Moonlit Vows Of Vengeance-Chapter 48: Unwilling Sacrifice

The air felt thinner when Lucas and I walked out of the throne room. I kept my expression flat. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to feel anything.

We turned a corner, and then like fate was laughing—I ran straight into Jesse.

He stumbled a step before catching himself. "Bella," he said, surprised. Then, smiling. "You’re back."

I stared at him. His hair was tousled, eyes too bright, lips too softspoken. So infuriatingly carefree. He had no idea what we had just been told.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

I forced a smile. "Let’s do that later tonight. I need to rest right now."

"Oh—sure," he said, but his smile didn’t fade. "Tonight, then."

He lingered for a second too long before finally walking away.

Lucas and I said nothing until we were alone again, heading down the hall toward the east wing.

"You okay?" he asked finally.

"No," I said.

He didn’t press. Just walked beside me until we reached my room. I turned to go in, hand on the door, but his arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back gently.

"Bella," he said, his voice low, uncertain. "Is this really going to work?"

I turned slowly, heart thudding.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Jesse," he said. "This whole plan. You’re supposed to make him care for you enough to die. That’s not a plan, it’s a...."

"I don’t have a choice."

"You always have a choice," he snapped. Then softened. "Even if it’s the wrong one."

I stared at him. His eyes searched mine like he was looking for something—hope, pain, maybe regret.

"Do you want me to stop? Do you want me to simply allow the moon goddess die " I whispered.

His fingers tightened on my waist. "No. But I want you to know I hate this. I hate this situation. I hate that you have to pretend with him."

"I’m not pretending," I said. "He’ll see through it."

Lucas stepped closer. "Then what are you going to do?"

"I don’t know," I said honestly. "I’ll figure it out."

He nodded once, jaw tight. "Then I’ll wait."

"For what?"

"For when it’s over."

I turned to the door again, but his hand didn’t drop.

"Bella," he said again. "Promise me you won’t give up something you can’t take back."

"I’ve already given up everything," I said quietly. "There’s nothing left."

"Not true," he said. "You still have a lot."

I looked at him. Really looked. The hurt in his eyes. The longing. The quiet words he hadn’t dared speak aloud.

"Lucas..."

"I’m not asking for anything," he said quickly. "Just don’t forget."

I nodded. "I won’t."

He let go of me then, and I slipped into my room alone.

The door closed softly behind me, but the pressure in my chest only grew. I stared at the stone walls, the polished floor, the moonlight spilling through the window.

Later that night....

Somewhere down the hall, Jesse was waiting.

Somewhere deep inside him, the Moon Fragment pulsed.

And somehow, I had to convince him to give it up—to give up his life—for a goddess and a girl he never understood.

The impossible task had begun.

Night blanketed the palace in silver and shadows by the time I stepped out of my chamber. The moon hovered high, casting long beams across the marble floor. My heart beat heavier than usual—not from fear, but from the tension coiled deep in my chest.

Jesse was waiting where I knew he would be—just outside the east wing, pacing beneath the lantern-lit arch. His head lifted when he saw me, and for a fleeting moment, I saw the boy I once loved beneath all the titles and mistakes.

"You came," he said quietly.

"You asked me to."

We stood there, a few feet apart, like wolves in a silent standoff. His eyes searched mine as though unsure of how to start. Finally, he exhaled slowly, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Athena... I’m sorry. For what I put you through back then."

I smiled faintly, brushing it off. "It’s nothing."

"No," he said, stepping closer. "It’s not nothing. Because of my foolishness... we lost our child."

The smile dropped from my lips like a stone.

"Our child?" I repeated, my voice turning ice cold. My fingers curled. The ache flared up before I could stop it, raw and sharp. "I’m happy I didn’t have to give birth to a child that would be fathered by someone like you."

Jesse flinched as if I’d hit him.

"Athena, please... listen to me." His voice cracked. "I’ve never been able to stop loving you. I regret what I did so much—it haunts me every night. I see your face in my dreams, and I wake up wishing I could go back and change it all."

My eyes didn’t soften one bit.

"Can we go out?" he asked suddenly. "Just walk... outside the palace halls." ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"I’m a palace warrior," I said firmly. "I have duties."

"Athena. Please."

The way he said my name—pleading but not forceful made something shift inside me. I sighed.

"Okay." I needed to talk to him anyways.

We slipped through the side gates. No one stopped us. I... I no longer cared who watched. The air outside was crisp, the forest edge alive with moonlight and the scent of pine and old magic. It calmed something in me.

We walked in silence, the gravel crunching beneath our boots. My senses heightened as we passed under trees, the pull of the moon whispering across my skin.

"Do you remember when we used to race through the forest back at home?" Jesse asked softly. "You always beat me. I told everyone I let you win. But I didn’t. You were just... faster and wilder."

"I still am," I said, not looking at him.

"I know," he said with a small smile. "That’s what I loved most about you. That untamed fire."

"And that’s what you tried to cage, remember?" I snapped.

He went quiet for a beat. "I know. And I’ve been trying to forgive myself for that ever since."

A soft howl echoed through the trees. Distant. Sad.

I stopped. "Why are you saying all this now?"

He leaned against a tree, looking out over the moonlit path. "Because I don’t think I can ever forget you or forgive myself."

I frowned. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, shaking his head. "Forget I said that. I just... I wanted you to know."

We continued walking, not touching, not quite looking at each other. But something what he just said made it easier to speak the truth.

"I’ll just be plain with you. The moon goddess is dying and...." I told him everything. " The king told us the last Moon Fragment is inside you," I said finally.

Jesse stopped walking. "Inside me?"

I nodded. "It was sealed by the Moon Goddess herself. It can’t be taken by force. You have to give it willingly."

His breath left him in a harsh exhale. "Willingly? That’s the real reason he’s been keeping me close, isn’t it?"

I hesitated. "He told me... it’s my final task. To make you willing to die."

Jesse’s laugh was low, bitter. "I don’t mind dying forever.. I will do it...."

"You don’t have to die," I said quickly. "There could actually be another way—"

"No need," he interrupted. "If it saves the Moon Goddess, if it ends this nightmare that might be unleashed... then I want to. Maybe that’s what I was always meant to do."

I stared at him. "You’d really give up your life, just like that?"

"For you? For a non chaos world?" he asked, voice trembling. "Yes."

I looked away, the ache in my chest returning. Not from anger—but something older. Sadder.

"You’re such a dumb idiot," I muttered.

He smiled faintly. "But I’m your idiot."

"No. You were. There’s a difference."

We walked back toward the palace. But something had changed between us.

He wasn’t forgiven. I didn’t trust him. Not fully.

But the night had opened something.

It opened a crack in the wall I’d built.

And under the silver moon, among wolves and ghosts of what could have been, Jesse walked beside me not as the ex I hated. But as a broken man trying to make amends.

And for tonight... I let him.