Chapter 105: The Prophecy

Author’s pov~

"If she is bound to both... the Prince of the Second Throne and to the Prince of the Fourth Throne, then there is a very real, terrifying possibility that she is mated to all Four Princes."

"Her body isn’t simply rejecting it. It’s reacting to two Royal Lycan bloodlines."

Zyran took a deep, deliberate breath, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Have you both forgotten the ancient archives? Have you forgotten the forbidden myth whispered about the founding days of our entire race?"

"The ancient Lycan race..."

Zyran looked around the circle, meeting the dark gazes of the other Princes one by one as he continued.

"The old texts speak of a soul unlike any other. A mate whose existence is tied to the four royal bloodlines."

Blake’s brows drew together.

"You’re talking about the legend..."

Zyran nodded slowly.

"The one they erased from most of the records."

Blake whispered, "The prophecy of the Sovereign Mate..."

"The legend of the singular soul destined to unite the four split crowns, end generations of rivalry, and restore the unified ancient Lycan Empire."

Raven stared into the empty space between them.

The meaning of Zyran’s words was settling in, piece by piece, and with every passing second, the weight of it became harder to breathe beneath.

His jaw clenched. His chest rose with a slow, heavy breath. Then, almost as if the words had been buried somewhere deep within his memory, Blake began to recite the next verse.

"When the four crowns find the one true soul, the Lycan Empire shall rise again."

Raven sucked in a sharp breath, his fingers gripping the edge of the leather cushion as sudden comprehension hit him.

"The Queen’s Prophecy... the person destined to unite the four fractured kings and restore the ancient Lycan Empire to its former glory."

Zyran continued, the words slipping out from his deep memory.

"’When the Queen’s blood returns, the four crowns shall answer. One soul shall bind the divided blood.’"

Keiran swallowed hard. The calculating look in his eyes disappeared.

What replaced it was something far more unsettling.

Realization.

His gaze lowered for a moment before he slowly looked at the other Princes. Then he finished the ancient scripture.

"Four thrones shall bow to one fate. And what was divided by the Moon... shall be reunited by blood."

No one moved. No one breathed.

The vault had fallen into absolute silence.

Then Blake whispered the question none of them wanted to ask.

"Adeline..." His voice trembled.

"Are you saying she is the Sovereign Mate?"

Zyran stared into the darkness.

"I’m saying we may have spent all this time looking at the wrong part of the prophecy."

Keiran’s eyes darkened. "The Queen’s blood..."

Raven slowly turned toward him. "And if it truly has returned..."

His gaze shifted toward the other three Princes.

"Then the four crowns have already begun to answer."

The realization settled over them like a shroud.

The scentless rogue they had cornered.

The girl they had healed.

The fragile Omega they had believed was nothing more than a victim of a brutal double Alpha rejection.

She wasn’t merely a powerless rogue who had somehow survived what should have broken her.

She was connected to their bloodlines.

To their thrones.

She might never have been powerless.

Her wolf might never have been broken.

And her strange reaction to their blood might never have been an illness.

It might have been recognition.

A recognition written into blood older than their four thrones.

To something far older than any of them had ever imagined.

And if the ancient scripture was truly referring to her...

Then Adeline wasn’t simply bound to two royal bloodlines.

She was the singular soul destined to unite all four.

The one the ancient prophecy had foretold.

The one capable of bringing the four divided thrones together.

And perhaps...

Adeline was not merely connected to two royal bloodlines.

She was the one soul capable of awakening all four together.

The one destined to bring all four Lycan Princes to their knees.

~

Adeline’s pov~

It was well past midnight, and the only light in the dark room came from the faint glow of the moon slipping through the heavy curtains.

My sleeping form was buried deep beneath the sheets. For a while, everything was completely still and quiet.

Then my eyes fluttered open. The dorm was pitch-black.

I lay there for a long moment, staring blankly up at the ceiling and trying to figure out where I was. My body felt heavy at first, but the crushing exhaustion wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before I fainted.

