Chapter 95 The Lie That Almost Broke Us
Calix Pov
I sat up slowly on the edge of Maddie's narrow dorm bed. My body still felt heavy from whatever dark magic those cloaked figures had been using in that cave. Every muscle ached like I had been fighting for hours instead of lying there helpless while they chanted over me.
Moonlight filtered through the thin curtain on the window. It cast soft silver lines across the small room. I could see Maddie sitting in the chair by her desk watching me with those careful eyes. The same eyes that had looked at me with so much pain when I pushed her away. When I told her the mark was a mistake. When I broke her heart over and over because I was too scared to do anything else.
"How long was I out?" I asked. My voice came out rough like I hadn't used it in days.
"A few hours," Maddie said. "You needed the rest. Whatever they were doing to you in that cave took a lot out of you."
I nodded slowly. My wolf was still weak inside me. Still recovering from whatever binding ritual they had been attempting. But he was there. He was alive. And that was because of Maddie. Because she had shifted into her white wolf form and driven those figures away before they could finish.
I looked at her sitting there in the dim light. She looked tired. Her hair was still damp from the forest. Her clothes had dirt and blood on them. But she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
"We need to talk," Maddie said quietly. "About Simone. About your father. About all of it."
"I know," I said. I took a breath and tried to figure out where to start. There was so much to explain. So much I had kept from her. So many lies I needed to correct.
"The engagement announcement to Simone," I started. My hands clenched into fists on my knees. "It was never real. Not after I marked you. Not after the mate bond formed between us."
Maddie didn't say anything. She just kept watching me with those careful eyes. Waiting for me to continue. Waiting for the truth she deserved to hear weeks ago.
"She and her father forced it while you were locked in the dungeon," I said. The words tasted bitter in my mouth. "My father called me to his office the day after you were arrested. He told me the engagement to Simone was being announced publicly. That it was already decided. That I didn't have a choice in the matter."
"And you just agreed?" Maddie asked. Her voice was quiet but I could hear the hurt underneath it.
"No," I said firmly. "I refused. I told him I had already marked my mate. I told him the bond with you was real and binding and I wasn't breaking it for political convenience."
Maddie's eyes widened slightly. "What did he say?"
"He said the bond didn't matter," I continued. "He said a mark could be broken if necessary. He said my responsibilities to the pack came before my personal desires. He said a lot of things that made it very clear he didn't care what I wanted."
"So the announcement happened anyway," Maddie said.
"They made it while you were in the dungeon," I confirmed. "They wanted to break your spirit. They wanted you to think I had chosen Simone over you. They wanted you to give up on me so the bond would weaken and eventually fade."
"Did it work?" Maddie asked.
I looked at her sitting there asking me that question with her chin held high and her eyes clear. This girl who had been thrown in a dungeon on false charges. Who had been poisoned with wolfsbane. Who had broken out and shifted into a white wolf to save me from a dark ritual. This girl who was stronger than anyone I had ever known.
"No," I said. "It didn't work. Because that same night after the announcement I cut every line of communication with my father. I told him I choose you even if it costs me the pack. Even if it costs me everything."
Maddie's breath caught. I could see the shock on her face. The disbelief. Like she couldn't quite process what I was telling her.
"You told your father you choose me?" she repeated slowly.
"Yes," I said. "I told him the engagement to Simone was a lie. I told him I would never accept it. I told him if he tried to force it I would leave the pack entirely. I would give up my position as heir. I would walk away from all of it."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Maddie asked. "Why let me think you had chosen Simone? Why let me believe you didn't want me?"
"Because I was still scared," I admitted. My voice got quieter. "Because even though I chose you in front of my father I was still terrified my curse would take you. I was still trying to protect you by keeping distance between us."
"That's not protection," Maddie said. "That's just pain."
"I know that now," I said. "I was cruel because I was terrified. I pushed you away because I thought it was the only way to keep you safe. But seeing you shift to save me tonight changed everything."
"How?" Maddie asked.
"Because you're a white wolf," I said. "The rarest kind. The most powerful. If anyone should be protected from a curse it would be you. The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes when she creates white wolves. She doesn't pair them with mates who would destroy them."
"So you think the bond is stronger than your curse," Maddie said.
"I think maybe I've been wrong about everything," I said. "I think maybe I've been so focused on the curse that I didn't see what was right in front of me. A mate bond. A connection that survived weeks of me pushing you away. A girl strong enough to break out of a dungeon and shift into her wolf form to save someone who didn't deserve saving."