Chapter 83: The Broken Connection
Melissa’s POV
Kane’s eyes were on me, observing everything I did. It wasn’t just him. Something has been off with me ever since we left the ruins. My thoughts felt vague, far away, like whispers just out of grasp, and my skin tingled as though something invisible slithered beneath it.
“Melissa,” Kane spoke in a forceful yet concerned tone. “Speak to me.”
Even though I knew it didn’t reach my eyes, I forced a smile. “I’m all right.”
“You’re not,” he replied, taking a step forward. Since we left that temple, you’ve changed. And the way you used to look at me. He tightened his jaw. “You intended to assault me.”
I winced. I knew he was correct, even if I didn’t want to accept it. He was something else to me, something deadly. For a moment only. But what if it took place once more?
I turned my head away and stared at the torches that flickered around the edge of the pack. It didn’t matter. I was simply confused.
Kane’s hand touched mine and gave me a light squeeze. “You are deceiving me.”
I took a deep breath. “I have no idea what’s going on with me.”
His golden eyes remained concerned even as his face softened. “Then allow me to assist you. Together, we’ll figure it out.
A dark side of me told me that this was just the beginning, even though I wanted to believe him. I wasn’t sure whether I could stop the change that was taking place inside of me.
As I moved past the church, I heard whispers. The shifters remained at a distance, their eyes tense. Their uncertainty was like a second skin, adhering to me.
One voice said, “Do you see the way her eyes change?”
“She no longer feels like our Luna.”
My stomach turned over. These were my group, my people. They were afraid of me now.
Lydia stepped forward, her face unreadable. “Melissa, we need to talk.”
I followed her into the main hall and nodded. The atmosphere was oppressively tense. Lydia wasted no time. “The pack is becoming agitated.”
“I’ve observed.” I crossed my arms, attempting to steady myself. “They perceive me as a danger.”
Lydia had a keen eye. “Are you?”
Her inquiry hurt more than it ought to have. I said in a voice that was hardly audible above a whisper, “I don’t know.”
Lydia let out a sigh. That is the issue. You have had a negative transformation. I sense it, and so do the others.
I wanted to correct her, to quarrel with her. However, I was unable to.
“You must win back their confidence,” Lydia added. “And quickly. Because they may choose to handle things themselves if you don’t.
I felt cold. I was no longer merely battling The Forsaken. I was battling the distrust of my people.
I watched the Warriors spar while sitting on the edge of the training field, but I wasn’t thinking about them. Everywhere I went, whispers followed. I sensed their discomfort and their looks. The pack was starting to question me.
I balled my fists up. I refuse to lose who I am. They still call me Luna.
Over me, a gloom descended. Lydia folded her arms as she stood there. “We must speak.”
Already tired, I sighed. “I’m not feeling it, Lydia.”
She laughed. “Unfortunately. This is significant. Her worried eyes were piercing when she sat next to me. Melissa, you’re different. Don’t tell me it’s nothing, either. Both of us are aware of it.
I tensed up. “What you mean is unclear to me.”
Lydia lowered her voice to a whisper. “You vanished last night. You were discovered by yourself outside the sanctuary. I take it you can’t recall how you got there?
A shiver went through my body. I didn’t know how to respond.
“I believed so,” she remarked somberly. “You need to stop acting like nothing is wrong with you; something is happening.”
With my heart racing, I turned to face her. “What are you saying?”
“I am saying that we will be forced to stop you if you lose control.” She spoke in a firm, uncompromising tone.
My chest was pierced by a sharp pain. “You would betray me?”
Lydia’s expression relaxed. “No one wants to. But if you become a risk to the pack…” She let the words hang between us.
I stood abruptly, shaking with anger. “You’re not getting it. I would never hurt my pack.”
“Then demonstrate it.” Lydia’s voice was steady. “Fight whatever this is before it’s too late.”
I turned aside my emotions in turmoil. I needed answers-before I became someone they feared.
Sleep didn’t come easily that night. My mind kept coming back to Lydia’s warning. Was she right? Was I changing?
I moved onto my side, seeking for Kane, but the bed was empty.
A cool breeze stroked my skin.
Wait-why was there wind?
My eyes jerked open. I wasn’t in bed. I was outside.
The night air felt chilly against my skin as I stood barefoot in the grass. The trees towered over me, their shadows gloomy and reaching out like snatching fingers.
I have no recollection of coming here.
What’s going on with me?
Then it burned against my wrist, and I felt it. I lifted my arm and took a deep breath.
My skin was marked by a dark symbol. A complex pattern that glowed dimly in a sickly silver light.
My chest constricted. Darius.
With short gasps of breath, I staggered back. Did he do this? When? How?
I spun around when I heard rustling. A voice that chilled my spine was whispered by the wind through the woods.
“You are now mine.”
I covered my ears with my hands. No! This isn’t true.
However, the mark was still there when I looked down at my wrist once more. Everlasting.
The trees gave a piercing growl, and I whirled around, my eyes focusing on something in the shadows.
Between the trees, a dark figure watched me with its glittering eyes gleaming.
Not human. Not a wolf. Something very different.
I attempted to take a step back, but my body resisted.
The voice came back, a little softer.
“Please, Melissa, come to me.”
My vision became blurry and the earth beneath me felt unstable.
Then everything turned dark