Offered to the Triplet Alphas

Chapter-99. Mother-1

[Xanthea]

I stared at Asher, my chest tightening as his words echoed in the air, heavy and inescapable. My mind scrambled to process what he had just said.

"No." The word slipped out, trembling and frail. "That's not... It's not possible."

Asher's gaze remained distant. There was a cruel pity in the way he looked at me, as though he knew the only way to get his words through me was by being blunt, brutal, unmistakably honest. His gaze flicked briefly to the swirling memories of my mother's childhood, projected on the circular cloud that surrounded us like a suffocating shroud.

He didn't acknowledge my denial. Nor did he refute it. Instead, he spoke again, calm and relentless, leaving me to decide for myself what my mother's truth really was.

"Cadence Starsoul was born in Solvaris - the first out of the seven celestial packs. Famously known as the Pack of Light. Born as the beta's daughter, she was brought up in love, luxury and comfort..."

One by one, Asher guided me through my mother's memories. Her carefree childhood unfolded into her rebellious teenage years, seamlessly transitioning into her complex adulthood.

"She was cherished by all, especially Alpha Caelum, the alpha of the Solvaris pack. He considered her as his own daughter. As the youngest prodigy in the field of Celestial healing, she was full of life, curiosity and boundless potential to become whoever she wanted," he continued.

My mother, too, had an eidetic memory like me, which helped her become the youngest healer in the Solvaris pack at the age of twenty-two. And even though her fame reached far and wide, she always seemed dissatisfied.

I had always yearned to know more about my mother, but now that I was, I wished to know less.

I didn't want to learn anything that might challenge the version of her I had formed - the mother I had pieced together from her diaries. The more her memories brought her to life, the more distant she felt from the idealized figure I had created in my mind.

And now, as her idealized image was being dissected before my eyes, I could not bear it.

"Father, this is not enough. I can do so much more, discover so much more. If only I weren't bound by these senseless rules that stifle me at every turn! My growth is being strangled - my potential, wasted!"

My mother would often repeat these words to her father and the Alpha of the pack whenever they tried to stop her research or question her unorthodox methods of treatment.

Her father and Alpha Caelum would dismiss her, brushing off her words as mere childish rebellion. But to my mother, they meant far more. She wasn't just angry; she was suffocating.

She was always seeking more, striving to understand immortals and immortality in ways no one else had. But she was tightly bound by the Celestial laws, forbidding her from experimenting or testing on any living being. But they couldn't stop her from trying, and one event changed the course of her entire life.

With the permission of the parents of a child who failed to activate his immortality genes by the age of six, she secretly tested a few of her unauthorized potions on him. The experiment ended in tragedy, resulting in the child's death.

My mother was immediately taken into custody and brought before the Alpha to face justice. Her father was deeply disappointed by her actions and left her fate in the hands of Alpha Caelum, who could no longer defend my mother's actions. 'You have experimented on a Fortunate and killed him, breaking three most sacred laws of the paradise. One, to never interfere with Fortunates. Two, to never commit murder. And three, to never misuse one's power or knowledge. Your actions have enraged the sanctuaries.' Alpha Caelum addressed my mother in the court of Celestials, dressed in hooded white robes.

"Weak bloods are known as the Fortunates in the Celestial realm," Asher explained. "Unlike in the Infernal realm, they aren't killed or abandoned. Instead, they're taken to special sanctuaries, where they devote themselves to worshiping the Gods and practice chastity until the day they die. Those sanctuaries are strictly governed by priests, who hold significant influence over pack politics."

'But I had permission from the child's parents,' my mother argued, her voice desperate.

'And that is why they will be punished as well,' Alpha Caelum replied coldly. 'As for you, you are hereby expelled from the Solvaris pack - and the Celestial realm.'

My mother looked devastated, but she didn't plead for mercy.

'I accept,' she said brazenly as she strutted out of the court.

With a slow blink, I lowered my gaze, overtaken by an excruciating disappointment.

"Their society views weak bloods as a source of pride," Asher said. "But even in paradise, a Fortunate is forbidden from staying with their family. Just because their system works differently than ours doesn't mean it's any different at its core, any less harsh."

In the memories that followed, I understood what Asher meant.

To prevent him from being sent to the sanctuary, Alpha Caelum had been faking the activation of his immortality genes, deceiving everyone around him. Behind the scenes, he had

her punishment, Alpha Caelum visited

no longer satisfy

home. Where am I supposed to

in your favor, child. You will begin your life anew in the Infernal realm. The fallen celestials are taken in by the Prime pack. Once you are there, go to Helxton and meet

Caelum handed mother

mother looked at the scroll, confused. 'I

are no laws, ethics or morals in hell, Cadence. There, you'll be given full freedom to research however you want, experiment on whoever you want.

do this for

resting gently on my mother's head. "But I have my selfish reasons. I want you to find a cure for my son, and I want you to share your findings, research data, and knowledge with us." My

***

paradise, she went through some

become a fallen celestial, a celestial must undergo Severance," Asher explained. "It's a ritual where their divine soul is torn apart from their primary soul.

lost her immortality?"

means losing the celestial wolf. That doesn't affect

celestial loses their divine soul, they become Infernals?"

realm without a wolf spirit. Even if they spend the rest of their lives in hell, they never regain a wolf spirit... at least, not naturally.

they could get a wolf spirit?" I

hard and fast rules here. With the right contract and the right demon, you can have anything you desire. But the price is always

"Did my mother..."

And eventually, she earned my father's confidence as well." I watched the memories unfold, showing my mother at Helxton, where she completed the healer's fast course in just five months -

healer's license, which allowed her to research further and under the guidance

toward

full experience. You won't find

by ethics or morals, I watched my mother descend into darkness. She stifled her conscience as if she

every action with the belief that it was for the advancement of healing and immortality. 'Thank you for your contribution,' she would say to each

so many times that it sent sick shivers down my spine every time I heard those

where she studied and researched about all kinds of immortality diseases. My mother's diaries flashed through my mind, and suddenly, all that information began making more sense. The spectrum of

the High lady. My

mind began absorbing all the information from those memories, each detail sinking

me, but he quickly masked it.

as dangerous as it is noble, Xanthea," Asher said, his gaze meeting mine. "Wrong knowledge in the wrong hands has always led to disasters beyond our wildest imagination. And those disasters mostly fall on infernals because all goodness is for the heavens and all evil for hell, even their evil is for us.

enroll me into Helxton's healer's programme. His warnings and questions hit me with a force that had me

as evil is ours," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "But is it right to

Asher, and he

yet gentle. "No matter how exciting it gets, no matter what questions it might answer, never lose your heart. Fight for your morals, your ethics. Stand against the world for what's right.

tears,

heart raced with a mix of so many emotions it was hard to tell if I

***

broken, their lifeless eyes staring right into my soul, accusing me. My eyes were hollow with terror, but

to them, death would have been more merciful. She stole their lives without mercy, infecting healthy people with sickness she knew they wouldn't recover from. She took healthy immortals and dissected them, skin to flesh to bone; layer by layer. She cut kids open while they were conscious just to see what

churned. I shut my eyes. I wanted to scream, to look away,

felt so dissociated that I made

pain throbbing in my body was

they developed attachment with their playmates, she would starve them physically and push her subjects until either

into fragments, as though my mother's world was constantly shaking under the flickering lights. She no longer looked excited, no longer thanked her subjects. Her bloodied hands

sentences. Lifeless body of a child, probably a

'Another disappointm-'