Kael said, but his voice shook. "You’re already dead." "Because of you!" his mother cried out.
"You and your family killed me! I died bringing you into this world!" The pain in her voice was exactly like Kael remembered from the stories.