Chapter 118 118
Venessa’s POV
I could feel Tyrell’s pain.
The sensation startled me at first it wasn’t something I was used to but then understanding settled in. Nyla had joined Atabey. Through her, I could now feel everyone connected to the goddess.
Tyrell was drowning in fear and regret.
Remorse clung to him heavily, layered with grief so deep it hollowed him out. I knew why. The loss of his child had broken something inside him.
It was strange almost unsettling to see how much he had changed. If he could feel this shattered over losing his child, how had he ever allowed Jalisa to pass the baby off as Denzel’s? That loss would have been just as devastating. The child would have been Denzel’s in name, not his.
The realization twisted something ugly inside me.
Jealousy crept into my chest before I could stop it.
Denzel had once been with Jalisa. He had loved her. Touched her the way he touched me now. The thought slid into my mind uninvited, coiling there, feeding bitterness and heat. I shouldn’t have felt it but I did. It slithered through my thoughts like a snake, quiet and poisonous.
I stopped walking.
Tyrell halted too, turning to look at me with confusion written across his face.
“Go ahead,” I said quickly. “I’m right behind you.”
He hesitated, then moved on.
The jealousy lingered, gnawing at me.
It made no sense. Denzel hadn’t betrayed me. Jalisa had been his wife. Of course he had touched her. Of course there had been love, intimacy perhaps even the hope of a child.
So why did it hurt?
We must guard our hearts, Venessa. This feeling is external.
Nyla’s voice cut through the chaos in my mind.
A chill ran through me.
Was Eshera trying to corrupt me? Was it possible she would dare reach for me?
Yes. It is possible, the voice answered.
But now I knew it wasn’t Nyla.
It was Atabey.
Many of my champions were blinded or corrupted in the past. Eshera is attempting to claim your heart. You must be careful. Do not allow resentment, jealousy, or bitterness to take root toward anyone or any situation.
I inhaled deeply, steadying myself, and continued toward the questioning room.
Inside, the sight stopped me cold.
Kimberly was battered claw marks raked across her skin, bruises blooming dark and angry. Silver circled her wrist, meant to prevent healing… yet her flesh was knitting itself back together.
She was immune.
Which meant she had truly sold us out.
“Why did you do it?” I asked gently.
Denzel stood rigid beside me, fury rolling off him in waves. I glanced at his hands clean. No blood.
Rayon’s hands were clean. Devon’s too.
Tyrell.
Nothing.
“Where did the injuries come from?” I asked.
Denzel pointed at Kimberly. “From herself. She clawed her own skin. Beat herself bloody. That’s why we restrained her. The silver barely slows her healing, but she can’t break the chains. Whatever gift she got, super strength wasn’t part of it.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“Why would you do this to yourself?” I asked.
She broke then sobbing.
“Alesha said I wasn’t worthy,” she cried. “And now Alpha says I’m not worthy.”
The way she said Alpha with reverence, with certainty made my stomach turn.
“Alpha,” I said slowly. “Do you mean my husband… or someone else?”
She shook her head.
“The transition wasn’t complete,” she whispered. “He said if I succeeded, I would receive the full gift of the goddess. A power hidden for centuries.”
She looked at Denzel and I felt the faint pull of their lingering bond.
“What goddess?” I asked.
She frowned at me as though I were the ignorant one.
“The Moon Goddess,” she said. “Our mother. Atabey.”
I recoiled.
“How can you believe such lies?” I demanded.
“I’ve seen her,” Kimberly insisted. “She lives inside him. Alpha Tremaine. The true Lycan Prince. The rightful heir to the throne.”
Her words spilled faster now, feverish.
“King Jamar stole his birthright. Tremaine was only a baby when Jamar ascended. But Tremaine’s mother is the Moon Goddess herself. She gave birth to him. He is the rightful heir.”
The words sounded insane
Until Atabey’s voice erupted inside my mind.
I cannot believe Eshera went this far.
My knees nearly buckled.
She mated with the Lycan King. She bore a child. Now I understand why he can bestow power. Just as the first Lycan King was a demigod…
Cold terror seeped into my bones.
None of us were prepared to face a being like that.
“If he is Atabey’s child,” Rayon asked Kimberly, disgust curling his lip, “then what are we?”
“A corrupted generation,” she replied flatly.
Devon scoffed. “And yet we think for ourselves. We act for ourselves. Meanwhile, you’re nothing but a puppet your ‘prince’ thinking and deciding for you. Who’s really corrupted?”
She had no answer.
“Why did you volunteer to guide them here?” I asked quietly.
She looked at me then and fear flashed across her face.
She had seen something in me.
“Moon Mother?” she whispered.
I shook my head. “Not the one who resides in your prince.”
Tears streamed down her face. Awe overtook her expression, as though she were gazing upon something sacred. She slipped into a trance
And then I saw it.
Dark, root-like veins crawled from the corners of her eyes. They spread quickly, staining the whites, swallowing them whole.
Her eyes turned black.
“You are not allowed to cheat, Atabey,” she said.
That voice.
The same one from my dream.
The same voice that had spoken to me across a chessboard.
Horror locked my breath in my chest.
I was staring into the goddess of corruption herself.
Eshera.
How had she done this?
Was this the plan all along? Had Kimberly been sent allowed to be caught so this moment could happen? So Eshera could see what truly lived inside me?
So she could touch my mind.
So she could try to corrupt me.