Chapter 66 Chapter 66
AILSA'S POV
The chair beneath me was carved from old dark wood, smooth in some places, rough in others. I shifted slightly, the movement quiet but restless and I folded my hands in my lap to stop myself from doing that again. The witch still hadn’t come out.
The hearth cackled softly across the room. Shadows moved along the walls with every flicker of firelight. The smell of dried herbs, earth, smoke and candles lit everywhere made my wolf uneasy. Lina sat to my left, her posture stiff and eyes darting occasionally towards the narrow doorway at the hearth.
"She's going to waste a little time. She takes time to get prepared. We’ll have to be patient" Lina murmured under her breath.
"I’m patient and not in a rush" I said quietly. My voice sounded steady but my chest felt tight. Too tight. I was the one that requested to meet with the witch and here I was but I still felt uneasy about this meeting.
The witch's house was small but it didn't feel cramped. If anything, it was spacious. Every sound lingered longer than it should have, my breathing, the soft scrape of Lina's shoes and something ticking but could not be seen.
Another thing that bothered me greatly was Lucian's absence. That fact alone made my thoughts spiral. I hadn't told him of my plans to visit the witch. If the guards he put in charge of watching me, give him information that I left the room and went somewhere without informing him, he would go crazy.
I remembered his promises this morning and his warning to me and yet I still didn't listen.
"I know but I'll still protect you no matter where I am" he'd said.
The memory of his tone sent a faint warmth through me quickly followed by unease. I didn't know what frightened me more, being in the witch's house or Lucian's reaction when he finds out I left the pack house. The door behind the hearth creaked open.
Lina straightened instantly and so did I. It was not from fear but awareness like the room itself had drawn a breath. The witch stepped into the light.
She looked exactly as she had the first time, gray hair braided down her back, her eyes sharp and penetrating that made me move uncomfortably. Her gaze landed on me immediately.
"I've been waiting for your visit" her tone was sinister. I was silent and Lina nudged me.
"So you're still breathing" she said calmly, her voice low and rough. Lina let out a small, tense breath.
"I knew she would be fine. I told you" Lina replied but the witch ignored her.
She walked closer, each step unhurried and deliberate. I resisted the urge to fidget as her traced my face then my body, the way my shoulders tended from her gaze.
"You healed quickly" she said.
"I was lucky and I wouldn't have healed quickly without help" I answered. Her lips twitched.
"You always do"
She turned away then, moving to the table near the heart, setting down the herbs she carried. Only then did she gestured to the chairs.
"Sit" she said as if we hadn't already been doing exactly that.
Lina complied immediately. I followed, my muscles tense as I settled back into the chair. The witch didn't sit. She moved around the room instead, moving in circles, fingers brushing jars of what I assumed were herbs. She then began arranging things that hadn't appeared out of place before she touched them. The silence stretched, heavy and deliberate.
"You wanted to see me because you felt something right?" She said finally. Lina glanced at me and I swallowed.
"Yes" I said.
"After the mark and after I was hurt" the witch nodded once as if that confirmed something.
“You were poisoned and then attacked” she added lightly. I wanted to ask her how she found out and then I remembered she was a witch so I kept shut.
"Pain has a way of revealing truths" she turned back to me, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Tell me, does your wolf rest"
"Yes" I said after a moment. "Especially since the attack and she has become more alert"
"Good" the witch murmured. "She should be" my fingers tightened in my lap.
"Is something wrong?"
"No" she said smoothly. "She should be in tune with the Luna's tear, that is the mark on your arms" I remembered her talking about the meaning of my mark before I never read any meaning into it.
She stopped directly in front of me. Slowly and deliberately, she crouched so we were eye level. Her gaze softened with focus.
"The mark came before you could choose" she said. My breath caught.
"I chose?"
"Yes but not alone" she whispered.
Her hand lifted not touching me yet, hovering just inches away from my collarbone.
"The Alpha's presence is everywhere on you" she continued. "In your scent, your pulse. He rubbed his scent on you. That way your wolf leans towards him even now" heat bloomed beneath my skin.
"He didn't complete the marking" I said, my voice barely above a whisper. The witch smiled faintly.
"Completion is not the same thing as a claim. It matters but not yet"
Before I could respond, her fingers pressed lightly against my skin. Against the mark. The reaction was immediate.
Warmth surged through me not painful but sharp and alive like my body had been waiting for the contact. My breath stuttered, my wolf stirred with sudden intensity. The witch inhaled slowly.
"Ah" she murmured "There it is" Lina shifted.
"What?"
The witch straightened, withdrawing her hand but not her attention.
"The bond has deepened since the last time I saw you” she said.
“Remember, I told you, you needed to be marked and mated proximity” I nodded.
“There was tension then but now it looks like that had faded away through proximity and accidents” I swallowed hard
“That sounds like something permanent” Lina said.
"Nothing is permanent” she replied. "But some things resist being undone”
She returned to the table, crushing herbs between her fingers, releasing a bitter, grounding scent into the air.
"Has he been leaving your side?" she asked.
"No” I said honestly
“He barely lets me stand without him knowing” A soft hum left her throat.
“Overprotective, I presume?”
"Yes” I admitted. "Almost territorial” That earned a low chuckle.
“Almost?" I looked away. The witch's tone shifted, it was not darker but deeper.
“You've crossed into a space where instincts speak louder than words. His and yours” She turned back to me.
“Tell me, do you feel different?"
"Yes” I said immediately
"How?" I hesitated.
“Stronger and calmer but also like something is pulling me forward” The witch studied me carefully.
"And do you resist it?” I shook my head.
“No” Her eyes softened again.
“That’s very wise” Lina frowned.
“You’re speaking in parables and you are not telling us everything”
"No” the witch agreed.
“I'm telling you what you're ready to hear”
She approached me once more, this time resting her palm flat over my sternum, warm, grounding.
"Your body is aligning faster than your heart” she said quietly. "And your heart is braver than you think” My throat tightened.
“What does that mean?"
"It means that the bond is already shaping consequences” she said, withdrawing her hand from my sternum.
I felt my wolf press closer to the surface, she was very uneasy from the witch’s words.
"Consequences like what?" Lina asked sharply. The witch glanced at her briefly.
“Life hardly announces itself plainly” She looked back at me.
"You should rest” she said.
“Eat well and listen when your body whisper”
"And Lucian?" I asked softly. Her gaze sharpened.
"He already hears the call from your mark. Whether he understands it yet or not”
Silence settled over the room, thick and heavy. The witch gathered her things, moving toward the door.
Just before she opened the door, she paused and looked back at me one last time.
"Some bonds do not wait for permission” she said quietly. "And some futures arrive without knocking”
“I didn’t come here for riddles”
“No” the witch said calmly. “You came because something already feels inevitable” her words sank deep in me, slow and heavy.
“Lucian has chosen you but there’s still some things that have to be taken care of. You’ll have to make a choice then. Choose wisely”
Silence stretched between us.
“What would you suggest I do?” I asked desperately.
“Wait for things to reveal itself. I’ll be here when you need me”
The door closed behind her. I sat there, unmoving, my heart pounding in my chest. Slowly, almost unconsciously, my hand rose to my arm, to the mark.
It pulsed beneath my fingers, warm, steady, alive.
And for the first time since waking that morning, I wasn't sure whether I was afraid of what was coming or already reaching for it. I was leaving more confused than I came here.