Chapter 646: The Moment Fate Was Broken

Sophia shook her head, the movement slow at first, then sharper.

"That’s not possible."

Her voice came out unsteady, like the words themselves didn’t want to exist.

"It can’t be possible," she continued, looking straight at Selene. "You made me see that vision. Orion... when he was younger. That had to mean something. That had to be a sign."

She swallowed, her brows tightening.

"It wasn’t just random."

Before she could go any further, Selene spoke.

"Do you remember what Oculum told you?"

The question cut clean through her words.

Sophia stilled.

Her gaze stayed locked on Selene, but she didn’t answer immediately.

Selene tilted her head slightly, watching her.

"Do you?" she repeated softly.

Sophia’s fingers curled into the blanket.

"...Yes," she said after a moment.

Selene nodded once.

"Then you remember this," she said. "Once a vision is seen, it cannot be altered."

Sophia’s chest tightened.

"It is the course of things," Selene continued. "What is seen... must come to pass."

Sophia stared at her.

Then she shook her head again.

"I know that," she said quickly. "I know that, Oculum told me that. But that doesn’t..."

Her voice faltered.

"That doesn’t make sense," she finished, quieter now. "It shouldn’t be possible."

Selene smiled.

It wasn’t a comforting smile.

"That is the usual course of things," she said gently.

Sophia’s breath hitched slightly.

"But you," Selene continued, "made things different."

Sophia frowned.

Selene stepped closer, or perhaps the distance simply folded again.

"You refused to let things play out," she said. "You interfered."

The word lingered.

"And because you chose to interfere," Selene went on, her voice soft but certain, "things changed. And at first, I thought you changed it for the worse." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Sophia didn’t respond.

She couldn’t.

Selene’s gaze softened slightly.

"But I must admit..." she added, almost thoughtfully, "it was not the worst outcome."

Sophia blinked.

"What?"

Selene’s lips curved faintly.

"You and Orion," she said. "You are the only ones who chose each other."

Sophia’s brows drew together.

"What are you talking about?"

"You picked yourselves as mates," Selene said simply. "Not fate. Not prophecy. Not design."

Her voice lowered slightly.

"You."

Sophia’s heartbeat quickened.

"That moment," Selene continued, "when you interfered... when you chose to help the Nightshade Pack instead of letting the vision unfold..."

She held Sophia’s gaze.

"That is when your fates became intertwined."

Sophia’s breath caught.

"It became inevitable," Selene said. "From that point onward... you and Orion were always going to find your way to each other."

Sophia stared at her.

Then let out a short, disbelieving breath.

"This has to be a joke," she said flatly.

Selene shook her head.

"It is not. Orion is a descendant of the one Victoria has succeeded."

The words dropped heavily.

Sophia froze.

Her throat moved as she swallowed.

"By ’succeeded’... do you mean Dolion?" Sophia asked slowly.

Selene nodded.

"Yes."

The room seemed to grow quieter.

"But Oculum..." Sophia started, her thoughts scrambling. "He didn’t tell us anything about that."

Selene’s expression shifted slightly.

"No," she said. "He did not."

Sophia frowned.

"It is something he did know," Selene continued. "But it is also something most people forget."

She paused before adding quietly,

"Dolion was not a singular child. He had a brother... a twin brother."

Sophia blinked.

"A... twin?" she asked, surprise clouding her words.

Selene nodded.

"Yes."

Her voice softened.

"His brother was mute. And easily overlooked."

Sophia’s brows drew together.

"Most people forgot about him," Selene continued. "Especially when everything began to fall apart."

She paused.

"Dolion himself despised him... well, not at first. At first, he treated him like a brother. He visited him and paid attention to him numerous times, like one would do for a brother who had a speech problem. But things changed, and he started treating him like an inconvenience."

Sophia’s fingers tightened again.

"He treated him like nothing," Selene added. "Like a shadow that existed only to be ignored."

A brief silence followed.

"His name was Kaelith. And contrary to what Dolion thought, he wasn’t weak, only unseen."

Sophia didn’t speak.

"He left," Selene continued. "When everything collapsed. And he moved west."

Something in Sophia’s chest tightened.

"And there he built the Nightshade Pack."

Sophia’s breath caught.

Silence filled the space again.

Then Selene spoke once more.

"But because of what that bloodline had already done..." she said, quieter now, "I made a decision."

Sophia didn’t like the tone of that.

Selene met her eyes.

"I intended to wipe them out."

Sophia’s stomach dropped.

"Every last one of Dolion’s generation. But you interfered."

Sophia stared at her, then she shook her head as a laugh escaped her, but it was without humor.

Selene didn’t react.

"Did you even think?" Sophia asked once her laugh died down, her voice hard. "For one second?"

Selene remained silent.

"That people would suffer because of that?" Sophia continued. "That people would lose families, people they loved, people they were attached to? Did you stop to think of that for even one fucking minute?"

Her voice sharpened.

"You wanted to wipe out a full generation—people who hadn’t offended you—just because some people from their generation wanted you dead and wanted your power? Something that could have been avoided if you had just decided to remain in your position as a goddess and not bother everyone else with your bullshit?"

Selene’s gaze didn’t waver.

"Corruption spreads," she said quietly. "And I didn’t doubt that someone in that generation wouldn’t inherit it."

Sophia’s chest rose unevenly.

"I thought I was protecting you," Selene added.

Sophia let out a breath that shook.

"By killing them?"

Selene didn’t answer that.

"You chose differently," she said instead.

And that was it.

That was the breaking point.

"I chose because I couldn’t watch it happen!" Sophia snapped.

Her voice echoed slightly.

"I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing!"

Her hands clenched into the blanket.

"It felt like my chest was being ripped open!" she went on, her voice cracking now. "When I saw Orion die—"

Selene’s gaze softened.

"That is because now you remember, and you have already formed a bond with him."

"No," Sophia told her. "Everything I remembered... I relived it, and it was the same feelings as then. And I can tell you, you are wrong about that. Perhaps Orion and I already had a connection before I even met him."