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Whatever is causing these episodes, the crescent-shaped stain on my skin is only the mark on the surface. I get the sense that its power lies far beneath.
I slip out from under the bedsheets. My head is pounding, and my throat feels scratchy. I need some water. I need fresh air. I need this thing inside me to calm down and stop hurting me at the absolute worst possible moment.
I can't keep pretending the timing is a coincidence. This power… this pain… it's triggered by my closeness to my mate. It frightens me to think of what that might mean for our future, but maybe we can figure it out together.
I'm still wearing the workout clothes Lucy picked out for me, and I toss on a white knitted cardigan and some slippers before heading out of my room. I'm not sure if I want to go to the kitchen for a glass of water, to the patio to talk to Lucy and Nico, or to the gardens for some peace of mind. But I need to move. My body is aching for it, and staying still means being alone with my thoughts, and right now, that's not a good option.
I've done as Sophie advised, but I'm still no closer to figuring out where I come from and how my past ties into this cursed mark. Maybe I should tell her about the voice that called out to me at the lake, but it's been weeks, and the strange memory has started to feel like an even stranger dream.
How can I fix whatever is broken inside me if I don't even know what it is?
Against my better judgment, I find myself walking toward the back door on the ground floor that leads to the little path by the lake. The pain has been getting worse the closer Tristan, and I become, but the more time passes, the more I want him.
I need answers, and I don't know where else to find them.
It's still early in the evening, but there are a few stars glittering in the night sky as I head down the cobbled path.
"Hello?" I call out into the darkness once I'm close enough to see the moonlight shimmering on the surface of the lake.
Silence.
I continue down the path, going further and further away from the villa. This time when I call out, I do so with my thoughts instead of my voice, my mind going still as I focus on the words.
'Can you hear me?'
Nothing. I stand by the edge of the water for a few minutes, starting to feel foolish. Maybe I really did imagine the whole thing. It was dark and windy that night, and maybe my mind had been playing tricks on me.
I'm just about to turn around and head back to the path toward the villa when a voice cuts through the blackness, echoing in the back of my skull.
'Hello, child,' it says, deep and husky.
A chill runs down my spine, and I go completely still, my heart thundering.
'Flower of night… I hear you. Come closer to the water. The veil is thinner farther from the fortress.'
I don't move.
Something is different this time. The voice is louder and clearer. Last time it had been a whisper on the breeze, melodic and unexpected. But this time, it's sharper, and I can't help but get the sense that whatever is out there… it's been expecting me.
'What veil? Where are you?'
'The spell, child. A witch's fire burns in the hearth of your home. It shields you from me. But I see you now.'
The spell.
I feel like my blood has turned to ice in my veins as I'm struck by a sickening realization.
The Villa du Lac is enchanted to maintain itself. But what if the magic isn't just about cleaning and caring for the grounds? What if the spell protects the villa, just as the former Alpha once protected the witch who cast it?
If the Villa du Lac is warded by the enchantment, that would explain why someone from outside the pack wouldn't be able to reach into it telepathically. Anything dark or foreign would be kept out by the spell's shield.
Not to mention that while the Rovers' village is quaint and comfortable, it's well-guarded and regularly patrolled. There are plenty of other wolves that might sense a strange and unknown presence there.
So this presence, this… creature… it couldn't sense me within the house, and it couldn't reach me until I wandered farther away from the pack and the village.
It's been lurking in the shadows, waiting for me.
'Who are you? How can you mind link with me?' I demand, taking a shaky step back in the direction of the villa.
