BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 146: JADE FAMILY POWERS

Chapter 146: JADE FAMILY POWERS

"The realm, we’d discovered, doesn’t love you like your lifetime mate will love you."

The first thing I felt was a body next to mine. It was unexpected. I had spent so many years waking up cold, tangled in sheets that held no real comfort. But now, a body surrounded me, pressing against my back, curling around my waist. My eyes fluttered open, and the world felt different. The night wasn’t just darkness; it hummed, alive with shifting shadows and silver light. I could hear the whisper of the wind outside, the distant heartbeat of the earth. And beneath it all, steady and strong, the rhythm of her.

I shifted slightly, and an arm tightened around me. "You’re awake." Her voice was thick with sleep, husky and soft, the sound curling through me like the last embers of a fire refusing to die.

I didn’t answer immediately. I turned just enough to see her hair a dark halo against the pillows, lips still stained a faint rose from the night before. Her eyes, heavy-lidded, traced my face with something unreadable.

"How do you feel?" she asked, her fingers tracing idle circles against my hip.

I took a slow breath. "Different." The word wasn’t enough, but it was all I had.

She smiled, just a little. "That happens when you bind your soul to someone."

The memory of last night surged forward the way our bodies melted into each other, the taste of her, the way her life became mine and mine became hers. There was no undoing it now. No space between us.

I reached up, pressing my palm against her cheek. "I don’t regret it."

Her breath hitched. "Good. Because I’m never letting you go. I know that you have been through so much, and I am glad you finally became mine."

I smirked, my fingers tangling in her hair as I pulled her closer. "I’d like to see you try."

She laughed, pressing her forehead to mine, and the sound filled the hollow places inside me. For the first time in forever, I was not alone; I was hers, and she was mine. She then sat up on the bed, and I joined her as we stared at each other, her silver eyes reflecting the flames, searching, waiting. I knew this moment was coming; I had felt it in the way she watched me, in the way her fingers lingered just a little longer when she touched me, as if anchoring me here, in the present, instead of wherever my mind drifted.

"Aurora," she said softly, her voice steady but weighted with something deeper. "Are you ready?"

I swallowed, the warmth of the fire doing little to chase away the cold tightening in my chest. "For what?"

She tilted her head, unconvinced by my attempt to stall. "To move on. To leave the past where it belongs. With me."

The past. It had always been there, a shadow at my back, whispering doubts, reminding me of everything I had lost. It wasn’t just memories, it was a weight, one I had carried for so long that I wasn’t sure who I was without it. But Nessa was here, waiting, her presence a quiet certainty against the storm inside me. I looked down at my hands, at the faint scars along my knuckles, at the proof of every battle I had fought, every moment that had led me here. Slowly, I flexed my fingers as if testing whether they could hold something new without breaking.

Nessa’s hand reached across the space between us, her fingers brushing mine, warm and patient. A silent promise.

I let out a slow breath, then met her gaze. "I don’t know how. "The past still loomed, but for the first time, it didn’t feel like a chain, it felt like a choice. And sitting here with her, I realized I wanted to choose something else.

Forest floor. The night smelled of damp earth and fading embers from our fire, but the weight in my chest made it hard to breathe, as if the air itself had thickened with everything I hadn’t said.

Nessa sat beside me, her warmth close but not pressing, waiting like she always did. She knew. She had always known there was more.

I clenched my hands into fists, feeling the rough scars along my palms. "The bloodstone bugs..." My voice wavered, and I hated that it did. I had faced death without flinching, yet now, with her, I trembled. "They didn’t just poison me. They consumed me."

I felt her tense, but she didn’t speak. Not yet. She let me have this moment, this confession I had buried beneath layers of silence.

I forced myself to keep going. "By the time Sierra Kayne removed them, it was already too late." The words tasted bitter, like ash on my tongue. "They left, but they didn’t leave me whole. My body... my soul... they were already damaged."

The fire cracked, a sharp snap that sent embers spiraling into the night, and for a second, I envied them—their freedom, the way they burned so brightly before disappearing.

Nessa’s fingers brushed against mine, a silent plea to let her in.

