<h4>Chapter 122: Chapter 122: No matter the cost.</h4>


    The night was quiet, the kind of silence that felt almost too heavy. Seleney curled on her bed, the covers drawn up, but her sleep was restless.


    Her mind reyed the moments from her past...her mother...her childhood and when she met them. Her past was hunting her once again, finding herself back in the time when Alpha Eirik would torture her.


    But then...something changed.


    Her body tensed, her breath catching as if some unseen weight pressed into the air around her. Slowly, a strange sensation swept through her, prickling across her skin. It felt like someone... or something... was standing right beside her bed, watching.


    Her eyes fluttered, half awake, half asleep, caught between dream and reality. And then she felt it—a warmth, so near, so close, as though a body leaned over hers. A soft heat brushed against her cheek, like a breath, steady and calm.


    Her heart stuttered. She should have been afraid and should have pulled away. But instead, something inside her loosened. That warmth wasn’t threatening. It was soothing, familiar in a way she couldn’t exin.


    Her body moved before her mind could think—her arms stretched out, searching, and she wrapped herself around it. It was there, warm and solid. Her cheek pressed against something that felt both strong and strangely soft, almost fluffy, like fur against her skin.


    And instantly, all her restlessness faded.


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    The tension in her body melted away as if washed by invisible hands. Her heartbeat slowed, her breath evened, and her senses calmed in a way she hadn’t known in years.


    Every nerve, every ache that had burned through her since yesterday, quieted under that warmth.


    She clung to it tighter, burying herself in that strangefort. A soft sigh escaped her lips as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.


    For the first time in so long, she felt safe...so safe it frightened her. Safe enough that she wished she could stay like this forever, lost in this warmth, drifting into an endless sleep where nothing could hurt her anymore.


    Her fingers curled, holding onto it with desperation. She wanted it closer and wanted it never to leave. And then, with that thought, sleep dragged her under, deep and heavy.


    ***


    Morning.


    Selene’s eyes blinked open slowly, heavy with drowsiness. The room was bathed in soft light from the window, the quiet broken only by the faint rustle of curtains.


    She stretched, her arms searching, expecting...something. But there was nothing.


    Her eyes darted to her side. The bed was empty.


    Her heart gave a small, uneasy thump. She sat up, her fingers brushing over the sheets. They were cool. No sign of anyone or anything ever being there.


    Had she dreamed it?


    Her lips parted, confusion swirling through her chest. She knew what she had felt. She wasn’t the type to imagine things like this. She had touched it, held it, pressed herself into it.


    She remembered the heat, the breath, and the feeling of fur against her skin. It was too real to be just a dream.


    Yet here she was, alone.


    Her hands pressed against her temples as she let out a shaky breath. "What is wrong with me?" she whispered to herself.


    First, she had almost kissed Kieran, losing her sensespletely. Now this? Hugging something in the night that didn’t even exist? Was she losing her mind? Was she finally breaking apart under all the pressure, all the pain she had kept buried?


    The thought made her want tough and cry at once. She shook her head, almost scolding herself, as if she deserved a p for her foolishness.


    No. She couldn’t let herself spiral. She needed to calm down.


    Throwing the covers aside, Selene rose from the bed and crossed to the bathroom. A long bath—that was what she needed.


    Something to clear her head, to drown out this madness. She needed the water to cool her skin, to wash away this lingering warmth that clung to her even now, making her heart restless.


    She gripped the edge of the sink, staring at her reflection. Her face looked pale, her eyes shadowed, but there was still that faint blush, as if her body remembered what her mind could not exin.


    Confused. Flustered. Ashamed. And somewhere, deep down, afraid.


    She whispered to herself, "What is happening to me?"


    But she realized whateverthis madness is, she has to get out of this; her goal is still waiting for her... She closed her eyes and thenopened them back.


    Her eyes were calm once again, devoid of any confusion or doubt.


    Her eyes darkened with determination.


    Somewhere out there, hidden deep inside the werewolfmunity, was the witch who had betrayed their kind.


    A witch who had secretly sided with the wolves, who had given them power and knowledge they should have never had.


    As long as that witch was alive, the entire witchmunity would remain chained, never able to rise again. Their freedom would always be crushed under the ws of the wolves.


    Selene clenched her fists.


    She had to find her.


    She had to uncover who that witch was before it was toote.


    But it wouldn’t be easy. That witch would never show her face openly. Her identity must have been buried carefully, known only to the highest of alphas...


    Still, even if there was a way in... How could Selene reach so close to them? How could she step inside the heart of the wolf territory without being noticed?


    One wrong step, one careless mistake, and she would be caught. If the werewolves realized a witch was among them, her life would end before she could even blink.


    The thought made her chest tighten.


    She pressed a hand against her forehead and breathed deeply.


    She needed a n. A careful, wless n.


    It sounded impossible.


    But Selene knew she had no choice.


    Her lips pressed into a thin line as she thought of the coven. She couldn’t tell anyone—not yet. Not until she was certain. Because if word spread that she suspected someone, the traitor witch would hear of it. And then... she would vanish. She would hide even deeper, or worse, she would strike first.


    Selene couldn’t let that happen.


    That was why only one person knew—her witch mother.


    She lowered her head, her hair falling forward to cover her face, and whispered to herself, "I have to be careful. Every step I take has to be hidden. I can’t fail... not this."


    Her heart was heavy, but her eyes burned with quiet fire.


    She would find that witch.


    No matter how deep she was buried.


    No matter how dangerous the wolves were.


    No matter the cost.


    Selene would uncover the one who betrayed them all.