Chapter 137 137
Venessa’s POV
I watched the corrupted Lycans advance, their movements deliberate, predatory. Nyla’s growl rumbled deep in her chest, vibrating through my bones. Their eyes burned with killing intent, and I knew immediately that outrunning them would be pointless. Ending this here was the only option.
“Nyla,” I urged my wolf, “I need that light now.”
She went silent.
A sudden weakness spread through me despite being in wolf form wrong, unnatural. My awareness sharpened painfully as I realized something was off. I was conscious… but Nyla wasn’t responding. It was as if only my mind remained present, tethered to a body slipping out of my control.
Then my body began to rebel.
I felt the pull the forced shift back toward my human form. Panic clawed at me until I noticed the faint shimmer drifting through the air.
Silver dust.
So fine it was almost invisible.
“Silver dust,” one of the Lycans said smoothly, his voice edged with mockery. “A terrible weakness to have, Atabey.”
I staggered back.
I tried to link Denzel, but the bond was silent cut off. My chest tightened as I held my breath and fought the shift, my lungs burning as I resisted inhaling the poisoned air. But it was impossible. I couldn’t stop breathing forever.
When I finally drew in air, the silver burned its way inside me.
I looked toward Denzel and saw the realization strike him too.
They had planned this.
The forest was unnaturally quiet no animals, no movement. And suddenly I understood. Wilson Rohan. The man who had prepared the picnic, who had assured us the woods were safe he had betrayed us.
They had known we would come here. That was why the silver was already in the air.
We were walking into a trap.
I tried to retreat, only to hear low growls behind me.
We were surrounded.
I moved closer to Denzel and saw him struggling too, fighting the same forced shift. If we reverted fully to our human forms, we would die. Our human bodies weren’t built to fight beasts and silver in our lungs would cripple our healing instantly. Death would be swift.
Wolf form was our only chance but the bond between wolf and human was severed.
“This would be a great time to cheat, Atabey,” I pleaded silently.
“If Denzel and I die here, the war is lost. This is checkmate,” I pushed with everything I had, hoping she could hear me.
A Lycan lunged.
I slashed with my claws, aiming for its head but my strength faltered as the shift surged again. My strike lacked the force it should have carried. I saw Denzel swing too, his movements slowed, weakened.
Then the Lycan I attacked shifted.
She stepped forward in human form, smiling.
She was beautiful strikingly so. Long dark hair like mine. Pale skin. Dark, knowing eyes. She moved with calm confidence, unhurried.
“How can you protect that which destroyed you?” she asked softly.
Her voice was not hers.
It was Eshera.
Was this her vessel? Her avatar? Or was this truly her?
Had we been hunting the wrong enemy all along?
“How can you be foolish twice, Venessa?” she continued, her voice seductive, poisonous.
“He rejected you. Abandoned you. Humiliated you before everyone. Disciplined you. Chose his chosen over you again and again.” She stepped closer, running her fingers through my fur as my body fought the shift. “He betrayed you. Neglected you. And knowing all of this remembering everything you still choose this?”
Her words struck with surgical precision.
“She fated you to a man who never loved you who could not love you. Then she dragged you back and demanded you save the very people who shattered you.” Her smile sharpened. “Tyrell and Jalisa took your life for nothing. And yet here you are working beside them. Pretending it never happened.”
My throat tightened.
“Because of them, you are damned,” she whispered. “They made you serve that cursed tea. And they will live longer than you. Thrive. While you serve her.”
The truth of it burned.
Tears blurred my vision as the shift finally won.
I collapsed into my human form, curling inward, sobbing as the weight of it all crushed me.
As dark as Eshera was… she wasn’t wrong.
Tyrell and Jalisa forced that tea down my throat. Then they took my life for it.
And I was the one condemned.
Where was their punishment?
I was the one damned given a single year to live while they remained together, breathing, living, loving. Where was my happy ending?
“Venessa, don’t let her into your head,” Denzel’s voice broke through.
I looked up.
He had shifted too human, broken, tears streaking his face.
He had heard every word.
All I could see was the past.
“You made a spectacle of me,” I whispered. “You rejected me in public…”
He bowed his head, grief written into every line of him.
“It’s easy for you to move on,” I sobbed. “How am I supposed to when I remember everything?”
My chest shattered as I cried.
“I’m going to die soon,” I said hoarsely. “There is no winning for me.”
The Lycan woman Eshera stroked my hair gently.
And the world felt like it was ending.