The Lycan King's Outcast Omega (by Cara Anderson) novel Chapter 218

My shock must show plainly on my face because she cackles, a sound like dry leaves rustling. “Did you think I sent you to that border by accident? That I couldn’t sense the approaching convergence of powers?”

“You knew,” I whisper, sinking down opposite her. “You knew I would meet him.”

“I knew possibilities,” she corrects. “Fate offers paths, not certainties. I saw a silver thread connecting you to a figure of power–one with a foot in two worlds. I did not know it would be the Lycan heir himself.” Her eyes narrow. “Though perhaps I should have guessed from the violet aura that surrounded the vision.”

The revelation that Thalia anticipated this meeting–perhaps even engineered it —leaves me momentarily speechless. All these years under her tutelage, had she been preparing me for this specific destiny?

“Why didn’t you warn me?” I finally ask, a hint of accusation creeping into my voice.

“Would you have believed me? That you, a healer from a hidden enclave, would be the true mate to the son of the king whose ancestors hunted our kind?” She snorts. “You would have thought me finally gone senile.”

She’s right, of course. I would have dismissed such a prediction as impossible fantasy. Even now, having felt the undeniable connection myself, it seems more dream than reality.

“Tell me everything,” Thalia commands. “Every detail of your meeting, every word exchanged.”

I hesitate only briefly before complying, describing the encounter in the clearing, the instantaneous flare of the mate bond, Alexander’s recognition and subsequent rejection of what it meant. I tell her about his conflict between prophecy and fate, about Princess Selene and the Northern delegation’s version of the prophecy.

Thalia listens in uncharacteristic silence, her gnarled fingers occasionally twitching as if weaving invisible threads. When I finish, she sits motionless for so long I wonder if she’s fallen into one of her trances.

“Elder Thalia?” I prompt gently.

“The prophecy has been twisted,” she finally says, her voice hardening. “As it was generations ago, when they hunted us to near extinction. History repeats its cruelest patterns.”

“What do you mean, twisted?”

She rises with surprising agility for one so ancient, moving to a carved wooden chest in the corner of the cave. From it, she withdraws a small leather pouch and returns to the fire.

“The prophecy that speaks of the Lycan heir and his balanced power–it is older than their kingdom, older than the division between Alpha strength and healing gifts.” She opens the pouch, sprinkling a powder into the flames that turns them momentarily blue. “In its original form, it spoke not of subjugation but of unification. Not of one bloodline ruling another, but of powers in harmony.”

“And the Northern delegation’s version?”

“A corruption,” she spits, disgust evident. “Twisted to serve their purpose, whatever that may be. The true prophecy remains hidden, protected.”

“Where?”

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“The Cave of Whispers,” she says, watching me closely. “A sacred place where the original words were carved in stone by the first seers, before written language could be manipulated by those seeking power.” She leans forward intensely. “Show me your left shoulder blade.”

The request startles me. “What?”

“Your birthmark, child. Show me.”

Bewildered, I turn and lower the collar of my tunic, exposing the small silver–white spiral mark I’ve had since birth. I’ve never thought it significant–many in our community have distinctive birthmarks, often linked to their particular healing abilities.

I hear Thalia’s sharp intake of breath. “As I feared,” she murmurs. “The mark of the Silverspiral bloodline.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, readjusting my clothing and turning back to her.

“Your family line–your mother’s line–descends from the original seers who recorded the prophecies. Those with the spiral mark have always had a particular gift for balancing energies, for seeing the connections between seemingly opposed forces.” Her expression grows grave. “It is why you can control your power so completely, why you heal differently than others. And that is why they will seek you specifically.”

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