BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 183: MEMORIES OF THE PAST

Chapter 183: MEMORIES OF THE PAST

{ "Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future." }

The caves rose before me like the jagged teeth of some long-dead god — carved by time, wind, and power older than any pack could name. The sea crashed against the rocks below, wild and impatient, as though it, too, could feel the tension rolling off me in waves. I stood at the entrance, the scent of salt thick in the air, and let the silence press against me.

She should be here.

Belle’s warmth still lingered on my skin, phantom-soft and maddeningly real. Her voice haunted my thoughts like a song I couldn’t stop humming, the way she’d whispered "Just kiss me," the way her breath hitched when I touched her, the way her fingers had clung to me like she was afraid I’d vanish. I clenched my fists, my claws threatening to break through skin. This place was sacred. Forbidden to most. But it felt hollow now. Cold.

"I shouldn’t have left her like that," I muttered to no one but the sea and the stone. "She deserved more than a promise."

The wind answered, screaming through the cave mouth like it agreed, and my boots echoed on the stone floor as I stepped inside. The air changed immediately, cooler, dense with the weight of magic and old bones. The island was closed now. I could feel its pulse beneath my feet, steady and ancient.

But nothing compared to the rhythm I’d left behind, her heartbeat pressed against mine beneath the trees. I dragged a hand through my hair and stared down the long, winding darkness ahead.

"I’ll come back," I said aloud this time, not just to the cave, but to the Moon, to the beast inside me, to the stars that had bound us. "I have to come back."

The Rogourau within me stirred. Not with fury. But with longing and a shared ache. A bond stretched taut across sea and stone and because for the first time in my life, power wasn’t enough. This land, this quest, this ancient path, it was all meaningless without her at the end of it. I took one last breath of open sky and salt air before stepping deeper into the cave, toward Hanka Island, toward destiny. The cave walls around me were quiet, ancient, heavy with stories no one dared speak aloud. But mine? Mine screamed in silence, etched into my bones like scars carved by the Moon herself.

I kept walking, deeper toward Hanka Island, but my thoughts weren’t in the past. Before I lost her. My first mate — Liora. A fire-bright soul, reckless and radiant. She laughed louder than the wind, fought harder than any warrior, and loved like the world would end each night. And it did, the day she died.

"I couldn’t save her," I murmured to the shadows. "I wasn’t enough."

I remembered the blood. The silence after her last breath and the hollow ache that came after, where even my beast whimpered and refused to rise. But life didn’t stop for grief, not when you had cubs to raise and a clan to protect.

Ralph, my son. Born with the strength of the Rogourau in his veins and the heart of a storm. He was Liora’s shadow, all stubbornness and fire. Rita, my daughter. Her mother was a shifter from the Bay clans, a union forged in desperation, not love. But Rita? She was light in my darkness. Fierce like her brother, wild like her mother, wiser than I ever could be.

I raised them both with everything I had left. Taught them the ways of the mountain, the strength of silence, the power of control. Because the world would never be kind to beings like us, half-beasts, full-blooded danger, and hence, when danger came, I took the Rogourau and buried us deep in the mountain, beneath stone and shadow. While the world waged wars above, we waited. For years, I led them in solitude. No warmth. No touch. No softness. Until Alpha Tor of the Bay Shifter clan came to the mountains, changed everything, and now the Rogourau beast was free to roam in the mountains.

The first time I came to Bay shifter lands, I never saw Belle, it was until Alpha Tor invited the Mortas family to the Bay shifter council meetings. She walked like a force, commanding the room. The first time she smiled at me, something in my chest cracked. The first time she challenged me, something in my soul stirred. And when she touched me last night, fuck when she touched me, the beast in me purred.

"I wasn’t looking for a mate," I whispered, hands flexing at my sides. "I thought I’d already lived that story... buried it with Liora."

But Belle was different as she didn’t try to tame me but saw the real me and loved my beast.

She just... saw me. I had endured a lot, and I closed my eyes in deep thought for the first time in decades. I wanted to stop enduring and just live. So, I kept walking deep in Hanka Island, toward duty, but not to run from the past. This time, I had something to come back to, and that was Belle.

The air on Hanka Island was thick with the scent of salt and ancient power. It was a land carved by time, shaped by storms and the very hands of the gods themselves. The sea crashed against the rocks below as if eager for whatever was about to unfold. I could feel the tension in my bones, the promise of a new beginning, a new alliance, but also the weight of everything that had led us here. And as I stepped through the dense forest toward the clearing, I saw him.

Alpha Tor. Standing tall and proud at the edge of the meeting point, his broad shoulders squared against the morning breeze, waiting for me like he had all the time in the world. The familiar smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as his eyes caught mine, sharp and knowing.

"Well, well," Tor said, his deep voice carrying a playful edge. "Look who decided to show up. I was starting to think you’d gotten lost on your way here."

I huffed, rolling my shoulders as I closed the distance between us. "I’m not some lost cub," I growled, though there was no real bite behind it. "It’s not like I had a guide through these woods."

Tor’s smirk grew wider as he stepped toward me, arms open. "You seem to be in a bad mood."

With a low chuckle, we met halfway and embraced, and he chuckled as we pulled back from the embrace, and Tor, ever the tease, shot me a raised brow. "You’re late, though. You didn’t get distracted by some pretty face, did you?" he asked, his grin wicked.

My pulse skipped, and my thoughts instantly turned to Belle. Her smile. Her touch. The way she’d kissed me goodbye. "I wasn’t late," I said, trying to keep my tone even though I could feel the flush creeping up the back of my neck. "I wanted to make sure I was not followed. "

"Ah, so it’s my fault?" Tor chuckled. "I’ll be sure to speak to the realm about the poor timing."

I shot him a mock glare. "You’re a fool, Tor."

"Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard that," he replied with a wink before his tone shifted to something more serious. "But in all honesty, it’s good to have you with me. "

I nodded, feeling the weight of his words. This was bigger than us. Bigger than our pasts, our pride. Bigger than anything I’d been prepared for. We both turned toward the path leading deeper into the island, side by side.

"I don’t care how we do this, Tor," I said quietly, my voice just above a whisper. "But we’re doing it right. For the sake of our clans, our people and take down the fucking evil in that mountain. "

Tor nodded in agreement, his gaze hardening with purpose. "For peace."

When we arrived at the meeting point, Tor, always the swift one, moved without warning. One second, he was by my side, and the next, he was striding toward Freyr, his pace quick, his body language shifting with a familiar fluidity. Freyr didn’t hesitate either. In an instant, they were face to face, the space between them closing, and then it happened.

Tor wrapped his arms around Freyr, pulling him close. There was no hesitation, no moment of uncertainty. And then, without a single word, they kissed.

I froze, standing still in the shadows of the trees, and gave them the time they needed. As the kiss broke, Freyr’s gaze lingered on Tor for a moment longer than was appropriate, his lips curling into a faint, knowing smile. "I knew you’d be late," Freyr teased, his voice low, almost a growl. "But I didn’t expect you to make me wait this long."

Tor grinned, a rare, softer expression on his face as he leaned in closer to Freyr. "I had... other matters to attend to," he said, the playful edge still in his tone. Finally, Freyr turned toward me, his eyes softening as he acknowledged my presence. His smile was faint but warm, almost as if he’d been waiting for me to notice, waiting for me to come to terms with the depth of the connections here.

"Rou," Freyr said, his voice like velvet, smooth and deep. "We’ve been waiting for you. Please, join us."

"Let’s get this over with," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "We’ve come this far."