Chapter Eighteen

“Ah, come in girls,” An older man said, urging us in. Ada and I stepped into the library and I felt a shift as though I'd entered into a portal and stepped into a world of books.

The library was vast and jaw-dropping, a beauty that held rows and rows of books stacked to the ceiling. The scent of old parchment and leather bindings filled the air, making my heart race with excitement.

Master Gideon, an elderly man with a kind face and great hair, greeted us from behind a large wooden desk. His eyes crinkled at the corner when he smiled and I found myself feeling at ease.

“You must be Scarlett,” he said, beaming at me. “Despite how much information this room holds, you'll be shocked at how long it takes until I receive some of the trending news because no one has said anything to me about how much of a graceful young woman you are.”

I felt my face heat up and a smile widened my lips as Ada chuckled. “He calls everyone a graceful young woman, for a teacher, his use of English is very limited.”

Master Gideon shook his head at Ada, a playful disappointing look directed at her, and for the first time, I witnessed the love she spoke about that existed between the pack members. It was easy to forget about that when they all pointedly ignored me and bullied me when they weren't. I was proud of standing up against Gabe today but I knew it wasn't the end of it.

“So, Scarlett, Ada said you have some questions about mates?” Master Gideon asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I nodded. “I have very limited knowledge when it comes to mates but I am exploring the possibility of mates being able to hear each other's thoughts when in close range. I'd like your thoughts on that.”

A small part of me wanted to hold out and not believe it was possible because it put me on guard about my thoughts when I was in the presence of Rowan. How was it possible that he had access to my mind simply because we were mates? It wasn't fair.

Master Gideon nodded. “It is uncommon, truly. I've never seen or heard whispers about it but when Ada asked me about it, it had me digging.” he settled back into his chair. “Is there any reason you might be interested in this? Have you had any experience with it?”

Fear traveled down my spine. I shook my head quickly. “No, I just heard something about it in the past.”

He looked thoughtful and I feared, a bit skeptical. “Well, whoever that was must be an interesting subject because it had me exploring the resources I had and I found something about that, something I didn't know existed.”

He pulled out a book from the drawer, its pages were worn out, and the strings that held them together were frayed. I wondered how long it had been in existence.

“The book speaks of the peak strength our wolf’s form could attain in the past.” Master Gideon began. “An extraordinarily powerful wolf when mated can tap into its mate’s power in terrifying ways, it can gain control and exert it upon their mate including mind link in order to make it do as it says.”

A crippling sense of anxiety crawled through my skin when I recalled how powerless my wolf seemed to be in the presence of Rowan. I’d thought it was because of the mate bond but it wasn't normal, Rowan’s wolf was powerful, so powerful it could exert control on a Wild Wolf. I didn't want to believe that and refused it to be true.

It couldn't be, even as Master Gideon spoke and his words dawned on me, I refused to accept them.

He continued. “But all of these could be just speculations, of course, we all know wolves that powerful have long gone extinct. The Goddess recognizing the true extent of their power decided we were no longer worthy of them amongst us anymore,” he shook his head. “An unfortunate thing.”

My head was spinning fast, surely it couldn't be. “But… but what if it was possible that there are still some in existence? That is possible, right?”

Ada and Master Gideon looked at me like I'd lost my mind before the latter erupted in a fit of laughter.

“Ah child, you've truly been sheltered if that is what you think. The Obsidian Black Wolf has not been sighted in the past 936 years, why would you think there would be one in existence now?” He asked me.

I immediately felt foolish for that question so I swallowed thickly and nodded my head. “You are right, Master Gideon. All of these are just legends now, we don't know for sure considering we haven't experienced the Black Wolf ourselves.”

“But if you are still interested in the mate mind reading, I would imagine it isn't mind reading like you think it is, and instead, is a form of assumption that must be based on the fact that mates can feel each other’s emotions.” Master Gideon explained. “Turning that off is simply to block out your mate from accessing your inner state and stopping them from making further assumptions like that.”

Now this made sense. I nodded excitedly, this was it. There was no mind-reading nonsense involved with Rowan, he was intelligent enough, he was more experienced, and learned than I was so all he'd needed to do was access my emotional state and figure out what it was that was going on with me. I must have been out of my mind going through all of these speculations and hypotheses, even bringing back an extinct species just to justify something that was simply common sense.

In the face of Master Godeon’s final explanation, I felt myself flush with embarrassment. I was foolish and I'd just made a nuisance out of myself.

“I've never had a mate,” Ada chipped in. “But I heard from others that Emotional Suppression is easy, although not fair to the mate bond, right?”

He nodded. “There is a reason it was created by the Goddess and that is to promote trust between mates but of course, sometimes we would prefer not to have that so Emotional Suppression comes in and that is achieved by simply taking a deep breath, finding and coming in contact with your feelings before shoving them further down and creating a mental barrier that you lock them behind.”

“Woah,” I found myself saying. “That seems tasking,”

I was going to do it to save myself from Rowan’s manipulation but it didn't seem doable at all.

Master Gideon laughed. “It is pretty simple, follow the steps and you'll see for yourself.”

Ada nodded, linking arms with me. “Thank you so much, Master Gideon. We must leave now, it's almost dinner time and the cook will have our heads if we aren't there to help.”

I thanked Master Gideon and with that, we hurried out of the library. Try as I did, I couldn't help the smile that crept into the corners of my mouth.

I was going to leave the Nightshade pack and I was going to sever my emotional mate bond with Rowan. Finally, I felt a flicker of light at the end of a tunnel, he no longer had the upper hand with me anymore. All was going to be well.