Chapter 199: Amanda

Azura’s POV

It had been two whole days since I finally found my aunts, since I held them tightly, cried until my throat was completely raw, and felt the comforting weight of their arms wrapped around me.

For my entire life, I had desperately craved the simple warmth of shared blood, and suddenly, there they were, standing right in front of me in the flesh.

I had spent hours begging them to stay at the pack house where I could keep an eye on them and make sure they were safe, but Aunt Ellisa had completely refused to listen to a single word of my pleading.

My mind drifted right back to the moment she had shut the idea down, her voice completely flat and unbothered as she leaned against the wooden pillar of the porch.

"The main reason I refuse to stay inside this house is that I might end up sleepwalking and stabbing the Torin guy in his sleep," she had told me, her expression deadpan and her eyes perfectly still.

She had said it with such a straight face that I stood there completely frozen, not knowing whether I should laugh out loud or burst into tears at her bluntness.

So, despite all my arguing, they left anyway.

I watched them ride off into that dark. But I did not let them go without putting up a massive fight first.

I made completely sure that Rhydor tracked down a highly comfortable, private cabin for them to stay in nearby.

It was a safe, well-guarded spot just outside the main borders, somewhere completely secure where I could easily run out and find them whenever I wanted to.

Only after the dust from their carriage finally settled did I turn around to confront Torin, who was still standing out in the yard with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What exactly did you want to talk to me about?" I asked him, keeping my voice quiet as I stepped closer to him.

"You know, right before my aunts arrived? You looked like you were about to say something important."

Torin shrugged his heavy shoulders, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he deliberately avoided looking me directly in the eyes.

"Nothing. It wasn’t important."

I frowned deeply, my eyes narrowing as I studied the tense line of his jaw.

"You were trying to say something to me, Torin. You looked incredibly serious, like something bad had happened at the market."

Torin shook his head quickly, turning his face away to watch the warriors training in the distance.

"It was really nothing, Azura. Just forget about it."

Without another word, he turned around and walked straight back toward the pack house, leaving me standing alone in the dirt.

I did not believe a single word coming out of his mouth.

Something was wrong with him, and it was driving me crazy.

He had been acting incredibly strange, distant, and jittery ever since he returned from his little trip to the local market.

But at that exact moment, I was too overwhelmed with happiness about finding my aunts to push him for the truth.

My heart was full, and I didn’t want to ruin the beautiful feeling by starting a massive argument over his weird mood swings.

So, I pulled a deep breath into my lungs and let it go.

Now, two days later, I was walking slowly along the outer perimeter of the stone courtyard.

A young pack servant had approached me just a few minutes ago, nervously muttering that someone was waiting outside near the eastern tree line and desperately wanted to speak with me.

It was someone I absolutely did not want to see, someone whose very presence made my skin crawl with instant irritation.

The moment I stepped past the heavy wooden gates and walked out toward the grass, I spotted her.

Isadora was standing right beneath the shade of a massive oak tree.

She was kicking a small, jagged stone with the tip of her leather boot, keeping her head down as she stared intently at the dirt beneath her feet.

I frowned, stopping in my tracks for a split second as a wave of suspicion washed over me.

I didn’t want to be anywhere near her, especially after all the chaos and grief she had caused since arriving at the pack.

But I knew I had to play this smart.

Rhydor and the others needed to find out exactly what she truly was, what she was plotting, and whom she was secretly working with.

If I pushed her away now, we would never get the answers we needed to protect the pack.

I forced my feet to move forward, walking directly toward her until I stopped just a few paces away.

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, my posture completely rigid.

"What?" I asked, my voice coming out entirely flat and cold.

Isadora jumped slightly, clearing her throat as she quickly lifted her head to look at me.

She looked incredibly nervous, her fingers twitching against the fabric of her skirt, but I couldn’t tell if the fear was genuine or if she was pretending to be anxious to lower my guard.

"I know we are not on good terms," she began, her voice careful, soft, and completely humble as she took a small step forward.

"I know we really do not like each other at all. But I truly want to make things better between us."

I raised one eyebrow high, looking at her with pure skepticism dripping from my face.

"Why exactly are you doing this now?"

Isadora waved her hands quickly in front of her face, nodding her head as if she couldn’t wait to explain herself.

"I just realized that fighting so bitterly over one single guy is completely childish. I really do not want to keep doing this, and I don’t want to..."

"Excuse you," I said, cutting her off instantly with a sharp glare that made her freeze.

"You are the only one who has been fighting for him this entire time. I am not fighting anyone for a man."

Isadora nodded her head way too fast, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to smooth over her mistake.

"Yes, yes. You are right. I am so sorry. I just mean that it was incredibly childish of me to act the way I did."

"I truly just want to apologize to you. I want to make things right between us so we can move forward."

I stood perfectly still, my eyes locked onto her face as I searched for any sign of a hidden lie.

I did not trust her for a single second.

Every single instinct in my gut was screaming at me to turn around and walk away from her right now.

"I do not trust you, Isadora," I told her, my voice turning cold and blunt.

"I have absolutely no desire to be friends with you. To be completely honest, I am perfectly fine with the way things are right now. We don’t need to talk."

Isadora’s face fell instantly, her shoulders slumping down as if my words had dealt a massive blow to her confidence.

