MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Chelsea wakes in a glowing realm not sky, not ground just light that breathes like fog. She hears whispers, one calling her name like it has known it forever.
There was no wind. No sound. Just a soft, silvery hum like the sky itself was breathing. Chelsea floated—or fell. She couldn’t tell
The light that had swallowed her now stretched out endlessly around her, shimmering like mist over water. No ground. No sky. Just an endless expanse of between.
Her heartbeat had slowed. Her body didn’t ache.
But something had shifted deep inside her—like a lock finally clicking open.
Where am I?
Her thoughts didn’t echo. They simply… unfolded.
And then—
She saw her.
A woman stood just ahead, surrounded by an aura that glowed moon-white and gold. Her eyes were the same shade now shining in Chelsea’s own—silver-gold, twin flames. Her hair spilled in dark curls, streaked with starlight. And when she smiled, something inside Chelsea broke and mended at the same time.
“You’ve grown beautifully,” the woman whispered.
Chelsea stepped forward, cautious. “Who are you?”
The woman didn’t answer right away. She lifted a hand, and the space around them shifted—trees formed from mist, stars etched themselves into the sky. The light around her pulsed in time with Chelsea’s chest.
Then she spoke again.
“I am what your blood remembers,” she said softly. “I am the howl and the spell. The wolf and the witch. The bond they tried to bury.”
Chelsea’s breath caught. “Are you—my mother?”
The woman’s smile faltered. “I was. Once. Before they tore me from you.”
A sound like thunder under the surface of the world rippled through the mist.
“You were never meant to live hidden,” her mother continued. “But the mark came too soon. The power, too raw. And so they bound it, hid you where the stars couldn’t find you.”
“Why?” Chelsea demanded. “Why would they take that from me?”
Her mother’s eyes darkened. “Because you were born to tip the balance. And balance frightens those who stand on power alone.”
Chelsea looked down at her hands. They glowed faintly now, like her veins remembered magic. “Is that what I am? A weapon?”
“No,” the woman said, stepping closer. “You are a key. A bridge, between worlds, between bloodlines.”
And then, from behind the woman, another figure emerged.
Taller. Quiet. Shadowed by mist.
A man.
Chelsea tensed—but the woman reached back and touched his hand.
“He couldn’t speak before,” she whispered, emotion flickering in her voice. “But he’s been watching you your whole life.”
The man stepped into the glow.
And Chelsea knew.
“Dad,” she breathed.
He smiled. Just once. Then placed a hand over her heart.
And suddenly—
Visions exploded.
Wolves running under twin moons.
A child wrapped in light.
A witch’s circle breaking apart in fire.
A name whispered across battlefields.
Her name.
You’ve walked blind for so long, my daughter. But blood remembers.” You are of Krippa born from power older than the bond, older than the moon itself.”
They then reveal to her that: She's not just half-witch, half-wolf. She’s from the Krippa Line, a forgotten mystical family meant to bridge wolves and the other realms (witches, seers, shadow creatures).• Her mark is not random — it’s a seal of choice, not fate.Her role can save the balance… or destroy it.
⸻
Chelsea gasped, and the world shattered again.
She was falling. Light tore apart. The hum became a roar.
Her mother’s voice reached her one last time.
“You are the first of the Unbroken. And they will fear you… or kneel.”and also, You will be tested, not all who call you queen want peace. Some will chain you in gold, not iron.”