Chapter 212 Manipulation

Chapter 212 Manipulation
Nova’s POV

I woke before Lazarus did.

For a few minutes, I simply lay there staring at the ceiling.

The cabin was quiet.

Too quiet.

His arm was still wrapped around my waist, his body warm behind mine, his breathing slow and even.

I should have been sleeping peacefully.

Instead, my mother’s face kept appearing in my mind.

Then Maris.

Then Seth.

Then that sentence.

You were never supposed to survive that night.

I swallowed.

I didn’t know if it was a memory or something Maris had said.

I didn’t even know whether it had actually happened.

That was the worst part.

I couldn’t trust my own memories anymore.

I carefully slipped out of Lazarus’s arms.

He stirred.

“Nova?”

“I’m here.”

His eyes opened halfway.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

He studied me through sleepy eyes.

“You’ve been saying that a lot lately.”

I smiled faintly.

“Go back to sleep.”

He reached for me anyway, caught my wrist, and pulled me back toward him.

I laughed quietly.

“Lazarus.”

“Five minutes.”

“You said that yesterday.”

“Then you know how this works.”

He pulled me against his chest.

I rested my cheek over his heart.

For a few moments, I forgot everything.

Then there was a knock.

Three soft taps.

Lazarus sighed.

“Who is that?”

I didn’t know.

Another knock came.

Lazarus sat up.

“Stay here.”

I watched him pull on a pair of trousers and walk toward the door.

He opened it.

And my entire body went rigid.

My mother stood outside.

She was holding a small wooden box.

Her expression was calm.

Almost gentle.

“Good morning.”

Lazarus didn’t return the greeting immediately.

“What do you want?”

She looked past him.

Her eyes found mine.

“I came to see my daughter.”

The word daughter felt strange coming from her mouth.

Lazarus stepped aside reluctantly.

She entered.

I remained on the bed.

My mother looked around the cabin before turning back toward me.

“I brought something.”

She held up the box.

“From home.”

I stared at it.

“Why?”

“Because you’re my daughter.”

I almost laughed.

After everything she’d said to me.

After everything she’d allowed to happen.

Now she wanted to play mother.

“What is it?”

She sat at the edge of the chair.

“Things from when you were little.”

She opened the box.

My breath caught.

A tiny bracelet sat on top.

Pink beads.

A small silver charm.

I recognized it immediately.

I had worn it constantly as a child.

Underneath it was a faded yellow ribbon.

Then a small wooden wolf.

I picked it up.

My fingers trembled.

“I remember this.”

My mother smiled.

“You used to carry it everywhere.”

I looked at her.

“Who made it?”

“Your father.”

Something twisted painfully in my chest.

I hadn’t expected that answer.

I turned the wooden wolf over.

There was a tiny carving underneath.

My name.

Nova.

My throat tightened.

Then my mother pulled out a photograph.

She handed it to me.

It showed me as a child, standing between my parents.

I looked impossibly young.

Happy.

Unaware.

My mother touched the edge of the photograph.

“You were such a difficult child.”

I looked at her.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

A tiny smile touched her lips.

“It was exhausting.”

For a moment, it almost felt normal.

Almost.

Then she started talking about my childhood.

“You were six here.”

“No.”

She looked at me.

“I was seven.”

Her expression changed.

“No, sweetheart. You were six.”

“I remember being seven.”

“You remember incorrectly.”

I frowned.

“What?”

She took the photograph back.

“You were six.”

Something cold moved through me.

I looked at Lazarus.

He was standing near the window, silently watching us.

My mother continued.

“You were always confused about dates.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“I remember that year.”

She sighed.

“Nova.”

“I remember.”

Her voice softened.

“You don’t remember everything properly.”

My stomach tightened.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Mom.”

She looked away.

I studied her face.

There was something there.

Something she didn’t want me to see.

I picked up the photograph again.

“Where was this taken?”

“At home.”

“Which house?”

“The old house.”

“When?”

She hesitated.

“Before everything happened.”

“What happened?”

Silence.

My mother’s fingers tightened around the box.

Lazarus’s attention shifted toward us.

I felt it.

The atmosphere had changed.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“Doing what?”

“Bringing me these things.”

Her expression softened.

“I thought you deserved something from your childhood.”

“I deserve the truth.”

Her eyes flickered.

There.

That reaction.

Tiny.

But I saw it.

“What truth?”

I stared at her.

“The pendant.”

Her face went completely still.

Only for a second.

But Lazarus saw it too.

“What pendant?” she asked.

Her voice was too careful.

I didn’t answer.

She repeated herself.

“Nova, what pendant?”

“Did I ever have a silver pendant?”

Silence.

My mother looked at the box.

Then at me.

Then away.

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

I knew immediately.

She was lying.

“You didn’t even think about it.”

“There is nothing to think about.”

“I remember one.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I do.”

