Chapter 49
Kayla slowly sat up straighter. "I will help you," she said. "Just tell me what you want."
The Alchemist tilted her head to the side like a curious bird, then smiled. "I want you to speak to my future father-in-law. Beg him to accept me as his son's mate."
Kayla blinked. She hadn’t expected that.
"Your… mate?" she asked, her brows furrowing.
The Alchemist nodded, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Kayla glanced around again, searching for signs that this might be a joke.
But no one was laughing. The figures in the hall seemed uninterested in the conversation.
Kayla looked back at the Alchemist. "How can you speak of mates? You just told me you lost count of your age after five hundred and one. That was the last age you remember."
"Yes," the Alchemist said, her smile soft, like she was remembering a fond memory. "But my mate lives still."
Kayla could not hide her shock. She leaned forward and her eyes narrowed. "So, your mate is just as old as you?" She whispered.
"Perhaps older," the Alchemist said with a childish shrug.
Kayla tried to process the information. It didn’t make any sense. She had never heard of a wolf that old still seeking a mate.
She thought they would either reject the bond or outlive the desire.
Kayla straightened up and exhaled. “I think this is the price. Perhaps her mate is the one with the solution,” Kayla told herself.
As soon as she did, she couldn't wait to find the Alchemist’s mate.
"Where can I find this future father-in-law?" Kayla asked carefully.
"You can find him in the Azure Moon pack," the Alchemist replied.
That made Kayla pause. "He’s in the Azure Moon pack?"
"Yes, he is," the Alchemist said calmly.
Kayla's frown deepened. She knew many elders in Zayron's pack. Some were powerful, wise, ancient in their own right, but none of them, not even the council, came close to five hundred years old.
Or so she thought.
"Then who is he?" she asked slowly.
The Alchemist met her eyes and answered without hesitation. "Alpha Zayron."
Kayla burst into laughter. "You almost had me there," she said, shaking her head. "For a moment, I actually thought you were being serious."
But the Alchemist didn’t laugh. She only smiled, that same childlike smile, calm and knowing.
“I'm serious,” the Alchemist said, even though she didn't look like she was.
"Wait," Kayla said, her amusement slowly giving way to confusion. "You're serious? You think Zayron is your future father-in-law?"
"I know he is," the Alchemist said. "So will you do it for me or not?"
Kayla stared at her. The girl’s face gave nothing away. No twitch of humor, no hint of mischief. Just soft eyes and a hopeful expression.
“Alpha Zayron is just twenty-seven.”
“Just deliver my message to him. I need his approval!” the Alchemist said.
"Fine," Kayla said playfully. "I’ll do it. I’ll beg Zayron to let you mate with his future son."
The Alchemist clapped her hands together like a child receiving a gift. "Thank you. You get it! Now let us talk about how I can help you."
Kayla blinked, still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. But she said nothing more.
Something told her this was only the beginning of a much stranger conversation.
“Get what? What did I… get?” Kayla asked.
“His future son! You said it now. It means you understand everything!”
“What are you saying?” Kayla asked.
“I told you you are carrying something old. Didn't I? You are carrying my mate!”
Kayla quickly stood up from the chair. The wooden chair screeched against the stone floor, tipped backward, and rolled away until it hit the leg of one of the wooden tables.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes widened as her hand flew to her chest.
The Alchemist nodded slowly, her eyes twinkling with something ancient. She lifted a single finger and pointed at Kayla's belly.
"You are carrying Lucien, my mate," she said softly, like she was announcing the change of seasons.
Kayla took a step back. Her mouth fell open.
At that moment, Kayla understood why the Alchemist had been following her, perching on trees and mentioning that Lucien was coming.
So this was the reason all along.
"You must be out of your mind," she said sharply. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? That… that is not funny!"
The Alchemist didn’t flinch. She didn’t argue. She didn’t even blink. She just smiled, like she was watching a story unfold exactly the way it was written.
Kayla placed both hands on her belly. Her heart thudded in her chest, and a thousand thoughts ran through her head at once.
"You're saying... the child inside me, who hasn’t even been born, is your mate? Are you listening to yourself?"
"Very well," the Alchemist said calmly. "I understand this is hard for you to accept. But it is not a lie. I saw it. Many years ago."
Kayla stared at her, lost for words. She felt sweat gather behind her neck. She was hot and cold at the same time.
Her legs wanted to run, but her feet stayed where they were.
"I saw it years ago," the Alchemist continued, her voice light and steady. "The child of prophecy. A Regent King who would rule the packs of this land.
He would not be born from the blood of a weak tyrant. He would be born from the strongest bloodline. Raised in fire. Loved by all."
“You saw what years ago?" Kayla breathed. Her head felt light.
"His birth. And when I saw the vision, I traveled in secret. I went to your father. He did not believe me. He drove me out.
Years later, he came to me and I drove him out."
"You really mean my father came to you?"
"Yes," the Alchemist replied.
“How come he never told me anything about you?” Kayla asked.
"He told you. He didn't call me by the name werewolves call me. But by my true name. Ysolde."
“Please stop this joke. My ears are full!” Kayla said, and Ysolde snapped and stood up.
“Do you think it was easy for me to live this long?” she asked, her voice trembling with quiet rage.
“Do you truly believe I’m immortal? I’m not immortal. I was never meant to live forever. It was the eternal bond I have with Lucien that kept me alive, against my will and against nature!”