I sat up slowly, swinging my legs over the cold edge of the bed. My head was spinning in circles.

I looked around the dark room. Sierra was gone. The three Lycan Princes were gone, too. I was completely alone.

I stood up on shaky legs, relying on the dark furniture to balance myself, and walked straight into the cold bathroom. I turned on the shower, letting the hot, steamy water hit my bare skin.

I needed to get rid of it. I needed to scrub away the scent that felt like a heavy mark on my skin.

Raven’s scent.

It still clung to me, thick and possessive, wrapping around my senses like an invisible chain.

I grabbed the soap and scrubbed my skin raw, over and over, desperate to wash away Raven’s heavy, suffocating Lycan scent.

"Get off me..." I whispered out loud to the empty bathroom, my voice trembling as the hot water hit my shoulders. "Just get off me..."

I pressed my back against the wet tiles and scrubbed my collarbone again, my hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Why won’t it wash away?" I said quietly to myself, rubbing my neck until the skin turned bright red and raw under the spray.

My hands trembled under the hot water, but my mind wasn’t even focused on the shower. I was trapped in my own dark, broken memories, trying desperately to piece together what had happened before I fainted.

"I threw up Keiran’s blood," I whispered into the steam, my voice shaking with pure panic. "I literally threw up his royal blood right after he healed me... and I asked Sierra to not to tell anyone, but then..."

I squeezed my eyes shut as the hot water dripped down my cheek.

Keiran’s blood. I had swallowed it.

I had felt my broken bones knit back together, my skin closing up under his magic. I had actually healed. And then... my stomach had violently turned, and I threw it all up.

My eyes snapped open, wide and wild with terror. I stared at my reflection through the thick steam clinging to the mirror.

"Why?" The word slipped from my trembling lips, sounding small and broken in the quiet bathroom. "Why is my body doing this?"

Raven’s blood had done the exact same thing to me just days ago. And now Keiran’s.

"Two Lycan princes... It is not possible," I whispered to myself, resting my forehead against the cold, wet tiles.

"Two completely different royal bloodlines. Two times my stomach reacted like it was swallowed poison. How is this even possible? First, my body violently rejected Raven’s blood after healing me. Now, it threw up Keiran’s blood too. What is wrong with me? But from what Raven said in the Vault about the mate lore... That might not be true. Since, I have threw up both the Lycan’s blood, that must mean my wolf less body is simply rejecting their blood because I’m not worthy of it..."

I grabbed the sponge and scrubbed my skin for the fifth time, desperate to wash away the lingering mark of royal power. But no matter how hard I rubbed until my skin was raw and burning red, a faint trace of Raven’s dark scent still clung to my collarbone like an invisible, suffocating chain.

Feeling the last of my strength draining away from the hot steam, I turned off the tap and wrapped a thick towel around my body.

I shuffled out of the bathroom, pulled on a heavy, oversized hoodie to hide my bruised frame, and shivered as I walked back into the cold bedroom.

I moved straight toward my bed, but my steps froze. My eyes stopped on the far side of the dark room.

Miya’s bed was completely empty. The sheets were pulled tight, untouched and smooth. She hadn’t come back all night.

"Where is she?" I whispered into the dark room, my throat tightening. "What happened after I passed out in the hall?"

Panic clawed at my chest as my mind started racing with terrifying thoughts, running through every horrible possibility.

"Blake, Keiran, and Zyran... all three of them stood right there in the bathroom and watched me throw up royal blood," I murmured to myself, stepping backward in the dark until the edge of my mattress hit the back of my knees.

I sank onto the mattress, pulling the thick blanket all the way up to my chin. My heart was pounding against my ribs, echoing in the pitch-black silence of the dorm. But my body was far too weak to stay awake and fight the terror.

The heavy, dark fatigue pulled me under the surface once more, and sleep swallowed me whole.