Chapter 52

Chapter 52
Abigail's POV

I closed my eyes and let the tears flow down my face, no longer able to tell whether they were from physical pain or emotional overload.

Nicholas didn't push me away, just held me. After what might have been seconds or minutes, perhaps even hours, he gently adjusted his position, supporting me as we walked to a flat boulder near the summit. He eased me down with a tenderness completely at odds with the brutal training he'd just put me through, then quickly stepped back, opening up the distance again.

"Drink." He held out a water skin.

I took it with still-trembling hands and gulped it down. The ice-cold water shocked my parched throat and cleared my chaotic mind slightly.

We sat side by side, neither speaking, just quietly gazing at the valley. The sun climbed higher and higher, finally burning away the last of the mist. The morning light painted everything gold, brushing warm tones across Nicholas's profile, making him look less sharp than usual, more warm.

I stole another glance at him. His jaw was still tense, his shoulders maintaining their habitual alertness, but those deep eyes were now rarely relaxed, quietly gazing into the distance.

He caught me looking and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What are you thinking?"

My heart jumped. "Checking if you're slacking off."

The corner of Nicholas's mouth lifted slightly. He didn't pursue the question further, but that hint of a smile made my heart nearly leap out of my chest.

I quickly looked away, focusing on the distant mountain scenery, desperately trying to regain some control over my foolish heart.

"How long have you stopped taking the poison?" Nicholas suddenly asked.

The abrupt change of topic caught me off guard.

"About three months."

He nodded slowly, still looking ahead.

"I can feel it," he said quietly. "Something inside you is trying to awaken, but it's still being suppressed."

I hadn't expected him to have already noticed the changes in me since I stopped taking the poison.

"Your wolf is still sleeping," he continued, his voice taking on a thoughtful quality, "but she's already starting to stir. You need to learn to sense her, to reach for that connection."

"How?"

"Close your eyes."

I hesitated for a moment, then did as he instructed.

"Breathe," Nicholas said. "Don't think, don't analyze. Just feel—feel how the power flows within you, traveling between blood and bone. Let it happen, don't try to control it."

I tried to follow his guidance. At first, I only felt exhaustion, the dull ache in my knee, the soreness in my muscles. But as my breathing gradually slowed, as his voice echoed steadily in my ears, something else began to emerge—a subtle warmth flickering deep in my core, like a candle flame in a cave, faint but undeniably real.

"I feel it," I said, opening my eyes in surprise. "It's small, but it's real."

"Good," he replied, approval in his voice. "Practice this after every training session from now on. By the time your eighteenth birthday comes, your wolf will fully awaken. Before then, your body needs to be strong enough to withstand that awakening."

I nodded, hesitating for a moment before asking the question on my mind: "I've heard... that after your wolf awakens, you can find your fated mate. Is that true?"

Nicholas's body tensed almost imperceptibly.

He was silent for several seconds before speaking: "It's true. After your wolf awakens, you'll be able to scent your fated mate. It's a kind of... attraction that's hard to describe, like a soul finding its other half."

My heart was pounding fiercely, the sound echoing in my chest.

"Then you—"

Halfway through, I suddenly didn't dare continue asking. But Nicholas seemed to have guessed what I wanted to say.

"I haven't found mine yet," he said calmly, yet with an undertone of suppressed desolation. "It's been five years since my awakening. Five years of constant searching, hoping each new face might be that person. Nothing."

"Maybe... she hasn't awakened yet?" I ventured.

Nicholas gazed into the distance, his eyes profound: "Maybe. Maybe she's far from me, not yet time to appear. Or perhaps the Moon Goddess simply didn't arrange a fated mate for me at all."

"How could that be?" I blurted out. "The Moon Goddess wouldn't—"

"The Moon Goddess's arrangements aren't for us to guess," Nicholas interrupted me. "Besides, a fated mate isn't necessary. Many Alphas choose political marriages for pack interests, rather than waiting for someone who may never appear."

He spoke lightly, yet couldn't hide the faint loneliness underneath.

Five years.

Five years of waiting, five years of searching, ultimately finding nothing.

I suddenly remembered my previous life—Nicholas dying alone at the border, with no one by his side. Was he then also waiting for a fated mate who never appeared?

"If..." I took a deep breath. "If your fated mate did appear, what would you do?"

Nicholas turned to look at me, his eyes complex.

"I don't know," he admitted honestly. "I might thank the Moon Goddess, or I might resent her for making me wait so long. But either way—"

He paused, his voice dropping lower: "If she truly appeared, I wouldn't let her go."

"What about you?" Nicholas suddenly asked. "Do you want to find your fated mate?"

The question caught me completely off guard.

I looked at him, emotions too complex to express surging in my heart.

"I... don't know," I said quietly. "I just want to survive, to become stronger. As for a fated mate..."

"If the Moon Goddess truly has prepared a fated mate for me, I hope he's someone worthy of trust. Someone who won't betray me, won't abandon me."

Nicholas looked at me quietly, an elusive emotion flashing in his eyes.

"You'll find him," he finally said, his tone carrying a certain certainty. "When your awakening comes, you'll find him."

I nodded, saying nothing more.

But in my heart, I was silently praying—if the Moon Goddess truly had made arrangements, please let that person be him.

Please let my fated mate be the man standing before me.

Silence spread between us once more, yet it wasn't uncomfortable, instead carrying a strange sense of peace.

Nicholas stood up, extending his hand to me.

"Come on, I'll walk you back."

I took his hand and stood up. In that one second, our fingers intertwined, palms pressed together.