Chapter 118
Chapter 118: No Man’s Land
Rhea
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I keep running till I’ve nothing left, no breath, no strength and no direction. Only the endlress stretch of darkness in front of me and trees–a lot of trees. The weather keeps getting cooler. I’m not heading south this time, not after what happened last time.
I’m going further north, as far as I can from Aron’s territory. He won’t come looking for me here, because he won’t know where I’ll be.
The cold keeps biting at my skin as I keep going with nothing but my clothes pressed between my teeth.
My paws hit the ground, over and over, faster and fast, pushing me forward. The wind howls through the trees, but I don’t stop. I won’t stop. Not now. Not this time.
Some part of this forest is familiar, I recongize it from earlier, when I brought Aron here that night–to change him, to bury Kael.
It’s near to the land that belongs to Aron, the land he exchanged me for.
Why? Why did he do all of this? Why did he take me? Why did he need me? Why did he-
A growl rumbles in my chest as anger takes over me. I don’t think I’ve been angry before, at Aron. But right now, all I feel is anger and betrayal.
The land around me shifts, the trees growing thinner and a scent something unfamilar in the air.
I’m in no man’s land.
Land that doesn’t belong to any Alpha, or any pack. It’s close to Aron’s land, but not close enough.
The silence here is different, and it’s welcoming. I feel as if I’ve gotten far enough, but I know I need to keep going further because I’ve left a scent of my trail for Aron to follow, and if he begins to, he’ll find me.
He always did.
I don’t want to go back.
My steps began to slow down a little. A trembling breaths slips past my lips as I began to realize how badly I’m shaking with the cold.
He took me, he claimed me, he rejected me, and he took me again. All this he forced upon me–for his own benefit, for his own strength.
A sharp sound cracks through the silence and my ears twitch at it. I come to a complete halt and turn. It’s not the wind. Not the trees shifting either. Something else. Something alive.
I look around, quickly, scanning like a hawk.
Something is breathing behind those thick bushes. Something heavy. The leaves shake slightly. My ears move back against my skull and I take a step backward. I’ve got no intention of facing anything right now.
Espeically in the dark.
The breathing gets louder and closer. My sense heighten at that sound. I don’t know if it’s a wolf, or if it’s someone else. I
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Chapter 118
can’t smell them, even if I’m trying too.
Suddenly, they step out from the darkness and onto the light light that is coming from the moon.
I see her a woman.
“You’re back here,” She looks at me and says.
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I hear her voice and it’s familiar, but I don’t take note of it until a few moments later when realization hits me. It’s the witch. the one Kovas had found for Aron, for suppressing Kael.
“I can tell that he is too. His wolf–he has surfaced again. Hasn’t he?” She continues, talking by herself and looking at the skies. “I told your friend that sometimes it’s difficult to keep such a wolf at bay. He’s too strong and he’ll keep emerging”
Something tightens in my chest.
Kael.
He’s awake.
I hesitate for a moment before I shift to my human form. When I do, my arms go around my body and I try to quickly grab my clothes and cover myself up before anything.
I know I shouldn’t be talking to her–a witch. But she’s here. And it’s not like Aron knows her. The one who does is Kovas.
The last I spoke to him was nearly hours ago. I told him I was leaving, he tried to stop me as much as he could—he told me it was too dangerous, it was a terrible idea to leave, that Aron would find me in one way or another, that all this would be useless.
But I didn’t listen. Not once.
“You can tell what’s happening?” I ask the woman in front of me.
She nods before her eyes are peircing into my soul. “I can tell everything,” She whispers. “Everything that is happening, everything that has happened.” Her gaze turns into a sad smile, her head bowing. “It was terrible, the ritual preformed on you, my dear.”
“You know?” My chest rises and drops as I ask.
“Of course.”
“Did you-”
“No, it was a woman from a far away village, the one your mate had sought help from,” The witch tells me. “I don’t do such dark magic. I can’t. Playing with fate, and such things are a terrible curse.”
I step forward, closer to her. My chest aches from knowing it all. I don’t think I can ever stop feeling this pain.
“Why?” I ask her. “I don’t understand it. I can’t tell what has happened. I saw that–my body in his home. I felt like it wasn’t real.”
She tilts her head a little, “But it is.”
“Why?”
“Because he was weak. Because he was a boy trying to survive this world after his father’s death. And he needed something.”
My breath shudders, “He needed me?”
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Chapter 118
“He needed your power.”
“What power?” I shake my head. “I was a runt–I had always been a runt for as long as I’ve known until my wolf was poisoned.”
“You were a runt because the most powerful part of you was taken and the weakest was left with you.”
The ache in my chest only grows. I narrow my eyes down, onto the ground and recall all those times I had wished I was never here, because I was a runt. But the truth was, I never was. I was made into one.
Aron made me into one. His magic took away who I really was.
I snap my gaze at her again, “Can you undoe this? Please?”
She’s the only witch that I’ve ever come across so far in my life. I don’t know what else to do. Or who else to go to.
Her smile wavers a little bit and her eyebrows draw down.
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“No,” she whispers. “I can’t undo what was already done by another. And neither can you. You can’t awaken the other part of you–ever. For as long as it’s there, let it rest. Otherwise, there’ll be nothing but chaos.” Her hands grip onto mine suddenly, and I jolt from that sudden movement.
She’s stronger than she looks.
“But-”
She shakes her head again, “No, don’t even think of it.” She leans closer, her face mere inches away from mine. “He’s looking for you. Your mate. He can sense you, smell you, and his wolf, now he can even see you in his head as vivid as the night is dark.”
I take a step back, “W–what?”
“He’s going to come.”
“No,” My breaths quicken. “No. Please.”
Fear wraps itself around me. A shiver goes through me.
“He’s going to take you. He will,” She nods to herself, and looks ahead. “Because now that you know, he needs you to be even closer, trapped in his grasp, so you can never run again.”
I shake my head again, refusing to believe her.
He can’t just come and take me.
My lips tremble as I say, “Can you help me? If not with changing the past, then please, can you remove his mark off me? He can’t find me that way and if there’s no bond then…” I look up at her and see something shift on her face.
“Yes, I can remove his claim on you, your bond, whatever he has done to bind himself to you. But after that, you won’t know
you
understand?” him as your mate, or have that feeling that you do now,” She warns me. “That
“I understand it clearly.” I tell her, my heart pounding against my ribcage.
“He’ll be nothing to you but a mere Alpha you once knew.”
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