CHAPTER 173: The Thing Inside Me
CHAPTER 173: The Thing Inside Me
RHEA
It’s been hours. Maybe even more. I can still taste the blood on my lips and what it felt like to kill those two wolves. I haven‘ t moved from the corner of the room.
What is wrong with me? I keep asking that, but I don’t get answers. I’m not supposed to be like this. I’m meant to be better, I’m meant to live and fight, and do everything right.
My head falls into my hands as I get lost in thought.
The skies outside change colours, going from morning to afternoon to night. When the skies have turned almost black, I get up from the couch and pace around.
Until the door opens.
“Are you done sulking?”
I blink at Aron, “That’s what you think I’m doing?”
He shrugs, stepping further in. “You killed someone. Then tried to kill another, and now you’re here. What else am I supposed to think?”
“You think I wanted to do that?” I step toward him. “I didn’t, Aron. You don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand, because I’m starting to believe that there’s something wrong, that something went wrong when you came to life. And until I can’t understand, I won’t be able to help you.”
“I told you, I can’t control whatever this thing is. I’ve the urge to hunt, to kill, to destroy. And it scares me. It makes me feel like I’m going insane. And I don’t want to go there, Aron.” My voice breaks toward the end. “I don’t want to die.”
He steps forward, closing the space between us.
“No one is going to harm you.”
“Yes, but if I can’t stop it. Someone will.”
“I won’t let anyone.” His hand comes around the side of my jaw, cupping my face lightly. “You don’t have to fear that. If you‘ re worried, then don’t. I’m right here and I’ll protect you, either way. You just have to talk to me.”
“I–I don’t know.”
“We’ll find the witch, the one who created the spell. I’ll put Kovas on her trail. She’ll certainly have the answers we need.”
I almost want to shake my head, but I stop myself. I can’t let him know that I don’t want to do anything with the witch that did this, but to kill her too.
What if Aron finds her and what if she tells him a way to wake her up? Wake that body that’s lying in that room? And bury
me?
She wasn’t like me–I wasn’t like her. Yes, we were the same, but she was far more different from I am. She didn’t have this
darkness. She wasn’t a threat.
And what if Aron goes with it? What if he’d choose her over me?
“No,” I choke it out. “I’ll just stop. I won’t go running alone again.”
He searches my eyes, and for a moment, I’m worried that he knows. That he can read what I’ve just thought about, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t say anything.
“I don’t want you to think about this too much. It’s okay. We’ll figure out a solution. I don’t want you to think you’ve lost all hope.”
I don’t know if I should feel grateful or guilty.
“I know, and I won’t.”
“Good.”
I can’t let him find that witch. Wherever she is, she had better stay hidden and far away from here.
“Come down. Eat some food. I think it’ll do you some good to eat and sleep.”
“Okay,” I whisper, letting him hold my hand and lead me out.
We go to the kitchen and I sit on one of the counters as Aron warms up something that Marcella has made before. It’s a pasta of sorts and he places it in front of me before sitting across the table.
I look at him across the counter, remembering the night earlier and the elephant in the room we still haven’t spoken about.
“You marked me last night,” I choke it out while taking a bite of the pasta. “I didn’t know that-” The words get lost at some point.
1/3
CHAPTER 173: The Thing Inside Me
“That my wolf is still alive?”
“Yes,” My head tilts a little. “How? I thought he was gone after I poisoned you.”
“I thought the same. Until a while ago, when I started feeling him rattling inside me again.”
“Is he-”
“At the surface, yes.”
“Are you going to-”
“Lose control like before?” His expression changes a bit. “No, I won’t let the mistakes repeat again. For as long as there’s no harm to my family, my pack, or you, he won’t come to control me.” He says it with certainty.
I’m not too concerned. I love him, and I love his wolf. My biggest mistake was ever letting him poison. But again, I wasn’t really there then when it happened. All I could do was see it unravel.
After dinner comes to an end, he remains downstairs, speaking to someone while I head up to freshen up and just take a moment for myself.
As I walk past the hallway, I can hear the faint ringing of a phone inside Aron’s office. At first, I pay no attention to it, knowing that at one point, he’s going to come up and deal with it, but then the ringing continues.
It goes on for the entire minute I’m standing outside the door and the minute after that.
The ringing doesn’t stop.
I hesitate for another minute before stepping inside to answer it. I know I shouldn’t, but it’s bothering me in a way I can’t explain.
I pick up the receiver and place it against my ear.
“Aron isn’t here right now, but I can take a message.”
There’s a moment of silence, and I almost wonder if the call got cut off, but then there’s a voice.
“Rhea, is it?” The man on the other end says.
I furrow my brows. “Who is this?”
“Oh, do you not recognise me, dear? Or did dying and coming back to life alter your memories?”
I take a sharp inhale before the voice registers in my mind. I can’t get there first, but then I do. It’s from the council. That man–the council’s head. The same one that came up with the idea of luring Aron to the grounds that day, so they could capture him while I’d remain safe.
“I don’t–I’m not-” I can barely find the words.
This can’t be happening. They shouldn’t have found out that I am alive.
“Don’t end the call, Rhea. I suppose we could have a little word with you?”
“I don’t want to.” I try to find the right words but my mind is in chaos.
“Oh, but we do, don’t we? We know you’ve come to life again, that you’ve risen after a woman killed you. It’s quite a feat, and impressive, if I may add. Why don’t you come by the council headquarters, and we can speak, like before?”
“No.”
No.
“Come now, dear.” His voice hums through the line. “You and I both know how this ends. You’ve already started slipping, haven’t you?”
What he can’t know that. Not about the madness that came with the magic.
“One dead wolf. One was nearly shredded. You think we wouldn’t hear about that?”
“Leave me alone.”
“Come by the river outside the border. We’ll speak, and if you’re still reluctant, then know that we will always be surrounding this territory and until we haven’t dealt with all the situations going on within the pack, we won’t be leaving.”
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