Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 240

Chapter 240

Chapter 240

Chapter 240

ARIA

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The serpent actually spoke to me, English words communicating clearly, having intelligence that animals weren’t supposed to have.

“Child of the moon,” it said, the words resonating through my bones. “We have waited centuries for one who could claim the fragments. But claiming requires proving. Survive the trial. Earn what you seek to possess.”

I stared at it, my exhausted brain struggling to process that the serpent was talking, that it had just called me “child of the moon,” that it had referred to “fragments” plural suggesting there were more crystals like the one I held.

“What trial?” I managed to ask, my voice coming out steadier than I felt. “I already retrieved the crystal. The objective was to reach the island and take it back to shore.”

“That was the surface trial,” the serpent said, its massive head tilting slightly as it studied me. “The trial the Ghost Council designed for ordinary competitors. But you are not ordinary. Your bloodline marks you as something more. Something that requires deeper testing before the fragments can be claimed.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, though pieces were starting to click together in ways I didn’t like.

“What are you? Why can you talk? Are you one of the Ghost Council’s creations?”

“We are guardians,” the serpent said. “Placed here when the fragments were hidden. Bound to this place to ensure that only those worthy of moon magic could claim what was scattered. The Ghost Council knows we exist but they do not control us. We serve older powers. We answer to the moon itself.”

The moonlight illuminating the lake seemed to pulse as if in confirmation. I felt my bloodline respond to it, felt the connection between the light and the crystal and whatever these serpents actually were.

“What trial?” I asked again, gripping the crystal tighter. “What do I have to do to prove I’m worthy?”

“Survive,” the serpent said simply. “Face what you fear most. Overcome the darkness within yourself. The fragments respond to inner truth, child of the moon. They amplify what you are-all of what you are, including the parts you wish to hide. If you cannot face your own darkness, the magic will consume you. Will twis you into something monstrous. Better to die now than to become that.”

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Chapter 240

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Before I could respond, before I could ask what it meant by “face what you fear most,” the crystal in my hands began to glow brighter. The moonlight illuminating the lake intensified, becoming almost blinding, and I felt power surge through me with intensity that drove me to my knees.

The world around me began to shift. The cave, the lake, the serpent-all of it started to fade like I was being pulled somewhere else, drawn into the crystal itself or into some space the crystal was creating.

I heard Ivory shouting from the shore but couldn’t make out her words. Heard the serpent say something else but the words were lost in the rushing sound that filled my ears. Then everything dissolved into light.

When my vision cleared, I was no longer on the island.

I was standing in Blackwood territory. In the clearing where Damon had rejected me, where he’d chosen Sera, where I’d been humiliated in front of the entire pack. The memory was so vivid it felt real-I could smell the forest, feel the night air, see the assembled pack members watching with expressions ranging from pity to satisfaction as their future Alpha chose someone else.

Damon stood before me, Sera at his side wearing my mother’s necklace like a trophy. And he was speaking the words I’d heard before, the rejection that had shattered my world and sent me running into rogue territory where I’d nearly died.

“You were never enough, Aria,” he said, his voice carrying that same casual cruelty I remembered.

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“Never strong enough, never special enough, never anything that would make you worthy of being Luna. Sera understands what it takes to lead. You’re just… adequate. And adequate isn’t good enough.”

The assembled pack members were nodding, agreeing, their faces showing that they’d always known I was inadequate, that they’d always seen through my attempts to be more than I was.

I wanted to run. Wanted to escape this memory, this moment that had defined so much of how I saw myself. But I couldn’t move. Couldn’t look away. Was trapped here, forced to relive my worst failure.

Then the scene shifted.

Now I was in Shadowmere. In the arena where I been accused of attacking Ivory, where the noose had been placed around my neck, where been seconds from execution for a crime I didn’t commit. The pack was watching again, their expressions hostile, convinced of my guilt.

Kael stood at the front, and his face showed disappointment so profound it hurt to look at. “I thought you might be different,” he said.

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