Chapter 75
I just watched, stunned and unable to believe my eyes.
The elk’s horns had been lowered to me, and even the way they bowed was so divine and majestic.
Then, it lifted its head and took a step back.
I turned back to the luminous figure.
“You are not alone.” He said. “When you need me, I have been there for you. At the right time, you will fulfill your destiny.”
“Fulfil my destiny?” I was alarmed. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What do you mean you have been there for? Please help me understand.”
“Daughter of the red moon. You will understand.” He assured me, and just as I was about to start begging, the light began to diminish bit by bit until it was gone entirely.
There was no one there.
I could have said that I imagined it all had it been for the white elk who still stood before me.
It was now grazing the grass.
Before I could determine whether I had dreamed it was real, I heard some noises in the bush.
Reflex and I stood right before the white elk again, but this time it was Xaden.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re alive and well.” I said my heart was in my chest.
“You found it.” That was the first thing he said.
Then he came towards us, and then he stopped short when he saw the wolf dead at my feet.
“You killed him?” He asked me.
There was bewilderment and disbelief in his eyes.
If I had told him that a person I hadn’t seen and only spoken to had been the one who killed the wolf, he would have called me insane.
So I said. “It was tough, but I managed to. But he had a dagger, so I used it against him.”
He stared at the wolf, unable to say a word, and I prayed that he wouldn’t toss the wolf over.
If he did, he wouldn’t find a stab wound.
Fortunately, he didn’t, and I sighed in relief.
Then he walked across the wolf and came up to me. Then I remembered that he was going to want to kill the wolf.
“Move aside.” He said. “I’m taking the horns.”
I shook my head.
I had never, for once, defied him, not even for my own sake.
But here I was, staring into his handsome face and the mark cut across his eye.
Making him more dangerous and alluring.
“Please, he doesn’t need to die.” I pleaded.
“You don’t get to decide.” He told me, and then he took a step closer.
My feet went wobbly instantly. “Mind, I remind you that you are already in big trouble.”
I looked down at my hands.
Before I said anything more, the elk stood at attention behind me, and then he bent his head.
I thought he was bowing down again, and then I saw what he was doing.
I understood it.
“He is offering his horns.” I said. “He knows you need it. You need the horns. You don’t need to kill the animal.”
To our shock, the horns dropped from its head to the ground, and the massive creature stood tall before galloping away.
Xaden turned back to me.
I picked up the horns. “Isn’t it true?”
He said nothing and then collected the horns from me.
“I don’t know what just happened, and I’m not asking.” He said it gruffly, and then he started walking away.
The walk back to the arena was shorter as we followed a short route, and the moment he came to the view of the massive crowds,.
A loud round of applause and praise erupted in the crowds.
They screamed and cheered.
He lifted the horns right in the air, and it made them go wild.
They rose to their feet, screamed, and clapped for him.
“XADEN! XADEN! XADEN!” Came the chants.
He walked to where the priestess was and dropped the horns of the massive elk.
“Where is the rest of the body?” The high priestess asked.
“Too heavy to carry.” I heard him say. “Decided only to bring the horns.”
That was an outrageous lie, but he already had what they needed.
The priestess raised it in the air and said, “We welcome our winner of the first ritual of the Halo moon, Alpha Xaden of the Crescent Pack.”
The crowd went on applauding and screaming for him.
I stood in my corner and smiled at him as I clapped for him.
He had been injured enough.
He deserved it.
Then, my intuition told me to look up in the crowd.
And as if my eyes knew where to go, they stopped at the box reserved for the royal family.
The King and Queen were seated together, the Princess Corral and the one I now knew as Princess Cherry.
Meanwhile, Belle was there, but she was staring right at me like she could see through me.
She was clapping for Xaden, but her face indicated hate and anger right at me.
She must have taken note of me as I had walked into the arena by his side.
I became flushed and used the massive crowd’s advantage to escape.
When I finally reached the castle, I reduced my steps as I was exhausted.
Then, I sat by the edge of one of the gardens and took some air.
Had I dreamed what had happened? Or was it real?
I could not tell.
He had called me the daughter of the red moon.
What did that even mean? And I had been watched over? For how long?
What importance was it for me to even be watched over by a divine figure?
I sighed, as I couldn’t think of everything at once.
I was extremely tired and sore from all the running I had had, so I rose up from where I was seated and went in to retire.
When I got into my room, Loren was asleep on his books.
I smiled, and I used a blanket to cover him.
Then I went into my room and laid down to sleep.