My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 244: Beyond The Skies

Violet

"You should see it..." He said softly. "It’s something every wolf should experience at least once."

I stared at him, surprised by the genuine passion in his words.

He glanced at me, and sadness softened his eyes.

I didn’t know what to say to that. I had never thought much about temples or stars or any of it. Survival had always come first. There had been no room for such wonder in my life.

"Is it really that grand?" I asked him.

His smile returned faintly and he looked at the sky for a moment. "It really is."

He then stepped aside and gestured towards the eyepiece of the telescope. "Come have a look."

I hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward.

The metal was cool beneath my fingers as I leaned down and pressed my eye to the small opening.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.

I had expected... I didn’t know what I had expected. A brighter dot of light. Maybe something impressive but this was neither of those things.

What I was looking at—whatever it was, was enormous. A swirling surface of deep red and burnt orange, with waves of cream and gold rippling across its surface like rivers of light. Vast spirals that looked almost alive twisted and curled within those bands across the surface and for so long I stared, not fully comprehending what I was seeing.

My breath quivered, and I couldn’t move or blink.

It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

What was this?

I tore my eyes from the viewpoint and looked at the sky where the telescope was pointing, but I was seeing nothing but the moon and white dots. I pressed my eye back into the hole, repeating this same action over and over before I finally stepped back from the telescope, my mouth hanging open.

My eyes found Rowan’s, wide and disbelieving.

"What... what was that?"

Rowan moved towards it. "It should be a star, let me—"

He leaned down to look through the eyepiece, and I watched his expression shift. A smile spread across his face, warm and amused.

He straightened and looked at me.

"Technically, that wasn’t a star," he said. "It’s another planetary body like the one we currently live on. But it looks vastly different."

My mind reeled.

Another world. I had just seen another world.

Rowan moved to adjust the telescope. "Let me find an actual star for you to—"

"No." The word came out sharper than I intended, and I stepped forward quickly. "I want to see it again. That... thing. "

He paused, looking at me with delight. "As you wish."

I pressed my eye to the telescope again, and there it was. That massive, swirling surface of colour and chaos. I drank in every single detail.

"I can’t believe it’s this close," I whispered, more to myself than to him.

I felt Rowan move behind me, and then his hands were on mine.

"It took decades to perfect these devices," he said softly, his breath stirring the hair near my ear. "But you can control it yourself. Here."

He guided my fingers to a small dial on the side of the telescope.

"I set it to the highest magnification for you," he explained. "What you’re seeing is as close as we can get. But if you turn this..."

He helped me rotate the dial, and the image shifted. The planet seemed to pull back, growing smaller, and now I could see it in its entirety.

It was a perfect sphere.

It was surrounded by a haze of shimmering pink that clung to the areas around it like powder. It looked almost soft and gentle despite the rapid movement I had seen on its surface.

I exhaled shakily.

"It’s incredible," I breathed.

"Would you like to see more?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Rowan’s hands guided mine again, helping me tilt the telescope across the sky. The view shifted, stars streaming past in blurs of light, until he helped me settle on something new.

A star this time.

It was also nothing like I expected.

The blazing ball of light had some shape and it was a brilliant blue colour, despite it still being a great distance away. Waves of flame spiralled outward from its body, twisting and curling like ribbons caught in an invisible wind. They shot out in arcs, some stretching far into the darkness before curling back, and others erupting in bursts that seemed to pulse with their own rhythm.

"That’s a star," Rowan murmured behind me. "A young one from what the priestesses said."

I remained speechless.

We found others after that, along with more clusters of tinier lights that Rowan explained were stars so far away they appeared as single points even through the telescope.

Each one filled me with wonder.

After some time, Rowan gently removed one of the smaller telescopes from a nearby stand.

"Here," he said, nodding to the glossy black floor. "Lie down. You can explore the closer bodies more comfortably this way."

I hesitated, glancing at the cold stone.

"It’s not as uncomfortable as it looks," he added with a small smile.

I eyed the smaller one in his hand as he sat down, then I lowered myself to the floor beside him. He laid down flat on his back and I did the same.

He handed me the telescope, and I held it up to my eye, pointing it toward the open dome above us.

The sky unfurled before me.

Rowan’s hand found mine occasionally, guiding me to adjust the focus, helping me find new wonders. I had even managed to see the moon up close and it was just as beautiful as I expected.

I lost track of time.

The cold of the floor faded, replaced by a warmth I couldn’t quite explain. At some point, I found myself leaning against Rowan’s side, my head resting against his chest. I cradled the telescope against my stomach, my mind drifting as I imagined all what I had seen, occasionally even looking through the telescope again and again.

I felt sleepy, but I shook it off, not wanting this to end.

"I didn’t know how beautiful the sky was," I murmured, "It’s more amazing than I expected."