CHAPTER 278: DID YOU NEVER WONDER???

[ Raven’s Coven ... continued ]

The silence was almost unbearable.

Only the sound of Selene’s own heart beat filled the space, each thud hammering against her ribs as though it wanted out.

The Most High moved.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Her steps were silent, but the weight of her presence brushed against Selene’s skin like cold fingers.

As if she circled her prey.

Selene stayed on the ground, her palms pressed into the stone, trembling, unable to rise. Her eyes followed that shadowed figure, which was now very prominent.

Selene’s eyes flickered with terror and something else...a hint of recognition she refused to give voice to.

Her lashes quivered. Her mouth parted. But no words came.

The Most High noticed.

Oh, she noticed so damn well...and definitely found it amusing.

A low chuckle spilled from her throat, rich, curling into the air like smoke.

"Find something you know?Want to say something darling???!!"

Selene’s lips trembled. Her throat strained for sound, but the words slipped away before they formed. She shook her head faintly, then stopped, as though even the act of denying would betray her.

Her confusion was a spectacle.

And the Most High savored it.

With a sudden sweep, she bent low, the shadow of her hair falling over Selene’s face. A single, sharp nail, traced down Selene’s cheekbone with the slowness of a blade being sharpened.

Selene flinched, her breath hitching, her whole body recoiling against the touch she could not escape.

The nail dug deep into her skin...not enough to break the skin, but enough to remind her it could. Then, without warning, the Most High’s hand closed around her jaw, just short of crushing it...yanking her chin upward until their gazes locked.

Her grip forced Selene’s lips to purse, cheeks crushed beneath her long fingers.

"Did you actually think this was your own power? Oh, my silly...silly girl. "

Those cruel words were like velvet. Mockery wrapped in music.

Her laughter followed, bouncing off the chamber walls until it filled every inch of space. The sound pressed into Selene’s ears... She could hardly understand what was going on.

Selene’s breath broke into frantic pants, her eyes darting, desperate to look away, but the hold on her chin forced her to stay bound to those void touched, deep silver and golden eyes. One like Kieran and the other like his cursed brother!!!

" This power was lended to you... and it’s time it turned full term. "

Selene still did not get it...not completely at least.

Her voice slithered closer, the words dripping onto Selene’s trembling skin.

"You ought to be thankful... to Autumn. No?"

That laughter came again...piercing loud, crueler.

Selene’s entire body jolted, a violent flinch as though struck by an invisible whip. Her hands clawed against the stone, trying to ground herself, but there was nowhere to anchor, nowhere to run.

" Autumn??" Her voice cracked, raw. " Thank Autumn? Why? ... that’s impossible... How... How can that be? She... Autumn... she wasn’t even..."

The Most High leaned closer. So close Selene could feel the faint brush of her breath against her ear.

"...Born?"

The word curved like a blade, slicing through Selene’s denial.

Her throat locked. Her head shook once, twice, but weak, stuttering, without conviction.Yes... Autumn wasn’t even born when she became what she is today.

The smirk on the Most High’s face widened.

Her thumb pressed hard into Selene’s cheek, forcing her eyes wider.

"Oh, it wasn’t Autumn’s power to be exact..."

The pause was deliberate. Her voice dipped lower, a rasp of triumph.

"...but definitely borrowed... from her bloodline...her mother to be exact..."

Her words dropped like poison.

Selene’s pupils constricted, horror flooding her face as the weight of the revelation pressed down like chains tightening around her chest.

Her body trembled so violently she thought her bones might rattle out of her skin.

The Most High’s hand slid from her jaw, fingers trailing like a serpent, before clamping down on her shoulders.

A tight, unyielding grip.

Selene’s breath choked in her throat as the woman gave her a sudden, jarring shake.

Her head snapped forward, then back. Strands of her hair flew loose across her face, sticking to the sweat on her cheeks.

The eyes before her...those split voids of silver and gold...seared into her, pulling her deeper into despair and confusion.

"Didn’t you ever wonder why Kieran favored you the most?"

Selene froze, her lips quivering open.

The Most High shook her again, harder this time... the impact echoed through her trembling frame.

"Did you never think why he couldn’t get over your scent...even when you betrayed him so badly?"

Her words lashed out...each syllable cutting clean into the air.

Selene gasped, eyes wide, shaking her head faintly, as though denying would somehow protect what was already established.

The Most High leaned closer, her nails digging into Selene’s shoulders now.

"Didn’t you wonder why he instinctively treated Autumn with such hatred... why her very smell turned his blood bitter?"

Her mouth brushed near Selene’s ear, the hiss slithering in.

"Because her scent reminded him of you. Of your betrayal."

Selene’s entire body jolted, knees sliding against the stone. Her stomach dropped, twisting, burning under the weight of that truth.

Her lips cracked into a stammer. "No... no, that’s... that’s not...how...I thought it was because...impossible..."

The sound of laughter cut her words in two.

Thunderous. Shaking the chamber walls.

The Most High’s head tilted back, her voice rolling.

It slammed into Selene, pressed down on her chest, crushed every fragment of denial she tried to cling to.

And then fell silence.

The woman’s eyes fell back on her, lips curving in that merciless smile.

"You thought he was in love with you?"

The words lingered, mocking.

Selene’s breath stuttered, but she didn’t answer. Couldn’t actually.

"Oh no, dear."

The laugh returned, quieter this time, colder, dripping satisfaction like venom from fangs.

"My boy was never in love with you... ever."

Her hand slid up, nails grazing the side of Selene’s neck, threatening to pierce.

"He was just mesmerized... by the scent of his fated mate."

Selene’s lungs locked.

The Most High’s smile widened...gleaming.

"And that..." she whispered, every word dragged slow, deliberate, savoring, "...was exactly what I wanted."

Selene’s body gave way beneath her.

Not because she was told Kieran never loved her...she knew that truth already, had lived with it like an old wound that never healed... it was part of her misery... part of her trickery... it was behind her.

This was something else.

Her body melted, turned to jelly, collapsing under the weight of the two small words that thundered in her head.

"My boy."

The sound of them rang again and again, echoing, tearing through her skull until it was all she could hear.

My boy??My boy...!!! The Most High... Kieran...

Her vision blurred...her lips trembled into silence...her mind shattered as the words looped... relentless.