CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67

Maria’s POV

His voice rang out as a low hiss. I couldn’t really tell what that meant. It sounded more like the sound of someone being frustrated.

He looked straight at the sky and muttered. "My wolf, Maria, it’s fading."

I looked at him with eyes that signified that I didn’t understand what he meant. Before I could ask a question, he silenced me as he continued talking.

"It’s been getting worse in the past weeks." He rubbed his temples in a worried manner and moved his gaze from the sky to the ground. "I can hardly transform. A man without a wolf can’t rule a pack. I don’t want to lose my place, Maria."

I opened my mouth to say something, but the right words refused to form. This was a new discovery from him.

"Is it a curse?" I asked with a tone full of curiosity.

He nodded his head, "Yes,"

"It means you haven’t been able to shift in the past days."

He repeated his action of nodding his head. I noticed that his eyes were getting glassy, and he managed to blink it. He must have been in pain.

"I’m sorry, but it still doesn’t justify your actions."

"I know. I’ve betrayed everyone, but I’d find a solution, even if it costs me my life."

I was picturing scenes in my head, how we would fight the forger. I wondered if it was possible for Triton to fight the forger without his wolf.

"Maria, I promise you that even without my wolf, I would still fight." Triton said as he looked at me. It was as though he read my mind because those were the exact thoughts that were running through me.

"I know you would."

There was a brief moment of silence between us, where both of us stood, staring at the sky without saying anything to ourselves.

Several thoughts were running through my mind. I had learnt something new about myself and about Triton. The revelation about who I was shocked me more than anything.

Each time I thought of it, the better I understood why Sasha hated me. I couldn’t imagine living a life like how Sasha lived, where she had to give up everything about herself for me.

It made me question my parents actions, and ask myself several times why they chose to do it. Why did they choose to make Sasha live a lie? Why did they make me live a life that belonged to her? I felt like there was a lot more to this story that hadn’t been revealed to me.

"Tell me more about Trevor’s story," I said, breaking the moment of silence. "Why was he cast out as a rogue?"

Triton took a deep breath. He hesitated for a while, and I could decipher from his expression that he didn’t want to tell me. Nonetheless, he had made a promise that he would do anything to earn my forgiveness, and this was just one of them.

"Let’s sit over there. It’s a long explanation." He said, pointing to a slab of concrete by the side of the house.

I followed him, and we sat opposite each other, facing ourselves.

"Trevor and I committed a crime. A subject of my father had already poisoned Trevor’s mind that he should try to steal a treasured item from my father."

"What was the item, money, gold?" I asked curiously without even waiting for him to complete his statement.

"No. It wasn’t anything like that. It was a petal whose juice gave immortality. It was sacred and belonged to my father. My father is obsessed with power and control and he felt like immortality would help him conquer better."

I nodded my head, signifying I was paying rapt attention to him.

"He told us how he got that petal from the cursed land of the rogues when he and his men went there. But a subject of his said that it wasn’t my father that found the petal, that my father stole it from him."

Triton paused for a while to be sure that I was listening. Honestly, I heard every word from him, and it fascinated me even more.

"This man poisoned the mind of Trevor to steal the sacred petal from my father. I was also aware of the plans between the man and Trevor."

"Let me guess, your father cursed both of you when he found out."

"No, he took the petal and granted himself immortality. The immortality came with perks, and he could also lay curses like a God. He cursed only Trevor that he considered his bastard son. He cursed Trevor to live a miserable life and die at the next blood moon."

"If he didn’t curse you, how did you get cursed?"

"I’ve been able to transform into my wolf freely until recently. I visited Trevor and was attacked in his land by some demons. The fight with them caused my wolf to grow weak. I visited a shaman and they said my wolf had been damaged, and I may lose it eventually. Since then, I’ve been scouting for a solution."

He continued. "Honestly, it made me hate Trevor a bit that this problem happened when I went to his place to visit him. Someone told me that only the forger could help, but when I met the forger, he gave me conditions."

"I wasn’t serious about doing the forger’s bidding at first because I still had my wolf, but when everything began deteriorating badly, I had no choice but to do it."

He stopped talking. It was obvious that he had revealed everything that I wanted to hear.

He leaned his back against the wall and sucked in a deep breath.

I was still pushed to ask him more questions. "Does your father know about your wolfless state?"

"No. No one knows apart from Sam and you. If anyone knew, I wouldn’t still be leading Lycanthia."

He stood up from where he sat and stretched his arms. "Goodnight Maria."

Without waiting for my response, he walked towards where Sam was, and my gaze followed them as they moved away from the packhouse.

I stood up from where I sat and walked into the packhouse. Nothing had changed about the looks of the old building since I left. The fireplace was still intact, the large hall stood in the middle of the room, and those artworks and armour were still standing by the corners.

