Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Nivaan's POV

My steps faltered when I heard the term ‘Our baby.’ Then it struck me. Emilia was the pregnant woman Kiara had saved. She hadn’t gone to the camp to blackmail me. She was just saved and taken there by Kiara.

I tore my hair as I was hit by numerous emotions; guilt, remorse, concern, frustration, an underlying love for his unborn baby. The thought of being a father made my heart swell with love and pride.

I tried hard to ignore all those emotions and walk away but I just couldn’t.

“Why can’t we have our way with her before taking her to that woman?” The man’s words filled me with a kind of bloodlust I have never felt before.

The power from my wolf surged through my veins and for the first time in five years, I let myself embrace it fully. The cracking of my bones resounded as my bones broke and remolded themselves. Pain ripped through me causing me to crouch over in pain.

The shifting process was specifically agonizing because I hadn’t let my wolf take over completely in the past five years. As my human body morphed and took the form of the wolf; all my injuries healed.

A soft growl escaped my lips as I flexed my legs and cracked open my eyes slowly. The next moment, I hissed and closed my eyes again. My eyes had become oversensitive after five years of darkness. I had to blink several times before they adjusted enough for me to see.

“I am sorry, Valence. I am breaking the promise I made to you,” I muttered in my head and bounded towards the place I had left Emilia.

The sight that met my eyes made my blood run cold. A girl in torn clothes was lying on the ground like a lifeless corpse. Two men were pinning her down and yet another one was unbuttoning his shirt.

A ferocious growl ripped through the air as I barred my teeth. It took a moment for me to register that the growl was coming from me.

The man unbuttoning his shirt spun around. His eyes widened on seeing my wolf form. Intoxicated by the scent of his fear, I lunged at him and ripped his throat apart.

The two men holding Emilia down released her and morphed into their wolf forms. I took my time killing them; tearing them apart, slowly and steadily with my sharp fangs.

The thudding of the footsteps sounded behind me as the last man ran away. I followed him in hot pursuit; running faster and faster. Within a few moments, I had him pinned to the ground.

My jaws clamped on his neck and tore off a large chunk. He screamed; kicking and thrashing to free himself. This time I nipped his ear off.

“Please…. Please kill me….” He begged, reminding me why I had to do exactly the opposite. He was sent by someone to kidnap Emilia. It was important to keep him alive if I wanted to find out who had sent him.

“Alpha, you shifted?” Mark’s stunned voice sounded behind me. I forced myself to release my hold over the man and stepped back.

Now that the goons were killed, the gravity of what I had done hit me like a heart attack. I had shifted! I had fucking shifted and let my eyes heal.

A soft whimper drew my attention to Emilia. She looked like she was in a bad state. I shifted to my human form and rushed towards her. Her face was extremely pale but her vitals seemed alright. She had probably passed out due to exhaustion and fear.

Picking her up in my arms, I ordered, “Take that moron to the dungeons for questioning.”

Without waiting for his reply, I made my way back to the base camp. I made her lie on the bed and adjusted the pillow behind her head before sitting next to her.

I knew I should be doing something, thinking about something but my mind was blank. I picked her hand to take her pulse. It was then, that I noticed the numerous cuts. Her hands were bloodied and numerous thorns were sticking out of her palm.

I brought her hand closer to me and started picking out the thorns one by one. I was about to place a kiss on her palm when a strange congestion formed in my chest; squeezing me, suffocating me. I just couldn’t take this anymore and rushed outside to get some fresh air.

“Brother, you are back,” Kiara’s voice sounded as she ran toward me. I chewed my lower lip and averted my eyes. How could I bear to look at her after what I had done?

She placed her hand on my shoulders and said in a relieved voice, “I am glad that you are fine. You won’t believe what that b***h did. She came rushing to my tent in the middle of the night and told me that you were in danger.” Her grip tightened and her voice grew a bit hoarse, “I knew that she was lying but it still got me worried.”

She snorted and shook her head, “She even said something about sensing the danger through the mate bond; as if I don’t know that mate bond doesn’t work once you reject someone. Does she really think I am so naïve?”

Deep lines formed on my forehead. How could Emilia sense that I was in danger? I had rejected her and the bond shouldn’t have worked unless…. Unless she hadn’t accepted my rejection.

Why would she do that? Why would anyone do that? My head throbbed as the congestion in my chest intensified. I needed to get out of here.

I removed Kiara’s hand from my shoulder and muttered, “I need to investigate something. I will be back later….”

Then, I almost ran into the woods without waiting for a reply. When I was far enough, I clenched the fabric of my shirt and let out a shrill cry, “Why moon goddess? Why? Why did you force me to betray Valence?”

The pain, the guilt was so intense that they were ripping me from the inside. No! I wouldn’t let her play games with me. I didn’t want to see a world where there was no Valence.

I picked up a sharp stone and was about to drive it into my eyes when someone grabbed my hand and tugged the stone out of my hands.

“Alpha? What are you doing?” He said keeping a firm hold on my arm. “How long will you punish yourself like this?”

He grabbed my arms and looked into my eyes, “You have to let go of the past, Alpha.”

“I can’t, Mark.”

“Okay, don’t let go of your past but please don’t be so hasty to destroy your sight again. Please wait till we have unraveled the mystery of the Lupus constellation.”

I hated to admit it but Mark was right. I wouldn’t have gotten injured today if I could see. A long, suffering sigh escaped my lips. Why did everything in my life have to be so complicated?

“Let us get this over quickly,” I muttered as I made my way to the dungeons of our packhouse. The sooner I punished the person behind this plot, the quicker I could withdraw from my responsibilities.