259- Between Secrets and Jealousy
POV Elowen Grimwald:
I waited anxiously for her to return, creating a thousand hypotheses in my head about why Aldren’s relationship hadn’t worked out. She came back, walking slowly to the table, and sat down again.
“Elowen, do you know how to keep a secret?” She held my hand over the table.
“Yes, Mrs. Korlina.”
“Listen to me carefully.” I nodded, holding my breath. “Almost a century ago, Aldren banished a witch from Valmorin who aborted her own child. Her name was Ulya. Pups are sacred to us, for they are the fruit of the most complete union among our people.”
“Only destined mates have pups, right? My sister told me…”
“Yes, we believe it to be a curse.”
“Oh my…” I raised my eyebrows, astonished.
“A year later, Samsara was accepted into Valmorin. She was beautiful, sweet, and kind. Within weeks, Aldren fell in love with her.”
“So quickly?”
...
“Yes. It was beautiful to see them around the village—Aldren’s happiness. He believed they were destined.”
“And what changed? What happened?” A wave of nervousness overtook me, and I shifted uncomfortably in the chair.
“It was all a lie, a malicious plan. Aldren was… bewitched. Ulya, the outcast, used dark magic to switch bodies. It was her inside Samsara’s body.”
My jaw dropped, and I blinked several times, unable to believe what I was hearing.
“Korlina, that’s cruel…”
“She deliberately started a fire, all for revenge. The flames began at the school and spread from there. Some of our pups didn’t survive. Aldren ran into the fire to save Samsara, still unaware of the plan, but she was waiting for him with a silver knife. Kehin was behind them, saw everything… and saved Aldren.” Her tone was heavy with sorrow.
Before I could stop myself, my eyes filled with tears.
“How can someone sacrifice pups for revenge?” I ended up speaking too loudly, having to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall.
“What came afterward, my daughter, was nothing but misery. Aldren shut himself off. All the witches were executed… except me.”
“You are…?”
She nodded, overcome with tears.
“Kehin saved Aldren, and for that alone I was spared the massacre.”
I tried to imagine how she felt knowing her grandson was imprisoned now, but it was too painful even to picture. Why didn’t this woman hate me? She should hate me. My chest grew heavy, and a strange feeling filled me.
“I don’t even know what to say. I never imagined a witch could do something so cruel…”
Korlina picked up my empty cup but stared into it for about a minute before filling it again.
“Are there witches in your family, Elowen?”
“No. The only witch I ever knew was a close friend of my late parents. Now that you’ve told me this, I hope I never cross paths with one again—or one—” She looked surprised, and I realized what I had just said. “Except you, Korlina, of course. I’m just outraged. That was so cruel.”
The air suddenly felt scarce, and I had to struggle just to breathe. My chest felt as if it were being crushed while the ground cracked beneath my feet.
Without understanding why, I stood from the table, desperate to get out of there.
I could hear Korlina, but I couldn’t answer her. It felt as if the walls were closing in, about to crush me.
Suffocated. Lost. Desolate.
…
Korlina managed to calm me, but a pressure kept growing in my chest every time her words about Aldren’s past echoed in my mind. Accompanied by Bratvo, I returned to the manor.
As I passed through the iron gate, the scent I caught made the wolf caged inside my chest stir violently. The putrid aroma of the bitch named Nala. I only believed it when I climbed the stone staircase and, upon opening the living room door, saw the damned woman and Aldren standing beside the sofa, about a meter apart, talking.
Fury surged from my toes to the last strand of my hair, but I kept my expression under control.
He offered me a tight-lipped smile and a greeting, but I couldn’t respond.
She, wearing a white lace dress above the knees, gave me a wide, toothy smile that radiated falseness from miles away.
I returned neither gesture. I simply crossed the room toward the hallway and the stairs, determined not to deal with that scene. I entered my bedroom and locked the door before sitting on the bed, hugging my legs.
I was suffering over that dog while he hid what we had from his pack and held polite conversations with someone who hated me.
I wasn’t going to accept that. Not at all.
For the first time, I understood him. Understood the walls he had built, the pain, the trauma, the contradictory behavior—everything.
But I needed to understand myself too. To understand what I was willing to accept to live a passion like that.
Something inside me said he would never betray the promise of exclusivity he had made to me, but that wasn’t enough.
Being just a secret wasn’t enough anymore. Not anymore… no…
The scent of eucalyptus and dry wood filled my nostrils, followed by the doorknob turning unsuccessfully. He was there. I bit my own tongue and stayed silent until his deep voice cut through.
“Elowen?” Go back to Nala, Aldren Valmorin, I thought. “Elowen?” he insisted, his tone hardening.
“Go away, Aldren.”
I answered as little as possible, coldly, and tears welled again at the corners of my eyes.
Suddenly, a slow, gentle howl passed through the walls of my small room, raising every tiny hair on my body.
I hated sharing my body with my creature when she purred in response, answering his call.
No!
“Open the door.”
“Aldren, stop! Go away!”
When I thought nothing else could happen, his pheromones hit me full force, making my back arch and my toes curl. Within seconds, the dampness between my legs became unmistakable.
“If you don’t open it, I’ll keep releasing pheromones until you drop to all fours on the floor.”
Son of a bitch!
“Low blow! Stop!”
“Open up, my bitch.”
Consumed by arousal and fury, I marched to the door and opened it, finding him calm and standing there with his arms crossed. I turned my back on him and walked toward the bed, then faced him with all my confusion.
Calmly, he stepped inside and leaned the door closed, his deep green eyes flecked with white fixed on me. He tried to approach, but I raised an arm, trying to stop him.
“Look, I can’t do this. I can’t. In the village you pretend I’m no one, and when I get here, I have to run into Nala!”
A small smile slipped onto the corner of his lips.
“Are you jealous, my bitch?”
“No. And I want to be alone.”
He shook his head.
“Give me your hand,” he asked, extending his.
“For what?”