Chapter 183 THE DARK STRUGGLE

Chapter 183 THE DARK STRUGGLE

THE DARK STRUGGLE

Author POV

“Are you really sure about what you saw? Did you check the lake or the garden where she always goes? Have you checked everywhere in the palace? Are you sure she is not anywhere within these palace walls?” I asked him, not ready to believe what I had just heard. The guard nodded in response.

“Yes, Alpha. I checked everywhere and she is nowhere to be found. I checked the garden and the lake before coming here to inform you that she is nowhere to be seen,” he said, and I looked at him. He would not dare lie to me.

“Where could she have gone? At this distance it is past midnight already, and she is out. Where could she have gone? I have always known from the beginning that she is up to something. What could that be? What is going on?” I thought as I stared at my guard.

“Don't worry, you have done a very good job. I'll take it from here. I will make sure to find her on my own now,” I told him. He bowed in respect and left my presence.

I went back into my room to get my jacket. Because of the cold, it was already past midnight and the temperature was dropping. I wondered where she could have gone in this weather and what she was actually doing there. “I really need to find out what is going on with you, Mildred,” I thought as I tried to connect with her.

I tried to connect to her mind, but her mind was blank. Nothing was there. She was not thinking about anything. “But how could that be possible? Even if she was numb, there would be something making her numb. There would be something she would be thinking about that made her sad or lonely or anything. No human mind would be this blank; her mind is blank right now. Or is there some error?”

I tried to go through her mind again, but there was nothing. She could not possibly be asleep because even in sleep one thinks about something, however faint. “Why is our mind this black blank?” I thought. “Something is definitely wrong. Mildred is definitely hiding something from me.”

I used our connection to trace where she was. I kept going and going as I followed the thread. “What could she be doing? This place is very far, and it is really, really creepy out here. Where could she have gone? What is Mildred up to?” I could not wrap my head around what was really happening.

“But I really need to find out tonight. Nothing will make me stop until I learn what is going on. I will confront her when I eventually find her.” The connection between us kept getting closer and closer. I thought I was getting nearer, but it still felt very, very far. “What could she be doing at this distance? How could she always come out to this place every day without anyone seeing her?”

Slowly, I saw a mountain up ahead. Then I saw a figure. “Could that be Mildred?” I wondered as I moved a little closer, not wanting her to notice me. I saw her sitting on top of the mountain with her legs folded. She had her back to me, and I could not see what she was doing. Her face was turned away, so I could not clearly see what was happening or what she was doing.

“What could Mildred possibly be doing on this mountain, so far from the palace? What is really going on with her? What is she hiding?” I thought.

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Mildred POV

I could feel myself walking, but I could not see anything. Everywhere was blank and black. “I can't think of anything. What is going on?” I wondered. Everything was black. “Why am I walking in the dark?” I could not answer that question; I did not know where I was going. All I knew was that it felt as if I were lying down. My inner wolf was trying to tell me something, but I could not understand.

Then there was a flash, as if a flashlight had flashed right in front of me. I saw a mountain. “What am I doing on the mountain? How did I get here if I could not see anything and everything was dark? How did I walk myself up to this mountain? What the hell am I doing here?”

My inner wolf struggled, trying to give me hints. I could not see anything. I could not remember how I got here. Then I heard Marcella's voice. “What is Marcella doing? How can I not see her? Everything is dark. I can't see her.”

I heard her voice ask, “What are you? What are you doing with Marcella?” I felt myself answering, but at the same time I felt that I was not speaking. I could not move my lips, and I could not hear anything. Yet I felt as if she was talking to me and I was answering. “It felt all weird and I did not even know what this was. What is really happening?”

“How can Marcella be talking to me and I am answering her?” I could not move or hear my own voice; everything was blurred. But I saw Marcella receiving replies from me. “What the hell is really going on?” I thought.

“I need to find out,” I felt as I lay on the mountain. “Why would I be lying on this mountain?”

Suddenly a voice sounded. “Wait, that voice. It sounds really, really familiar. Where have I heard that voice before? I could bet my life I have heard it. It is very familiar. Not a voice I heard just once or twice. I heard it often. Where could I have heard it?”

I racked my brain, trying to make my inner wolf remember where I had heard the voice. But it seemed I was not in control of my body. I could not see, hear, or say anything as my inner wolf and I struggled. My soul, my heart, my body were all struggling. My inner wolf tried to support me, but everything was too hard.

“It felt painful and difficult to remember where I had heard that voice. Now I remember. It is the Old Witch. What is the Old Witch doing with Marcella? I could clearly hear them speaking about renewing something, but I could not hear the rest. What is the Old Witch doing with Marcella? What is Marcella planning now?

“I just hope I am safe, and I hope my children are safe wherever they are. Marcella is pure evil. If she is working with the Old Witch, they are planning something evil. Marcella is someone evil,” I thought.

I kept trying to hear what they were saying, but I only heard Marcella's voice faintly. “What is really going on? I need to know,” I thought as I battled with my inner self and fought with my wolf to at least break free.

I wondered why I was lying on this mountain. It looked far and dark. “It seems like the middle of the night. What am I doing here?” I asked. “How long has this been going on?”

My inner wolf told me I had been here a long time. I had not pinned myself. But what the hell was happening? I fought to free myself from whatever bondage clouded my senses and made everything dark and silent.

“Why do I feel so numb? I can't think. Why is my mind this black? A human mind can never be this blank, much less a wolf’s. No, this is not normal. Something is wrong. I am sure Marcella and the Old Witch are plotting something. They must have done something to me.

“And what about my kids? If I am like this, I hope they are not touching my children. If anyone dares lay a hand on my children, I will go crazy. They do not know that. I have to break out of this trance because I could not remember my kids in this state.

“What if they harmed them? What if Marcella and the Old Witch harmed my children? What would I do? No, I can't watch this. I can't lie here numb. I have to fight. My inner wolf kept pushing me. Fight. Fight, Mildred. Fight. You have to protect your kids. You can't lie here while the same thing that happened to your sister happens to them.

“You will regret it for the rest of your life. This trauma will be harder to recover from than what you lived through with your sister. No, I will not repeat the same mistakes. I must save them. I must protect them. To do that I have to fight whatever is happening to me.

“I wonder why everything is still black,” I thought as I struggled. Then, suddenly, the flashlight flashed again in front of my eyes. It felt as if I could see again, and I looked sideways.

Then I saw my children lying on the ground, numb and pale. They looked so pale, as if they were dead. “No. What am I thinking? God forbid. Nothing can happen to my kids. I will not allow anything to happen to them.”

They lay motionless, their fingers not moving. “It felt as if they were breathless,” I thought as everything went black again.

“What the hell is going on? I have to fight this. My inner wolf told me I was almost breaking through the spell. Wait. A spell? Why did I not think of this before? I am under a spell. That is what is happening. Marcella planned with the Old Witch to put me under a spell so they could control my body, mind, and soul.

“I have not really been myself these past few years. Oh God. What has been happening? What has happened these past few days? No. I can't allow them to take over. I can't allow their plans to work. I have to fight and do it now. I must act quickly,” I thought.

“So this is all Marcella and the Old Witch's plan. No wonder they are working hand in hand. They planned this to keep me in check and are taking my power. What could they have done to my kids?” I wond
ered as the need to fight surged. “I need to break this spell,” I resolved.