Chapter 213: Returned

Isadora’s POV

I slowly blinked my eyes open, the heavy fog in my mind lifting with agonizing slowness.

The stone ceiling stretching above me was unfamiliar.

A single, thin beam of pale afternoon light cut sharply across the rough surface from a tiny window positioned high up on the wall.

I did not move a single muscle.

I did not even dare to take a deep breath.

For what felt like an eternity, I had been nothing more than a helpless prisoner trapped inside the dark corners of my own body.

I had been forced to watch every single thing. I had felt every single touch.

Yet, I was unable to speak a single word, unable to fight back against the parasite controlling my limbs.

I was a silent, invisible passenger inside my own flesh while a complete monster wore my face, smiled my smile, and used my hands to commit horrific acts.

Even now, with the silence of the room wrapping around me, a deep fear gripped my chest.

What if she was still hiding in the shadows of my mind?

What if the second I tried to move my limbs, she would violently push my consciousness back down into the dark abyss?

I squeezed my eyes shut again, a silent prayer echoing in my head.

I wish I could just move my hand.

I thought the words with everything I had left, a desperate, foolish little hope clinging to my soul.

My right hand slowly lifted off the mattress.

My eyes snapped open instantly. I stared down at my trembling fingers, watching them twitch and curl in the dim light.

They were moving perfectly, responding entirely to my own thoughts.

There was no internal resistance, no dark force fighting me for control over the muscles.

I sat up slowly, the rough sheets sliding down my waist.

I brought both of my hands up to my face, eagerly touching my cheeks, my nose, and my dry lips.

It was still me. It was actually my own skin.

I stumbled out of the bed, my weak legs shaking violently as I rushed across the room toward the full-length glass mirror mounted on the wall.

And there I saw her.

Myself.

The real Isadora. I was finally back inside my own body, looking at my true reflection for the first time in months.

Hot, heavy tears spilled rapidly from my eyes, blurring my vision.

I raised a shaking hand and touched the smooth surface of the glass, tracing the lines of my own reflection.

I couldn’t stop crying, a heavy sob ripping out of my throat. I had missed this face so incredibly much.

I had missed the simple, basic feeling of being myself.

"I never knew you actually had the capacity to cry," a familiar voice spoke up from the dim corner of the room.

I spun around instantly, my heart jumping into my throat as I gripped the edges of the mirror table.

Azura was sitting casually on a wooden chair near the heavy wardrobe, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched me with a sharp, calculating gaze.

"What on earth is wrong with you?" I snapped, my voice sounding incredibly raw and raspy as I tried to mask my vulnerability with my usual sharp tongue.

"Who just sneaks into a person’s private room and scares them half to death while they are waking up?"

Azura simply shrugged her shoulders, a faint, mocking smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I didn’t sneak in here at all. I have literally been sitting in this exact chair the entire time you were asleep."

She tilted her head to the side, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Seriously, I never knew you could cry like that," she said, her tone dripping with a playful smirk.

"And you looked so ugly."

"Shut up," I muttered, quickly wiping the wet tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand, trying to regain my composure.

I opened my mouth to say something mean to snap back at her, but that was when I finally noticed the other person in the room.

Luna Genevieve was sitting quietly on the very edge of the wooden bed frame.

She was watching my every movement with calm, deeply careful eyes that seemed to read right through my soul.

The sudden realization of who she was hit me, and I instantly bowed my head slightly, showing the proper respect due to her position.

"Luna," I said quietly, my voice dropping its sharp edge completely.

Luna Genevieve offered me a warm, reassuring smile, and she gently patted the empty mattress space right beside her on the bed.

"Come over here," she said softly, her voice incredibly soothing.

"Sit down with us."

I hesitated for a brief second before walking over, slowly sliding onto the edge of the bed beside her.

"How exactly are you feeling right now?" she asked, her gentle eyes scanning my face for any lingering traces of the dark witch’s presence.

"I am okay," I replied, nodding my head slowly as I tried to process the lingering ache in my muscles.

"Just a bit tired."

"You must be incredibly surprised," she noted, studying the way I kept staring down at my own hands.

"To suddenly find yourself back in possession of your own body after everything that happened."

"Yes," I whispered, looking down at the floor as a wave of emotion threatened to wash over me again.

"To be honest, I never actually thought this day would come. I thought I was gone forever."

I paused, looking up to meet her calm gaze as a burning question pushed its way to the front of my mind.

"How did you know?" I asked, my curiosity finally getting the better of me.

"How could you tell that it wasn’t me running around in this body? How could you tell the difference?"

Before she could even open her mouth to answer, Azura spoke up from her chair.

"Actually, I was the very first person to notice that something was wrong with you," Azura said, a smug smirk spreading across her face as she leaned back against the wall.

I frowned deeply, turning my head to glare at her.

"I wasn’t talking to you, and what nonsense are you saying?"

Azura shrugged again, unfazed by my dark look.

"You were just acting way too differently from the person I know. You are usually so incredibly wicked and mean to everyone around you. But that version of you was trying way too hard to be nice and sweet. It felt so fake and off."

