Chapter 15 A lot that meets the eyes
Auren’s pov
“Your uncle doesn’t have a name for his wolf?” Alpha Dravik’s voice cuts through the silence.
My eyes widen, we were inside the room now and I stood beside the bed.
“I… I never even knew we could talk to them”.
Even if I knew, How was I supposed to know if my uncle did? It’s not like the man changes to his wolf in front of me or talks to me about anything personal.
He studies me, his expression unreadable, like he’s just realizing something important.
“What did you actually know about our wolf side?”
I swallow hard, fumbling for words. “That we get them at thirteen… that much I know.”
He leans closer, his eerie silver eyes narrowing. “You were bound at thirteen. Did you feel yours before the binding?”
I freeze, a cold wave washing over me as the memory of that night claws at my chest.
“I… I must have. Since it… killed my parents,” I whisper.
He sighs and steps back, pacing slowly. “It’s different for everyone. Some wolves can awaken slowly due to trauma, anger, confusion while some are normal and easy to have control over. The wolf and the human can… clash and sometimes, it consumes everything in its path.”
“Clash… consume?”
“Yes. The wolf’s emotions are raw, unfiltered. It’s Fear, grief, anger—they become part of you, it’s like having someone entirely different inside of you sometimes. You feel more, think faster, see sharper. But the bond, the control, that’s what keeps you alive… or keeps you from destroying yourself.”
I swallow hard, trying to wrap my mind around it. “But… yours seems more different,” I say cautiously, nodding toward him.
I had seen him tear through silver chains back at Silverveil. Silver is poisonous to us, I know that too.
He pauses, his eyes leaving me, scanning the room as if talking to someone unseen.
“Mine… is bound differently. Shadow is older than me, stronger than me in ways you wouldn’t understand. Most wolves don’t carry… him inside. He’s… something else.”
I shiver, a thousand questions forming and dissolving in my head. If it’s like having someone else inside of you, do they sleep and eat differently? How did he get powers I’ve never seen in any other wolf?
I watch him pace around the room in a figure-eight pattern, looking as if he is talking to someone else
Maybe this “Shadow” fellow.
A sudden, searing pain radiates through my stomach and I press a hand against it, trying not to cry out. My tummy feels like it’s burning from the inside, like molten fire spreading through every nerve.
The pain suddenly hit harder and I cried out, my legs buckling slightly, and I grabbed the edge of the bedpost for balance.
Dravik spins, “Auren?”
“It hurts!” I gasp, tears already stinging my eyes.
My legs give way entirely.
Before I can fall, he catches me in one stride, concern etched across his face as he raises my sweatshirt. “Shit.”
The pain, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt. Every punishment, every bruise, every time I’ve been pushed past my limit—it pales in comparison.
It’s as though my insides are being twisted, ripped apart, set on fire, and frozen all at once. My chest feels tight, my stomach feels torn, and my bones feel like they’re being crushed.
I scream as another wave of pain hits me, clutching at him and gasping for air, but it’s too much……my body trembles uncontrollably.
“Dravik… it’s too much!” I cry out.
With inhuman speed, he slings me over his shoulder, racing through the hallways of the mansion. The wind whips my hair, the floor blurring beneath us. My head bounces, pain surging with every movement. He bursts through the hospital doors, almost breaking the hinges.
“Hope! You need to see this!” he shouts as he drops me onto a bed.
I thrash, trying to curl away from the pain, but he pins my shoulders gently yet firmly, lifting my sweatshirt up for Hope to take a look.
“Look at me, Auren. Look at me and breathe.”
I can’t. Everything burns. My body feels like it’s being torn from the inside out, vibrating with fire and ice at the same time.
“Oh my Goddess… is that what I think it is?” I hear Hope gasps.
“Yes,” Dravik mutters, his grip unwavering, holding me steady.
“I’m sorry, Auren, this is going to hurt,” Hope warns. “Hold her steady!”
“I can help,” another voice says.
“Hold her legs.”
Strong hands grip my legs, holding them firm.
Then I felt a new pain, sharper, hotter, like a knife twisting inside me. I scream, a soul-wrenching sound that feels like it will never end. Every muscle, every nerve, every inch of me screams in agony. My body vibrates, wracked by the intensity, and I feel like I’m being pulled apart from the inside and outside.
They’re killing me… they’re killing me.
I struggled against the hands that held me down but they didn’t bulge.
I’m on the edge of consciousness when I hear Alpha Dravik’s voice.
“A blood tie… a fucking blood tie.”