<b>Chapter </b><b>158 </b>
I could only pout, a small huff escaping me.
Sometimes I wondered if Francesco forgot who I really was–or perhaps, he simply chose to forget.
I wasn’t fragile or I wasn’t some helpless girl to be tucked away.
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But even as my irritation simmered, I knew the truth behind his stubbornmand. He wasn’t underestimating me. He
was worried–terrified even.
As always…
I nodded, though my chest tightened with the weight of unspoken words. “I understand.”
The moment the words left my lips, I saw something shift in him.
His expression flickered–not with relief, not even satisfaction–but shock.
I frowned, tilting my head. “What?”
His lips twitched, and suddenly a quiet, almost disbelieving chuckle slipped past them. “Never thought I’d hear those wordsing from you.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks, though not from embarrassment.
Irritation burned instead. Damn it!
I heard muffled coughs behind him, and when I nced toward the corner, I saw both Audrey and Marlow struggling to
stifle their amusement.
Traitors.
Rolling my eyes, I huffed louder. “You’re all impossible.”
Francesco’s smirk lingered for only a heartbeat longer before his Alpha mask slid back into ce.
He turned toward Marlow. “Stay close. We need to prepare.” Then, looking back at me briefly, his dark eyes softened. “Rest, Eine. That’s an order.”
And with that, he strode out, Marlow trailing behind him like a shadow.
The weight of his presence lifted from the room, leaving behind only the faint echo of his intensity.
“I’ll tell the Alpha and the others that you need rest after what happened yesterday in theke,” Audrey said, her voice carefully neutral.
But I couldn’t resist, My lips curled into a mischievous grin. “Why not tell him your King was the one who tired me more?”
Audrey’s eyes went wide before she sputtered, and then augh broke free from her chest–sharp and unrestrained.
12:33 Fri, 29 Aug i
She pped a hand over her mouth, but it was toote.
The door mmed.
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I couldn’t help it–I burst outughing too, the sound bubbling up until my stomach hurt. For a moment, just a brief one, the tension of the past twenty–four hours cracked enough to let joy slip through.
But when the echoes faded, silence reimed the room.
I turned to her, my expression shifting as quickly as a storm.
I fixed my gaze on her. “Audrey… Tell me what you really saw.”
The teasing was gone from my tone.
This time, my words rang with seriousness, a faint undercurrent ofmand that even I didn’t intend toce into them.
I didn’t have Francesco’s Alpha authority, but I had something else–an instinctive pull.
Audrey blinked, surprised, and I watched the conflict cross her features.
She knew me better than most–knew when I wasn’t going to let something slide. She also knew, better than anyone, that I would dig until I uncovered the truth, even if it cut me in the process.
She exhaled slowly, the sound heavy. “You know what we saw there, Luna.”
Her use of that word made me stiffen, even though I’d heard it before. Not mockingly, not casually–but with weight. With
recognition.
I nodded. The memory was etched into me like fire against skin. The water. The chains. The presence. And the souls– those countless, weeping cries tangled in the depths.
Audrey’s gaze grew distant, almost haunted. “And when you jumped… It’s like every soul moved.”
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.
My voice shook. “What do you mean?”
<b>Her </b>jaw tightened, her throat bobbing as if the words themselves were hard to speak. “When you jumped, every soul… followed you<i>” </i>
The world seemed to tilt
My stomach dropped, and I gripped the edge of the bed to steady myself
“What?” The whisper tore out of me, thin and fragile
Audrey nodded grimly ” was like they were exaiting for you. They rae from the depths, countless faces twisted with grief, with longing. And the moment you entered the water their attention turned Not to me. Not to theke. To you.”
My chest ached “Every soul?”
12:33 Fri, 29 Augti.
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“Yes.” She swallowed, her eyes dark with the memory. “It was as if they recognized you. Like moths to me, Eine. They… followed you into the water. Not to harm, not at first. But drawn. Hungry. Desperate.”
My heart pounded painfully.
They wanted me.
My soul?
The question thundered in my skull. Why me?
Why always me?
I pressed a trembling hand to my chest. Mika stirred faintly within me, silent but restless, as if she too felt the weight of Audrey’s words.
“They need my soul,” I whispered.
The thought chilled me more than the icy waters of theke ever could.
Audrey didn’t answer at first, her silence confirmation enough.
Finally, she said, “It wasn’t just need, Eine. It was… recognition. Like you were already part of them. Or–like you something they’ve been waiting for.”
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Mika’s voice brushed faintly against my consciousness, almost like an echo, but not yet strong enough to form words. Only
the sensation of unease.
I swallowed hard. “Is it because of Mika?”
Audrey tilted her head, considering. “Your wolf is powerful, yes. But I think this is something more. Something deeper than just strength. It felt…<i>” </i>She hesitated, searching for words. “Old. Ancient. Like they saw not just you, but every life tied to you. As if your very essence… called them.”
I shook my head, denial shing against fear. “That makes no sense. I’m no one. I’m-”
“Don’t,” she cut in sharply, her eyes shing. “Don’t reduce yourself like that. You’re not no one, Eine. You’ve always been different. Stronger. Even before Francesco. Even before Mika. I felt it the day we met, though I didn’t want to admit it then.”
