I Forgot I Loved You Alpha (Ellie and Nolan) novel Chapter 173

Chapter 173

“You mean… that wasn’t a dream version of him?”

“No. It was him, responding to your distress in the dream world.”

I didn’t know whether to feel comforted or more afraid.

“You said my mother was a seer,” I said instead. “Did she… did she ever doubt her gift?”

“Every day,” the priestess said softly. “Sight is a blessing and a burden. It shows you what others cannot see, but it also strips away comfort. Selene feared the things she saw until she learned that fear clouds truth.”

I frowned. “Clouds truth?”

She nodded. “Visions are like water, child. The more you thrash, the murkier they become. Only stillness brings clarity.”

I let that sink in. The dreams, the goddess’s voice, the wolf-they’d all left me shaken, desperate for control. Maybe that was the problem.

“I don’t know how to stop being afraid,” I admitted quietly.

The priestess smiled. “You start by trusting that fear does not come from the goddess. It comes from what would keep you from her.”

Her words were gentle, but they landed with the weight of a command.

I stared at the great statue ahead of us-the serene face of the goddess carved from pale stone. For the first time, I noticed the faint lines of a crescent moon etched across her brow, the same mark that sometimes appeared in my dreams.

“Your mother used to come here often,” the priestess said softly. “When her visions grew dark, she would sit here for hours, breathing until the noise in her mind quieted. She believed the goddess never truly spoke in riddles- only in reflections. What we fear most is often what we need to understand.”

Her gaze turned to me again. “What is it you fear most, Elain?”

The name, full and formal, hit something deep inside me.

“I’m afraid…” My voice broke, and I had to start again. “I’m afraid I’ll never be enough. As a mother. As a leader. As… me. I keep losing the people I love, losing myself. And I don’t know how to stop it.”

The priestess’s expression softened. “Then the goddess has given you your answer.”

I blinked. “What?”

“To love anyway,” she said simply. “To stand in the face of loss and choose love again. That is the message of the divine. That is balance.”

For a moment, I couldn’t speak.

The words were too simple, too profound.

The silence that followed wasn’t empty-it was full, humming faintly, as if the temple itself had exhaled.

Finally, the priestess rose with slow grace and extended her hand. “Come. I want to show you something.”

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Chapter 173

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I followed her through a small archway into a back chamber. The walls here were older, rougher, the stone etched with symbols I didn’t recognize. In the center stood a pedestal with a small bowl of water, still and clear.

“This,” she said, “is the scrying basin your mother used. She saw many things here-births, deaths, wars, and peace. But the truest visions were never about the world. They were about herself.”

She gestured to the bowl. “Look.”

I hesitated, then stepped closer. The water reflected my face back at me-tired, pale, eyes ringed with sleeplessness. Then, as I watched, the reflection rippled.

The faintest shimmer of silver light moved through it, and for just a heartbeat, I thought I saw my mother’s smile in the surface.

When it cleared, only my reflection remained. But something in me felt lighter.

The priestess’s hand rested gently on my shoulder. “The goddess does not ask for perfection, child. Only faith. Trust what she shows you, even when it frightens you. The meaning will come when you stop fighting the message.

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