But then, a second later, a tiny, tight smile pulled at the corners of her lips.

It looked completely forced, like she was straining every muscle in her face to keep her composure.

"I really do not know any other way to explain myself or apologize to you," she whispered, looking down at her boots again.

"I just truly wish you would forgive me, Azura. If you could do that, at least my heart would finally be at rest."

I stared at her, a bitter thought flashing through my mind.

Which heart exactly do you mean? The real Isadora’s heart that you stole, or the evil thing inside you?

I kept the dangerous words locked behind my teeth, knowing I couldn’t break my cover yet.

I needed to see exactly how far she was willing to go with this little act.

I let out a short, heavy exhale, intentionally making myself look completely exhausted by her begging.

"Fine," I said shortly.

Isadora’s entire face lit up in a flash, her eyes widening with sudden excitement.

"Really? Oh, thank goodness! I actually planned something special for us, just in case you decided to accept my apology."

"Think of it as a little friendship gift, just to prove to everyone that we are no longer enemies."

My eyes narrowed into small slits, my defenses going right back up.

"You already planned something, without knowing what I will say?"

Isadora nodded eagerly, a bright smile plastering itself across her face.

"Okay," I said slowly, pacing my words to sound cautious but curious.

"Where exactly is this gift?"

Isadora turned her head, looking around the empty edge of the forest before pointing a delicate finger toward a narrow path leading deep into the trees.

"It isn’t out here. We have to walk down there to get it."

The moment the words left her mouth, a cold smirk settled deep inside my mind.

I knew it. She was absolutely up to something dangerous.

A sudden wave of regret hit me, and I wished I had taken the time to tell Torin or Rhydor about this meeting before walking out here alone.

But I had to act now.

I had to keep pretending to be a naive girl who fell for a fake apology, letting her think she was completely winning this twisted game.

"Lead the way," I said quietly, stepping onto the dirt path right behind her.

She led me deeper and deeper into the forest, walking down a winding trail that became narrower with every step we took.

The cheerful sounds of the pack house quickly faded away, replaced by the heavy, suffocating silence of the dense woods.

Finally, she stepped into a quiet, completely isolated clearing that was entirely hidden from the main paths.

It was private, quiet, and perfectly cut off from the rest of the world.

I stopped in the middle of the grass, crossing my arms again as I looked around the space.

There was nothing here but old trees and thick bushes.

"Okay," I said, my voice completely flat as I turned to face her.

"Are we just going to stand here in the middle of nowhere?"

Isadora let out a high, ringing laugh.

It sounded incredibly light, but it was completely fake, completely empty of any real warmth.

"You are so funny, Azura. No, of course we are not just going to stand here," she said, her voice dripping with an eerie sweetness as she began pacing around the edge of the clearing.

"I just really wanted to show you this specific spot. It happens to be one of my favorites in the entire territory."

She kept talking and talking, her voice blurring into a continuous stream of useless words.

Blah, blah, blah.

I tuned her out, keeping my eyes fixed on her moving figure while my mind raced, trying to figure out where she had hidden her little trap.

Then, out of nowhere, a sharp sound sliced through the heavy silence of the woods.

It was the unmistakable, terrifying sound of something heavy moving through the air at an incredible speed.

It was sharp, loud, and moving directly toward my chest.

Before my brain could even process the danger or tell my limbs to move, a massive weight slammed violently into my side.

The force of the impact pushed me straight down to the grass.

My breath left my lungs in a sharp gasp as I fell hard against the dirt, rolling over the dry leaves.

I scrambled up onto my hands and knees immediately, my heart hammering against my ribs as I looked over to see what had just thrown me to the ground.

Torin was crouched right in front of me, his heavy chest heaving as he breathed through his nose.

He had one knee planted firmly in the dirt, his other leg bent tightly beneath him as if he was ready to spring forward at any second.

His intense, furious eyes were completely fixed on something hiding in the distant shadows at the edge of the trees.

I quickly pushed myself all the way up, following the exact line of his sharp gaze to see what was happening.

First, my eyes landed on Isadora.

The sweet, innocent mask she had been wearing just a few seconds ago was completely gone.

Her beautiful face was twisted into a hideous, annoyed scowl, her lips curled back in pure, pissed-off rage because her plan had been interrupted.

Then, my eyes shifted past her, locking onto the exact spot Torin was staring at.

A slender woman was standing still at the very edge of the dark clearing, her silhouette framed by the thick branches.

She held a heavy wooden bow tightly in her left hand, slowly lowering the weapon down to her side.

It was obvious that she was the one who had just shot the lethal projectile into the clearing.

Torin had saved my life.

He had tracked me into the woods, kept his distance, and thrown his own body into mine to push me down a split second before the weapon could pierce through my skin.

I stood frozen, my entire body going numb as I stared across the grass at the woman with the bow.

She was older now, her frame taller and her posture much more mature than the last time I had seen her.

She was fully grown, like a fierce warrior standing in the shadows of the forest.

But even with the months that had passed, I knew that face better than my own.

I recognized those sharp, familiar eyes instantly.

A massive sob caught in my throat, my lips trembling as the world around me seemed to fade into nothingness.

"Amanda," I whispered, the name tearing out of my chest like a broken prayer.