Chapter 36

When we were kids, Darren and I attended a special class learning all about our wolves. All of the pack's children attended this special class where we were given lectures and simple jobs as members of the pack. And one of those lectures is about our inner wolves, or just simply our wolves. Our wolves usually manifested in our teens, so we were given lectures about it as early as eight years old to prepare us well. We were taught how our inner wolves work and what to do about it when it finally manifested. As we are still young when it happened, it could be quite difficult and overwhelming. Feeling the presence of the wolf inside of us could be traumatic or unpleasant if you didn't know how to deal with it, so the classes were mandatory.

One analogy that our teacher used to explain about our connection with our wolves was that the wolf was sitting in the passenger seat while we were the driver. Despite our wolf manifesting, we are still the ones in control of our bodies. But our roles are reversed when we wolf out—it becomes the driver while we sit and watch what it does. And since our wolves act on instinct, we had to be able to influence it so that we could avoid a lot of accidents.

For this to happen, you had to train your body and mind to the point where you could control the wolf until it beame obedient to your command. Our teachers called it 'getting in sync' with our wolves.

However, I was a late bloomer. This was why in the last five years I had to double time training myself as the Purple-Eyed Wolf. Thanks to my powers as a witch, I was able to get in sync with my wolf most of the time but when it came to my mate, I guess it was a different ball game. Just like now, I was helpless while my wolf attacked the rogues with no strategy whatsoever. My wolf just tore down anyone it could reach with its paws.

Darren and the man called Randy saw me too and they were so surprised at my wolf's appearance that they stopped fighting and just watched me attack all of Randy's underlings. The rogues transformed too but they were no match against my wolf. To be honest, the fight was very one-sided. Within just a minute all of Randy's men had already dropped to the ground, either bleeding out or straight dead. Darren's mouth was gaping open wide the whole time.

"I can't believe this! You're that mythical Purple-Eyed Werewolf?" said Randy, who looked angered. "Now I understand why Darren would choose you..."

"Leave her out of this!" Darren yelled, which surprised me too because I had never seen him this mad before. He was throwing dagger looks at Randy. "This is between us!"

I was confused at what he meant by that. And just when I expected Randy to make a retort or fight back, he started walking to the car his men brought with them. "This isn't over yet, Darren," he hissed and dipped away just like that, leaving his men's dead bodies. Darren and I watched him drive away, and then I started smelling Darren's scent. It was triggering my wolf so bad that I had no choice but to force it to bite itself as distraction. But Darren was observing what was happening to me, and he must have realized the reason I was doing what I was doing.

"Milena... Our mating bond... It's not broken yet, is it?" my wolf growled madly, blood dripping from its mouth to the ground. I wanted to run away again. I didn't want to be here because Darren looked crazed too. "I thought... I thought that our bond was already gone... Seeing that you now have a husband and a kid. But your wolf is still attracted to my scent like it's been deprived for years... Does it mean—"

"You're wrong!" I yelled too as I started transforming back into my human form. Thank goodness for my long training of taming my wolf. But this was actually all thanks to my powers as a witch. "You're wrong, Darren, whatever it is that you're thinking right now. This has nothing to do with you."

But Darren wasn't convinced. "Don't lie to me, Milena. Your wolf clearly was reacting to my scent."

"Yes, but that's only because it's confused upon smelling your scent," I lied. "My wolf had already accepted Marcus and we already have a bond too. We don't have a bond anymore!"

"But, Milena—"

"I already have a son with Marcus, Darren. And you know what it means," I said before he could complete his sentence. I began walking away from him, back to Aunt Julia who was watching and listening to everything a few steps away. I just hoped Darren believed what I said, even if it wasn't true. I could still see his pained expression in my head, and to be honest it didn't feel good that I'd lied to him. But I had to, because if he finds out that our mating bond didn't actually break, he'd just use it to his own advantage. That was the scary thing because I couldn't even trust my wolf anymore when it came to Darren.

"I can't believe it, Milena! Are you really that Purple-Eyed Werewolf? This is good news! Now, no one will dare attack our town again!" said Aunt Julia happily as we walked back to their house. She had convinced me to rest for a while because my knees almost gave out after I transformed back into my human form. I knew why this had happened. I'd already used a lot of my energy starting from when I healed Marcus' wounds.

Outside their house, people gathered looking at me and whispering to each other, but we didn't mind them. Aunt Julia cooked for me and I took a nap after we ate. I really didn't want to waste time anymore but I needed to rest too. Fatigue and body ache made me sleep fast and I only woke up because someone was calling my name so loud that it gave me headaches.

When I opened my eyes I saw Madam Dolores by the door. She was smiling at me, the reason I mistook her for somebody else. She didn't even look sophisticated or regal anymore. She was just wearing normal casual clothes and she looked thinner than I remembered. "Welcome back, Milena! I'm glad you chose to stay!"

"What? I didn't—"

"Oh, you don't have to be humble in front of me now," she said and walked towards me. It creeped me out and I got up. "I heard you came back here with my son, and that you defeated Randy's men. You really are an exceptional werewolf, Milena!" She said that in a girlish voice, probably in an attempt to sound friendly to me.

But the last thing I wanted to do was to hear her lie so I told her what was on my mind. "Look, I'm not staying here. And please, don't act like we're close. We were never close, madam."

Her face fell. "I know you're not pleased with me, Milena. But since you're my son's mate, maybe it's time we should try to get along, right? We'll become a real family soon."

I almost burst into laughter when I heard her say that. "Are you hearing what you're saying? I have a family of my own now! Darren and I aren't getting back together!"

"But we know everything already, Milena," she replied. "Your son isn't your biological son, and your marriage with your husband hasn't even been consummated yet. This means you and Darren are still mates."