Alpha's Hidden Precious Luna-Chapter 167

Lily POV

I stared at Uncle Tobias as if he’d suddenly grown a second head. His expression remained deadly serious, but the words coming out of his mouth were so absurd I could barely process them.

"Let me get this straight," I said slowly. "You want me to come with you? Just... leave? Right now?"

"As soon as you’re discharged," he confirmed, his tone matter-of-fact, as if he were suggesting something completely reasonable instead of utterly insane. "We need to begin your training immediately, prepare you for what’s coming."

"Training for what, exactly?" I asked, unable to keep the incredulity from my voice. "How to be a mythical werewolf princess?"

His jaw tightened. "This isn’t a joke, Lily. The Shadow Council will come after you now. I can feel it." He looked toward the window, tension radiating from his body. "If you’re not ready..." he trailed off ominously.

An amused laughter escaped my lips, equal parts genuine amusement and pure stress. "If I’m not ready, what? I’ll miss my chance to rule a kingdom that hasn’t existed for a hundred years?"

Uncle Tobias turned back to me, his eyes narrowing. "You don’t understand the danger—"

"No, you don’t understand," I interrupted, my initial shock giving way to irritation. "Do you honestly think I would just go with you? A man who, despite being my uncle, is practically a stranger to me? That I would uproot my entire life here, leave my friends and my mate, all because of some ancient prophecy you decided to spring on me a month ago and now while I’m still recovering from being kidnapped and nearly killed?"

"Lily—"

"No," I cut him off again, sitting up straighter in the hospital bed. "This is insane. You show up out of nowhere, tell me I’m some long-lost werewolf royalty, that there’s a secret council hunting me, and that I need to drop everything and run away with you. You realize how that sounds, right?"

His face hardened. "I understand your skepticism, but—"

"Skepticism?" I laughed, the sound sharp and humorless. "Uncle Tobias, this goes way beyond skepticism. You’re talking absolute nonsense. Next, you’ll be telling me I need to find a magic sword or something."

A muscle twitched in his jaw. "Your mother believed. She gave her life protecting this legacy—protecting you."

The mention of my mother sent a pang through my chest, but I pushed it aside. "Don’t. Don’t use her to manipulate me. I never knew her, and from everything you’ve told me, everything I thought I knew about her was a lie anyway."

"Not a lie," he insisted. "A necessary concealment. For your safety. I’m sure your mother’s friend must have told her husband to never mention it to you."

"Right. My safety." I shook my head. "The same safety that apparently requires me to abandon Kai when he needs me most? To run away from a threat that, conveniently, only you can see coming?"

Uncle Tobias exhaled heavily, "I know this is difficult to accept—"

"It’s not difficult to accept, it’s impossible to believe," I said flatly. "Look, I appreciate that you came to check on me. I really do. But this..." I gestured vaguely, encompassing his entire crazy story. "This is too much. You’re asking me to make life-altering decisions based on some ancient prophecy that sounds like it was pulled straight from a fantasy novel."

"The prophecy is real," he insisted. "And so is the danger."

I closed my eyes briefly, suddenly feeling very tired. With everything that had happened in the past week—Lucas’s kidnapping, Kai’s curse, and now this additional absurd prophecy from my uncle—felt crushing.

"I think I need to rest now," I said, firmly. "This has been... a lot."

"Lily, please, just listen—"

"No." I lay back against the pillows and turned onto my side, deliberately presenting my back to him—a clear dismissal. "I’m tired, Uncle Tobias. I want to be left alone."

For several moments, there was only silence. I could feel his gaze boring into my back, could practically hear the arguments forming in his mind. But I kept my position, feigning relaxation despite the tension thrumming through my body.

Finally, I heard him sigh. "I’ll be right outside your door if you need me," he said, his tone resigned but stubborn. "We’ll talk more after you’ve rested."

The door opened and closed, and I was alone again.

I waited several minutes, making sure he wasn’t going to come back in, before I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, Uncle Tobias’s wild claims mixing with everything else I was trying to process.

A royal bloodline. A prophecy. The Shadow Council. It was all so absurd, so completely outside my normal reality, that my first instinct was to dismiss it entirely like I had a month ago, when he had told me.

And yet...

There were things about myself I’d never been able to explain. The intuition that sometimes felt more like foresight. The occasional, disorienting moments when I could hear thoughts that weren’t my own or Kai’s. The strange dreams of places I’d never seen, people I’d never met.

Could there be some truth to what Uncle Tobias was saying? Not necessarily the dramatic prophecy or the idea that I was destined to rule all werewolves, but the part about my mother’s lineage being something special, something different?

I rubbed my temples, a headache forming behind my eyes. Even if there was some truth to his claims, that didn’t mean I needed to pack up and leave with him. Especially not now, not when Kai was fighting to break the curse that kept us apart.

My thoughts drifted to Kai, to the brief, painful meeting we’d had earlier. He had remembered everything, he’d said. The way he’d looked at me, with such longing and regret, was proof enough that he was dying to be with me just like I wanted to be with him too.

I needed to be here for him.

Whatever Uncle Tobias believed about my destiny or the dangers I faced, it would have to wait. Kai came first. Breaking his curse came first.

My decision made, I felt some of the tension drain from my body. I would be polite but firm with Uncle Tobias. I would thank him for his concern but make it clear I wasn’t going anywhere. If he wanted to stay and help with Kai’s situation, fine. If not, he could return to the ruins of our fallen kingdom or whatever he wanted.