Novel Full Chapter 111: Back
Chapter 111: Back
Rebecca’s POV
The darkness of sleep didn’t bring me peace; instead, it ripped my consciousness away entirely, pulling me down into the familiar, misty expanse of the dream world.
When my vision cleared, I wasn’t alone. Standing in the center of the endless gray fog were Helen and Stephanie.
The moment I saw my friend’s spirit, the agonizing ache in my chest flared into a raging fire. I didn’t even greet them. I just marched straight up to Stephanie, the tears I had been holding back in the waking world spilling over.
"You knew," I choked out, my voice trembling with betrayal. "You knew how Alpha Kaden felt about you, and you never told me! You sat there and watched me suffer as his prisoner, while all along, he was completely in love with you!"
Stephanie opened her mouth to speak, but before a single word could leave her lips, Helen stepped between us.
"Calm down, Rebecca," Helen commanded softly. "And do not believe everything that man says."
I let out a harsh, bitter laugh, wiping furiously at my cheeks. "Do not believe what he says? Really? Helen, you wasn’t there! He wants Stephanie. He literally held my chin, looked into my eyes, and told me that every single tender thing he did—jumping into the freezing water, kissing me until I couldn’t breathe, carrying me to his bed—was not for Rebecca. He said it to my face!"
The phantom pain in my heart was so real it made me gasp for air. God, I sounded so incredibly jealous. I sounded absolutely pathetic. But why was I so deeply pained over a man who had treated me like absolute dirt? Over an Alpha who had locked me away, threatened me, and hurt me time and time again?
The answer terrified me. It was because, through Stephanie’s eyes, I had finally seen that a soft, fiercely protective side of Kaden actually existed. I just had to face the brutal reality that his softness was reserved for a palace maid, while his cruelty was saved for me.
"I don’t want to go back," I wept, shaking my head violently as the fog swirled around our ankles. "Just swap us back right now. Send Stephanie back to her own body today so they can be together and be happy. Let everything go back to the way it’s supposed to be."
Helen sighed, stepping closer. "Rebecca, look at me. Do you truly want to give up on your own life and your own body?"
"No one wants me there!" I sobbed, burying my face in my hands. "He doesn’t want me to return! If I go back to my real body in that medical wing, he will just make my life miserable all over again. I’ll just go back to being his hated prisoner."
Throughout my entire breakdown, Stephanie didn’t say a single word. She just stood there, her eyes wide and conflicted, her lips pressed into a tight line. It was strange. It was almost as if an invisible force or a powerful command had ordered her to stay completely silent, keeping her from defending herself or explaining the truth.
Helen shook her head, her expression turning dead serious. "Do not believe Kaden’s words, Rebecca. Trust your guts. Deep down, past the anger and the hurt, you know when a wolf is lying. Now tell me, right now—do you want to return to your body, or do you want to stay here in the void and die?"
My breath hitched. Trust my guts.
My mind spun in a thousand directions. Why was Helen telling me to trust my instincts? What did my instincts even say? Was Kaden pretending? Was that dangerously soft warning he gave me in his bedroom actually a twisted, brilliant riddle? The woman I jumped into the water for wasn’t Rebecca... Could he have meant that he didn’t save me because I was a prisoner, but because of... something else? Was he playing a massive game?
"Helen, please," I begged, looking up at the ancient woman. "Does he know? Is he lying to me?"
"That is not for me to say," Helen replied, her voice echoing in the mist. "It is for you to return and find out for yourself. But you must choose now. The magic is heavy, and your time is running out."
I stood there in the quiet fog, thinking about it. I thought about the way Kaden’s thumb had brushed my cheek. I didn’t know if returning was a great idea. I didn’t know what kind of hell or heartbreak was waiting for me back in the pack mansion. But I sure as hell wasn’t a coward. I needed to know the truth. I needed to see for myself if Alpha Kaden was playing me, or if he truly wants Stephanie.
I took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. "Fine. Let’s do it. Let’s swap back to our real bodies."
Helen finally smiled, a look of profound relief crossing her beautiful face. She turned to my friend. "Stephanie, hold her hand."
Stephanie stepped forward, her spirit finally moving as she reached out and tightly grasped my hand. Her palm felt warm, a familiar anchor in the shifting darkness.
"Close your eyes, both of you," Helen instructed, her voice dropping into a low, powerful chant that made the entire dream world begin to vibrate and fracture.
I squeezed Stephanie’s hand, closed my eyes tightly, and braced myself for whatever reality I was about to wake up to.
Helen said something—an ancient phrase that echoed in the depths of my soul—and soon I felt a wild breeze blowing through the void. The environment shifted violently. The freezing chill of the dream landscape rapidly melted away, replaced by a sudden, heavy warmth that pressed down on my entire chest.
I no longer felt Stephanie holding my hand. The low vibration of Helen’s chanting dissolved into a completely different sound.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
My eyelids felt so heavy. Every muscle in my body ached with a deep, crushing soreness, far heavier than anything I had felt while using Stephanie’s body. Gasping for air, I finally forced my eyes open.
Instead of the grand canopy of Kaden’s master bedroom, I found myself staring up at the stark white ceiling of a medical room. The sterile scent of antiseptic and alcohol burned the inside of my nose.
I blinked against the harsh light, slowly turning my head to look around the space. IV lines were hooked into the back of my hand, and a massive heart monitor was humming rhythmically beside the bed.
Before I could even process the fact that I was finally back, the heavy wooden door to the medical room suddenly clicked and swung open.
A young pack maid walked in, carrying a bowl filled with warm water and a folded white washcloth. She took three steps into the room before her eyes locked directly onto mine.
Our gazes met, and she froze mid-stride. Her jaw dropped in absolute shock.
Clatter!
The ceramic bowl slipped from her hands, shattering instantly against the stone floor. Warm water splashed everywhere. Her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with pure terror as she looked at me like she was staring at a ghost.
She took a panicked step backward into the hallway and screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing down the corridors:
"Alpha Kaden! Rebecca is awake!"