Chapter 128: Did The Witch Lie?

Adeline’s pov~

"What?"

The dowager luna’s eyebrows shot up. She let go of my hand and stared at me like I had just said the sky was green.

"What do you mean, Adeline? Your wolf already woke up?"

Before I could answer, something pricked the inner side of my elbow. It was slow and small, like a tiny needle sliding in and then out.

I looked down. There was no mark on my skin and no blood.

Again. What is happening again?

I rubbed the spot with my thumb and pushed the feeling away. I couldn’t think about it right now. The dowager luna was still looking at me, waiting for me to explain.

My hand moved on its own and went to my neck. My fingers closed around the small pendant that hung there, cool and smooth against my skin.

"Yes, Gwen," I said quietly. "My wolf has already awakened."

She didn’t say anything. She just waited.

"I know I should have told you sooner. But I wasn’t ready." I swallowed. "I wasn’t ready for anyone to smell her. You gave me this pendant to hide my scent, remember? You said it would cover the scent of my broken, sleeping wolf, so no one in this place would see me as easy prey."

"I remember," she said softly.

"When my wolf woke up, I didn’t take it off. I kept wearing it. Even after I felt her move inside me, I kept it on." I looked down at my hands. "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you."

"Oh, sweetie..."

"But that isn’t the important part." I lifted my head and looked straight at her. "The witch said my wolf hasn’t woken up yet. She said she is still locked away and still fighting. She told us that over and over. But that’s not true. And if it isn’t true, then she lied to us."

The dowager luna’s face tightened. "Adeline, that is a very serious thing to say."

"I know. That’s why I’m going to show you."

My fingers shook as I undid the clasp. The pendant slid off my neck and into my palm. It felt strangely light.

Something warm rolled out of my skin and filled the room.

My wolf’s scent.

The dowager luna went completely still. Her lips parted. Her eyes slowly filled with something I didn’t expect to see on a luna’s face.

"Adeline..." she whispered. "Oh, sweetie..."

I tried to smile, and it came out wobbly.

"Can you smell her?" I asked.

"Yes." Her voice cracked. "Yes, I can smell her. She’s there. She is really there."

She pulled me into her arms before I could say anything else. She held me tight, one hand on the back of my head, like I was something she had almost lost.

I closed my eyes and hugged her back. For a moment I let myself feel safe.

I am not half a person. I have a wolf. She is real.

When we finally pulled apart, my eyes were stinging, but I blinked it away. The dowager luna wiped her own cheek with her fingers and let out a shaky laugh.

I took a breath. My mind was already running again, and I couldn’t make it stop. "But Gwen, listen to me. This doesn’t add up. None of it does."

"The pain-binding curse is real. I feel it. I felt it before, and I still feel it now. The witch told us there were only two ways to deal with it. The first one is to stay close to my mates, so the pain goes away for a while. That one is only a short fix. It doesn’t end anything."

"The second way is for my wolf to wake up and reject the curse herself. That’s what she said. That was the whole plan." My voice rose a little, and I couldn’t stop it.

"But my wolf is awake. She’s here, right now, you just smelled her. So why isn’t she rejecting it? Why is the curse still holding on to me like nothing has changed?"

The dowager luna opened her mouth, but I kept going.

"The witch said my wolf is suppressed by another curse from the day I was born. That she is locked down and too weak to fight. But if that was true, you wouldn’t be able to smell her. She wouldn’t be able to wake up at all. A locked wolf doesn’t have a scent."

I pressed my hand over my chest.

"My wolf is not locked. She’s awake. And the curse is still here. That means one of two things. Either the witch doesn’t understand my curse, or she knows exactly what she’s doing and she is lying to us."

The room went quiet again.

The dowager luna looked at me for a long time. Her face didn’t show anger, or doubt. She was putting together a puzzle in her head and didn’t like the picture it was making.

"You may be right," she said slowly.

"You believe me?"

"I believe you, Adeline." She took my hands again. "A witch who gives half the truth is often hiding the other half. I will look into it. I will check the old ledgers myself, and I will speak to someone I trust outside of the witch’s circle."

"You will not carry this alone anymore. Do you understand? Whatever is happening with your wolf, whatever is hiding behind that curse, we will find it together. I promise you."

I nodded. My throat was too tight to speak.

She stood up and gently pushed the pendant back into my hand.

"Keep this close for now," she said. "I want your scent hidden from anyone who walks through that door. But don’t wear it when you are with me or with your mates. You should not have to hide from the people who love you."

"But the Princes--"

"Now." Her voice turned firm and warm at the same time. "Eat. You need strength, and that food will not stay warm forever. Then rest. That is an order from your luna, and I will not hear any arguments."

I let out a small laugh. "Yes, Gwen."

She smiled and touched my cheek. Then she walked toward the door, her long dress whispering across the floor.

She had just reached for the handle when it opened from the outside.

The door swung wide.

Two tall figures stood in the doorway, their shoulders filling the whole frame.

Raven’s dark eyes found mine across the room.

Keiran stood right beside him, his jaw tight and his gaze burning.

My fingers closed around the pendant in my hand, and I realized with a jolt that I had forgotten to put it back on.

My scent was still in the room.

And they could smell every bit of it.