The Alchemist’s eyes darkened, the softness gone now, replaced by something heavy and ancient.
“Years passed, and the longer I lived, the more I saw, the more I knew. Things I was never meant to understand. Secrets buried so deep the earth itself had forgotten them.
But I know it all. And for that, the Moon cursed me. The earth rejected me!”
Ysolde lifted her chin slightly, and her voice dropped to a whisper, bitter and full of pain.
“It was all Lucien’s fault.”
Kayla’s brows drew together. “Who is Lucien?” she asked, but the Alchemist ignored her question and continued talking.
“Lucien and I were supposed to come into this world together but of different parents,” the Alchemist said, her voice breaking like an old lullaby gone sour.
“Mates, bound by fate, made of the same flame. But he never came. He couldn’t. There was no blood strong enough to mould his soul, no vessel that could carry him.”
Ysolde looked at Kayla then, her eyes steady and full of something more than sorrow, regret, maybe.
“Lucien needed the strongest blood to pass through. But by the time he was ready, all the strongest bloodlines had either been wiped out at birth or locked away, hidden from the world like shameful secrets.
Even Seraphina, your father’s sister, warned your mother about your coming. And what did your mother do?”
The Alchemist’s voice lowered, turning sharp like broken glass.
“She stopped allowing her husband to mate her. She was afraid of conceiving a strong blood! The blood Lucien needs.
Rhiannon feared what you would become. She feared what carrying you would awaken. All these kept me here!”
Kayla stared at the girl-woman standing before her, lips parted slightly, but no words came out for a moment.
Then she threw up her hands and turned away before spinning back.
“What in the name of the Moon is this one even saying?” she cried. “Who is Lucien? What covenant? What curse? This is madness!”
But the Alchemist only smiled. And the air around them suddenly felt a little colder.
Kayla blinked hard. Her stomach clenched. The urge to urinate was mixing with the uncomfortable twist in her bowels.
She squeezed her thighs together tightly. She had never in her life felt this kind of pressure.
"No, no, no," she muttered, placing her hands on her waist now. "You are mad. That’s what this is. You're insane. I don’t know what kind of herbs you’ve been mixing here for people. Please stop this crazy talk."
Ysolde did not move. She stood in the center of the hall, with her tiny frame and innocent face, yet her eyes were old.
So old that they made Kayla feel like a child.
"You think I would want a child as a mate?" Ysolde asked, but her tone was not defensive. It was curious.
"I do not want him because he will be young. I want him because the moon has written him for me and only his acknowledgement would break every one of my curses."
Kayla groaned. She pressed one palm against the wall and leaned slightly, trying to keep herself steady.
Her stomach made a strange sound.
"Oh no," she muttered again. "Not here. Not now."
"You feel it, don't you?" Ysolde said. "That is not fear. It is your body recognizing the truth.
Lucien knows I'm telling the truth!”
"That’s not recognition, Ysolde or whatever your name is! That’s the urge to run to the toilet," Kayla snapped. "You don't know what you're saying."
Ysolde took a small step forward. "When Lucien grows, he will seek me. The pull will begin long before he understands it.
But it will happen. We are linked."
Kayla groaned again and moved to the nearest wooden beam for support. Her face twisted in pain and discomfort.
"I need to use the bathroom. I swear I will run out of this place and never come back."
"You can run," Ysolde said. "But your path will bring you back. That child is the future. So many packs will fall and many shall rise because of him.
He is the Regent King."
Kayla wiped sweat from her forehead. Her breathing was short.
"Why my pup? Why not someone else?"
"Because the moon chose you. You have the blood of a warrior and the heart of a leader. That is what Lucien needs.
You think Alpha Zayron is strong? Wait until you see Lucien.”
Kayla shook her head. "I can't. I can't listen to this. Not now. Not when my stomach is doing somersaults and I can't control the urge to throw up. This is not normal."
"No," Ysolde agreed. "It is not normal. It is destiny."
Kayla turned around and placed both hands on the stone table behind her. "I need air. I need something that makes sense."
Ysolde said nothing for a while. She watched Kayla with a calmness that didn’t belong in a room so full of tension.
Kayla finally turned back. Her face was pale.
"You knew my father, and he didn’t believe you. What makes you think I will?"
"Because unlike him, you came here. You entered the Hall of Bargain. And whether you believe it or not, you have already paid part of the price."
Kayla opened her mouth to speak, but her stomach gave another threatening twist.
"Don't say another word," she said, raising one finger. "Let me find a bathroom first. After that, you can tell me the price I need to pay for saving Zayron.
Even if the moon came down, I won't let you talk about my unborn pup ever again."
Ysolde only smiled. She waved one of the cloaked figures closer and whispered something.
"He will take you to the restroom," Ysolde said. "And when you return, I will tell you what comes next."
Kayla muttered to herself as she followed the silent figure out of the hall.
She didn’t care anymore how scary the place was.
At that moment, the only thing that mattered was finding a place to sit and relieve herself before she either fainted or exploded.
But even as she walked away, her thoughts wouldn’t leave her alone.
"My pup? The Regent King? Mated to this ancient child-woman?"
She shook her head again.
"This day is mad. Absolutely mad."
And yet, in the deepest part of her, where her wolf lay silent, a quiet whisper echoed.
“What if it’s true? The moon goddess won't let an atom of truth be in this nonsense!” Kayla murmured.