CHAPTER 163: The Slow Descend Pt 2
CHAPTER 163: The Slow Descend Pt 2
RHEA
By the time I’m done with the shower, Aron has returned with clothes that he offers me to wear. They’re clean, but old. Still better than nothing.
I change into them and return outside. Aron is standing near the window, looking outside, just being careful.
My eyes fall onto my phone that’s on the side table, just silent and resting.
“Did you call Kovas?” I ask him quietly.
“I did,” He turns and looks at me. “He’ll come here in the morning. We’ll leave with him.”
“Don’t you think anyone will come looking for you here?”
He shakes his head, “I’m sure they’re going to think I’d want to put as much distance as I can from the council. And they won’t expect me to stay here, still close to them.”
I sit down on the edge of the bed and wipe my damp hands on my thighs. Still, even with all the exhaustion I feel, I truly don‘
t feel pain or weakness. I just feel–different, stronger.
“Are you sure?” I question, “Because we can still leave.”
He walks over to me and stops in front of me. “It’ll be fine.”
I nod, even though I don’t believe it. My fingers curl into the fabric of the hoodie as he sits down next to me. He appears far more exhausted than I’m feeling. I can see the way he moves, the way his eyes look tired. It’s all because of me.
I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have poisoned his wolf.
“Tell me,” His voice is soft when he speaks. “What happened since you woke up?”
“It was fine. I still feel fine, the same, but stronger. There are just some times when I feel–I don’t know what, but something, and then there’s this anger and it’s overwhelming. And it’s like I’m losing control.”
I bite down on my lip and wait for his reaction to what I’m telling him.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone. But I just feel like I can’t help it. There was someone at the village, someone the council sent and he–I just had to kill him. It was like something took over me and it made me kill him.”
He doesn’t interrupt me. He lets me talk.
“I spoke to Kovas about it. Before. But he doesn’t know exactly what is happening. And he told me that the witch who made me was gone from there.”
“Is that why you went there?” he questions.
“Yes, and no. I wanted to know about myself. But there was nothing there.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
I raise a brow, “What?”
“Killing.”
“No,” I quickly shake my head. “I didn’t–maybe a little. But I hate that it makes me feel better.” My words come in a rush. “It’s alright. You’re just learning to adjust to this new side of yours.”
“I’m a monster,” I whisper.
“No, no,” He’s quick to deny. His hand moves to my chin and he tilts it up, so our eyes meet. “You’re not.”
“Then what’s wrong with me?”
“There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“There is something, Aron. I know it,” My hand comes around his, where it’s on my jaw. “And you know it, too. Don’t hide it. from me. I want to know.”
It doesn’t matter how bad it is, I still want to know.
“I was warned of something. About your resurrection. It was bound to have consequences,” He pauses for a moment. “I didn’t want you to die, Rhea. Ever. But you did and it’s going to affect you.”
“What kind of consequences?”
“You’re strong now,” Aron says. “Stronger than any wolf. You’ll heal faster, move faster. You’ve got more power in you than most alphas could ever dream of.”
His fingers brush the base of my throat, where the blood was, where there’s now nothing.
“But it comes with a cost.”
CHAPTER 163: The Slow Descend Pt 2
I look at him, and I already know.
“There’s a darkness building inside you,” he says. “It’s not just rage. It’s deeper. Older. And if you’re not careful, it’ll consume
you.”
“Like what I’ve been feeling,” I whisper. “That rush. The need to hurt something.”
He nods once. “That’s the start of it. It feels like control, but it’s not. It’s hunger. And every time you give in to it, it grows,”
I swallow hard. “So, how do I stop it? How do I make it go away?”
“It’s a part of you now. It won’t go.”
“Then what? What am I supposed to do?”
“You fight it,” he murmurs, tone deepening. “Every time. You don’t give it what it wants. You don’t feed it.”
“You mean don’t kill.”
“I mean, don’t let it win. Because every time you give in, every time you hurt someone, it takes more of you. And if you let it take too much…”
He trails off, doesn’t finish the sentence.
“Then what?” My voice barely comes out.
“Then there won’t be anything left to save.” His answer sends a shiver down my spine.
“I don’t want to die,” I shake my head. “I don’t want to feel it again, Aron. I can’t.”
His other hand comes around to hold my face, and I lean into his touch, breathing it in. “You won’t,” he promises. “I promise. No one is going to hurt you.”
“But I’ll hurt others. I already did.”
“I’ll help you, Rhea. You’re not going to lose to it.”
I want to believe him. I want to believe that it’ll be easy, that I’ll be able to fight it. But I’m not sure if it’s possible.
“But you…” I trail off, looking up at him. “You could never control it. Your wolf had to die for that to happen.”
He shakes his head slightly, and his eyes shift from my gaze. “My wolf and I were different. I was his host. He didn’t live in me, he lived through me.”
“But what about me?”
“It’s not your wolf, Rhea. It’s the darkest parts of you that you’ve buried deep down all this while. The parts of you that were meant to live, but didn’t. And now they’ve come to the surface.”
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