His eyes flashed gold for a moment, his beast straining beneath his control. "It was a threat to the clan. I had to....."
" Don't call him a threat!" she screamed, tears streaking her bloodstained cheeks, "He protected us! He protected me! He was all I had left of my family! He went to the battlefield for this clan... He has served the clan all his life..."
The guards stirred uneasily, but none dared step forward. Power hummed around Yueyao, her aura wild, and the broken seal feeding on her grief.
"Do you even know what you've done?" she whispered. " He was bound to me by blood, by my soul. When you struck him, you killed a part of me, too."
Huo Tingxuan's expression cracked, but he said nothing. Silence stretched, taut and suffocating.
Her lips trembled and heart-wrenchingly recalled those words, "He told me before he died."
That made him flinch immediately, " What? What did he tell you?"
"The moonbeast spoke to me. It showed me the truth you buried.." Yueyao's voice shook with rage and sorrow. "You said our son died mysteriously that night, but he didn't, did he?"
Huo Tingxuan's golden eyes darkened, the Alpha's command slipped, "Yueyao..."
"You sacrificed him," she choked, voice breaking. " Our baby. You offered his blood to the gods to strengthen your line. And when I remembered, you sealed my memories and called me cursed."
He took a step forward, guilt flickering like a shadow across his face, "I did what I had to. The curse was consuming the clan. You were losing control. I had to choose between you and everyone else. You should have known that by now, the clan comes first..."
Yueyao suddenly laughed, hollow, trembling, and broken, "You chose power. You always did and you always will...."
Lightning cracked overhead. The seal flared open in answer to her rage, the light wrapping around her like molten silver.
"I loved you," she whispered, her tears glowing as they fell. "And you destroyed everything I ever was."
For a heartbeat, silence consumed the courtyard, and only the sound of wind and the faint crackle of magic filled the air.
Huo Tingxuan's expression wavered; he opened his mouth, as if to speak, but the words died on his tongue.
The power surrounding Yueyao pulsed again, heavier, darker, bending the air itself. The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Then she looked up, eyes glimmering silver through her tears, and whispered, almost to herself, "I can still feel his warmth... He's not gone yet..."
She dropped to her knees, gathering the moon-beast's lifeless body into her arms once more, clutching it desperately as if holding on could undo everything. The runes beneath them flickered violently in response, the remnants of broken magic twisting around her.
"Take her away!" one of the elders shouted suddenly, breaking the tense stillness, "She's broken the sacred laws!"
Several guards hesitated. None of them wanted to be the first to touch her. Yueyao's aura flickered like fire; it was unstable and raw. Her eyes still glowed faintly silver as she cradled the moon-beast's body, rocking gently, her voice trembling.
"No," she whispered, holding the creature tighter. "You won't touch him."
"Don't you dare!"
" Li Yueyao!" Elder Han barked coldly, ready to abolish her as Luna, "That beast was cursed! It was dangerous! You defied the Alpha's command...."
She ignored him. She sat there and intimately brushed her fingers against the creature's muzzle, her voice breaking. "You can rest now… I'll protect you even if they destroy me for it."
Her blood-stained hand reached for the small silver dagger at her waist. Before anyone could stop her, she cut her palm and pressed it to the beast's muzzle. Her blood mixed with it, seeping into its fur as she whispered a silent vow to the moon.
A faint light stirred, a pulse, soft and warm, deep within the creature's chest.
"She's feeding it blood!" someone shouted grimly, " Stop her!"
" Stop her immediately before the situation turns sour!"
Two guards rushed forward, and they grabbed her arms and yanked her backward, tearing her away from the beast. She struggled wildly, screaming her heart away, "Don't touch him! Leave him alone!"
Her knee struck one guard's chest, but the other slammed her into the ground. Pain shot through her side; she tasted blood. Her vision blurred, but she still saw it, how they dragged the moon-beast's body across the marble, how its golden fur left a trail of blood behind.
"Stop!" she cried, her voice raw and broken. " Don't take him like that...."
Her words turned into a sob. Her wrists bled from the runes tightening around them. She kicked, but a sharp blow to her shoulder forced her down once again.
"Dispose of the body," Elder Han ordered coldly. " Burn it. The curse must not linger in our clan... Make sure it's completely erased!"