I let out a shuddering breath. "I want to heal," I admitted, my throat tight. "I want to be happy. But I don’t know if I can."

The words felt heavier than any wound I had ever carried.

Nessa turned toward me then, fully, her eyes dark and searching. "Aurora..." She reached up, cupped my face, and r thumb traced the edge of my jaw with infinite gentleness. "You don’t have to do it alone. I know that you need a lot of healing, and today is the first step you have taken by accepting me as your lifetime mate. "

I closed my eyes, leaning into her touch. The past still clawed at me, a beast that refused to loosen its grip. But Nessa was here. Steady. Real.

She shifted, and then her voice broke through the night, low and certain. "Aurora, I need you to hear me."

I turned my head slightly, enough to see her in the dim firelight. Shadows flickered across her face, highlighting the sharp angles of her jaw and the quiet intensity in her silver eyes.

"I am here," she said, her words slow, deliberate. "I have been here, and I will stay. No matter how long it takes, no matter how much it hurts. You don’t have to do this alone."

Something in me cracked, and I looked away, swallowing hard. "What if I can’t heal? What if I never—"

She caught my hand before I could pull away, her fingers threading through mine with a quiet strength. "Then I’ll love you as you are," she whispered. "I’ll fight for you when you can’t. I’ll protect you, even from yourself."

My throat tightened. "I don’t want to be a burden."

Her grip on my hand tightened, not enough to hurt, just enough to anchor me. "You are not a burden." She leaned in, her forehead pressing against the side of my temple, her breath warm against my cheek. "You are mine. And I will be the rock you need until you remember how to stand on your own."

I exhaled slowly, my breath curling in the cold night air. "I’ve been planning something," I said, my voice quiet but steady.

Nessa, perched on the edge of a boulder, stiffened. "Aurora..." Her tone was cautious, searching.

I met her gaze, letting her see the truth before I spoke it aloud. "I’m going to destroy the Vampire bloodstone bugs. All of them."

A flicker of something crossed her face: worry, hesitation, something else I couldn’t name. "How?"

I bared the underarm of my hand and the faint green glow pulsing beneath my skin. The mark of the Jade family’s power. "I used my abilities to see their origin. Their nest is deep in the caves beneath Blood Stone Mountain, in Haven Pond." I swallowed, the memory of my vision still burning behind my eyes. "That’s where it started. That’s where it ends."

Nessa leaned forward, her fingers curling around his knee. "You’re sure?"

I nodded. "The pond feeds them. It’s where the first stone formed, where the corruption began. If I let the molten lava from the mountain flow into the water, it will harden over the pond, sealing the source forever. No more bloodstone. No more bugs."

She inhaled sharply, and for a long moment, she said nothing. Then, softly, "And what about you?"

I blinked. "What?"

Nessa’s jaw clenched. "What happens to you if you do this?"

I looked down at my hands, at the faint glow beneath my skin. The truth was, I didn’t know. The power of my family ran deep, but wielding it at this scale, channeling something so raw and destructive, I had no guarantee I’d make it out unscathed.

"I can handle it," I said, but the words felt thin.

Nessa stood abruptly, stepping toward me. "No. Don’t do that. Don’t pretend this won’t cost you." She knelt in front of me, her hands gripping mine. "Tell me the truth, Aurora."

I forced myself to hold her gaze. "I don’t know what will happen to me."

Her fingers tightened. "Then we find another way."

"There is no other way." My voice was sharper than I intended, but she didn’t flinch. "This is how we end it, Nessa. No more fear, no more running, no more people being consumed from the inside out. If I don’t do this, more of our people will be used, and you know Lord Marcel has always known about the Jade powers of my ffamilyy"

Her expression wavered, and I saw the war in her eyes—the desire to protect me, to stop me from making a sacrifice I might not walk away from. But she also knew the truth.

She exhaled, slow and controlled. "Then I’m going with you."

I shook my head. "Nessa—"

"I’m going with you," she repeated, her voice unyielding. "I won’t let you face this also,ne, and we have to do this without anyone knowing what we are up to."