The King’s Gaze

The sky above Lycanthra was shrouded in storm-gray clouds when I emerged from the underground corridor.

The night air bit against my skin, but I no longer trembled. My steps, once unsure and hesitant, now held purpose as I ascended the winding stone path toward the castle.

That looming fortress, which once overwhelmed me with fear, now looked… smaller. Fragile. As if I could see through its power.

I had changed. Not in appearance, but in essence. Something inside me had awoken since the encounter with the black wolf and Luna's book. Was it courage? Or simply a flame that had waited too long to burn?

When I reached the side gates, two wolf sentinels stood at attention. Their silver eyes gleamed, and they sniffed the air sharply.

They smelled it—me. My scent is no longer purely human.

"I need to speak to Lucan," I said clearly.

The two exchanged a glance. Hesitant. Wary. But after a pause, one of them stepped aside and unbarred the gate.

My footsteps echoed through the stone corridors of the castle. The sound of my heels and the rhythm of my heart created a haunting harmony.

What would Lucan see in me now?

Would he recognize what I had become?

Or had he been expecting this?

The throne room was silent when I entered.

Lucan sat upon his obsidian seat, one hand resting beneath his chin. His gaze—cold, unreadable, sharp as a blade—found me the moment I crossed the threshold.

But when his eyes met mine, something shifted. His pupils narrowed. He knew.

"So," he said, voice low, carrying a weight beneath its calm. "You returned."

I didn't bow. Not like the first time.

"I never truly left," I replied.

Lucan rose slowly like a storm unraveling itself. His black cloak flowed behind him like smoke, and his towering frame seemed to command the shadows themselves.

"I can smell it," he said. "The change. You've unlocked your blood."

"Yes," I said. "And I know who I am now."

His gaze hardened. "What did you see?"

"Mirrors. Spirits. A book. My mother." I met his stare. "And a black wolf named Azhalra."

His expression didn't change—but a single crease formed between his brows. Enough to tell me that name disturbed him.

"So," I continued, "you knew all of this, didn't you? But you never told me."

Lucan stepped forward. Each footfall echoed, the air around him growing heavier with each step.

"I protected you."

"From what? From myself? Or from the truths you kept hidden?"

His jaw clenched. But when he spoke again, his tone remained level. "From the remnants of the Moon Court. From the Council. From the traitors who would hunt you if they discovered that the last Luna still breathes."

I inhaled deeply, eyes half-closed.

"Too late," I said. "I've awakened. And I won't hide."

He stopped walking. Only a few feet separated us now.

His eyes scanned me—no longer with suspicion or scorn but with something… else. Recognition, maybe. Or something far more dangerous: awe.

"What will you do now, Elara?" he asked voice almost a whisper.

I stared straight at him. Deep. Unflinching.

"I will find the truth. I will protect what's in my blood. And I… will decide who's worthy to stand beside me."

Silence wrapped around us, thick and unbroken.

Then, slowly, Lucan nodded once.

"You are not the same girl I brought into this castle."

"And you," I said, "are not just a king. You are a keeper of secrets. Perhaps even a harbinger of ruin."

His lips curved—not quite into a smile, but a shadow of one. Cold. Calculated. But this time… laced with respect.

"We shall see, Elara Luna."

I could feel my heart pounding—not from fear, but from something sharper. Rage. Disappointment.

Lucan may have saved me—I wouldn't deny that. But the longer I stood in front of him, the clearer it became: he'd been hiding something far larger than I ever imagined.

He wasn't just the king of a shadowed kingdom. He was a storyteller. And I… I had been a nameless piece on a board crafted long before I was born.

"Have you been watching me this whole time?" I asked, my voice cutting through the silence. "Protecting me, or… controlling me?"

His gaze shifted ever so slightly. The chill in his eyes dulled for a moment—uncertainty? Guilt?

"I never intended to hurt you, Elara."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "But you let me wander blind. You knew who I was from the start, didn't you?"

He didn't answer.

"Answer me!" My voice rose, too fast to stop. "You knew about my blood. About my mother. About Azhalra. And you let me walk into this world clueless and alone."

Lucan exhaled deeply. Slowly, he sat back down on his throne—as if the weight of old memories had suddenly become too heavy to carry upright.

"I knew," he said at last. "From the very first day."

His words pierced—not because I was surprised, but because they confirmed the very thing I had feared.

Nothing had been an accident. I hadn't just stumbled into this world.

I'd been summoned.

"Why me?" I asked quietly.

"Because you are the last bloodline of the true Luna. Because your blood is the only one that can awaken the power that's been buried for centuries. And because this world…" He paused, his voice turning rough. "This world is on the brink of collapse."

Lucan stared at me, his eyes glowing faintly in the half-dark. "I can't stop it alone. I need you."

I stepped back. "You need me… or my power?"

He didn't deny it. That was the answer enough.

"I'm not a weapon, Lucan."

"I know."

"But you've treated me like one. Since the beginning. You kept me in the dark. You chose who could speak to me. You even controlled my fear."

The air thickened between us. Cold. Heavy.

Magic stirred beneath my skin—my blood reacting to my rising emotions. And Lucan saw it. A faint violet shimmer glowed around my fingertips.

"You're not ready to bear the weight of that power," Lucan said calmly.

I clenched my hand into a fist. "Then let me learn. But don't—don't ever—hide the truth from me again."

I stepped forward, closing the space between us until I was just a breath away. My gaze didn't waver.

"If you truly want me to trust you, Lucan… then start treating me like an equal. Not some fragile child behind golden bars."

He looked at me in silence. And for the first time since I met him, I saw something shift. A war inside him—between the king and… something more human.

"I watched your mother die," he said softly. "I stood on the opposite side of the river, watching her blood soak into the soil to protect you. And I swore I wouldn't let that be in vain."

His words cut deeper than I expected, but they also softened the edge of my fury.

"You knew her?" I whispered.

He nodded once. "She was strong. Stronger than any Luna before or after. And she loved you more than anything in both worlds."

Tears welled in my eyes.

"Did she… die because of me?"

Lucan didn't respond, but his eyes said enough.

I turned away—not because I was ashamed, but because I couldn't let him see me crumble. Yet my legs nearly gave out beneath me. The weight of the truth was heavier than any chain.

"If all of this is true…" I whispered, "If I'm the last of the Luna bloodline… then I don't have a choice, do I?"

"You always have a choice, Elara. But that choice will shape whether this world survives… or falls."

I stood there in silence.

Choice.

Such a cruel word. In the human world, I'd had no direction, no voice. And here, in this realm, I was suddenly burdened with choices that could alter the fate of entire kingdoms.

"I'll choose," I said at last. "But not now."

Lucan nodded.

And for the first time… I saw him as more than a king. He was a keeper of secrets. A witness to sorrow. Maybe even… a man lost inside his destiny.