The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 131

REMY

"Are you ready?" Caulder asked.

I stretched my arms and neck, trying to relax my body as much as possible. Caulder and I had tried to delve into the past a few times before to find out more about the prophecy, but so far we hadn't been successful. I felt desperate each time, and I was starting to think it was impeding our progress. I wanted to find out more about the prophecy, because I wanted to uset to stop the war from coming, and the pressure I was putting on myself was suffocating. It was hard not to feel responsible, though.

Ever since I told the others about my vision, the pack has been on high alert again. We were doing everything we could to prepare for war. Percy and Scythe were reaching out to every wolf pack they could to enlist their help, but we were running into the issue that other werewolves didn't believe the war was coming. No other wolf packs were being targeted, and they hadn't had any interaction with sorcerers or vampires, so they thought we were making a bigger deal out of everything than we should be. We all knew that if Draven and Winslow fought and killed our pack, it wouldn't end there. They would continue taking out wolf pack after wolf pack until all werewolves were eliminated. We still had time to convince the other werewolves, but without proof, I didn't see it going anywhere.

"I'm ready," I said. I had to be. If I could find out the truth of the prophecy, some part of me felt like I could change the future. If no other packs wanted to help, we had to stand our ground and fight for every werewolf in existence. If I could prove the prophecy was a good thing, then Blade and I could finally complete our bond and gain the power to stop the destruction.

My heart raced and my head spun. I couldn't focus. There was too much riding on this, and it was staring to suffocate me.

I reached for Caulder's hand, wanting to get it over with, but he took a step back.

"Remy, I can feel your anxiety from here. This isn't going to work if you're not focused," he said. Of course, he knew how I was feeling.

"We have to do this. I have to learn more about this prophecy. If I don't-"

"Then we'll be fine," he interrupted. "You're putting so much pressure on yourself and this prophecy, and it's only hurting you."

"But the war," I whispered. I knew putting this pressure on myself wasn't helping, but it felt like my life and love were being controlled by this stupid prophecy. My entire existence had been defined by a prophecy that made people think I was dangerous. My magic was suppressed to control me, and now others wanted to take me to control me in a different way. I couldn't help but feel like the war wouldn't be coming if it weren't for me.

"I'm so sick of this prophecy," Caulder muttered. "It's only causing you harm and stress. Who cares about it anymore?"

"I do," I said. "Because if everyone is right about this prophecy, that means I can't be with the man I love. It means I have no future except for one where someone is always coming after me because they want this power that apparently I will create. I can't just forget about it."

"Why not?" Caulder asked, running his fingers through his hair. "Maybe we should stop searching for the answer to something we may never know."

"I can't just give up. If I can just prove that I'm not destined for destruction, then-"

"Words someone spouted centuries ago do not define who you are or what you will do," Caulder said firmly. His frustration was rising, and it made me start to shrink. I felt bad for upsetting him, but I couldn't just let go of the prophecy, not after everything that had happened.

"What if I can't control myself?" I asked, terrified of the possible truth in those words.

"I know you," Caulder said with a finality that surprised me. "I know you are not capable of destroying this world. Whether or not you have the power to do so, you are too kind and caring. Even when people stab you in the back, you continue to care about them. Just look at what you did for Julie."

"She's locked away," I said.

Julie was given a life sentence. My dad had debated about banishing her from the pack with a death sentence if she ever crossed the boundaries again, but in the end, he decided it was safer for her to stay locked away with Draven still out there. We couldn't afford to have her run to Draven and help him again.

She wasn't allowed to have any visitors, either. Not even her parents had been able to see her after the incident. They had begged my dad to go easy on her, since she was just a child, and even though it broke my dad's heart, he stayed firm with his decision. The safety of the pack came first, and Julie risked the safety of the pack multiple times, and I had been almost killed because of it. Julie crossed a line she would never be able to come back from.

