Chapter 31 Through the Wolf’s Eyes
Darkness pressed around Derek like a second skin. It was heavy, thick, suffocating. For days, he floated between nothing and flashes of fire. Hands reaching. Golden light. Amanda's voice pleading his name.
When he finally woke, the world came back in fragments. The ceiling above him. The clean scent of herbs. The faint crackle of a fire. His throat burned when he tried to swallow.
He turned his head. He was in the infirmary. The walls were dimly lit. The air sharp with smoke and medicine. Every muscle in his body felt bruised.
"You're awake."
Nadia's voice came from beside him. The healer looked tired. Her eyes shadowed. "Three days. You've been out for three days."
"Three?" Derek's voice was rough, like gravel. "What happened?"
She hesitated. "You were attacked. We think it was Amanda."
The words hit him like a blade.
Amanda.
Derek pushed himself up. He ignored the pain slicing through his ribs. "That's not possible."
Nadia's face softened with pity. "She was found over you. Her hands were glowing. Your heart almost stopped. The guards had to pull her away."
He shook his head. The motion sent pain through his skull. "No. She wouldn't hurt me."
"I hope you're right." Nadia looked down. She busied herself with her herbs. "But everyone saw it."
Derek stared at his hands. The skin over his chest ached. Hot and tight. When he pulled back the bandage, he froze.
Two faint scorch marks shaped like hands pressed against his skin. The edges shimmered faintly gold. Not like burns. Like light trying to stay alive.
Amanda's light.
He remembered it. The way her magic had felt. Warm, fierce, alive. The power that had once made him believe his wolf might return.
"Those marks. They're not from an attack."
"What do you mean?" Nadia frowned.
"She was healing me."
Nadia's expression wavered. Caught between disbelief and concern. "You should rest, Alpha heir. You're still weak."
"I'm not." His voice came sharper than he intended.
Nadia didn't argue. She gave a quiet nod and left him to the silence.
When she was gone, Derek pressed his hand over the glowing marks. His chest throbbed, but not from pain. From something deeper.
His wolf stirred. Slowly, painfully. For the first time in days, he felt it move. Restless and wild beneath his skin.
The wolf's voice growled in his mind. She called to us. She reached through the dark. We heard her.
"Who?" Derek whispered.
Amanda.
Derek's breath caught. "What did she say?"
The wolf growled again. Low and frustrated. Not words. Feelings. Fear. Hope. Truth.
A chill slid down Derek's spine.
Truth.
He swung his legs off the bed and stood. He ignored the wave of dizziness that followed. He needed to see the place where it happened. The room where the attack took place.
Two guards stepped forward immediately. "Alpha Victor said you're not to..."
"I wasn't asking." Derek's tone carried authority that even exile hadn't stripped from him. "Take me there."
They hesitated, then obeyed.
The hallway was silent except for the distant hum of torches. When they reached the chamber, Derek stopped at the threshold. The air still carried the faint scent of burned magic. The stone floor bore black marks that pulsed faintly under the torchlight.
He knelt and touched the center of the blast mark. A jolt ran up his arm. Cold, sharp, and wrong.
This wasn't Amanda's energy. Hers had always been golden and warm. This was dark, coiling, like smoke trapped under ice.
Derek's jaw tightened. "This isn't her magic."
One of the guards shifted uneasily. "With respect, sir, everyone saw her standing over you."
"Everyone saw what they were meant to see." Derek's voice was low.
The guard looked confused but said nothing.
Victor's voice echoed from the doorway. "You shouldn't be here."
Derek turned. His father stood there, stern and watchful.
"I needed to see it for myself."
Victor stepped closer. "You think someone framed her?"
Derek hesitated. "The magic residue doesn't match hers."
Victor studied him. "Son, are you sure about Amanda? I've watched her with you. That girl loves you."
Derek's throat tightened. "Then why does all the evidence point to her?"
Victor's eyes softened, but he didn't answer. "Sometimes the truth hides under what's easiest to believe. You'll have to decide which one you're willing to see."
Then he turned and walked away.
Derek stayed there long after his father left. His pulse beat in his ears. His wolf paced inside him. Restless and angry.
The wolf rumbled. You already know. You've always known.
"Then show me."
The air shifted. The world tilted. Derek closed his eyes and let his wolf pull him down. Past the pain, past the doubt, into the memory buried beneath it all.
At first, there was only darkness. Then light flickered. Gold and silver, tangled together. He saw Amanda. Her face pale with fear. Her hands pressed to his chest. The glow spilling from her fingers. Her voice broke as she whispered his name.
But then something deeper pulled him further back. A memory within a memory.
The Sacred Grove. The moon high above. The night of his ritual hunt.
Derek let his wolf rise as much as the curse would allow.
And then he was there. Three years ago. The ritual hunt.
He watched himself. Young. Excited. Ready to claim his Alpha position.
The elders formed a circle. Victor stood proud. Silas beside Derek. His best friend. His brother.
Derek felt the rush of wind in his lungs. The wild freedom of change. His body breaking, reforming. The wolf inside him roaring to claim power, what was rightfully theirs.
And then chains. Cold, black chains wrapping around his heart.
Silas stood beside him. Face calm. Eyes focused. His hands glowed with that same dark light Derek had just seen on the chamber floor.
Derek tried to move, but the chains bit deeper. His wolf howled in pain.
Silas spoke words Derek didn't understand. Words heavy with old power.
The chains tightened, binding his wolf completely.
Derek fell to his knees. He remembered the panic. The cold that followed.
Silas's hands trembled for a heartbeat. Then his face smoothed into false concern. "It's all right, brother," he'd said, kneeling beside Derek. "It'll pass."
But in that moment, Derek saw it. The flicker in Silas's eyes. The small, cruel smile.
Betrayal.
The memory shattered. Derek gasped and jerked back into the present. His breath ragged. His body trembling. Sweat clung to his skin.
"Silas." He whispered the name. It tore from his throat like a growl.
He pressed a hand over his heart where the golden marks still burned.
"It was always Silas."
Outside, thunder rolled across the night sky. It echoed the storm that had just broken inside him.
Amanda hadn't betrayed him. She had saved him.
And now he knew who had cursed him from the beginning.