82: A Visit to the Seers (Phoenix's POV)

It took me almost two weeks to reach the Royal Seers’ archive. They were in the middle of nowhere, and there were no trains or pathways that led to them. Only members of the Royal Family were given the honor of knowing the location, and this was the first time I was taking advantage.

I didn’t believe in prophecy or fate, really. I’d even doubted the stories about fated mates. Until Ada. The moment she’d reunited with her wolf, I’d felt it click into place. It was like my entire world had been gray, and I hadn’t even known it. Suddenly, everything was in color. Birds sang louder, rain sounded even better, and even something as simple as the smell of grass was extraordinary. Everything and nothing made sense all at once.

As far as I was concerned, I could never reject Ada. It didn’t matter if she would drive a dagger through my heart and destroy our kingdom. I was at her mercy. I would kneel before her and offer her my life if it would make her happy.

This is why I suggested going to the archives. Darius’s logic and loyalty to the Kingdom would end up with division amongst us. I believed that Nik felt the same way I did — maybe even stronger than I did— and he would take the three of us into hiding if it came to it. The thing was, I didn’t want it to come to that. Losing Darius would cause her pain, and I wasn’t sure I could bear watching her go through that again. The way she’d crumbled when he’d fucked Elizabeth and then married her was bad enough. The anguish... it had coursed through my own veins and driven me to distraction.

I shook the thoughts out of my head and looked up at the concealed building. It was in the middle of a forest, miles away from any civilization. The building itself was designed to blend in with the landscape and was almost entirely covered in ivy and other crawling vines. The entry was a large wooden door with etchings of the moon phases on it.

As I approached, the door opened and a Seer stepped into the doorway. These guys gave me the creeps— always in their velvet robes and almost sickly looking. He bowed to me, “Alpha Prince Phoenix Ashford,” he stepped aside and motioned for me to enter, “We’ve been expecting you.”

‘You have?’ was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t ask it. Of course they were. Hell, they probably knew what I was here for, too. “Thank you,” I muttered as I moved past him, “I’m here to—”

“You’re here to look at the prophecy about your mate,” the Seer clucked his tongue, “Without your father alive, none of us are surprised one of you found yourselves here, though we were originally expecting it to be Prince Nikolai. I’ll take you to one of the reading rooms,” the Seer moved forward with eery grace, “My brethren have already pulled the scroll for you.”

I followed him without saying another word. On the inside, the building looked just like any other. There was no electricity here, only oil lamps. Magick was most likely used to keep things from burning, as I was sure there was an inherent risk in not transitioning to electricity. It was an interesting choice, especially given how low the light was that the lamps emitted. Though, as wolves, our eyes would adjust to this.

The Seer entered a room. It was a simple square room, about five feet by five feet. There was a single chair and a desk with a scroll resting in the middle. Wordlessly, the Seer bowed to me again and exited the room. The door clicked shut behind him. I took the seat at the table and unrolled the scroll.

It was written in red ink on yellowed paper. For the most part, it aligned with what was written in our father’s journal. There were a few more details given, and the wording was just a bit different:

*Three Princes will be born, and they will rule over the Kingdom of the Moonglade in equal power.*

*There is a woman destined to be born with three wombs. When she meets the Princes, she will be pure, and magick will flow freely through her veins.*

*Her Princes will protect her to their dying breath, and she will bear them many children.*

*All of this can change if fate is fought or if the imbalance remains. A word of caution to those involved, for betrayal will be the root cause:*

*If the bonds are not completed, and disarray remains, only three sons will be born in tandem. They will be born a fortnight before their father’s death, and will bear the ruin of the Kingdom. If their fathers fight their fates, all lives will be forfeit, but only those whose mothers’ love is strong enough to protect.*

*One she will believe she loves, but will grow to hate as he turns his back on her, trial after trial. If he does not stand with her, if he does not choose her, his hunger for the crown will lead him to be drowned.*

*The second will have her heart fully. He will protect her with a ferocity others will not recognize within him. She will ask for his heart, and if he denies, her heart will break, but she will forgive. In the end, his fate will not change if he gives his heart or denies it. Her sword will pierce it, and she will mourn as he gives her his last breath.*

*The third will be seen as more friend than a lover. If he does not assert his place within her heart, he will remain unsatisfied within the bond. He will strike her when she is most vulnerable, and she will fight back with the very strength he gave her.*

*Heed this warning, so that all may live and the Kingdom may prosper. Ignore wisdom and find the Princes buried alongside their fallen kingdom.*

I blinked and reread the scroll. My heart thudded in my chest as I gripped the scroll in my fist and ran out the door of the reading room. It was probably against every rule, but no one stopped me as I booked it out of the building and into the woods. I had to return to Ada, to my brothers. Darius’s sentiment about our father’s journal was what I was feeling now— the contents of this scroll changed *everything*.

It wasn’t until I was nearly a mile away from the building that I smelled the other wolves. I stopped, my own wolf alerting to nearby presences. My nose twitched as I scented the air. Nothing out of the ordinary was there. A twig snapped behind me, and I whirled.

I counted six hooded figures as the burlap sack was shoved over my head.