Chapter 3 - The Omega Who Shouldn’t Exist
By the time they reached Frostmere Keep, Sophia had decided she hated castles.
They were too large.
Too cold.
Too full of people pretending not to stare.
The keep belonged to House Vale, Ronan’s family, and remained one of the few northern strongholds openly loyal to Caleb.
The moment Caleb entered the courtyard, soldiers dropped to one knee.
Hundreds.
“My King.”
The sound echoed against stone.
Sophia stood beside him covered in road dust.
Nobody bowed to her.
Good.
Then somebody whispered:
“Moonkeeper.”
Less good.
Caleb heard.
His expression sharpened.
Within an hour, everyone in the keep knew an Omega had arrived with the missing king.
Within two, rumors had turned Sophia into a witch.
By dinner, apparently she had resurrected Caleb from the dead through a mating ritual under a blood moon.
Sophia learned this from a kitchen maid who nearly dropped soup when she recognized her.
“Wonderful.”
The maid looked terrified.
“I’m sorry, my lady.”
“I’m not a lady.”
“Sorry, my—”
“Sophia.”
The girl stared.
“Sophia.”
“Good.”
Caleb entered.
Everyone in the room straightened.
Sophia pointed at him.
“Your people are inventing stories.”
“People do that.”
“They think I resurrected you.”
“You did break the curse.”
“That is not resurrection.”
“Technical distinction.”
Sophia glared.
Caleb looked amused.
The kitchen staff stared at them.
Apparently kings were not supposed to be spoken to that way.
Caleb noticed their expressions.
“Leave us.”
Everyone fled.
Sophia looked at him.
“You scared them.”
“I asked them to leave.”
“You’re enormous and royal. Same effect.”
He leaned against the table.
“You’re avoiding the council chamber.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because fourteen men spent an hour arguing whether I should be examined by priests.”
“They were concerned.”
“They were discussing me while I was sitting there.”
Caleb’s face tightened.
“I noticed.”
“You said nothing.”
“That was a mistake.”
Sophia looked surprised.
He continued.
“I’m still adjusting.”
“To what?”
“To someone speaking to me as if my crown is irrelevant.”
“Your crown is irrelevant to me.”
“Yes.”
He smiled faintly.
“That.”
Sophia sat.
“What did the council decide?”
“That Alaric postponed his coronation.”
“Why?”
“Our survival became public.”
“So he is scared.”
“He is adapting.”
Caleb’s expression darkened.
“Alaric has never been reckless.”
“Do you trust him?”
“I did.”
Past tense.
Sophia understood.
“Family?”
“My father’s younger brother.”
“Was he close to you?”
“Yes.”
“What changed?”
“I don’t know.”
Caleb looked toward the windows.
“When my father died, Alaric could have challenged my succession.”
“But didn’t.”
“He stood beside me.”
“Then why steal your throne now?”
“Either he believes I’m dead…”
“He moved too fast.”
Caleb nodded.
“Or he knew what happened.”
Sophia touched her crescent pendant.
“What about Moonkeeper blood?”
Caleb’s eyes moved toward it.
“We sent for someone.”
“Who?”
“Archivist Mara.”
“That sounds old.”
“She will be offended.”
“Good.”
Archivist Mara arrived before midnight.
She was not old.
Maybe fifty.
Silver braid.
Sharp face.
Sharper eyes.
She walked directly toward Sophia.
Then slapped Caleb.
Sophia’s mouth fell open.
Ronan looked at the ceiling.
Caleb closed his eyes.
“Mara.”
“You disappeared for forty-one days.”
“I was cursed.”
“You are a king. Schedule disasters responsibly.”
Sophia immediately liked her.
Mara turned.
“You.”
“Sophia.”
“Pendant.”
“No.”
Mara smiled.
“Good.”
Sophia blinked.
“What?”
“If you handed family relics to strangers because they demanded them, I’d assume you were an idiot.”
Caleb muttered, “You two will be unbearable together.”
Mara ignored him.
“May I examine the pendant?”
Sophia removed it.
Handed it over.
Mara’s humor vanished.
“This belonged to Lyra Hartwell.”
Sophia froze.
“My mother.”
Mara looked up.
“You are Lyra’s daughter?”
“Yes.”
Mara sat.
Caleb became alert.
“You knew her?”
“Knew of her.”
“What was she?”
Mara looked at Sophia.
“The last recognized Moonkeeper Seer.”
Sophia felt cold.
“My mother sold herbs.”
“She hid.”
“From what?”
“Everyone.”
Mara examined the pendant.
“Twenty-six years ago, the Moonkeeper sanctuary was destroyed.”
Caleb frowned.
“I was told they died during the southern uprising.”
“Convenient royal history.”
His face hardened.
“Explain.”
“The Moonkeepers were neutral mystics.”
Mara’s voice lowered.
“They maintained binding magic between Alpha crowns and territorial wards.”
Sophia frowned.
