CHAPTER 63: HIS REAL MOTIVE

I could have laughed at how ridiculous it sounded if Rion didn’t look so serious when he said it.

Me? One of the keys to awakening the Celestial Wolf from her centuries of slumber?

The thought itself was so absurd I almost snorted.

It was the kind of tale pups grew up hearing at their elders’ knees. Grand, dramatic, and meant to stay buried in storybooks, not follow me into the shadows of reality.

"Are you sure you’re not getting the wrong person?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even, but the edge of disbelief bled through.

How could I have anything to do with the Celestial Wolf?

I could barely believe she truly existed. To me, she had always been a myth, a tale woven with too much poetry and too little sense. Something carved into old stone tablets and whispered in half-forgotten songs, preserved not because it was true, but because people loved the idea of it.

But many people, Rion among them, clung to it as though it was written into their reality.

"I could be wrong. Who knows?" he said with a casual shrug. "But there’s a chance I’m right. And I’m very determined to complete the keys and destroy the wards of the Undersea Tower."

The way he said it so calmly, so absolute, made my stomach turn.

I couldn’t help the mocking smile that curved my lips. "Are you even sure that she exists in that place?"

The Undersea Tower was buried deep in the Night Sea to the west, a place few had ever dared to sail. Those waters were black and merciless, swallowing ships whole.

The Tower was said to be a sacred ruin, wrapped in wards so ancient that even the most powerful of wolf shifters had failed to breach them. No one had seen its halls in centuries. It was untouchable. Inaccessible.

At least, that was what the books claimed. They said the wards would only open itself once the Celestial Wolf awakened. But how to wake her up? No one knew.

And yet here stood Rion Morrigan, speaking as if the Tower was a puzzle box waiting for his hands.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. By now, I should have known that Rion was so full of himself that when he set his sights on something, impossibility became irrelevant.

"So that’s your motive," I murmured, mostly to myself.

He tilted his head slightly, as though amused I’d only just pieced it together.

I hated to admit it, but a part of me believed that it’s his real motive. For him, he wasn’t spinning fables. His certainty rang too solid, too iron-clad. Even Finn believed it. The Unified Alliance believed it. Why else would they host their great contest every century? Wolves tearing each other apart, bleeding for glory, all for the chance to claim what lay beneath the sea.

It was their proof. A proof enough for them that she was real. Just sleeping, waiting, deep within that submerged tower.

The stories said that whoever awakened her... whoever mated with her... would become more than Alpha. More than a ruler. They would be untouchable, a god in their own right.

"You want her to be your mate," I said, staring at Rion.

As expected, the deep root of all his actions wasn’t some noble vision. It was greed. The same greed that poisoned every man who dared chase after the Celestial Wolf. He wanted to seize that unparalleled power for himself. To hold the world in his hands. Just like Finn.

He didn’t answer me. He didn’t need to.

The smug curve of his mouth was confirmation enough. That look of quiet arrogance.

I swallowed the bitterness coating my tongue. "But from what I know," I continued, "the wards can’t simply be forced open. The Celestial Wolf must awaken herself. Only then will the wards unravel."

The faint torchlight along the bridge flickered, shadows stretching across his sharp features.

His crimson eyes gleamed, catching the glow like molten coals. "I can’t afford to wait, unfortunately."

I arched a brow, masking the unease curling in my gut with a mocking smile. "Oh? I thought you said the Alliance doesn’t hold your interest?"

Did he want to overthrow them and rule the continent? Was that what he craved? Absolute power?

His smirk widened, though his voice carried none of the amusement in his expression.

"My disinterest in them has nothing to do with my motivations, Vivien." He leaned casually against the pillar of stone, but the tension in the air betrayed the weight of his words. "I can’t tell you everything. But yes," his lashes lowered slightly, and his shadows stirred behind him hounds. "I do want the power the Celestial Wolf offers. And if I have to split the wards open myself, I’ll do it."

I felt the weight of that conviction press down on me.

There was no hesitation in him, no flicker of doubt. Just pure, dangerous determination. His words weren’t just a declaration of ambition, they were a vow.

And that was what unsettled me most.

There was something sharper beneath it, a desperate edge that reeked of survival. As though this wasn’t just about wanting power, but about needing it.

"You speak like a man who thinks the world owes him its crown."

His eyebrow shot up. "Or perhaps like a man who intends to take what the world keeps from him."

The shadows at his back pulsed faintly, curling and uncurling, as if they responded to the force of his will alone.

I couldn’t help but wonder if they would lunge at me the moment he snapped his fingers.

But I refused to shrink. Folding my arms across my chest, I met his crimson gaze with my own, hazel flecked with gold.

"I’m sure you’re too secretive to tell me about your true motivations," I said, my voice low, edged with defiance. "But answer me this, why do you think I am a key? You said I’m one of the keys. What are the others, then? How do you even know any of this?"