She stood abruptly.

“Nova, there are things you need to let go of.”

My heart began beating faster.

“Why?”

“Because they’re over.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Her voice became firmer.

“You were young. You were confused. You were dangerous.”

Lazarus stepped forward.

My mother’s eyes moved to him.

“I don’t mean dangerous now.”

“You keep saying that,” I whispered.

“What?”

“That I was dangerous.”

She looked at me.

“You were.”

My hands curled into fists.

“And that’s why you abandoned me?”

Her face tightened.

“We were trying to protect everyone.”

“You rejected me.”

“We had no choice.”

“You watched them banish me.”

“We had no choice.”

“You let everyone believe I was evil.”

She swallowed.

“We had no choice.”

I laughed bitterly.

“You always say that.”

She looked wounded.

“We were protecting you from yourself.”

I stared at her.

“No.”

My voice shook.

“You were protecting yourselves from me.”

“Nova—”

“You weren’t protecting me.”

Her eyes hardened.

“You don’t understand what you were.”

“Then tell me!”

Silence.

I stood.

“Tell me what I did.”

My mother didn’t answer.

“Tell me what happened that night.”

Nothing.

“Tell me why everyone was so afraid of me.”

She looked at Lazarus.

Then back at me.

Her expression changed.

Fear.

Real fear.

And that frightened me more than anything.

“You really don’t remember,” she whispered.

My blood ran cold.

“Remember what?”

She said nothing.

“What?”

She closed the wooden box.

“You should leave the past alone.”

“Mom.”

“You’ll only hurt yourself.”

“Tell me!”

She turned toward the door.

Lazarus moved in front of it.

Not aggressively.

Just enough to make it clear she wasn’t walking out without answering.

“She’s asked you a question.”

My mother looked at him.

“This is a family matter.”

Lazarus’s jaw tightened.

“She’s my mate.”

His voice was quiet.

“Anything concerning her safety concerns me.”

My mother stared at him for a long moment.

Then she looked at me.

“You’ve always had a way of making people protect you.”

I flinched.

Lazarus’s expression darkened.

“Careful.”

My mother ignored him.

She walked toward the door.

Then stopped.

She looked over her shoulder.

“You should ask yourself why Magnus was so afraid of what you could become.”

My heart stopped.

Then she walked out.

The door closed behind her.

For several seconds, neither Lazarus nor I spoke.

Then he turned toward me.

“What was that?”

I looked down.

My hands were shaking.

“Nothing.”

“Nova.”

“I don’t know.”

He crossed the room.

He took both my hands.

“Look at me.”

I did.

His expression wasn’t angry.

It was worried.

“Tell me.”

I swallowed.

“I didn’t tell you because…”

My voice broke.

“I didn’t want to stress you.”

His eyebrows pulled together.

“Stress me?”

“You already have Magnus here. The elders. The pack. Everything.”

I looked down.

“I didn’t want to become another problem.”

His face softened.

He lifted my chin.

“You will never be another problem.”

A tear slipped down my cheek.

“I heard Maris talking.”

His expression changed.

“What?”

“I heard her and Seth.”

I told him everything.

The conversation.

Maris knowing I’d heard.

Her warning.

The way Seth had reacted.

Then I told him about the pendant.

Lazarus went very still.

“You have it?”

I nodded.

I walked to the bedroom.

I reached beneath the mattress.

Then stopped.

My fingers closed around the pendant.

I brought it back to him.

He stared at it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was scared.”

He didn’t judge me.

He simply took it.

The moment his fingers closed around the silver chain—

My markings ignited.

I gasped.

Lazarus’s eyes snapped to my arms.

The patterns beneath my skin glowed through the fabric.

The pendant became hot in his palm.

He dropped it.

It struck the wooden floor.

The cabin filled with a strange pulse of light.

And somewhere outside—

a wolf began howling.

Then another.

Then another.

Lazarus stared at the pendant.

“What the hell is that?”

I didn’t know.

But before either of us could move—

knock.

Three slow knocks sounded against the front door.

Lazarus immediately moved in front of me.

“Stay behind me.”

Another knock.

He opened the door.

Elder Rowan stood outside.

The old man’s face was pale.

His eyes went immediately to the pendant on the floor.

Then to me.

His expression changed.

Fear.

Recognition.

Something almost like grief.

“Alpha,” he whispered.

Lazarus frowned.

“What is it?”

Rowan looked at me.

Then at the glowing markings on my arms.

His voice dropped.

“We need to talk about Nova.”

Lazarus stepped forward.

“About what?”

The elder swallowed.

“Her childhood.”

My heart began pounding.

Rowan looked over his shoulder as though making sure nobody had followed him.

Then he whispered:

“There are things we were ordered never to tell you.”

I stared at him.

“By who?”

He looked directly into my eyes.

And his answer made my blood run cold.

“Your father.”