My father was seated on his high wooden chair and stared at the ground. He didn’t look up even when I entered. His face was shadowed with worry.

I hated the fact that the day I returned back to see my parents was the day that a lot of unfortunate events were revealed.

On the long dining table. It was only my mum and Sasha that were eating there. Sasha’s face had a deep frown on it as I walked into the room.

I knew Father must be upset with everyone and that’s why he was away from the table, unlike him.

I felt hungry, so I couldn’t afford the leave. I joined them at the table and I heard Sasha hiss as I sat down there.

I took a deep breath. I knew she hated me right now. I could sense the tension in the air among us as we ate. Sasha wasn’t saying anything, but her body expressions and subtle actions made me know that she was uncomfortable with me being here.

I finally braced myself up and decided to apologize. We couldn’t continue living like this. At least I should render an apology to let her know that I’m not her enemy.

"Sasha, I just want you to forgive me." I said as I dropped my spoonful of food to concentrate on her. "I had no idea what our parents were doing. Honestly, I would never want to take your place."

She let out a deep sigh and didn’t say anything in response. I wondered if she had considered my apology or if my apology made the hatred in her heart increase.

I was about to say something else when she stood up and left the dining area. Mother was quiet the entire while, sipping her soup slowly.

I wanted to know the reason why both of my parents took such a decision that affected Sasha’s life and my own gravely.

"Mother, what was your reason for doing all these? Why did you decide to treat us this way and make Sasha hold hatred against me?"

She dropped her spoon down.

"Everything I did, I did it for your sake. You won’t understand."

"Then, make me understand." I said, slightly raising my voice.

"Maria, my sister made me promise her that I’d take care of her child. Alice said I should do it, and I did. You should be grateful I gave you preferential treatment compared to my child."

I shook my head and was about to say something, but one word rang in my head. Alice?

MISTAKE

MISTAKE

MISTAKE

MISTAKE

PLEASE THE REST OF THE WRITINGS FROM BELOW IS A MISTAKE MADE DURING UPLOADS THAT CANNOT BE CORRECTED. DO WELL TO SKIP IT. THANK YOU.

"I won’t condone disobedience. You would listen to me because I’m your mother." Her voice did not contain any hint of emotion and even as I bent down to rub my hurting toe, she didn’t flinch. I sniffed and more tears poured down my face, staining my light veil.

"I’m not doing anything against my will, Laura. I won’t." I managed to stutter amidst the tears.

I saw her eyes widen as I referred to her by her name.

"What did you just call me?" She flared, wagging a finger in my face.

"I called you by your name to show how serious I..." Before I could complete my statement, her hand sprung out, landing a heavy slap across my face.

"You won’t disrespect me when I’m trying to do things for your own good." Her voice echoed through the room. I held my burning face with my palm as hot tears streamed down my face.

"Follow me." She commanded, not caring about my pitiful state. He walked into the room, his hand held clasped behind his back.

"What’s with the noise here?" He looked at my mother and then averted his gaze to me. "Why are you crying, princess?" He asked, pulling me into his arms which caused me to shed more tears.

"I don’t want to get married to someone I don’t know. You and mom are forcing it on me." I stuttered, overcome with sobs. He held me closer to his chest and stroked my hair gently. I lifted my head to look at my mom whose hand was folded across her chest.

"Maria, we’re doing this for your own good. All of us love you." My father responded, kissing my forehead as he pulled me to face him.

"When you are done, make sure to meet me so we can select a veil. The dressmaker is already waiting." Laura announced and left my room.

I felt comforted in my father’s arms. At least he showed empathy. My mom was always strict and harsh. If not for our uncanny resemblance, I would have sworn that she’s not my mother.

"I care about you and that’s why I’m doing this." My father said as he sat at the edge of my bed. "It’s an arranged marriage, but it’s for the best." He planted a kiss on my forehead before leaving the room.

I sat on the bed, clutching my feet in a fetal position. I pondered on his words.

Could I actually love this man that they arranged for me?

I hadn’t even seen him before.

"My advice, don’t do it. Run away." My sister, Sasha pushed open the door and walked closer to me. Before I could say anything, she closed the door behind her and opened my dressing closet. She packed a few clothes into a bag and tossed it at me.

"What are you doing?" I questioned her as she proceeded to pull my drawers.

"I’m putting you out of your misery. You need to escape from here." She shoved my comb and other accessories into the bag. "An arranged marriage is terrible and trust me, you won’t survive it."

"But I don’t have anywhere to run to." I responded.

"That’s not an issue. The neighboring pack is very accommodative. I won’t tell anyone where you went." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "The choice is yours. Stay and suffer or run away for good."

Alone in my room, I stared at the bag. My heart pounded as I realized that a decision had to be made

I some breeze in the hot afternoon. I felt the afternoon heat, but it was a necessary evil that I kept mI some breeze in yth