Chapter 91 CHAPTER 91
Sarah walked beside Sebastian with an ease she did not feel. Her hand swung lightly in his, her expression warm and adoring, but inside she was calculating. The spell on him should have held him down like a stone, weakening him little by little. Instead, he was walking beside her now with full steps and clear eyes. He looked healthier than he had in days - stronger even. That alone unsettled her.
But she smiled sweetly.
“I’m so glad you’re feeling better,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I was worried sick when you couldn’t even get out of bed.”
Sebastian chuckled, the sound light. “I’m fine now. Honestly, if it wasn’t for my mother fussing over me, I would’ve been back in the training grounds days ago.”
“Oh?” Sarah tilted her head, innocent eyes wide. “Do you think you’re ready to start training again?”
He nodded. “I feel… good. Really good. Trainer Allen has been asking after me anyway. I’ll probably join him tomorrow.”
Her smile strained at the edges, almost cracking. “And have your parents said anything about what caused your sickness?”
“No.” Sebastian shrugged. “Everyone’s still confused. I… can’t remember much either.”
Sarah kept her lips curved upward, but inside she felt something sharp twist. The witch’s spell should have made him forget everything completely. There should have been weakness, fatigue, something. Instead, he was walking next to her as if the past week had never happened.
Unacceptable.
They reached the tree line, the woods stretching out like a welcoming path. Sarah slid closer, letting her shoulder brush his. “I missed you,” she murmured, stepping ahead of him with a playful smile. “Missed being alone with you.”
Sebastian laughed in that soft, sweet way she often exploited. “I missed you too.”
She turned her head, her voice slipping into honey. “Then show me.”
Before he could answer, she darted deeper into the woods, letting her laughter echo between the trees. Sebastian jogged after her, smiling like a boy chasing a dream.
He caught her from behind when she slowed, his hands wrapping around her waist. She let out a soft gasp, leaning back into him. When he turned her toward him, their lips met in a hungry kiss - one Sarah pushed deeper, hoping the closeness would drown out any lingering clarity in him.
He kissed her back, matching her intensity for a moment.
Then suddenly… he froze.
His mouth stilled against hers. His hands, once warm, loosened. Sarah pulled back slightly, confusion tightening her brow.
“Seb?” she whispered. “What’s wrong?”
Sebastian didn’t answer. His eyes were unfocused, his breath caught halfway in his throat. He pressed a hand against his temple, as though something inside his mind was clawing for space.
“Sebastian.” This time Sarah’s tone sharpened. “Talk to me.”
But he wasn’t listening to her.
He wasn’t hearing anything around him.
He was listening inward.
A faint echo - thin, cracked, distorted - pushed through the fog of his mind. A voice that didn’t sound close, didn’t sound whole, but sounded familiar. Desperate.
Sebastian…
The voice was strained, as if dragged across a distance that did not want to be crossed.
Sebastian stiffened, heart thudding. “Kael?”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”
He barely heard her.
Kael’s voice surged again, fraying at the edges like it was tearing itself apart to get through.
Stop. Sebastian, stop…. Sarah…. can’t…
The urgency rattled through him, sharp enough to make him wince. He felt the pressure in his skull, the weight of a message being forced through a barrier.
“I can’t hear you,” Sebastian whispered inside his mind, his breath shaky. “Kael, slow down…”
Sebastian…can you…. Don’t….
Don’t do it….
Sarah…. Don’t…
The words twisted, breaking apart mid-sentence, swallowed by some unseen force.
Sebastian closed his eyes, trying to focus, trying to pull Kael’s voice closer, but it was slipping - dissolving - like sand through his fingers.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sarah snapped, grabbing his arm. “Does your head hurt again?”
He barely heard her. All he could feel was Kael’s panic pulsing through the weak thread of their connection. It had been so long since he’d heard that voice. He had thought Kael abandoned him. Buried. Gone.
But he wasn’t gone.
He was warning him.
“Kael,” Sebastian murmured inwardly. “What do you want me to stop? What’s happening? Are you mad because I’m with Sarah again? Is that it? What do you want from Sarah? Please speak to me….” He sounded desperate to have his wolf back.
But Kael was losing strength fast. Sebastian felt the connection thinning, fraying, like someone pulling taut wires until they snapped.
Sebastian….
Sarah… is…
Then silence.
A heavy, suffocating silence.
Kael was gone again.
Sebastian opened his eyes, stunned, confused, breath coming unevenly. Sarah was staring at him with irritation masked poorly as concern.
“What was that about?” she demanded. “Why did you stop kissing me? You’re acting strange.”
Sebastian shook his head slowly. “I… I heard him.”
“Heard who?” she pressed, her voice tightening.
“Kael.” The name escaped before he could stop it.
Sarah’s expression flickered - surprise, fear, then anger - before she smoothed it away. “You must be imagining things. Your wolf left. That’s what you said.”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to believe anymore.
Sarah stepped closer again, forcing sweetness into her tone. “Come on, Seb. Let’s just finish what we started.”
But Sebastian felt hollow now, his earlier desire drained completely. The warning - even broken and faint - lingered heavily inside him.
“No,” he said quietly. “Not today. I’m… not in the mood anymore.”
Sarah froze.
Not in the mood?
HER?
After everything she had done to him?
After she fed an entire dungeon full of boys just to regain strength?
But she forced a thin smile. “Alright. Another day then.”
They walked back toward the village side by side, but the distance between them felt wider than the woods around them.
Sebastian walked in silence, replaying Cael’s broken warning again and again, wondering whether he imagined it… or whether something inside him had finally cracked open.
Sarah walked beside him with a stiff jaw and narrowed eyes, wondering how much longer her spells would hold - and what exactly had just interfered.
Neither of them smiled again on the way home.