Chapter 104

Violet

Time seemed to slow. My voice echoed through the area. His hand was raised, reading toward the pillar that was emitting a swirling white light. He was too close. It was drawing him in.

I could feel it but I ran faster, launching myself at him.

"No!"

I slammed into him, my full weight knocking him away. His breath left him in a sharp oof as we hit the ground together, but before he could even ask or gain his bearings, I was already scrambling to my feet, yanking him with me.

"Violet, what--"

“Move!” I hissed, shoving him further back, away from the stone.

Theodore shook his head, blinking rapidly as if snapping out of a daze. I could hear his pulse thundering in his chest. Maybe it was my heart racing and pounding. He hadn’t even realized—hadn’t noticed—that something had been pulling him in. The stone. The castle. The magic. I had to get him out of here. Had to get him as far away from the main stone as possible even as I could feel it reaching out to me too.

Around us, the workers were staring. My stomach lurched. Had they seen? If they didn't what did they think was going on.

Think.

I straightened my spine, calling out, “The castle needs a priest’s presence before we can move forward. Everyone out—now. You can go ahead and start piling materials outside the castle's main gates.”

Their eyes widened and they started to hurry out. They left their tools and all the materials behind. I got Theodore past the main gate and I could tell that he was coming back into himself.

He swooned back against a nearby wall.

"Violet, what?"

As soon as we were alone, I cupped his face, scanning, trying to get him to focus on me.

“I need you to focus on me, Theo."

"Can't… Violet…lovely."

His hands fell on me. A dreamy look on his face, and I cursed, turning his head every time his gaze wandered so I could look into his eyes.

"You went into a trance, Theo'. I need you to focus husband. You have to see into me."

His eyes snapped to me, but I knew it wasn't Theodore's conscious mind, but his magic, maybe even his wolf focusing on me. I'd take what I could get.

"Have you felt this anywhere else?” I demanded. “Any other stone, any other part of the castle?”

Theodore frowned.

"It's important, darling. Answer."

He blinked and shook his head. “…why does that matter?”

I exhaled sharply, something flickering behind her eyes, even as relief started to sink into me. He wasn't so far gone. He was coming back. I could see it in the way he looked at me. His eyes were still bright with magic, but he was there.

“Because, Theo, this isn’t just any old ruin.” I sighed, leaning into him. "And I'm so sorry. I didn't know that the records had been separated."

Though why they were in the Donovan library in the first place, I had no idea. It had to mean that we had some sort of tie to the castle.

"Separated?"

"When people started translating the records into the common language, there were a bunch of records from the time of the founding that weren't translated completely because they were either partially destroyed or taken. Separated from the full record and bound incorrectly…" I breathed out. "This isn't just some random castle, it's the the first Alpha King’s castle.”

The words landed like a blow. Theodore stared at me.

“What? I thought… the capital…”

I groaned. The bits and pieces of history coming back to me.

“It was built by his wife—a relic from a time when our two nations were still on good terms.” I said. "This, Midnight, is the original seat of the country before the war, before those blessed with magic made their mass exodus." I looked up at him. "People who didn't spend months combing through historical archives might know it as Broken Heart Castle."

Theodore swallowed hard. "I… I've heard of it, but I… I don't remember the story."

"When the first Alpha King died in the battle that led to the split of the country, his wife’s broken heart was said to have tore the entire castle down. And it was never meant to be rebuilt—unless a true descendant of theirs, one with magic, came to claim it.”

Silence stretched between them.

He paled, looking at the ruins. Likely still hearing the whisper, the call of the ruins. The castle had reacted to him and it would keep reacting to him.

A muscle ticked in Theodore’s jaw. “Fuck.”

I huffed out something almost like a laugh, shaking my head. “Yeah. Exactly.”

He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. I could see the anxiety building in his shoulders.

“So what do we do?”

“Wait for the High Priest to come. His presence should help us cover this up. In the meantime, we are not camping here.”

Theodore hesitated. He looked past me, staring back at the ruins of the castle.

“…Would it really be so bad?” His voice was quieter this time. “I feel… at peace here. Like I belong. Like my mom is here.”

My heart clenched tight, but the light in his eyes made me grab his hand and pull him further away.

“Ask me that question again when you’re not under the influence of centuries-old magic.”

Theodore allowed me to drag him along, but I could feel the bit of resistance in him as he kept looking back at the castle, stumbling through the ruins around it .

My eyes burned at the hopeful, pained tone that had been in his voice.

Peace. Belonging.

The castle had called to him. It was prodding at my will, too. And part of me—a dangerous part—was tempted to let him answer. To answer, too. I looked back at the castle's ruins, watching the white light start to rise, projecting the columns that had once been there and rising into the air.

Theodore swayed toward it, and I turned, picking up my pace until we were completely beyond the castle grounds and the surrounding fortress.

Hours passed into night. I helped direct the works to moving the materials onto the castle grounds and kept Theodore occupied somewhere they could see him working, but far away from the ruins. I caught him looking at the ruins with this longing every once in a while and didn't let him out of my sight

That night, we cuddled together in the tent he pitched outside of the city. We hadn't spoken at all since I pulled him away from the ruins, but as promised, we shared a bed roll.

As we lay wrapped in the quiet stillness of the tent, Theodore murmured against my hair, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For thinking of me,” he said simply. His fingers traced slow circles on my back. “For knowing what this could mean and stopping me before I made a mistake.”

I shook my head. "You’ve always made it clear you want nothing to do with the throne. I wasn’t about to let some ancient magic override your wishes.”

Theodore

My chest tightened at her words. There were so many women in the country who would have relished what it meant to be married to me, of letting this secret slip.

I kissed her—slow, deep, grateful.

And for the night, the past and future could wait.

By morning, I felt like I had a clearer head, but I didn't tempt fate by getting any closer to the ruins than Violet suggested. The stone had all been transported, the foundation set, and the energy in the area had shifted. The castle was waking.

And then, finally, the High Priest arrived.

The moment he stepped onto the grounds, his sharp gaze swept over the ruins, and he understood. His expression darkened, but he said nothing of what he saw. Instead, he turned to us, lips curling into something like amusement.

“You’ve certainly found yourselves in an interesting situation.”

I crossed my arms. “We’d like to keep it from becoming an even more interesting situation.”

The priest chuckled but nodded. “Then let’s begin, shall we?”

I nodded, following him like a member of a procession through the fortress and back into the castle. Violet was at my side. The High Priest stood before the central stone, murmuring ancient words of blessing.

"Hallowed halls of a great king…"

I shuddered, understanding his words and rocked the surge of power that started to swell in me. The ground thrummed beneath us. I felt myself drawing closer, reaching out to touch the stone when Violet caught my hand. I looked at her, seeing moonlight reflected in her eyes.

"And governance of this place, blessed by the Goddess…"

Our hands touched the main stone, and the roar of magic that stormed through us, around us, blotted out whatever else the priest was saying.

The castle came alive.