“Why would someone kill them?”
“Because they knew how to break those bonds.”
Caleb understood.
“A king’s protection.”
“Yes.”
Mara looked toward Sophia.
“Moonkeeper blood could remove a ruler from magical recognition.”
“The curse.”
“Exactly.”
Sophia swallowed.
“My mother survived.”
“Yes.”
“Why hide me?”
Mara hesitated.
“Because of the prophecy.”
Sophia laughed.
“No.”
Caleb raised an eyebrow.
“No?”
“No prophecy.”
Mara almost smiled.
“Unfortunately.”
Sophia covered her face.
“Of course.”
Mara recited softly:
“When the crown becomes cage and the moonline is broken, the beast king will find the hidden daughter. She will either bind the northern throne forever or end the old blood rule.”
Sophia stared.
“That is vague and unhelpful.”
“Prophecies usually are.”
Caleb looked thoughtful.
“Hidden daughter.”
“Sophia.”
“Beast king.”
“You.”
“End the old blood rule?”
Mara nodded.
“That frightened people.”
“Who?”
“Your father, perhaps.”
Caleb’s expression changed.
“My father ordered the sanctuary destroyed?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you think it.”
Mara was silent.
Sophia looked at Caleb.
He looked angry.
Not defensive.
That mattered.
“My mother never told me.”
“She probably wanted you free of it.”
“Did she die naturally?”
Sophia had always believed so.
Illness.
Fever.
When Sophia was seventeen.
Mara looked uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Lyra Hartwell’s death was reported three days after a royal investigator entered Blackwood.”
Sophia’s hands went cold.
“Who?”
Mara looked at Caleb.
“Lord Alaric.”
Silence.
Caleb’s face became dangerous.
“My uncle was here?”
“Yes.”
Sophia stood.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he kill her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Everyone knows nothing.”
Her voice broke.
Caleb stepped closer.
Sophia backed away.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
Good.
Mara continued gently.
“There is more.”
“Of course.”
“Lyra had two children.”
Sophia froze.
“What?”
Caleb stared.
Mara removed an old record.
“Twin girls.”
Sophia laughed sharply.
“No.”
Her mother never mentioned a sister.
Never.
“The second child died at birth,” Sophia said.
“That is what Lyra told local records.”
“And?”
Mara looked toward the parchment.
“No burial record exists.”
Sophia’s chest tightened.
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
Caleb whispered, “The Moon Queen.”
Everyone went still.
The dead soldier.
There will be.
Mara looked at him.
“What?”
Caleb explained.
Mara’s face drained.
“If Sophia’s twin survived…”
“Could she have Moonkeeper power?”
“Yes.”
“Enough to cast the curse?”
“With royal blood.”
Sophia felt sick.
“My sister cursed Caleb?”
“Not necessarily.”
“But possible.”
“Yes.”
Caleb paced.
“Who has access to royal blood?”
“Anyone close to the family.”
“Alaric.”
“Yes.”
The conspiracy suddenly had shape.
Alaric.
A hidden Moonkeeper twin.
Caleb cursed.
Sophia stared at the pendant.
“My mother hid one of us.”
“Maybe both.”
“Why keep me?”
Mara said quietly, “Perhaps because someone took your sister.”
Sophia looked up.
“Who?”
Before Mara could answer, bells erupted outside.
Alarm.
Ronan burst through the door.
“Attack.”
Caleb moved instantly.
“How many?”
“Hundreds.”
“What banner?”
Ronan’s face tightened.
“Royal.”
Caleb stared.
“My uncle attacked Frostmere?”
“No.”
Ronan swallowed.
“They’re carrying your crest.”
Caleb went still.
“Who leads them?”
Ronan looked toward Sophia.
“A woman.”
Sophia’s heartbeat stopped.
“Description?”
“Dark hair.”
“Age?”
“Yours.”
Sophia felt the room tilt.
Ronan continued.
“She looks exactly like you.”
Silence.
Mara closed her eyes.
“Sophia.”
Sophia walked toward the battlements with Caleb despite everyone telling her not to.
Below, torches filled the snow.
Hundreds of soldiers.
At the front sat a white wolf.
She shifted.
Sophia stopped breathing.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
But colder.
The woman looked up.
Directly at her.
Then smiled.
“Hello, sister.”
Sophia’s entire body went numb.
The woman raised one hand.
Silver magic illuminated the battlefield.
“My name is Selene Hartwell.”
Her voice carried unnaturally across the walls.
“And I have come to take back the king you stole from me.”
Caleb went completely still.
Sophia turned.
“Stole?”
Selene laughed below.
“Oh.”
Her smile widened.
“He hasn’t told you.”
Sophia looked at Caleb.
His face had gone pale.
Selene called upward:
“Ask your precious Alpha King who his true fated mate was supposed to be.”
Sophia stared at Caleb.
May you like
And for the first time since his curse broke, he could not meet her eyes.
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