Chapter 125: ¹²⁵: Self doubt

"Mother Elena." I said hesitantly, looking at her worried expression. Her sudden change in demeanor had caught me off guard, and for a moment, I wondered if I had said something I shouldn’t have.

"When I was in my pack, he used his illusion abilities to make us invisible for a few minutes so that we could easily escape. That’s how I knew."

Mother Elena’s eyes widened even further. "What had happened for him to use that?" she asked immediately, her voice filled with concern. "Were both of you fine? You didn’t tell us earlier that you two were in such a situation!"

I shook my head quickly. "No, Mother Elena, it was nothing too serious." I said, moving my hand to hold hers, trying to reassure her before her imagination could run too far. "It was just that my wounds had become too painful for me to move, so he had to use that. Otherwise, we both were fine."

I gave her a small smile, hoping it would be enough to ease her worries.

Mother Elena squeezed my hand back, but the concern in her eyes didn’t disappear. "It must have been really painful for you, wasn’t it?"

"Nothing much, Mother Elena!" I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "Besides, now I am here, so I won’t feel any pain."

For a moment, she simply looked at me. Then her lips curved into a gentle smile. "Yeah." She said softly. "Now I will make sure you don’t have to deal with that pain again."

"Let’s start with our treatment again, then." She said, finally releasing my hand and moving towards the cabinet to gather some more things for my treatment.

I watched her for a moment before slowly relaxing against the bed.

"By the way..." Mother Elena suddenly asked as she returned, "you are sure that no one saw Damian using his powers there, right?"

She placed a new, cold object against my wound. The sensation that spread through my body was completely different from the earlier treatment. It was cold at first, but within seconds, I felt something powerful coursing through my veins, almost as if the darkness lingering inside me was being pushed back and purified.

I instinctively closed my eyes, allowing myself to sink into the divine sensation. "No one saw him, Mother Elena." I answered calmly. "You don’t have to worry about it."

"Hmm..." Mother Elena hummed, seemingly satisfied with my answer. Her hands continued moving carefully as she treated me.

"It is just that I don’t want anyone outside our pack to know about his abilities." Her voice became quieter. "It will be dangerous for Damian, and I don’t want anything dangerous coming close to my child."

There was something beneath her words. Something deeper than ordinary maternal concern. I opened my eyes slightly and looked at her.

Mother Elena’s expression remained gentle, but there was a faint tension around her eyes that hadn’t been there before. It was as if the thought of someone discovering Damian’s abilities had awakened an old fear inside her.

A fear she had buried so deeply that perhaps she rarely allowed herself to acknowledge it anymore. I didn’t know what had happened in her past. I didn’t know what she had lost or what kind of danger she had once faced.

But I could feel the pain hidden beneath that caring, sweet woman she showed everyone. Maybe being so protective of Damian wasn’t simply because he was her son. Maybe it was because she had already experienced something terrible once. And she couldn’t bear the thought of history repeating itself.

My fingers slowly curled into fists against the sheets. I had already brought enough trouble into their lives.

I had arrived here injured, dragged Damian into my problems, made him leave the safety of the pack with me, and now even my identity had become something that had clearly shaken Luna Selene.

I couldn’t allow anything more to happen. I looked at Mother Elena again as she continued treating me, completely unaware of the promise I was silently making to myself.

Whatever darkness was surrounding my life, I would keep it away from them. No matter what...I would never let these sweet people get dragged into my battles.

Time passed far too quickly while Mother Elena treated me. Eventually, she told me to get some rest so the herbs could seep into my body without any disturbance.

When I finally opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed was the faint ache in my abdomen. I instinctively placed a hand over the bandages before slowly trying to sit up.

But before I could even push myself upright, a familiar figure suddenly entered my vision.

"Careful." Damian stepped forward and immediately supported my back, helping me sit properly against the headrest.

I blinked at him in surprise..I hadn’t even sensed him entering the room.

"When did you come?" I asked, my voice carrying genuine disbelief. "Did your training end this quickly?"

A small smile appeared on his face as he reached toward the nightstand and picked up a bottle of water. "Good evening to you too."

He handed the bottle to me, his expression turning slightly amused. "Yes, my training is over. And as we had decided, I am here to pick you up so you can show me your talents."

I took the bottle from him, but instead of opening it immediately, I simply held it between both hands.

My fingers tightened around it. I had completely forgotten about our conversation from that morning. Or perhaps I had been trying not to think about it.

I lowered my eyes, wondering how I could tell him that I no longer wanted to ride his bike with him. Even though I hadn’t reacted to those girls’ words that morning, they were still echoing inside my head.

I hated that those words had affected me. But more than that, I didn’t want anyone associating Damian with me in that way.

He had already done so much for me. He had saved me, stayed beside me when I was unconscious, helped me through that terrifying episode last night, and now he had even come all the way here to pick me up.

The last thing I wanted was for being around me to bring trouble into his life.

"Umm..." I finally lifted my eyes toward him. Damian was still smiling, completely unaware of the thoughts running through my head.

"I feel like I’m too tired for that right now," I began carefully, choosing each word. "And Mother Elena worked so hard on my wounds today. I don’t want to end up doing something that could aggravate them even more."

I gave him a small smile, hoping it would make my excuse sound convincing. "You understand what I’m saying, right?"

Damian didn’t answer immediately. His smile slowly faded and he simply stared at me.

He looked at me so keenly that I found myself becoming uncomfortable beneath his gaze, as though he were searching my face for something I was desperately trying to hide.

His eyes moved over my expression, lingering for a moment as if he were looking for even the slightest twitch that might expose the real reason behind my sudden change of heart.

I instinctively looked away. For several seconds, neither of us said anything.

Then, finally, he nodded. "Okay." A faint smile returned to his lips, although this one didn’t seem quite as carefree as the one he had worn when he entered. "Drink some water and get up."

He stepped back, giving me enough room to move. "I’ll just drop you at the place you used to live so you can get your things from there."

"What?" I asked, my grip tightening around the bottle until my knuckles turned slightly pale. "I mean..." I hesitated, forcing the smile back onto my face even though it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. "I think I should just stay at my earlier place from now on."

I tried to make my voice sound casual, as if it were nothing more than a simple decision I had made.

Inside, however, I was practically praying that he would agree.

If he did, perhaps I could ask him to talk to Mother Elena or Luna Selene about it. I didn’t know whether those girls’ words that morning had only been because they had seen me with Damian a few times, but if people found out that I had started living in his house...

What would they say then? I didn’t want to become another source of gossip for these people. Especially not when Damian had already done so much for me.

"What did you say?" Damian’s brows pulled together, his expression shifting from confusion to genuine shock.

"Why won’t you live in our house?" he asked, staring at me as though he couldn’t understand the reason behind my sudden decision. "It’s what Grandmother said. And even if you want to leave, you can’t just continue living in your earlier place."

His voice wasn’t harsh, but there was a firmness beneath it that made it clear he considered the matter settled.

"But, Damian..." I lowered the bottle into my lap, my fingers still wrapped tightly around it. "I’m just an outsider in this pack. It isn’t appropriate."

The smile I had managed to keep on my face finally disappeared. I looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

For a moment, Damian said nothing. Then his gaze dropped to my hands. His eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed how tightly I was gripping the bottle, the skin around my knuckles strained from the pressure.

He slowly lifted his eyes back to my face. "Why are you saying all this?" His voice had changed. The teasing tone from earlier was completely gone.

He took a small step closer. "Did someone say something to you?"