The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 216

Doubts-2

“Because I’m scared, Layla. Lori’s admission came out as a whisper. “I’m terrified.”

Her wolf went still.

The frantic pacing stopped. The whining ceased. Layla sat down in the corner of Lori’s mind, her head tilted, her amber eyes fixed on her human with an intensity that made Lori’s chest ache.

“Scared of what?” Layla asked quietly.

Lori leaned back against the headboard, staring at the ceiling.

“Of him,” she admitted. “Of how powerful he is. Of how cold he seems. Of the age difference. Of what he’ll think when he finds out that his fated mate is… me.”

“What is wrong with you?”

Lori let out a hollow laugh. “What isn’t wrong with me? I’m not pretty like Iva. I’m not powerful. I don’t come from a prestigious family. I’m a healer, Layla… and possible future doctor. Our family produces doctors and midwives, not warriors and leaders. We’re useful, but we’re not… impressive.”

Layla’s ears flattened against her head.

“The Goddess does not care about impressive.”

“The Goddess might not, but people do.” Lori’s voice cracked. “Can you imagine his background? The kind of family that produces a headmaster at his age? His achievements, his pedigree, his connections…”

She shook her head. “And then there’s me. A scholarship student from a pack. A girl who still has nightmares about being invisible and never had a boyfriend or went on a date.”

Layla let out a soft whimper.

“What will we do?”

Lori closed her eyes.

“We need to listen to Iva,” she said. “And trust the Moon Goddess. That’s all we can dofright now. And if he rejects us…” Lori’s throat tightened as she continued. “Then we survive. Like we’ve always survived. We pick up the pieces and we keep going.”

“But it will hurt.”

“Yes.” Lori’s voice was barely a breath. “It will hurt more than anything.”

Layla was silent for a long moment. Then she lay down, curling her body into a tight circle, her tail wrapping around her nose. She looked small like that-small and vulnerable and nothing like the fierce wolf Lori knew her to be.

“I am scared too,” Layla whispered.

Lori’s heart broke.

–

12

Doubts 2.

She reached out through the bond-the internal bond between human and wolf-and sent a wave of warmth toward Layla. Comfort. Solidarity. “We’re in this together.”

Lori opened her eyes and looked around the room.

Claim

The walls had stopped spinning. The panic had receded, leaving behind a dull ache in her chest and a heavy exhaustion in her bones. She was still scared-terrified, really-but the raw edge of the shock had begun to dull.

She thought about Daren.

His grey eyes. His easy smile. The way he had looked at her in the library, like she was someone worth looking at.

That was gone now. Not because Daren had done anything wrong, but because Lori knew-knew with a certainty that settled deep in her bones-that she couldn’t pursue something that wasn’t meant to be. It wouldn’t be fair to him. It wouldn’t be fair to her. And it wouldn’t be fair to the mate she hadn’t even met yet officially.

The mate she was terrified to meet.

Lori lay down on her bed, curling onto her side, pulling her knees toward her chest. The room was growing dark-she hadn’t bothered to light the lamps-and shadows pooled in the corners like gathering water.

“Layla,” she thought.

“Yes?”

“What if he’s isn’t kind? Behind the cold mask? What if he is not good?”

Layla was quiet for a moment.

“What if he is?”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify