Blessed By The Moon

Chapter 41

Centuries ago, same timeline.

Echo's POV:

The waves crashed against the shore, the salt biting at my skin as I knelt on the jagged rocks, my hands pressed together in silent prayer.

The night stretched endlessly above me, the sea rolling and heaving like a wounded beast beneath the weight of the sky. The air smelled of brine and the remnants of a storm, the kind that left the world unsettled even after it had passed.

But the storm inside me had not passed.

I had attacked a man I once called mine. I had unraveled him, had buried my hands in the depths of my power and let it consume me. And yet... it did not bring peace.

Nothing did.

So I came here, to the place where the world met the endless dark, where the sea whispered secrets only the wind could carry. I came here to beg.

I lifted my head, silver eyes locked onto the pale face of the moon. My moon. My goddess. My eternal keeper.

"Have I sinned against you by attacking him?" My voice was hoarse, raw, the kind of rasp that came from screaming too much, from hurting too long. "Or have I been sinned against?"

The water surged forward, lapping at my knees, cold and relentless.

I swallowed hard. "He was my mate, and he betrayed me. He cast me aside. Tell me, Moon, was I wrong to punish him?"

Silence.

My chest tightened. The pain that had been lodged there since the moment I felt our bond shatter throbbed anew, twisting like a knife. I had thought breaking him would bring me satisfaction. That taking something from him would mend what he took from me.

It hadn't.

And now, I knelt here, a warrior without a battle, a Luna without an Alpha, a mate without a mate, crying, tear spilling from my eyes like a fountain.

"Tell me," I whispered, pressing my forehead to the wet earth, sobbing. "Tell me what I do now."

And then, surprisingly, the Moon answered.

The light above me swelled, expanding, until the whole sky bled silver. It poured over me, caressing my skin with a warmth that seeped into my very bones. My breath caught. My hands curled into the wet sand as a pulse of energy crackled through the air.

And then I heard her.

"You are not alone, my child."

The voice was soft, ancient, carrying the weight of centuries upon centuries. It was everywhere and nowhere, woven into the night itself.

"Your pain has reached me. Your heart has called to me, a grave sin has been committed. And so, I will give you an answer."

I exhaled, my chest rising and falling in ragged rhythm. "Please," I breathed.

"Your soul was bound to his, once. But he severed it. He turned from the bond that was sacred, the bond I blessed you with. And for that sin... he will pay a price greater than death."

A shiver ran down my spine.

"For you, my child, I grant a choice."

The wind howled through the cliffs, sending strands of my hair whipping against my damp cheeks.

"There is another."

I froze.

"Another mate. Another bond. But not like before. He was meant to be mated, but fate stole his love before they could ever meet. He is untethered, lost, a thread cut before it could be tied."