She had been so afraid of being treated like a monster, but Maxwell’s unwavering support made that fear feel almost foolish. Her throat tightened, her eyes stung, and she had to swallow hard to keep her emotions at bay.
"Actually, when we reached the Tigren camp during the negotiation, I felt sothing stir inside . At first, I thought it was my wolf, Aurora, but she didn’t speak to . Not until I shifted into my wolf form. But even then... sothing felt off. That wolf didn’t feel like Aurora. It wasn’t just the difference in color; it radiated an entirely different presence."
"Even though I don’t have clear mories of my bond with Aurora from the past, I just knew the wolf that erged that day wasn’t her. And the most confusing part was... it didn’t respond to . It responded to my rage. It felt like that fury cracked sothing open inside , and from that crack, this unfamiliar wolf ca through."
"I think that rage is what allowed it to break through to the cracks in the seal within . But I used up what little strength it had, and now it’s dormant again and was recharging, maybe. And I know this might sound crazy, but I believe it fuels itself with vitality."
"Because... during that ti, when I, um, attacked you all... or tried to seduce you, I felt this overwhelming hunger. I wasn’t fully conscious at first. I only started to regain control when Zion pulled onto his lap. That gave enough clarity to push it out of my mind. But even then, it had already awakened sothing in , this insatiable hunger. All it wanted was to be fed."
"And I’m afraid... that if I don’t give it what it wants, it’ll try to take over again. And next ti, it might take more than it should from you guys." Addison finally confessed, her voice low but filled with unease."
She glanced down nervously again, maybe without even realizing how anxious she’d been, or how scared she was of being judged by her mates. Even though she kept denying the pull of the mate bond, deep down, she feared being disliked or rejected by them. It was a quiet, vulnerable fear, one she hadn’t fully acknowledged.
Still, her struggle wasn’t unusual.
Among werewolves, the bond between fated mates often cos with an overwhelming intensity. But Addison hadn’t fully surrendered to that bond. Instead, she was resisting it, pushing against its natural course, which only made everything more confusing.
That inner conflict was stirring up emotions and instincts that might have otherwise flowed more smoothly had she allowed herself to accept the connection.
Now, hearing her explanation, Zion, Maxwell, and Levi found themselves both shocked and confused. Everything Addison described, an unfamiliar hunger, a powerful energy responding to emotion, the seductive behavior, sounded eerily similar to a succubus.
But at the sa ti, she wasn’t wrong. It was her body, and she understood its changes better than anyone else.
Still, one baffling question lingered: could a wolf truly trigger such intense physical responses in its counterpart... unless she was—
"Are you... possibly going into heat?" Zion asked again, his voice gentler this ti, filled with cautious concern.
Addison shook her head. She knew the difference, and she could feel it. What happened the other night wasn’t the sa as going into heat. And yet... it was close. Uncomfortably close.
If she hadn’t been paying attention to the subtle details, like the way her energy shifted, the strange hunger, the lack of that familiar ache that ca with her heat cycles, she might have mistaken it for a sudden onset of heat.
"Maybe this has sothing to do with the curse the dark witches placed inside you," Maxwell said suddenly, his voice serious. "We still don’t know the exact nature of that curse; it could be interfering with your wolf sohow. That obsidian wolf might still be Aurora... but also not. A twisted version, maybe."
He paused, frowning as his thoughts ca together. "But if we really think about it... everything that is happening across the kingdom doesn’t it all seem connected? All of it seems designed to target and destabilize the werewolves. The events in those three different regions, there’s no way that’s just a coincidence."
His gaze sharpened as he looked at Addison. "I’m almost certain the dark witches are behind it. I’ve been tracking their movents for years, studying the curses they’ve used on others throughout history."
"This feels like a larger plan unfolding. And whatever it is... you’re at the center of it. That curse inside you, it might be ant to transform your wolf into sothing that could threaten the entire kingdom."
After Maxwell finished speaking, a shiver ran through Addison’s entire body. His words made too much sense, and that terrified her. Deep down, she had felt it too, the energy radiating from within her wolf was overwhelming, but unstable.
It pulsed with a destructive force so imnse it had effortlessly defeated the Tigren Chieftain, a warrior said to be the incarnation of the God of War.
No matter how powerful Aurora had been in the past, as others once described her, it still shouldn’t have been that easy to bring soone like Leon to his knees.
The realization sank in like a heavy weight in her chest, making her feel anxious... and almost hopeless.
"Then... what should I do?" Addison asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Avoid calling on it? Starve it of n’s vitality so it won’t awaken again?"
But Maxwell shook his head. "We still don’t know the exact conditions that trigger that wolf to erge. Sure, it seed to respond to your rage that ti—but that might not be the full story. It’s possible it simply took advantage of your heightened emotions and the weakened seal to break through."
He paused, frowning.
"And if you try to suppress it by starving it of vitality, it might still take over your body—just like you described. And if that happens again... we have no idea what damage it could do, to you or to others. That’s why, for now, it might be safer if you feed it voluntarily. That way, you remain in control."
Maxwell sighed, his voice tinged with frustration. "Everything we’re working with right now is just speculation. We need answers. It’s best if we consult Saintess Silas again. Or better yet, if we can get our hands on a copy of the dark witches’ grimoire, we might finally be able to identify the specific curse placed on you."
He ran a hand through his hair, already feeling the weight of the uncertainty pressing down on them all.
After all, if what was happening inside Addison’s body truly had sothing to do with the dark witches’ curse and if her wolf was transforming into sothing dangerous, then the first person at risk would be Addison herself.
They could only hope she wouldn’t lose control... or worse, fall completely under the witches’ influence and beco their puppet. The urgency to find a solution grew heavier by the second.
"Hm, Sister Silas gave a way to contact her," Addison said, her tone now just as serious. "I’ll reach out to her as soon as we return to the Royal Palace."
User Comments
0 comments from readers