I rolled my eyes dramatically, letting out a loud huff.

"Oh, shut up."

Genevieve ignored our bickering, her expression turning serious as she brought the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Aside from her behavior, I sensed a different presence hiding deep inside you. It was clear that someone else was pulling the strings and controlling your physical movements."

My frown deepened as the memories began to play in the back of my mind.

"Do you happen to remember exactly what happened right before your body was stolen from you?" Luna Genevieve asked, her voice dropping into a careful, deliberate tone.

I forced myself to think back to that dark day, digging through the foggy, terrifying memories of the woods.

"The Alpha King," I said slowly, the words heavy on my tongue.

"He was there."

Genevieve’s eyebrows pulled together in a deep frown.

"That shouldn’t be possible. Are you certain whom you saw in the forest?"

I nodded my head firmly, the terrifying image completely burned into my brain.

"Yes. I am positive. I saw him with my own two eyes."

"What exactly did he look like?" Genevieve asked, her blue eyes narrowing as she watched me closely.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to picture his face clearly through the haze of that memory.

"I know this is not going to make any sense to either of you," I said, opening my eyes to look at them.

"But he looked young."

Genevieve’s frown deepened significantly at my words, a look of pure confusion crossing her face.

Azura stood up from her chair in the corner, her expression twisting into a dark scowl as she processed the information.

"I will be right back," Azura said abruptly, her voice clipped.

Without waiting for either of us to say a word, she turned on her heel and quickly walked out of the room, slamming the heavy wooden door shut behind her.

Genevieve turned her attention back to me, leaning in a little closer.

"The woman who stole your physical form... Do you happen to remember hearing her actual name before she took over?"

I thought back to the terrifying moment of the switch, the sound of the magic chanting ringing in my ears.

"I remember," I said slowly, my hands starting to shake slightly as the memory came rushing back in full force.

"The Alpha King... he explicitly said her name right before the magical switch took place. Drusilla. Yes, I am sure of it. Her name is Drusilla."

My chest was heaving slightly, my words becoming a bit frantic as the terror of that day threatened to overwhelm me again.

"Calm down," Genevieve said soothingly, placing a warm, steady hand on my shoulder to anchor me.

"Breathe, Isadora. You are safe now. She cannot hurt you anymore."

I nodded my head, taking a deep, shaky breath to settle my racing heart.

The heavy door suddenly creaked open again, and Azura walked back into the room with quick, purposeful strides.

In her right hand, she was holding a piece of old, brittle brown paper that had been carefully folded into a small square.

She walked straight over to the bed and handed the old paper directly to Genevieve.

"I found this hidden inside the book," Azura explained quietly, her eyes dark with a strange emotion.

"The one we took from the secret cave."

Genevieve took the paper without a word, carefully unfolding the fragile edges.

She read the written words silently, her entire face shifting from calm curiosity to pale shock as her eyes scanned the page.

I leaned my body forward slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of the old handwriting, my curiosity spiking.

"What is it? What does the paper say?"

"It is a personal letter," Genevieve said, her voice barely a whisper as she kept her eyes glued to the page.

"A letter written by my own sister. She says... she says that he is still alive."

Azura frowned deeply, her voice tight.

"The Alpha King."

Genevieve finally looked up from the paper, her eyes locking onto Azura’s face.

"In my dream, I saw him die a long time ago," Azura continued, her voice sounding incredibly steady as she looked directly at me.

"But if he appears much younger now, it is entirely possible that he did the same thing to himself that was done to Isadora. He switched his soul into a completely different body to stay alive."

A cold sweat broke out across my neck as I listened to her theory.

Genevieve’s jaw tightened visibly, her posture turning incredibly rigid and cold as she stared at me.

"Even if he is the Alpha King, it should be physically impossible for you to know that information just by looking at him."

She fully turned her entire body to face me now, demanding an answer.

"I don’t know how to properly explain it to you," I stammered, my heart hammering against my ribs as the confusion washed over me.

"But the exact moment that I met him, I felt a massive, undeniable pull toward him. And I also felt another pull different from the first one that was when I knew he was the Alpha King."

"I have never been around an Alpha King before in my entire life, so I didn’t know if that kind of intense pull was just a normal reaction to his massive power."

Genevieve shook her head side to side, her voice filled with a terrifying certainty.

"No, you cannot feel two different pulls from an Alpha King unless he is in the situation you were in.

She paused, letting the heavy silence hang in the air for a long moment before she delivered the final blow.

"That means the physical body he is currently inhabiting is not just any random stranger’s body," Genevieve whispered, her blue eyes filled with a dark, tragic realization.

"That specific body itself is already deeply connected to your soul somehow."

I frowned deeply, a terrible knot forming in the pit of my stomach.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

Genevieve’s face went completely pale, her voice dropping into a quiet, chilling whisper.

"It is obvious, Isadora," she said, the words cutting through the air like ice.

"The Alpha King intentionally swapped his soul into the physical body of your true mate."

The words echoed loudly in the quiet room, making my entire world instantly tilt on its axis.

"What?" I whispered, the air completely leaving my lungs as my face went entirely bloodless.