h4Chapter 813: 813-Bncing My Body./h4

    strongLucy:/strong

    "Hey, I hope you’re not angry with me anymore," Jenny said with a smile.

    I gave her a weak smile and shook my head. "I heard things are going well between you and Lamar. I’m really happy for you," I replied in my usual tone.

    It was hard to bnce my body after losing control for so long. After I woke up, I learned that Za and Zu had finally died. They needed a body to survive, and since they were forced out of mine and nobody else let them stay, they met their fate. A little too long, but in the end, all went well. We also had a talk with Norman, a very important one.

    To be honest, I was d that I had yed a part in the death of those two monsters, and also that during the year when the world had be a scarier ce, I wasn’t there. I did defeat the entities, but that didn’t change the fact that I was terrified of stepping outside and facing those hideous creatures, the Zharns.

    When everybody gathered around me to wee me back, I felt overwhelmed. Arthendel was beautiful. The first thing I asked was for them to take me to the sea. I wanted to breathe in fresh, open air. Hnie had passed out, so my wish to hug her had to wait. And even then, she wouldn’t have been the first, everyone else had already hugged me. They treated me differently now, not like someone unwanted.

    "Everybody step aside, I brought food," Lamar said, motioning for the others to move.

    It was strange to see Penn happy with Sage. I had watched him desire for Hnie for so long that even I pitied him. We sat on the beach, listening to the waves, and I watched the mermaids rise from the water just to wave at me before disappearing again. I felt special. I had always appreciated little things, and I was still the same in that way.

    But someone had been stealing nces at me more than once.

    "Thank you," I told Lamar. "You’ve changed too. I remember when I was awake, you were such a douchebag." Iughed. "Well, not really. You were starting to get better," I murmured, remembering how he and Hnie had grown close.

    "Yeah, I decided to be a better person. The bad boy image didn’t really suit me." Lamar pouted, then smiled at Jenny, giving her a wink. The two of them were adorable.

    "What about you, Gavin? I heard you’re nning on going rogue," I asked, and he nodded.

    We used to be so full of energy and love. I had been such a bubbly person. My pack members used to say, she’s always showing her dimples. But now, even here, I felt misced. I was left behind. And they seemed forced to interact with me, to celebrate my return out of guilt for not saving me sooner. Of course, I never voiced these feelings. They had already been through enough, so I kept my grief to myself.

    "What about you? What do you n to do?" Gavin asked, offering me a sandwich.

    I took it. Just holding it felt good. I hadn’t held anything for more than a year. Instead of answering, the first thing I did was take a bite. The taste was heaven. I closed my eyes, moaning as I chewed, and when I opened them, everyone wasughing lovingly.

    "You know what? Enjoy your food. We’ll take a little walk. I’ll also check if Hnie is awake, okay?" Lamar said as he ruffled his fingers through my hair. It was so sweet. So friendly.

    "Yeah. Make sure you eat well. You’ve lost a lot of weight in thest few months. I guess you were unconsciously fighting the entity, so you weren’t eating much," Penn said. It was the first time Alpha Penn had spoken to me with such thoughtfulness.

    "Yeah. We’lle back to you again, okay?" Jenny added in her usual bubbly tone before leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

    I wasn’t used to being treated like this. Suddenly, the pain in my heart began to fade. One by one, they left. When I noticed Gavin was still sitting there, I realized why.

    "You don’t need to feel guilty about anything. I’ll return to my life. I want to continue at the academy and do the things I once wrote on my bucket list," I said with a weak smile. The truth was, I had chased him so hard, making him my life’s mission, that I felt sorrow for myself.

    "May I say something? It’s just a request. You can either ept or deny," Gavin asked gently.

    I could still hear the guilt in his voice, and honestly, I didn’t want him to feel that way. Whatever happened, happened. He had suffered too. Maybe it was just meant to be—that she was his second chance mate. It made sense. He came to the academy, cheated on me, and then found her. I didn’t want to hold grudges anymore. My life was too precious. I had already lost a year of it, and almost my body, because I was so broken by the rejection that I forgot my life meant something. I wasn’t going to do that again.

    "Sure, what is it?" I asked, picking up a ss of juice. Holding anything felt strange. For a moment, it was hard to bnce it, but I knew I’d get used to it soon.

    "We can heal together."

    The moment he said that, I almost choked on my drink.

    "I don’t mean it like that. I mean, as friends. We used to be friends before," he added, his eyes shining.

    Although I felt sorry for him and wanted to be there for him, part of me knew I wasn’t ready to be his friend. Maybe in a group, sure, but not just him and me.

    "Gavin, I want to heal first. I hope you understand."

    As soon as I said that, he nodded anxiously.

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking." He tried to y it cool with augh, and I felt bad for him.

    "But hey, we’re in a group, so we’ll always see each other," I added, trying to soften it. "Besides, I want to go home first. I want to be with my family."

    I remembered how much I had hurt them. When the entity was in my body, she did everything to make them hate me. My mother suspected something was wrong. She even said I was possessed by a ghost. But there was nothing she could do, because the entity was convincing. She had all my memories, all the answers to the questions my mother used to test me.

    "I’m sorry, Gavin. I wish I could say something tofort you, but right now, I just need time to myself," I mumbled in a guilty tone.

    He gave me a small smile and nodded. "Serves me right." That was all he said before Jenny returned to tell me Hnie had woken up.