Chapter 53 Unexplainable Glow
Maddie Pov
I dodged Elara's kick at the last second and spun away from her. We were sparring in our hidden clearing like we did most nights. The moon was bright overhead and gave us enough light to see by. Nobody else knew about this place. It was our secret.
"You're getting faster," Elara said as she circled me. "Much faster than before."
"Thanks," I said. I didn't want to think about why I was getting faster. I didn't want to think about my wolf getting stronger. "You ready?"
"Always," Elara said with a grin.
She came at me with a combination of punches. I blocked the first two but the third one got through and hit my shoulder. It should have hurt more than it did. I should have felt the impact harder. But lately I had been getting tougher. Stronger. More resilient.
I countered with a spinning kick. Elara jumped back and I missed her by inches. She laughed and shook her head.
"Seriously Maddie where did you learn to move like that?" she asked.
"Just practice," I said quickly. "Lots of practice."
We kept sparring for another twenty minutes. Back and forth. Trading blows. Testing each other. I was so focused on the fight that I almost didn't notice when it happened.
I spun away from one of Elara's kicks and moved faster than I meant to. Way faster. The air whistled around me. And for half a second I felt something strange. A tingling sensation all over my skin. Like electricity.
Then I saw it in Elara's eyes. Shock. Confusion. Fear.
I froze completely. My heart started pounding hard in my chest. Something had happened. Something bad. I could see it on her face.
"Did you just glow?" Elara asked slowly.
"What?" I said. I tried to laugh but it came out nervous and fake. "No. That's crazy."
"Maddie your skin," Elara insisted. She pointed at me. "It shimmered. Like white light. Like moonlight on snow."
"It was just a trick of the light," I said quickly. I turned away from her so she couldn't see my face. "The moon is really bright tonight. It probably just reflected off my skin weird."
"That wasn't moonlight," Elara said. She moved around to face me again. "That was something else. Something from inside you."
"You're imagining things," I said. I grabbed my water bottle and took a long drink. My hands were shaking. "We've been training hard. You're tired. Your eyes are playing tricks."
"My eyes are fine," Elara said. But she didn't push it further. She just stood there watching me carefully. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," I lied. "Just tired like you said. Maybe we should call it a night."
"Yeah," Elara agreed. "Maybe we should."
We packed up our stuff in silence. The easy comfortable atmosphere from before was gone. Now there was tension. Suspicion. Questions that I couldn't answer without revealing everything.
"I'll see you tomorrow," I said when we reached the edge of the clearing.
"Maddie," Elara said before I could walk away. "If there's something you need to tell me. If there's something going on. You know you can trust me right?"
"I know," I said. "But there's nothing going on. I promise."
Another lie. I was getting really good at lying lately. Too good.
I walked back to my dorm alone. The campus was mostly empty this late at night. Just a few students here and there heading back from the library or from parties. Nobody paid attention to me. Nobody noticed anything different.
But I felt different. I felt like something inside me was waking up. Something powerful. Something dangerous.
"It's waking up," Gory said quietly in my head. "You can't hide it much longer Maddie."
"I have to hide it," I said. "I don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice," Gory said. "You could stop fighting what you are. You could accept your wolf. You could let people see the real you."
"And then what?" I asked bitterly. "Everyone finds out I'm a white wolf? Everyone finds out I'm royal bloodline? Everyone tries to use me or hurt me or control me?"
"Not everyone would do that," Gory said. "Some people would protect you. Some people would help you."
"Like who?" I demanded. "Calix? He can't even be in the same room with me without pushing me away. Elara? I can't drag her into my mess. Who else is there?"
Gory didn't answer. She didn't have an answer. Because the truth was I was alone. I had always been alone. And I would probably always be alone.
I got back to my dorm and went inside quietly. My roommate was already asleep. I changed into pajamas in the dark and climbed into bed. But I couldn't sleep. My mind wouldn't stop racing.
I thought about what happened during training. The way my skin had glowed. The way Elara had looked at me with fear and confusion. How long before someone else noticed? How long before I made a mistake I couldn't explain away?
I touched the mark on my neck through my pajama shirt. It felt warm like always. The bond pulsed gently. I wondered if Calix was awake right now. I wondered if he felt the bond pulling at him the same way I did.
"He feels it," Gory said softly. "He feels everything you feel. He's suffering just as much as you are."
"Good," I whispered into the darkness. "He deserves to suffer after what he did to me."
But even as I said it I knew I didn't mean it. I didn't want Calix to suffer. I wanted him to be happy. I wanted us both to be happy. Together.
But that wasn't possible. Not with his curse. Not with my secret. Not with everything standing between us.
I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to sleep. But all I could see was the look on Elara's face when my skin glowed. All I could feel was the power building inside me. All I could think was that time was running out.
Something was coming. Something big. Something that would change everything.
And I wasn't ready for it.