Elantra:
I didn't sleep.
I sat by the window, knees pulled to my chest, the blanket wrapped around me like armor. The silver feather sat in my palm, still glowing faintly hours later. Its warmth seeped into my skin like it belonged to me, like it knew me.
Everything inside me felt like it was shifting. A slow unraveling of who I thought I was and something else… ancient, feral, waiting.
The pendant was gone, but something had replaced it, etched onto my skin, burned into my blood. A crescent moon mark shimmered above my heart, soft and silver in the moonlight.
The voice hadn't returned since the mirror. But I still felt watched.
By them.
By the system.
By fate.
"Elantra," Miriam's voice was gentle, but it broke the silence like a whip crack. "Come downstairs, love. There's something you need to see."
Her voice didn't sound afraid. It sounded... resigned.
I slipped into my robe and padded down the narrow staircase barefoot. The air smelled like mint tea and old secrets.
Orion was already at the table, back straight, fingers locked tightly around a steaming mug. His eyes flicked up when he saw me, hesitant, as if I might burst into flames.
Miriam sat across from him, something clenched in her hand. When she opened her palm, I saw it, a small silver-edged box, dust-covered but sealed with black wax.
"I didn't know we had that," I said.
"You didn't," she replied. "We were told never to open it unless the pendant ever… changed."
"Who told you?"
Miriam exhaled shakily, her voice barely above a whisper. "The man who left you… we never saw his face. He was cloaked, bloodied. Limping. He cradled you like you were the only thing keeping him alive, but said he couldn't stay. That they were already after him. After you. He told us someone would come for you when the time was right. And he left this," she held out a small wooden box, wrapped in worn leather and stained with time, "said it would explain everything… when it was time."
"And now it's time," Orion said grimly from behind her, his jaw clenched tight.
My hands trembled as I took the box. It felt heavier than it looked, heavy with secrets, with meaning. I sat down, breath shallow, and slowly peeled back the brittle leather.
The lid creaked open, and my heart began to pound.
Inside were three items, each arranged with meticulous care:
A folded parchment, sealed with crimson wax bearing the exact crescent moon symbol now burned into my skin.
A delicate silver ring, dull with age, etched with tiny runes so worn they seemed to shimmer and shift beneath the light.
And nestled beneath both, a shard of obsidian, sharpened into the shape of a fang. It glinted with an oily sheen, ancient and ominous.
The second my fingers brushed the ring, something pulled.
A force, cold and familiar, yanked behind my eyes like a string snapped taut. I gasped and jerked upright, vision blurring, the world tilting on its axis.
My breath caught. Voices whispered through my mind in a language I didn't understand, and flashes of unfamiliar faces, places, and shadows bloomed behind my eyes.
The ring pulsed in my palm.
And I knew this was only the beginning.
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A white void swallowed her.
No floor, no sky, just silence. And then footsteps.
A woman appeared. Tall. Draped in silver and white. Her face was hidden, but her voice rang through the silence like bells.
"You stand on the edge of a great unraveling, child."
"Who are you?" Elantra asked, her voice trembling.
"I am the last daughter of the Moon. And you are the beginning of the end."
The woman raised a hand. Behind her, three glowing figures emerged, one cloaked in gold, one cloaked in shadow, one wreathed in fire.
"Three shall rise to claim your bond. One will save you. One will break you. One will destroy you."
Elantra stepped back. "Why me?"
"Because you are balance born of blood and ash. The child of prophecy. The one they failed to kill."
"Who are they?"
But the vision splintered—
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Elantra:
I snapped back into my body, gasping.
My tea had spilled across the table, the parchment untouched, the feather glowing brighter.
Orion moved quickly, steadying me. "What did you see?"
I wiped my face. "I think… I think I'm not just anyone."
"No, you're not," Miriam whispered.
She pointed at the silver ring now resting beside the feather.
"That symbol inside the box, it's the Devereux seal. They were royalty. But they were wiped out twenty years ago. Burned alive during the Luna Eclipse."
"You think I'm—?"
"Not think," she said. "Know."
A chill slid down my spine. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"We wanted to protect you. From them. From what they might still want from you."
My fingers curled around the ring again. "And now?"
Miriam hesitated. "Now… I think your time hiding is over."
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It was nearly sundown when the knock came.
Three sharp raps. Not frantic. Not casual.
Official.
Orion opened the door, and I saw him, tall, broad, cloaked in a deep navy royal mantle. The sigil of the Valemont House glinted on his shoulder: the royal crest of the Lycan throne.
"Elantra of the Vale?" he asked, voice clipped, formal.
I stepped into the doorway.
"Yes," I said.
"You are summoned by direct order of Crown Prince Cassian Valemont. You are to report to the Royal House within two days for testing and confirmation."
I blinked. "Testing for what?"
He held out a glowing scroll. "Your bloodline has been detected. The mate selection has been initiated. You may be one of the three."
My breath stopped.
"The three?" I repeated.
"Yes." He unrolled the scroll slowly.
My name glowed first: Elantra Devereux.
Below it, three names appeared in blinding silver:
Cassian Valemont
Lucien Blackthorn
Riven Thorne
My skin buzzed as each name burned into the air. The scroll pulsed once, twice, and then crumbled into ash.
The soldier looked me dead in the eye.
"One of them is your true mate, Elantra. And one of them… will be your death."