Chapter 77: Chapter 77
DAHLIA:
There was no time to lose. I quickly scanned his body and saw several bite marks and a bloody wound in the side of his neck.
I crept beside him and placed his head against my thighs. I then proceeded to raise my hand over his neck, and I channeled my powers so I could heal him.
As my hands began to glow with a golden hue, the rune in Tristan’s forehead shone and reflected an incredible amount of beautiful light. It looked lovely as it glistened more and more.
The more it glowed, the more wretched my heart felt, however…
When the healing was over, I put my hands over his neck and checked his heart beat. Thankfully, my powers also worked even if he was still in his wolf form.
Tristan was still deeply asleep perhaps because he seemed to have lost a lot of blood. I stroked the fur in his massive body. It felt warm and fuzzy, just like how Albus’ fur was.
I peered at the face of the dark wolf before me… It really was him – the one who had violently claimed me…
I sat there just plainly looking at him… This might be the last time we could be together like this…
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TRISTAN:
It was hot… Tremendously hot…
I opened my eyes slowly, and the first thing I saw was the rays of the sun peeking through the ruffled curtains.
‘W-Where are we,’ I asked my wolves… However, none of them could answer me back.
I tilted my head, feeling a little dizzy, and as soon as I turned to my right, I saw Dahlia’s comely face in front of me. She was propped against the bed, and she was sleeping.
I reached up to brush some of her golden curls away from her face…
Was I dreaming that we were together?...
Just yesterday, the last thoughts I could remember was fleeing from the blasted prince who was hunting me like a wild animal. Despite my use of concealing magic, he was able to follow me wherever I went like a mad dog…
How was I able to escape him? Did a miracle happen?
As soon as my hand touched Dahlia’s cheek, she stirred. She opened her eyes slowly towards me.
“Dahlly… Why are you here,” I asked. If this was a dream, it felt far too real… I absolutely didn’t want to wake up from it.
In a few moments though, the look in Dahlly’s eyes turned cold…
“Quickly, we must clean this up,” she said, avoiding my stare.
I tried to hold her face in my palm, but she pushed my hand away.
“Any minute now, and he could come back. You need to bathe and clean up.”
“Who’s he?”
“Prince Kaist. He said he will come and visit today. He will definitely ask you questions.”
This wasn’t a dream after all. It was more like a nightmare…
I sat up, and my head throbbed. Apparently, I had fallen asleep on Dahlly’s lap. When did this all happen?
“What?... How -?”
“We don’t have time, Tristan. Hurry up and bathe. I’ll have to clean up here. They might come soon.”
I couldn’t quite understand why Dahlly was frantic, but I followed her and stood up, and as soon as I did, the horrible scene became clear.
The floor had large spots of blood on it, and Dahlia’s night gown was also in a bloody mess.
I didn’t realize that I was also completely naked. Dahlia immediately threw a towel to me, which I was able to catch with both hands while she proceeded to get a wet cloth and scrubbed the floor.
“Go ahead and take a bath, Make sure you rinse all traces of blood in your body.”
I wanted to ask her more questions like why would she not look at my eyes, and why was there blood on the floor, but I didn’t. I followed her request and went to the bathroom.
As I let the warm water rinse my body, a realization dawned at me.
Perhaps, that dried blood was mine, and Dahlly had healed me…
My heart began to beat wildly in shock. Last night, I had meant to run and go to Livia’s place in Loracan, but because the prince kept on pursuing me, I had eventually lost my senses and let Arthur take over…
‘What have you done? Did you appear in your form in front of Dahlly last night,’ I asked my dark wolf, still trembling in rage.
There was no answer. I searched for him in my consciousness, but he wasn’t there.
‘Damn it, answer me,’ I said, hitting my fist against the bathroom wall. It left quite a mark.
‘He is still recuperating in the Animal Spirit World,’ Albus said. Almost immediately, he revealed himself in my head, his ears drooping down as if he had been hit in between the legs.
‘What happened? What happened to us last night, and where were you? Didn’t you know we nearly died?’
If Albus was only there, I could just have shifted into his form so that I could lose the prince who closely tracked me after he attacked.
‘Apologies… I was with Eva last night. She called me…’
‘Eva? Why did she call you?’
His ears drooped even further. ‘She asked me some questions…’
‘And what sort of questions did she ask you?’ I was curious to know what sort of inquiries could have made Albus lose his spirit like this.
‘Eva and her human… I think they know…’
‘What? What did you say? What do you think they know?’
‘They know about me and Arthur… They know you have two wolves inside of you, and they also know,’ he said, his eyes looking sorrowfully at me, ‘that we are Shadow wolves…’
My hands suddenly fell to my side. Despite the rising heat of the water that came out of the shower, I did not stop it… I let the scalding water drip down my body.
She knew…. My Dahlia already knew…
A faint recollection of what happened last night came back to my memory. I vaguely saw Dahlia’s face crying as she cupped my head and moved her legs underneath me. I remember her laying her hands on my neck, healing me. Lastly, I remembered her stroking my fur until she fell asleep from exhaustion.
I can’t believe it… Dahlia really knew… She found out my secret…
A pound on the door sent me back into the present and out of further rumination.
“Hurry up, Tristan… They’re here…”