Chapter 169 CHAPTER 169

Chapter 169 CHAPTER 169
Alexa’s POV

I went to Nola's room as soon as I arrived at the inn. I knocked twice before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

She was seated near the window, working on her beadwork. Small beads were scattered across the table, and she was carefully threading them together with practiced fingers. At the sound of the door, she looked up.

“How was the meeting with Alpha Rodrick?”

“You lied to me, Nola,” I said angrily. “Why didn't you tell me the truth?”

Her hands stopped moving. The thread remained suspended between her fingers for a moment before she slowly lowered it onto the table.

She sighed. “There was no way I was going to prepare you for that.”

I stepped further into the room.

“What did you expect me to say? That Alpha Rodrick was half human and half beast?”

“That is not what I mean, Nola,” I said, shaking my head. “I meant my memory loss. You told me I was losing my memory because I reconnected with my wolf, but you know it is not true.”

I watched her closely. The change in her expression was subtle, but I caught it. Confusion crossed her face first, followed by something that looked uncomfortably close to guilt. Her fingers tightened around the thread, and the beads clicked softly against one another.

She knew.

“You knew,” I whispered.

She didn't answer.

I moved closer, lowering my voice. “Why didn't you tell me there was someone else inside of me?”

Her eyes widened.

“Nola, the seal you broke was what was protecting me from her.”

She dropped what was in her hand and looked at me.

“What do you mean, Alexa? Who is inside of you?”

“Lucy!” I cried out.

She gasped. Her face was drained of color.

“Lucy?” she asked.

The way she mentioned the name, I knew she knew her.

“I knew it,” she whispered. “When you first stepped in here, I sensed something about you. I told Sahel, and Sahel assured me that it couldn't be possible.”

She pushed herself away from the table, her fingers trembling slightly. The beads she had been working on rolled across the wooden surface, some falling to the floor with faint clicks.

“I didn't know that breaking the seal was breaking what was protecting you.”

“What do we do about that now?” I asked.

She swallowed and looked away.

“We have to fix the seal back,” I suggested.

“I can't do it,” she said. “And Sahel can't do it either. The only person who could possibly fix the seal would be the person who put it there in the first place.”

I stared at her angrily.

“Yet it was you who broke it. How could you have been able to break the seal and still not be able to put it back?”

“I’m sorry, Alexa,” she replied.

I sighed and began pacing around the room. My thoughts were moving faster than I could follow them. Somewhere beneath my anger was a growing unease, a sensation I couldn't quite explain. Every time Lucy's name entered my mind, something inside me seemed to recoil.

I stopped near the window and pressed my fingers against my temple. I couldn't even remember who had put the seal on me in the first place. I was losing so much of my memory that only bits and pieces remained—fragments without beginnings or endings, flashes of places I couldn't identify and feelings that seemed to belong to someone else.

And now I knew that someone else had been inside me all along.

“I will talk to Sahel,” Nola said behind me. “We'll find a way out of this. I promise you.”

I turned to face her.

“I will hold you to your words, Nola.”

Without waiting for her response, I walked out of her room and pulled the door shut behind me.

For several seconds, I stood in the hallway.

The inn was quiet, but not completely silent. I could hear distant footsteps below, the muted clatter of dishes, and the low murmur of voices drifting through the walls. My senses had become extremely heightened.

Then I heard something else. It was a faint whisper of a familiar voice. I couldn't tell where it had come from. I turned my head slowly, listening. Yet the strange sensation remained. Someone I knew was around.

—
I lay on my bed and thought about Alpha Rodrick's offer. He had offered what he believed was a lifeline—an escape for both of us.

“Mate with me,” he had said. “That way, the strength from the mate bond will help me break free from Lucy's curse.”

I didn't know what had happened between Lucy and Rodrick, but I knew the state he was in was a result of Lucy's curse. She had made him a beast, and I was beginning to realize that she must have been incredibly powerful.

Still, I didn't want to simply say yes to a plan that might only benefit him.

“What is in there for me?” I had asked.

I didn't want to be trapped forever by Lucy's spirit. I wanted to be free too.

“If I help you get free from her curse, I also want to be freed from her in return.”

He had nodded.

“I know a shaman who has been helping me. We can see her tonight. She would have a plan.”

Now, lying alone in my room, I stared at the ceiling and replayed his words in my mind.

If the bond truly had the power to weaken Lucy's hold over him, perhaps it could weaken her hold over me too.

I had already lost pieces of my memory. I didn't know what Lucy had done to me, what she had been capable of, or what would happen if we somehow gave her even more access to my mind.

I turned onto my side and pulled the blanket closer. Tonight, I would find out.

We were both going to see his shaman under the cover of darkness. If she truly had a plan that could set me free from Lucy and help me regain my memories, then I was willing to take Alpha Rodrick's offer.

Dinner at the guest inn was usually served at 8 p.m. I arrived at the dining table and found two new guests already seated there. Nola looked up when she saw me and gestured toward them.

“This is Matthias and Simone. They are both traveling scholars, and they are at Eclipse Park briefly before continuing on their journey.”

I looked at the two of them, unbothered by their presence, before taking my seat and turning my attention to dinner.

“You're welcome to Eclipse,” I said to both of them. “I am also a guest here, and I hope you have a wonderful time while you're here.”

They thanked me, but something about the way they looked at me bothered me. Did I know them?

Their attention lingered longer than it should have. It wasn't the ordinary curiosity of strangers meeting someone new. There was a sharpness to it. I tried to dismiss the feeling.

After dinner, I waited for two hours, giving the inn enough time to settle into silence before I finally left my room.

I pulled on a hoodie and drew the hood over my head, hiding most of my face. I slipped quietly through the hallway and made my way out of the inn, careful not to attract anyone's attention.

The night air immediately brushed against my skin. I took a few steps away from the building before I heard footsteps behind me.

I stopped.

The footsteps stopped too. Slowly, I turned around. One of the new guests stood several feet away. It was the same man who had been watching me during dinner.

“I didn't think you'd be hiding in Eclipse,” he said.

My brows drew together.

“What?”

His expression changed.

Before I could make sense of what he was trying to say, his body jerked violently. Bones shifted beneath his skin. His shoulders widened, his posture dropping as the transformation took over. His hands curled toward the ground, and within seconds, the man who had been standing before me was gone.

A wolf stood in his place.

My heart slammed against my ribs. I barely had time to react. Something inside me answered. The change came without warning.

My body tightened, and the world seemed to sharpen around me. I could suddenly hear the faintest movement in the trees, smell the damp earth beneath my feet.

In the blink of an eye, my human form gave way to my wolf. I landed on four paws, my breath coming heavier as I stared at the stranger across from me.

Neither of us moved. The wolf's gaze remained fixed on mine. And from the way he looked at me, I knew this wasn't a chance encounter. He had been looking for me.