Chapter 89 – The Body That Isn’t Entirely Hers
POV: Liora
The door closed behind Kael with a quiet click.
For several monts, Liora continued staring at it.
She wasn’t entirely sure what she had expected from their conversation.
Answers, perhaps.
An explanation.
Sothing she could hold onto.
Instead, she felt as though she had walked away carrying even more questions than before.
The room felt strangely empty without him.
That realization irritated her more than she wanted to admit.
She sank slowly onto the edge of the bed and released a long breath.
The conversation replayed itself imdiately.
Every pause.
Every hesitation.
Every mont Kael had looked at her as though he wanted to say sothing but couldn’t force the words past whatever barrier existed inside him.
Liora pressed her fingers against her forehead.
Ever since her awakening, everything had beco more complicated.
Not clearer.
Not easier.
More complicated.
She had expected answers to arrive alongside the power.
Instead, every day seed to reveal another mystery.
The bloodline.
The scars.
The White Wolf.
The changes everyone could see but nobody could explain.
And Kael.
Especially Kael.
Before her awakening, she had often struggled to understand what he was thinking.
Now she could practically feel his emotions through the bond.
Not clearly enough to know every thought.
But enough.
Enough to recognize frustration.
Enough to recognize fear.
Enough to recognize longing.
That realization alone was terrifying.
Because Kael was not afraid of her.
That was the conclusion she had finally reached.
He was afraid of himself.
Afraid of whatever was happening between them.
Afraid of feelings neither of them fully understood.
The thought left an uncomfortable ache in her chest.
Liora looked away.
She didn’t want to think about that right now.
Unfortunately, her body seed determined to give her sothing else to focus on.
A strange sensation moved through her.
Not pain.
Not discomfort.
Sothing different.
She frowned.
The feeling vanished before she could identify it.
For several seconds she sat perfectly still.
Waiting.
Nothing happened.
Eventually she shook her head.
Perhaps she was imagining things.
The last few weeks had been exhausting.
Awakening.
Recovery.
The pregnancy.
Her emotions felt stretched in too many directions.
Anyone would feel strange after everything that had happened.
Yet as she rose from the bed, another sensation brushed against her awareness.
This ti she froze imdiately.
Sothing was different.
The room itself seed sharper.
More defined.
Liora slowly looked around.
The candle flas flickering against the walls appeared brighter than before.
She could hear distant footsteps moving through corridors several floors away.
The scent of rain drifting through the open window reached her with startling clarity.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She walked toward the window.
The mont she approached it, the sensations intensified.
The forest beyond the fortress spread across the horizon beneath the fading light of evening.
Normally she could see the tree line.
Tonight she could distinguish individual branches.
Individual leaves.
Movent hidden within the shadows.
Her eyes narrowed.
A rabbit erged from dense undergrowth nearly half a mile away.
Liora stared.
That wasn’t possible.
Yet she could see it clearly.
Every movent.
Every twitch of its ears.
Every cautious step.
A chill slid down her spine.
Since her awakening, her senses had strengthened considerably.
Everyone expected that.
Enhanced hearing.
Enhanced sll.
Enhanced vision.
Those abilities were common among powerful wolves.
This felt different.
Stronger.
Almost unnatural.
As though her senses were continuing to evolve.
A sudden crash echoed sowhere below.
Liora reacted instantly.
Before conscious thought could catch up, she spun toward the sound.
Power surged through her body.
Her muscles tightened.
Her pulse accelerated.
The air itself seed to sharpen around her.
For a split second, she felt sothing ancient stir beneath her skin.
Protective.
Alert.
Ready.
Then the sensation disappeared.
She blinked.
Confused.
The noise below had co from a servant dropping a crate.
Nothing dangerous.
Nothing threatening.
Yet her body had reacted as though an enemy stood outside her door.
Liora stared at her hands.
Slowly, unease began to spread through her.
That reaction hadn’t felt normal.
It hadn’t even felt like her.
The certainty had arrived too quickly.
Too instinctively.
As though sothing inside her had recognized danger before she consciously processed it.
The realization followed her throughout the evening.
At dinner.
While reading.
While attempting—and failing—to rest.
Again and again, she noticed the sa thing.
Her awareness seed to move ahead of her thoughts.
She sensed approaching footsteps before hearing them.
She knew when servants entered nearby corridors before they reached the doors.
Twice she reacted to noises monts before they occurred.
By midnight, she could no longer convince herself it was coincidence.
Sothing was happening.
And she had no idea what.
The fortress had long since fallen silent when she finally stepped onto her balcony.
Moonlight bathed the mountains in silver.
The cool air helped calm her racing thoughts.
At least for a little while.
Liora rested both hands against the railing.
Far below, guards continued their patrols.
The sight should have been comforting.
Instead, a strange tension remained lodged beneath her skin.
Waiting.
Watching.
Listening.
The sensation reminded her of a wolf guarding its territory.
Except the feeling wasn’t coming from her wolf.
At least she didn’t think it was.
Without thinking, her hand drifted toward her stomach.
The movent was automatic.
Protective.
The mont her palm touched the fabric of her dress, everything changed.
A sudden wave of awareness swept through her.
Not physical movent.
Not a kick.
Not anything she had expected.
This felt deeper.
More profound.
The connection arrived so suddenly that her breath caught.
For one impossible mont, she beca aware of another presence.
Not separate.
Not entirely.
Yet distinct enough to recognize.
Liora’s eyes widened.
The awareness lasted only seconds.
But during those seconds, she knew.
Soone was there.
Not rely growing.
Not rely existing.
Aware.
The realization hit her with enough force to steal her breath.
Her hand remained pressed firmly against her stomach.
The night around her seed to disappear.
The fortress vanished.
The mountains vanished.
Everything faded except that strange connection.
And then—
A thought entered her mind.
Clear.
Calm.
Certain.
Not a sound.
Not a voice.
Sothing deeper.
Sothing that appeared fully ford inside her consciousness.
Liora stiffened.
Every instinct inside her scread that the thought wasn’t hers.
The certainty of it froze her where she stood.
Because she had never thought those words.
Had never imagined them.
Had never felt them.
Yet they echoed through her mind with impossible clarity.
You’re not ready yet.
The air left her lungs.
Her hand trembled against her stomach.
Silence swallowed the balcony.
Far below, the fortress remained unaware.
The guards continued their patrols.
The night continued as normal.
But Liora stood motionless beneath the moonlight.
Unable to move.
Unable to breathe.
Unable to convince herself she had imagined what had just happened.
Because deep inside her—
sothing had answered.
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