Chapter 137 The glamour breaks 2

Chapter 137: Chapter 137 The glamour breaks 2

Talia’s POV

When it was over, we lay tangled together, breathing hard. His hand rested on my stomach, and my head was on his chest.

Neither of us spoke, because neither of us needed to.

The fire crackled, and the shadows danced, and I closed my eyes. Then Kaelen carried me to the bathroom, and he explored my body even more, before we finally took a shower.

Later, after we had showered together and the steam had cleared from the bathroom, we lay in bed.

The fire crackled in the hearth, and the shadows danced on the walls. Kaelen’s arm was draped over my waist, and his fingers traced slow circles on my hip.

"Talia," he said.

"Hmm?" I responded.

"I have been thinking about the trial too," he said.

My chest tightened. "What about it?"

He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "If you do not want the healer, I will help you."

I turned my head to look at him, and his gray eyes were soft in the firelight.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean I will help you train, so that your wolf becomes stronger, and recover faster, and I will help you try to shift." His hand tightened on my waist. "You do not have to do this alone. Know this, that you have never had to do this alone."

The guilt pressed down on my chest, very heavy and cold.

I also realized that, he must have thought I was afraid of the healer, and he thought my wolf was weak from the years of abuse in Cresswood. But he did not know the truth. He did not know that the charm was the real reason I could not shift.

I wanted to tell him, and I wanted to say the words. But they would not come.

He was trying so hard, training me, protecting me, and promising to help me shift. And I was here lying to him every day, every night, and every time he looked at me and saw the face the charm showed him. The truth was right there, burning on my tongue, but I could not say it yet. Or at least, not tonight.

"Thank you," I whispered.

He kissed my forehead. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we start training."

I nodded, then I closed my eyes and listened to his heartbeat. But sleep would not come.

I lay in the dark, with Kaelen’s arm still around my waist and his breathing slow and even beside me. He was asleep, but I was not.

My mind was racing because of the guilt, the secret, and the charm around my neck.

And then I felt her.

A warmth spread through my chest, soft and gentle, like sunlight breaking through clouds. It was not the burning heat of the power I had felt in Alpha Stone’s hall. This was different, and this was familiar.

I instantly knew that she was waking up again. She had been silent for days, after the rogue attack, and I had not felt her since.

"Talia," she called. Her voice was soft in my mind, and it was gentle and warm, like a hand reaching out to hold mine.

"Hello my wolf, you are back," I said. "Why did you leave me, and become silent again after the attack?"

"I did not leave you, Talia. I told you before, that the glamour charm weakens me. So I need to go back to sleep more often, so that I can preserve and gather more energy," my wolf said.

I thought she was done talking, but I was wrong.

"My name is Lyra," she said.

The name echoed in my head “Lyra” It was beautiful, and strong, like a song, and like a star. I had imagined what my wolf would be called a thousand times if I eventually get one, but none of my imaginings came close to this.

"Lyra," I whispered. The name came to me like a gift, and like something I had always known but never spoken.

"Yes," she said. "That is my name."

Tears burned in my eyes. "I have waited so long to know you."

"I know." Her presence wrapped around me, warm and steady. "I have been waiting too. But I could not wake fully, because the charm was too strong."

"But you said that it is weakening now," I said.

"Yes. And soon, it will break." She paused. "You are ready, Talia. You have actually been ready for a long time. You were just afraid."

"I am still afraid," I admitted.

"That is okay. Fear does not mean you are not ready, it just means that you are brave enough to do it anyway," she said.

I closed my eyes and let her words sink in.

"You are not alone," she said. "You have never been alone. I have always been here, waiting for you to be strong enough to hear me, to feel me, and to awaken your strength and power."

"Are you strong enough now?" I asked.

"I am." Her voice was firm. "And so are you."

The warmth in my chest grew stronger. Lyra was pressing against the walls of the charm, testing and pushing it.

She was not afraid anymore, and neither was I.