Chapter 133
Chapter 133
Zenovia
I hesitated. As much as I wanted to hear the story, I was afraid Callahan would drown himself in alcohol. I had never seen him drink like this. Or so unstable. I had seen his rage and temper…but this…seeing the most fierce king of werewolves look so helpless and miserable was new to me.
I was not sure if I could handle him if he broke down.
And, I was also dreading to hear the entire truth. My belief system was already shaken. Just how much more could I hear? Was I ready for it?
He noticed the confusing emotions flash in my eyes and asked, “Are you sure you want to hear the truth, Zee? The complete and absolute truth? I am still giving you the chance to walk away from this. You don’t have to know or hear anything.”
I gulped nervously and my hold on his hand loosened.
There was no turning back now. I was not sure when he would open up to me again if he had not even shared all of this with his trusted friends.
“You are not touching another bottle,” I added, trying my best to not let my voice shake, and stepped back as Callahan smiled and lifted the bottle to put it directly to his lips.
“You know what? Today is not the first day I saw you wandering in the forest all alone.”
I stared at him in confusion.
“No, I only left or tried to run away from you once.”
But Callahan shook his head. “Pretty sure this is the second time. The first time I saw you, just like tonight in the forest, wandering alone in the night.”
I scratched my head. How could that be possible?
“I don’t remember.”
“I only recalled it now. You did not look hurt to me in any way, so I let it slide, but I should have noticed that something was off when you did not have an answer to why you had wandered in the forest so late at night all by yourself. I only thought you did that to piss me off.”
Chapter 133
I shook my head again. “No, I still don’t recall that night.”
“Hmm” Callahan had that faraway look in his eyes, as if he was wondering what it could mean.
“I have doubts about how Mirabel found you when she has never shown me her face in all these years, but I will unravel that mystery later. But there is one thing I am certain of.”
“What?”
After taking one long swig, he spoke, “The memory that you saw… Mirabel showed that to you for a reason.”
He sat on the chair in front of me and took another swig. His eyes were red, and I could see how hard he was fighting to control his emotions. The bottle was almost empty.
“When I went that night to talk about a truce, Selene was angered by my suggestion. I went to her bearing the news of several deaths and how our forces were almost defeated. I begged her to reconsider her stance. I even offered to hold a meeting with Mirabel and maybe work as her slave for eternity, if that meant we could put an end to the war.”
1
He raised his eyebrow and looked up at me. “Want to guess what must have happened?”
“She…she did not like it?”
“That is putting it mildly. Selene was furious I would even come up with such a suggestion. And to make matters worse, she found out a secret I was hiding and punished me for it.”
Callahan looked up at me, gauging my reaction. My heart was thudding wildly. I was sure he could hear it pretty clearly as well.
“Wh-what was it?” I asked after taking a few deep breaths to calm my nerves…or at least tried to. However, I failed the task miserably.
“The moment I spoke about a truce, Selene reprimanded me for becoming weak. Love and compassion were weaknesses to her, a contagious disease that could kill her army. She cursed me to live a loveless and lonely life, stating that nobody would ever love me because of my fate. I was condemned to slowly become the monster she made ine, slowly give in to the primal instincts and go feral.”
A gasp left my mouth.
2/6
Chapter 133
My Goddess…she was so cruel?
“I fell to her feet, begged and cried her to take her words back…not for myself, obviously. I did not care what happened to me. But she was a lesser Goddess and the curse came into effect the moment Selene’s words left her mouth. Aisy…or Aislynn was the girl that you saw dying in the memory. Aisy paid the price for the rivalry between Mirabel and Selene. Her death put an end to a decade old battle as Mirabel pulled back her forces while Selene received a throne on the moon. And…and I was the one who lost everything…”
“But why would her death lead to a truce?” I asked, my voice shaking.
I had seen him hold her close and cry bitterly in the memory Mirabel showed me. She must have been someone important enough for the wa to end..
The memory was vivid and etched in my mind quite clearly of the way he had held onto her, begging Mirabel to help him. But Mirabel had stood there impassively, only waving her wand at last to help Aislynn’s journey to the afterlife.
“Was she related to Selene?” I asked.
I had never really wondered about Selene’s bloodline, but if she had a father, she might have a sister as well. Aislynn looked truly beautiful, as if she was a goddess. So, my mind assumed she would be somehow related. to Selene, that maybe she was Selene’s sister.
Why else would Callahan cry over some unknown girl’s death?
But his reply shocked me once again.
“She was Mirabel’s daughter….”
“What?”
It looked like I was asking that question a lot. How did that make sense? The memory showed me Mirabel standing impassively, completely unaffected by her daughter’s death.
And Callahan was the one sobbing bitterly. Didn’t being Mirabel’s daughter turn her into Callahan’s enemy?
My brows furrowed as I was trying to put the puzzle pieces together.
Callahan gave me some time to digest this piece of information as he
3/6
11:991
Chapter 133
kept staring at the moon as if trying to talk to Selene, or maybe demand justice from her.
No, justice was the last thing he would ask from her. Maybe, he was just venting out his anger at her.
Of all the times I hoped she was listening to us, now was the time I hoped it the most. I wanted to talk to her, demand an explanation from her despite being a mere mortal.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Found by the Lycan King by Natalie Winter