My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 89: The Coming Eclipse

Kael

I woke to darkness and the soft weight of Violet still cradled against my chest.

The park was nearly empty now, and the moon hung high overhead, casting silver light through the tree’s canopy. Not dawn yet. Late night, perhaps only a few hours past midnight.

I sighed, slightly disturbed that I had slept off just like that.

But at my waking moment, I couldn’t bring myself to move.

She was warm against me, her breathing deep and even in sleep. Her hands still rested over mine where they were clasped at her stomach, her head tilted slightly to one side, exposing the graceful curve of her neck. The shawl had slipped down somehow, and the soft patches of the moonlight painted her skin in shades of silver and shadow.

She looked more peaceful than I’d ever seen her.

I wanted to stay exactly like this. To feel the way she fit so perfectly against me. To hold her until dawn broke and the world demanded I return to being the Supreme Alpha instead of just... this. A man holding the woman he cares about.

Her story played through my mind again. The casual cruelties, every deliberate hurt, and every moment of grinding survival she had endured.

My arms tightened slightly around her sleeping form.

’She has been through so much.’

I slowly came to a strange realisation that I had neglected an aspect of my nation. I wondered how many other Omegas were there? How many across the capital, across other packs in my nation, were living through similar situations at the moment?

Discomfort stirred within me. I couldn’t just cater to everyone’s needs, but I could find some use for Omegas in the territory.

It wouldn’t hurt to have more hands on other important aspects.

I’d known, deep down, that omegas faced discrimination. It was an accepted reality, one I had never questioned deeply.

It hadn’t seemed important... and Omegas were so few in number— 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

I clenched my jaw, trying to dispel the intrusive thoughts.

’But they are weak.’

Even so, they did not necessarily deserve such treatment. And Violet had survived things that would have broken stronger wolves. Had learned to endure, to persist, to carve out an existence in circumstances designed to crush her.

That wasn’t weakness.

I slightly grimaced. There were pressing concerns at the moment, but I would really look into the Omega situation properly.

At the very least, if their physical strength is worth nothing, discriminating them was futile.

I had been so focused on territory disputes, on maintaining peace between packs, on the logistics of running a nation. Important things, necessary things. That I had been blind to what was happening in the shadows of my own territory. To wolves suffering under my rule because I hadn’t bothered to look.

The thought settled in my chest like a stone.

Violet shifted slightly in her sleep, a small sound escaping her lips, and I forced myself to relax my grip before I woke her.

She needed proper rest in an actual bed, not here.

Carefully, I shifted my weight and slid one arm beneath her knees while keeping the other around her back. She made another soft sound but didn’t wake as I lifted her against my chest, cradling her carefully.

I got to my feet and focused on my strides, moving swiftly but measured enough that I wouldn’t jolt her out of her sleep. Soon enough, as I neared the castle’s courtyard, the world blurred into streaks of shadow and light, and within seconds, we were back in my quarters.

I slipped into her room, gently laid her on the bed, and slipped off those sandals.

I straightened, intending to leave, but found myself looking around the room instead.

The space was exactly as I remembered it, exactly as my mother had kept it.

I’d had it prepared for Violet without really giving it a second thought. But standing here now, the memories were impossible to ignore.

I let my gaze drift around the space, taking in the familiar details. The vanity where my mother used to sit and brush her hair. The wardrobe that no longer held her clothes. The balcony doors that she loved to keep open, even on cold nights.

I had spent countless hours here as a child, sitting on that very bed while she talked about whatever she found amusing.

I moved toward the doors leading to the balcony, needing air, needing space from the weight of memory pressing down on me. Stepping onto the balcony brought on a faint wave of the cool night breeze.

Something was odd.

The moon seemed odd, and I couldn’t entirely place why.

My wolf stirred, his attention suddenly sharp and focused like mine.

"An eclipse will be coming soon."

I frowned, my hands tightening on the balcony railing.

So that’s what it was.

"Can you pinpoint exactly when?"

"Within the next two to three weeks. Perhaps sooner," he answered.

My jaw clenched. The hunt beginning within that time frame. And the summit would follow less than two months after. An eclipse during either event could complicate things significantly.

"Do I really have to ask you for specifics?" I hissed. "What sort of eclipse? You should be able to tell that much."

"Everything should be fine for either the hunt. It’s a solar eclipse. Not lunar."

Some of the tension drained from my shoulders. A solar eclipse wouldn’t rob us of the moon’s influence during the hunt. If anything, the added celestial phenomenon might provide an extra boost to those participating.

Hopefully, it fell during the hunt. I would be able to properly understand when the closer the time came.

"Still, this is strange. This is outside our calender," I murmured.

"True. While this feels random, I am certain it is a solar eclipse," my wolf pressed. "I can go look further into it."

"That is fine."

I would need to pay a visit to the temple tomorrow, along with notify the other wolves about this.

My gaze drifted back toward the room, toward her sleeping form barely visible through the doorway.

How would the eclipse affect her?