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Arthur's POV

Julianne was there, frozen; I stood beside her, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. I remembered walking with Julianne, and a scary-looking woman came out of nowhere and appeared in front of us. Julianne was shocked and called her name,e which means they both knew each other.

Before I could question her, the woman stretched her to me, and I felt myself moving to her of my own accord; she held me close to herself, and no matter how I tried to move, I felt so rooted to the spot; this was magic, of course.

Suddenly, she stepped forward, her hands still stretched in front of me, and bowed to Julianne, who was still staring at her stupefied.

"Julianne," I asked, my voice shaking with confusion and frustration, "What is going on? Who is this woman? What did you call her again; Nyx? Who is She? Why is she behaving this way to you?"

"My friend, will you keep quiet and stop asking unnecessary questions." Nyx turned to me; her eyes blazing with anger as she looked down at me.

Nyx, stared at Julianne who was standing just a few feet away,

with a look of desperation. "You don't have to hide anymore, Julianne. It’s time. You belong with us. Come, take your rightful place as the leader."

Leader. The word echoed in my mind, but I couldn’t make sense of it. Julianne? Leader? She had never spoken about anything like that before. She never told me she was an heir to the throne somewhere.

Julianne stepped forward, her gaze soft but filled with an emotion I couldn’t place. "Nyx, you’re capable. You can be the leader," she said gently, almost as if trying to soothe the situation. But Nyx wasn’t having it.

"I’m not powerful enough," Nyx snapped, her voice sharp and cutting through the air. "I need you to lead us. Your excuses are weak. You promised to come back when the right time came, and now is the time. Are you trying to forsake us?"

"Julianne, please. What is this? What’s happening? What is this leader thing you guys are talking about? " I demanded, trying to step forward to her but then I remembered I was under a spell.

Nyx turned her cold gaze toward me, her voice laced with bitterness. "The last time I checked, I told you to keep quiet and stop asking stupid questions, but it seems that you are not aware of what is going on, and you seem so eager to understand that problem here. You want to know the truth, you want to know, don’t you, Arthur?" she said, her eyes narrowing at me. "You want to know what your precious mate and Luna had been keeping from you? You want me to share her secrets?"

I nodded my stomach tight with anxiety. "Yes. I do. Please, tell me."

Nyx’s expression twisted into something almost pitying. "Fine. I’ll tell you. You deserve to know since she’s been lying to you for so long, and you have every right to know the truth." She took a step closer to me, and for the first time, I felt the weight of her magic pressing down on me.

"Julianne used to be the moon goddess, the leader of our coven," Nyx said, her voice low and cold. "But she became seriously ill one day and promised her she was going to come back; she gave us a sign, more of like magic that would make us locate her. The magic came from Julianne, and even though I can feel it burn inside of her so strong right from here. She has refused to take her place as the leader since we discovered and told her the truth. She hides behind this wolf facade, pretending she’s just like the rest of you. But she’s not. She never was. She’s powerful. She’s the one who can lead us, but she does not want to take that step."

I looked at Julianne in shock, trying to process Nyx's words. Leader? But she had never mentioned any of this to me. She had never even hinted at it.

"Julianne, is this true? Tell me Nyx lied against you? Tell me her stories are not true?" I asked, my voice small, uncertain.

Julianne’s eyes darted to the ground, and for a moment, she said nothing. It was as if she expected that Nyx would not reveal the secrets to me, it was as if the ground should open and swallow him. I could not believe I had been living with her these months, and she never opened her mouth to discuss it with me; what if Nyx had not appeared, angered by the fact that Julianne kept on rejecting their offer and refusing to take her role as their leader? The fact that she was not even saying a word made me believe what Nyx said was true. If it were a lie, I trust Julianne to have yelled at the top of her voice and called her a liar.

"Look, Julianne, I don't have time to waste here. I came down here to take it, and I am not leaving without you, whether you like it or not." She paused and glared down at her. "So I would advise you to agree to be our leader and that you will denounce yourself as a wolf and take on your true nature and a witch, or else I am going to kill Arthur right on this spot, and you would watch him die." She threatened, her eyes concentrated on Arthur.

Julianne was torn between what to do, she could not agree to leave the wolf and to be the leader of a coven she was not part of and there was no way she was going to reveal Loretta's secret, and the funniest part was that she has no power and she was grateful that Nyx had not discovered.

I stepped in front of Julianne instinctively, my body acting faster than my mind. I had watched her and seen the way she was behaving. I needed no one to tell me it was not intentional, and even though she kept it a secret from me, she is still mine, and no one can threaten her except me.

"You won’t touch her," I blurted out, my voice low, filled with a tone I didn’t know I had.

Nyx stepped forward, her hands twisted, and I felt this unbearable pain surge through me; I gnashed my teeth, trying to keep myself from screaming. "I’ve had enough of this stupidity and nonsense," she snarled, her hands crackling with dark energy. "Either you agree to take your place, Julianne, or I’ll make you kill the one man you love"

"I said fucking leave her alone, you dare not touch her except me." My voice was barely a whisper but I knew they both heard me.

Nyx’s laugh was cold and cruel. "And what will you do about it, Arthur? You’re nothing. You are just a pawn in this game; as you can see, you are powerless and can't even fight or protect her. The decision of your being alive is in the hands of Julianne, and the faster she realizes that, the better for us." She spat and turned her attention back to Julianne.

She raised her hand, the one folded into a blow, the dark magic swirling around her fingers. I was lost and powerless and didn't know what to do, I could not for sure persuade Julianne to do what she did not want to do seeing that she had been refusing them silently a countless number of times until she decided to threaten her with my life and still yet she was tore, still stubborn to accept their offer.

But then, just as her hand moved to strike me, Julianne stepped in front of me, a blinding light erupting from her hands.

"Get away from him!" she shouted, her voice trembling with raw power.

The light was so intense that I had to shield my eyes, the brightness. l from blinding me. The force of it slammed into Nyx, throwing her back with a loud crash. Nyx hit the ground hard, her body skidding across the floor as if she had been struck by a powerful wave. The room fell into a stunned silence. Nyx disappeared and was nowhere to be found.

I looked at Julianne in shock. She was breathing heavily, her face pale but determined. The glow from her hands faded, leaving her standing there, trembling slightly.

"Julianne…" I breathed, my heart racing. "What was that? How did you do that?"

"You are free, that is all that matters," Julianne muttered.

I grabbed her and we raced back to the pack territory, I took her straight to my room and shut the door.

"Julianne, I need you to explain everything that is going on?" I demanded staring at her.