"She's alive," Caulder pointed out. "And she wasn't left at Draven's mercy. Even though she doesn't realize it, being left with that monster would be a fate worse than death. If it weren't for you, Julie might be dead or worse."

I hadn't thought about it that way, but Caulder was right. Even though a life in prison wasn't much of a life, it was a life without torture. I didn't fully understand why I begged Harper and Caulder to save Julie. She didn't deserve it. She tried to kill me, and even worse, she went after Harper. I should have hated her with every inch of my soul, but I couldn't find any hate, only pity. Even when I was angry or hated someone, it faded from my heart faster than I wanted it to sometimes.

I hoped Caulder was right that I wasn't capable of destroying the world, even if that was what the prophecy meant, but I was still scared.

"We can still look for answers, if that's what you want to do, but only if it's not affecting your mental health," Caulder said after a moment. "I can't stand seeing you like this."

He was right. The pressure wasn't worth it. The answer to the prophecy couldn't stop Draven from coming after me or Winslow coming after Caulder. But I still wanted to know the truth. I wanted to dig past the interpretations and lost information that happened over the years each time someone new learned about the prophecy. Instead of being afraid of what the prophecy meant, I wanted to know the truth behind it, good or bad. I wanted all the information I could get to give me more agency in choosing my future, but I wouldn't let it control me or my emotions anymore.

"I still want to do this," I said with confidence. "But you're right. If, for some reason, we don't find answers, we'll be okay."

-

CAULDER

I could feel the shift in Remy's mood as she let go of some of the stress she had been holding onto for days now. When she felt like something was her responsibility, she had a tendency to hold her emotions in, not wanting to burden anyone else. That was something we had in common, so it was easy for me to notice when it was happening.

I knew she blamed herself for the possible war, but I was just as much at fault as she was. I may not have been part of that prophecy, but Winslow wanted my power. I was the one who broke free from their facility, showing them just how powerful I actually was. I was the one who fought against him.

I knew Remy had the same power inside of her, but Winslow hadn't seemed to notice it yet. He only wanted to get his hands on Remy to control me, which I couldn't allow to happen. If he realized the power locked up inside of my sister, he would be after her for the same reasons, and I never wanted Remy to experience the things I had.

"I can do this," Remy insisted. Her emotions weren't spilling into the air, suffocating me anymore, so this time I believed her.

I grabbed her hands and said, "Then let's do this."

We closed our eyes and focused on the origin of the prophecy. I thought about the different variations we had come across and tried to trace them further and further into the past. I could feel the world swirling around us, and I already knew this was working better than any of our other attempts.

When I felt the world stop moving, I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was Remy staring back at me. I held onto her hands as I looked around the room.

"We're no longer in Kansas," Remy chuckled.

"No kidding," I whispered. There was no need to whisper, but it felt like there was. The room we were in was dark, but I could still see clearly. The floors were made of old wood, and there were no signs of electronics anywhere because they didn't exist during this time. I looked for signs of candles, but I didn't see any of those either. I didn't know enough about history to even have a remote idea how long ago this woman was alive.

There were no windows, and the only exit was a small door at the front of the room. In the corner, there was a woman sitting in a rocking chair, knitting something that looked like the start of a scarf. The color of her hair was the same as mine and my mother's, and her eyes also matched ours. She almost looked like a younger version of my mother, only with a bob cut instead of long hair.

She was sitting there with wide eyes, but she wasn't focused on anything in particular. Letting go of Remy's hands, I stepped forward and waved my hand in front of her face to see if she recognized any movement. No reaction.

Either she wasn't aware of our presence, since this was just a vision, or she was blind and couldn't see us.

Remy looked at me, and I shrugged. I had no idea who this woman was or why we arrived here, but I was sure there was something here that would lead us to the prophecy.

"I've been waiting for you." The woman's voice rang out like a song. Her eyes still held no recognition, and I was leaning towards her being blind. "Remy, Caulder. Have a seat."