When The Moon Hides Her Crown (Seraphina) by Pooja novel Chapter 249

**He Promised to Give Me the World, Yet the Price Was My Soul by Caden Blake**
**Chapter 249: Before She Was Born**

**FINN**

With a heavy heart, I dragged a chair across the cold, dimly lit chamber, the shadows clinging to the walls like secrets. I positioned myself directly across from Elder Milton, who was suspended in the air, ensnared by glimmering silver chains that seemed to mock his frailty.

“I heard you wanted to talk, Elder Milton,” I declared, my voice firm, more of a proclamation than an inquiry.

His gaze met mine, filled with a mixture of desperation and resignation, his breaths coming in ragged gasps, each one a reminder of his dire situation. I took a long, deliberate drag from my cigarette, watching as the smoke spiraled upwards, curling into the darkness above us. “I was willing to speak two days ago,” he croaked, his voice strained, “but I gave up hope the moment you dragged me from my sanctuary. You didn’t show up, and I was thrown into this pit for a reason.” His voice escalated into a frantic scream as the acid tank beneath him hissed, the corrosive liquid creeping upward, eager to claim more of him.

The sight was grotesque; everything below his thighs had been consumed, leaving only the remnants of flesh and bone. Each slight movement he made sent the acid surging higher, a relentless predator devouring its prey.

“You see, I am a busy man, Elder Milton,” I replied coolly, resting my boot on the edge of the tank, feeling it tremble beneath my weight as the corrosive liquid sloshed dangerously close to his ruined legs.

Milton howled in agony, the sound of sizzling flesh joining his cries in a horrifying symphony.

“Such noise.” I lifted the cigarette lazily, my demeanor unfazed. “Someone should find something to gag him with.”

Austin stepped forward, ready to comply, but Milton’s voice pierced the air, frantic and desperate. “I WILL TELL!! I WILL-TELL YOU EVERYTHING!!”

Austin glanced at me for guidance, but I met his gaze with a steely stare, signaling him to hold back. “What do you know about my mother?” I demanded, my voice dropping to a low, menacing whisper. The moment our eyes locked, I could see him tremble, fear coursing through him. “Was it truly my father who sent her to that experiment?”

The Elder’s expression twisted into a mask of dread. “If I speak of your mother, Alpha Magnus will have my head,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

I regarded him with icy indifference. “Submerge him completely in the acid,” I commanded, turning to leave.

“No! No! Nooo!” Milton wailed, the sound a haunting blend of plea and confession. He strained against his restraints, his eyes wide with panic. “Your mother… she had suffered miscarriages before you were conceived.” His words hung in the air, heavy with implication. I paused, turning back to face him, my heart racing.

He swallowed hard, urgency lacing his voice as if he believed each second might be his last. “When she attended the annual festival at Lupine Academy, she learned of the blessing ritual meant for unborn pups. She yearned for it to be performed on her child. Alpha Magnus opposed her, insisting they keep the pregnancy a secret until she safely delivered, but then… she began to bleed. Another miscarriage could have killed her, and your father refused to let that happen. He brought her to us. Our wizards performed the ritual to save them both, mother and child. They needed the pure, potent blood of an Alpha in her womb, and they had their eyes set on Alpha Magnus’ offspring, so they eagerly conducted the ritual. The wizards saved her, they saved the child, but we still couldn’t find what we sought… And the moment you were born, only Alpha Magnus dared to hold you in his arms, but your mother…”

“What were they searching for in the wombs of those she-wolves?” I demanded, my tone sharp enough to cut through the oppressive silence.

His lips quivered as he forced the words out, slow and reluctant. “The fetus that absorbs the white flower.”

I froze, the weight of his revelation crashing down on me. “Absorb?”

He nodded weakly, his eyes glazed with fear. “Twenty years ago, we discovered that fetus in Alpha Darious Nightbane’s Luna. Her womb absorbed the white flower, and that’s when we successfully identified the Blood Petal… The experiment and the ritual concluded that day.”

A chilling realization settled in my chest, darkening my thoughts. “So, before she was even born, you knew who the Blood Petal was. Why then sign the marriage proposal and play your little games? You could have simply taken her.”

“It wasn’t that simple,” he rasped, bitterness seeping into his voice as old memories resurfaced. “Darious Nightbane’s soulmate was… formidable. The moment her womb absorbed the white petal, she understood the ritual was not a blessing from the Goddess but rather an experiment. When she learned that the child within her belonged to us and that she could not return home until she delivered the baby to us, she lost control. She made a scene that drew unwanted attention, risking exposure of our ritual and the existence of the Blood Petal. She refused to relinquish her child, prepared to end her pregnancy right there if we attempted to take her back. It would have been catastrophic if the Blood Petal had perished as a fetus.”

I stood there, paralyzed, my mind a blank slate, racing to comprehend the implications.

That’s when a familiar voice boomed into the room, cutting through the tension like a knife. “Am I also permitted to ask a question, if you don’t mind, Council Head, Alpha Finn?”

I didn’t need to look up to recognize him. The air shifted as he strolled in with a casual confidence that was unmistakable. Aran stood beside me, offering a lazy bow, his demeanor nonchalant. “Just one question,” he said, his tone light, a small smile playing on his lips.

Austin’s frown deepened, confusion mingling with irritation. “How the hell did you get in here?” This place was concealed within the Lupine Academy, not marked on any maps. Yet, I wasn’t surprised that Aran had managed to infiltrate this hidden chamber.

“Oh… I have my ways of tracking the refuse,” Aran replied, his gaze landing on Milton, whose breath hitched at the sight of him.

I didn’t acknowledge Aran’s entrance, choosing instead to light another cigarette, the flicker of the match illuminating the darkness for a fleeting moment.

Meanwhile, Aran leaned closer to Milton, his smile widening with a mocking glee. “Elder Milton,” he drawled, his voice dripping with irony, “You required the Blood Petal to awaken on her twenty-first birthday, yet you stirred her before that. I wonder why?”

The room fell into an oppressive silence. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed Milton’s face draining of color, transforming him into a ghostly figure.

“Could it be that you feared…” Aran paused dramatically, leaning in closer to whisper, “…she would fall in love with someone else?”

Milton’s eyes widened in terror, his body shaking as if struck by the weight of Aran’s words. “So you truly feared that,” Aran continued, his smile sharp and triumphant, “But you are too late to prevent it, Elder Milton. Do you know why?” He leaned even closer, whispering conspiratorially, “The Blood Petal is mated to a lycan…”