Emily’s POV
“Race you to the top!” Luke yelled out, shifted into his brown and gray wolf, and started sprinting up the path we came from.
We just exited the temple after spending most of the day there, yet outside, it didn’t look a few minutes later than the time we entered the temple.
Alex turned to face me, his eyes shifting between black and gray, and they were pleading. His wolf was on the surface; he couldn’t resist such a challenge; he wanted to show off his strength and speed.
“Sure, go ahead,” I said, chuckling. I couldn’t help but find his puppy’s eyes adorable. “I’ll see you at the top!”
“Are you sure?” He asked, surprised.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Go show Luke you are still the Alpha of this pack!”
“You are the best!” He said, kissing me on the forehead, then turned and shifted into a beautiful black wolf.
The wolf turned his huge head toward me and quickly nodded-I caught a glimpse of his light blue, almost white, icy eyes-before he sprinted off.
“No wonder his name is Ghost,” I muttered to myself. “With eyes like those, he would send warning shivers down his enemies’ spines.”
“I don’t mind his eyes,” Willow chirped dreamily. “I find them very cool. Those icy eyes would extinguish the flames right out of me!”
I chuckled at her stillness.
“You two will end up like fire and ice,” I warned.
“Like you and Alex?” She hinted, wagging her eyebrows up and down. “Everyone can feel the tension between you two, not to mention that wherever you go, you two leave the places all steaming up! By the way, when will you let me out to meet Ghost officially?”
I was worried when Willow asked me about that. I wasn’t sure if letting her out with Ghost would be such a good idea.
“Soon,” I said, making my way up the waterfall.
I wanted to take a mental picture of this place.
My head snapped toward the sound of howling in the distance; it must be Alex and Luke.
I climbed to the top, looking down at the masses of water pouring their crystal-clear water down below-the temple sitting all proud and glorious in white next to it.
I was still in awe at how my grandmother could hide this place in plain sight, and my thoughts wandered off to earlier today.
“Her gift is to manipulate time,” Luke said.
“I don’t understand,” I said, knitting my eyebrows together in confusion.
Minutes ago, my grandmother revealed the reason why I stopped coming to visit her-now things had shifted to her gift.
“The temple is shifting between the future and the past,” Alex tried explaining, which confused me even more. “It never stays longer than a moment in one given place.”
Yet, even though both of them could understand it, it still didn’t make sense to me.
“It’s hard to explain,” Luke said with a sigh. “But have you noticed that priestess Basilia isn’t getting older?”
I nodded.
“It’s because the temple is stuck between space and time,” Alex tried again.
“What is Gran’s actual gift?” I asked, seeing my grandmother’s eyes glitter as she listened to Alex and Luke trying to make sense of it all.
“Call me Basilia,” she said, smiling, but before I could argue, she continued. “My gift is to see the future and review the past.”
“So you are psychic?” I asked.
“Something like that,” she answered.
“But how are you hiding the temple?” I asked.
“I made a deal with the goddess,” she said, finding my gaze.
“What kind of deal?” I asked carefully.
Basilia smiled, got to her feet, and grabbed a scroll from a different table.
We were sitting in something like an office or library at one of the tables.
“I saw something,” she said. “A prophecy about five hundred years ago.”
“Wait, what?” Luke asked, startled. “You have been doing this for how long?”
“I have been part of this temple for over eight hundred years,” she said.
“But how did you have pups?” I asked. “A mate?”
I just couldn’t get my mind around that.
My grandmother chuckled, finding my reaction amusing.
“The same way that you found yours,” she said. “I had a mate, your grandfather. I was just blessed by my mate a few centuries later than an average wolf.”
“That must have been boring and lonely,” I muttered.
“On the contrary,” Basilia said. “I have many visitors like yourself; besides, your grandfather has been part of my life for many centuries. Your father too, but he wanted a life outside the temple with his mate and family.”
Is that why my father grew older? He was outside this magical temple.
“And you let him go?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said. “How will the prophecy be fulfilled if he is stuck here?”
Basilia opened the scroll and rolled it open.
I gasped, recognizing the markings and symbols on the brittle yellow paper.
“You have seen this?” Alex asked, coming closer.
I nodded.
“King Xavier has informed her about this,” Basilia said. “But he only told her parts of it.”
My gaze snapped at Basilia, and a smile followed on her lips. There was something in that smile that seemed to have a warning behind it.
Was it to stay clear of Xavier, or was it something else?
“Your mate, Alpha Black, is a descendant from the snow wolf line, from his father’s side,” Basilia said, holding my gaze. “His mother’s history is a bit bleak, but we can trace it to a certain point. I know what you are about to hear is hard, but I think it is possible. Both of your parents’ bloodlines are Lycan descendants.”
My face drained of blood. No one knew of that meeting or what was discussed.
“I guess Luna now understands Basilia’s gift,” Luke muttered, watching my reaction.
“It seems so,” Alex said, turning his attention to Basilia. “What does the prophecy say?”
“That one day the fire and snow wolf will have a child together,” I muttered just above a whisper.
“And the Lycan kingdom will rise like a Phoenix from its ashes,” Basilia continued.
My gaze snapped back to Basilia, and a knowing smile played at the corners of her lips-Xavier didn’t tell me that last part.
“But that is not all,” she continued, her eyes glittering out of excitement as if she wanted to reveal something more. “The original prophecy speaks of the pair descending from the four Lycan kingdoms.”
“But the southern kingdom was destroyed centuries ago,” Alex said. “And the Eastern kingdom just vanished.”
“Not to mention that the Western kingdom couldn’t withstand time,” Luke added sadly.
“And there is nothing left of the northern kingdom,” I said.
“Yes, the kingdoms have been destroyed,” Basilia said. “But that doesn’t mean there were no royal survivors.”
“Everyone believes the Lycan breed died out 150 years ago,” I muttered.
“Yet, here we stand, four fully grown Lycans,” Basilia chirped.
“They must have hidden their royals somehow,” Luke said.
“They did,” Basilia said, taking a seat at the table. “It is common knowledge that you, Alpha Black, are of descent from the Northern kingdom, but do you know that your mother is the rightful ruler of the Southern kingdom?”
That took Alex by surprise.
“And you, Emily,” Basilia’s smile widened. “Your fire half comes from your father’s side; I was mated to the Eastern King. Your mother is the Luna of the Western Kingdom.”
“That means that there is already a fire and snow heir born,” Luke said, and my gaze snapped at Alex.
“You told him!” I hissed.
“Uhm,” Alex rubbed the back of his head, looking toward Luke, seeking help. Alex always acted so nervously around me, yet bravely around his pack. “Well, Luke is my Beta and best friend.”
“It’s because we are not marked,” Willow explained. “He can’t feel our emotions. He will act differently when we complete the bond.”
“Besides,” Luke quickly interjected, coming to Alex’s aid. “I caught Alpha sneaking out of his quarters. I followed him and demanded an explanation.”
I pinched the top of my nose, annoyed. The fewer people know of Lex’s existence, the better. Willow’s warning was still imprinted in the back of my mind.
“Yes,” Basilia answered. “If you are referring to the boy called Lex, he is the future of the Lycans and will be a great ruler one day.”
The room fell silent for just a moment. The news is still surreal.
“But,” Basilia continued, breaking the silence in the room. “He will not have a future if the King and Queen don’t take their rightful places. I should warn you that the rogue attacks are not random.”
“Do you know who is responsible?” Alex asked.
Basilia shook her head.
“It does not allow me to see who made the decision or what they are looking for,” she said. “Just keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
The sound of snarls echoing close by shook me back to my presence, and the next second, a huge wolf pounced toward me-
****