Chapter 26 A Shared Moment

Chapter 26 A Shared Moment
Izzy reclined in the chair, her eyes closed as Aethon bent before her, his fingers pressed to her wrist, checking her pulse. 

Dixon sat beside her, his eyes fixed on her pale face. He’d been worried sick since she told him about never transforming last night, and he’d been checking everything using his inner power, but he’d found nothing.

Aethon’s eyes narrowed as he checked Izzy’s head, his hands moving with a gentle precision, but still, he detected nothing. 

Dixon’s worry deepened, his eyes never leaving Izzy’s face. He’d summoned Aethon, hoping he’d find something he’d missed.

Aethon’s hands moved to Izzy’s temples, his fingers probing gently, but his expression remained concerned. 

Dixon’s anxiety spiked, his heart racing with fear. What if they couldn’t find anything? What if…

Aethon opened his eyes, his gaze meeting Dixon’s. “I can’t find anything,” Aethon said, his voice low and serious. “No blockages, no imbalances, nothing that would prevent her from shifting.”

Dixon’s face fell, his worry turning to frustration. He’d been afraid of this—that it was something he couldn’t fix, something that was beyond his power. His eyes went back to Izzy, his heart aching with concern. What was happening to her?

He faced Izzy, asking, “Have you ever been poisoned?”

Izzy scoffed softly. “Countless times…” She answered, adding, “I’ve always been Anika’s tool… Not just to test blades, but to test her poisons… and even an element for her dark magic.”

“Anika?” Dixon repeated, his face furrowed, trying to recollect who bore the name.

“Your sister… The eldest princess…” She helped him out. “My hatred is the biggest thing she inherited from her mother.”

“Oh…” Dixon hummed, acknowledging. A part of her boiled in anger at Anika’s absence, while another felt so concerned about Izzy, and overall, he felt bad that most of her pains were caused by his family, though he never acknowledged any of them, except his father, the Alpha, and Grandluna, his grandmother. But they are all royal family.

He quickly shifted his gaze to Aethon, directing the next words to him. “Could a poison be the reason she hadn’t wolfed out?” He asked, instantly suggesting. “Maybe she needs some detoxification, and everything will be fine. How about you clean her blood?”

Aethon shook his head. “No…” He objected. “If it’s a poison, it wouldn’t take this, even you could have figured it out despite your state. And we can’t perform anything unless we figure out the source, or else the situation might get worse.”

“How about—”

Before Dixon could spill another suggestion, Aethon’s brow furrowed, a thought zooming into his mind, and he stared at Izzy. “Wait…” He uttered, his voice raised a little. “Have you ever been fed with any bitter liquid… something that burned your throat. Something that hurts the moment it reaches your lungs… It pain might have even made you pass out in the past.”

Without a second thought, Izzy nodded. “Yes,” she confirmed. “The Luna made her guard feed me with a liquid every day. I don’t know its source or the purpose it serves, but its effects are everything you just said.”

Aethon’s eyes widened. A part of him instantly pitied her. He just understood a fraction of the weight of everything she had been through in the past. How could anyone do that to a fellow creature?

Dixon sprang to his feet, staring at Aethon. “What’s it?” He asked, and not getting an immediate response, he asked again. “What’s it, Aethon. Will you say something?”

With his mouth still open, Aethon shifted his gaze to Dixon. “My Lord…” He said, his voice barely audible. “Your mate… it must have been hell of a ride for her. What she had been feeding with is Matricaria and Potentilla…”

“Her whole life, she had been fed with a substance that’d degenerate her wolf…” He explained. “The pain she felt was nothing compared to what her wolf must have felt, and for that reason, it must have left her body. It ran out.”

“Ran out?!” Dixon and Izzy said in unison, their raised shock tone, mirroring their confused expression, and, as if they had planned, they added, “How? To where?”

“I don’t know…” Aethon answered, but didn’t stop there. “It’s supposed to be lingering around you and return now that you’re in a safe hand, but maybe the intention behind it wasn’t to just make you wolfles for a while, but forever, so it had been sealed somewhere.”

“Where could it be?” Dixon wondered.

“I can’t say,” Aethon said. “But you’ll have to figure it out. You’re his mate, and since your wolves would be curious to meet, you can use your wolf power to track it. It’ll yield to your call.”

With a second thought, Dixon’s gaze flared with urgency as he attempted to reach out with his wolf power, trying to track Izzy's wolf, but it slipped away like sand between his fingers, and Aethon’s firm hand on his shoulder stopped him from trying again.

“You’re still weak, don’t force it…” He said. His form instantly shimmered like smoke, his eyes locked onto Dixon’s. Without a word, his body unravelled—threads of black and red peeled away from his edges like burning mist.

Dixon staggered back a step, gasping as the swirl of energy surged forward. Aethon’s essence hit him like a silent wave—no impact, just pure fire sliding into his chest. His back arched, fists clenched, veins lighting up beneath his skin in brief flashes of black and red.

Then, silence. 

The light was gone. 

Aethon was gone. But Dixon’s eyes opened, but they weren’t just his anymore.

Izzy stood frozen, her eyes tracking the exchange between Dixon and Aethon. She saw Aethon’s form dissolve into threads of light, felt the air compress, and watched Dixon's body jolt as Aethon's essence merged with his. She didn't move, didn't react – just watched, as if waiting for the scene to unfold further.

After a few minutes, a shiver passed through Dixon, then a sharp jolt seized his spine. His breath caught. From the centre of his chest, a flicker of smoke pulsed. Slowly, it expanded outwardand with it, Aethon began to pull free.

First came the smoke—then the shape. Smoke twisted, bones formed, and soon Aethon stood before him again, solid and whole, his expression grim. “It’s with her.” He said, his voice certain.

Dixon blinked. “Who?”

Aethon’s gaze didn’t waver. “The lady from yesterday. She’s the key.”

“Aethera?” Dixon said, his voice tinged with disbelief. His brows furrowed, and he had a one-time glance at Izzy, as if directing the question to her. “What has she gotten to do with this?”

“What she has to do with these matters is less now... The state of her wolf is deteriorating…” Aethon reported. “The full moon rises tonight, so we must retrieve the seal today, allowing her to awaken it... If we wait until the next full moon, the consequences are unpredictable..."

“We need to find Aethera. Fast.”