Her words wed at me, because they rang too close to the things I feared most–the things Francesco had implied when he spoke of Anastasia, of destiny, of shadows I didn’t want to inherit.
I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering despite the warmth of the room. “But why me? What do they want from me? My soul? My body? My blood? I didn’t have <b>Anastasia </b>power anymore, so why?”
Audrey’s jaw clenched. “That’s the part I don’t know. All I know is, when you were in that water, they moved with you. Almost protectively, almost possessively. And then…” Her breath hitched, and her eyes darted away.
“Then what?” I demanded.
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She met my gaze again, and this time, her expression was raw, pained. “Then they reached for you. Every single one. Hands from the deep, chains dragging behind them. If Marlow and the Alpha hadn’t pulled you out…” Her voice cracked. “I don’t think they would’ve let you go.”
I froze. The room seemed colder, the air heavier.
So it wasn’t just my imagination.
That pull I felt–the way the water seemed to close around me like a coffin, the hands brushing against my skin–it had
been real.
They wanted me.
Not Francesco. Not Marlow. Not Audrey. Me.
Why?
My throat tightened, my thoughts spiraling.
Was it Mika? My wolf? Was I some key, some vessel? Or was it worse? Something buried in me that even I didn’t
understand?
Audrey leaned forward, gripping my hand firmly, grounding me. “Luna, listen to me. You are not weak. Whatever this is, it
chose to show itself to us, to you. That means something. But it also means you are in danger greater than you realize.”
I stared at her, the weight of her words pressing down on me until it was hard to breathe.
For a long moment, silence stretched between us, broken only by the faint crackle of fire from the hearth.
Finally, I whispered, “What if… what if they don’t just want me? What if they need me to awaken?”
The thought had been gnawing at me since yesterday, since I felt those chains wrapping around me, cold and suffocating.
Like something waiting to be freed, waiting for the right soul to shatter its prison.
Audrey’s face paled, and for the first time, I saw something I rarely saw in her fear that wasn’t masked, wasn’t hidden.
“Looks like they need a strong soul to awaken,” she murmured.
The words tasted like poison in the air.
And all at once, I felt it–that same tug deep inside, faint but undeniable. Theke hadn’t finished with me. The souls hadn’t finished with me,
And no matter what Francescomanded, no matter how much I wanted to believe I could walk away… I knew this was only the beginning and I can’t stay and do nothing.
“We need to check more than and looks like the pack member also know, so what they’ve been hiding?” I told her.
“But, the King…” Audrey tried to object, but the words died quickly on her tongue. She knew my stubbornness, knew that once my mind was set, there was no use trying to sway me. Instead, she exhaled and lowered her gaze in reluctant
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eptance. “Got it.”
Knock. Knock.
The sound snapped through the room like a whip.
My heart lurched. Instinctively, I pulled the nket higher, making sure the bruises Francesco had left on my skin were hidden. Audrey chuckled softly at my frantic movements, but didn’tment. She only straightened, waiting for my /signal. I gave a small nod, and she moved to the door.
When it creaked open, both of us froze.
“Alpha Henri?” Audrey breathed, startled.
The man standing there wasn’t Francesco. It was another Alpha Henri. His presence alone filled the threshold with authority, the kind that weighed heavily on the air. His sharp eyes swept over me once, unreadable, before dipping his head slightly in a gesture of respect.
“I am sorry to intrude,” he said, voice low, steady. “But I heard your Luna has been hurting. May Ie in?”
My pulse quickened.
That was… strange.
No Alpha, not even one allied to Francesco, would approach me directly like this without the King’s permission. It was almost unthinkable. I flicked a nce toward Audrey, but she looked as confused as I felt. Still, I gave a short nod.
“You may,” I said carefully.
Audrey stepped aside to let him in.
He moved with deliberate calm, but something about him unsettled me.
His steps were too silent, his posture too intent. I forced myself not to shrink back under his gaze as he entered fully, his presence filling the room.
Where is Francesco? My thoughts sharpened.
They should have been together.
If not him, then Marlow.
Why was this Alpha here alone?
I swallowed, my smile thin. “This is unexpected. Francesco is not with you?”
His expression didn’t falter, though his eyes darkened a shade. “The King is upied at the moment. Matters that could not wait. He asked me to check on you in the meantime.”
A lie…
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I felt it in my bones.
Francesco would never send someone else to “check” on me, not after what happened at theke.
Especially not another Alpha.
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“How considerate,” I murmured, keeping my tone polite even as unease coiled in my gut. “But I assure you, I am fine.
Just… tired.”
His gaze lingered on me too long, as if weighing the truth of my words.
Then, slowly, his eyes drifted toward Audrey. “And you? You saw something too, didn’t you?”
The blood in my veins iced.
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Audrey stiffened, jaw tightening. She didn’t answer, but the subtle shift in her shoulders told me she was ready to move if things turned dangerous.
How did he know?
My heart thudded painfully. The memory of theke surged back–those souls, the way they followed me, the way only Audrey and I seemed able to feel them. And now, this Alpha, walking into my room, speaking as though he already knew
too much.
What are the pack members hiding?