Chapter 36
996 Words
_Dorian's POV_
The days after Camilla’s betrayal passed in a blur. I barely left my office, barely spoke to anyone. My pack moved around me as if walking on eggshells, sensing the storm brewing beneath my silence. I could feel it too—this restless, unsettled feeling clawing at my insides.
And the worst part? I couldn’t even tell if it was entirely my own.
Something inside me felt… different. Lighter, in a way I hadn’t expected. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my mind, like a fog I hadn’t even realized was there had finally begun to clear. At first, I thought it was just my anger fading, but the more time passed, the more I understood.
It wasn’t just anger.
It was control.
Camilla had been using that potion on me—I was sure of it now.
I clenched my jaw, staring into the flickering fire in my office. How long had she been manipulating me? What decisions had I made under her influence? Had I truly been acting on my own will, or had she been pulling the strings this entire time?
The thought made me sick.
You feel it now, don’t you?
The deep, rumbling voice echoed in my mind, sending a sharp shiver through my spine. I exhaled slowly, closing my eyes.
Shadow.
My wolf had been silent for so long. Too long.
Now, with the potion’s effects finally fading, I could hear him clearly again. I could feel him again.
She kept us apart, Shadow growled. She made you ignore me. I tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen.
A pang of guilt stabbed through me. He was right. Over the past months, my wolf had been… distant. No, that wasn’t quite right. I had been distant from him. I had dismissed his instincts, ignored his warnings, thinking they were nothing but paranoia.
Now I knew better.
I was weak, I admitted, rubbing a hand over my face. I let her deceive me.
Shadow let out a low, warning growl. You weren’t weak. You were tricked. She used dark magic against us, against your mind. But now, you can finally see the truth.
The truth.
The truth was that Camilla had been poisoning my mind, manipulating me. But that wasn’t the only truth Shadow was referring to. I could feel it in the way he lingered, waiting for me to acknowledge something I wasn’t ready to face.
There’s something else, I muttered, narrowing my eyes at the fire. Something you’re not saying.
Shadow huffed. You already know what it is. You just don’t want to accept it.
My hands tightened into fists. Don’t.
We made a mistake, he pressed, his voice unrelenting. A terrible mistake.
I shook my head. No. That wasn’t a mistake. I did what was best for the pack. Lyla was an omega. She wasn’t strong enough to be my Luna.
Shadow snarled. You still don’t understand.
I gritted my teeth, frustration building in my chest. What’s there to understand? I rejected her. She left. It’s over.
A sharp pain shot through me, so sudden and intense that I inhaled sharply. It wasn’t physical—it was something deeper, something in my soul.
Shadow’s voice was calmer now, but it carried a weight I couldn’t ignore. You think it’s over, but you don’t feel it, do you?
I frowned. Feel what?
The emptiness. The hollowness inside you since she left.
I opened my mouth to argue, but the words didn’t come.
Because he was right.
Ever since I rejected Lyla, there had been… something missing. A part of me that felt incomplete, like a wound that refused to heal. At the time, I convinced myself it was just the mate bond breaking. That I would move on. That I had to move on.
But now?
Now, I wasn’t so sure.
Shadow’s voice softened. It was almost pleading. She was our mate, Dorian. Our true mate. The one the Moon Goddess chose for us. And we let her go.
I exhaled, trying to push away the guilt creeping into my chest. It doesn’t matter now. The bond is broken. She’s gone.
Her wolf is special.
My heart skipped a beat.
Shadow continued, his voice laced with certainty. I couldn’t sense her before, not when Camilla’s magic was clouding my mind. But now? I can feel her. Even from this distance. She’s stronger than you ever imagined.
A shiver ran down my spine. That’s not possible.
It is, Shadow insisted. Her wolf has divine power, Dorian. Power that has been dormant for years. But now… I can sense her.
I stood up abruptly, pacing the room. And what does that change?
Shadow sighed. Everything.
No, I snapped. Lyla is not our concern anymore. She made her choice. She left.
Because we forced her to! Shadow growled, anger flaring in his tone. We broke her heart. We shattered something that was meant to be unbreakable. And now, she’s in danger.
I froze.
Danger?
Shadow’s energy pulsed through me, intense and urgent. Yes. I don’t know what, but something is wrong. I can feel it. And if you don’t do something, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
A chill settled over me.
I had ignored Shadow once. I had ignored his instincts, his warnings.
And look where that had gotten me.
But this?
This was different.
This was Lyla.
And if she was truly in danger…
Could I really turn my back on her again?
Shadow’s voice softened, filled with something I hadn’t heard in a long time. You know what you have to do.
I closed my eyes.
The fire crackled beside me, casting long shadows across the room. My own thoughts were a whirlwind, battling against everything I had once believed.
But deep down, I already knew the answer.
I had made a mistake.
And I wasn’t sure I could live with myself if I made it again.
- Writer
