Chapter 58 – The Truth (V)
••• Aleena’s POV •••
My eyes widened in disbelief, and my heart seemed to stop beating. It can’t be… My hand moved automatically to touch the side of my neck.
“Look at the mark on her neck,” Rose said proudly and pointed to baby me.
“What about it?” Andre asked in confusion.
“That mark belongs to the Lycan. It will appear when he marks his mate,” Rose explained, still with a proud smile on her face.
No, it can’t be… How could it be… But that mark… The mark on baby-me was the same as Kyson’s mark on my neck – Night’s head with their initials. How could it be? How was Rose successfully creating a fake mate bond and defying the Moon Goddess’ wish?
Am I really not Kyson’s destined mate? Is everything really a lie? My feelings… His feelings… Is everything really just an illusion created by Rose’s ancient dark magic?
“Is that true?” Andre asked with doubt and suspicion.
“You can see it for yourself. The Mark will disappear in a while and will reappear when he marks her. Coincidentally, her power will be unsealed at the same time,” Rose told Andre confidently.
Just a few seconds later, the mark on baby-me’s neck really did disappear, as Rose had predicted. No… No… No! I didn’t want to believe it. Me and Kyson… We are destined mates!
But no matter how many times I tried to deny it, the heaviness in my heart wouldn’t go away. Seeing what Rose had done and hearing her words shattered my heart.
“Alpha, what about the Silver Shadow Pack?” I heard Beta Erick’s voice.
“Burn it to the ground, and don’t leave anyone alive,” Andre told Beta Erick and Gamma Brad coldly before turning to Rose and telling her, “You did well.”
Burn it to the ground? Don’t let anyone live? How could they?!
“Are you going to do as you promised?” Rose asked with a smile.
“Of course. I’ll let everyone know you are the new Luna as soon as everything’s settled.” Even though Andre was smiling, there was still a threat in his words.
What more do they need to settle? Do they need to do more? Have they not done enough?
“Don’t worry, Alpha. You’ve seen my power. I won’t let you down,” Rose replied. She looked confident after she was able to cast that dark spell on baby-me.
My surroundings distorted again, and I was transported to another place. The room was filled with people wearing cloaks. Witches? Is this the witches’ coven? Rose was standing before tens of witches, and there were ten huge crystal balls in the room.
“Today, your task is to plant fake memories in all the werewolves worldwide. There will be three fake memories. The first will be about the Lycanthropes, the war, and were-babies. Let it shows that the Lycans were the one who abducted those were-babies because one of them will kill the Lycanthropes in the future, and the werewolves were only taking revenge, thus the war.” Rose’s gaze swept across the crowd as if to make sure that everyone understood her.
She then continued, “Secondly, it’s about Luna Angie, the Luna of the Black Heart Pack, and the chosen baby, Aleena. Plant a fake memory that Andre and Angie were Aleena’s parents, and she was killed while saving Aleena from being kidnapped by the rogue.”
She didn’t pause this time, saying, “The last is to erase all memories about the Silver Shadow Pack.”
All the witches were listening silently to her when suddenly I heard a familiar voice from one of them. “Rose, you can’t do this! You’ve done enough, and we’ve done enough for you and Andre! I’m not going to follow your instructions anymore! We’ve become despicable because of you! This is against the witch’s principle!”
Rose and the others looked at the witch who had just spoken up. The witch lowered her cape, and my eyes widened as I saw her face. Witch Lily?
“Lily. Are you sure you want to go against me?” Rose smiled gently, but it was evident that she was challenging Witch Lily.
“I won’t do it,” Witch Lily said with resolution.
“Well… If you don’t follow me,” Rose’s smile turned evil. “Then DIE!” She cast a lightning bolt so fast at Witch Lily that she didn’t have time to react as the lightning bolt hit and electrocuted her.
Witch Lily’s body fell to the floor, and it wasn’t hard to see what had become of her.
She… died? But… She’s alive and well. If she died, then who’s the one at Kyson’s pack right now?
“Anyone else dares to go against me?” Raise asked the witches, and no one dared to speak up as they looked at Witch Lily’s burned lifeless body.
“Good. Now go to work.” Rose sat on a chair while the others dispersed and grouped themselves around the ten huge crystal balls.
Chants came out of their mouths, and the crystal balls shone brightly. Maybe because many witches were working on it, they completed the tasks quickly.
Just as the crystal balls dimmed out, there were lightning bolts just like the one Rose had cast before, and the witches suddenly dropped dead.
What is… What is happening?
“Great job, everyone. Thank you for all your hard work,” Rose told the remaining ten still-alive witches.
Did they… Did they just kill their own kind?
“But unfortunately…” Rose had that evil smile on her face again. “You have to die too.” Lightning bolts came out from her witch’s staff and killed the remaining ten witches.
“Don’t think I’ll let anyone who knew what I had done to be alive,” she sneered at the witch’s corpses.
I looked at her evil face and the witches’ corpses. This is too much… Everything I had learned today is too much. From my biological parents, the truth behind the great war of werewolves and Lycans, the killing of were-babies, Witch Lily, fake memories, and the way Rose heartlessly killed her own kind… And my life… Everything is just too much!
Suddenly, my vision blurred, and I was back in the dungeon with Andre and Rose.
Looking at their smug faces, my anger rose again. “I’ll kill you!” I roared and tried to lunge at Rose.
Everything happened because of her! She was the one instigating everything! She told Andre of the prophecy. She was the one who led Andre to think of eradicating the Lycanthropes. She was the one who fueled Andre’s desire to conquer and become the strongest. She was the cause of my life’s suffering. She was the cause of everything!
I growled and began to shift – my bones broke and lengthened, my claws and canines elongated, and fur started to cover my body, but… I couldn’t fully shift. Instead, I turned back into my human form. Why…
“You really are more powerful than I’ve imagined. We have coated the chains with wolfsbane, and I have put a spell on them, yet you are still able to half-shift. But unfortunately, you won’t be able to shift fully, nor will you be able to escape. And don’t even think of going against me,” Rose smirked evilly. “You are under my control.”
“You are a monster! Both of you are monsters! You ruined my life!” I kept tugging the chains and tried to break free. I wanted to kill her so much. She’s the most disgusting being on earth!
Andre and Rose laughed, looking at my state.
“We ruined your life? Oh, Aleena. How could you think that way? If anyone is to blame, blame it on the Moon Goddess. She’s the one who is in charge of your destiny. We just carried it out. You should be thankful for us.” Andre looked at me as though I was crazy to blame them for my destiny.
Blame it on Moon Goddess? “You are crazy! You are twisted! Moon Goddess won’t let me kill my own mate! She won’t let her children have cruel destinies!” I kept yelling at them.
“Alena, Aleena. You know in your heart that your mate bond with Kyson is fake. You’ve seen it yourself. Rose was the one who created your mate bond. Stop being delusional. It’s best if you just give in to your destiny.” Andre shook his head and looked at me pitifully for being delusional.
At the mention of my mate bond, I fell silent. My heart wavered and began to break again. I didn’t want to believe it, but Andre was right. I’d seen it with my own eyes how Rose created my mate bond; there was no denying it.
“That’s it, Aleena. Just follow your destiny. There is nothing wrong with it.” Andre stretched his hand to pat my head, but I dodged it and glared at him.
“We are going to wait for your mate to save you. Until then, we’ll keep you here. Don’t worry, Aleena; we won’t hurt you. After all, you are our killing weapon,” Andre laughed smugly and turned to go.
“I’m going to release you, but don’t think of escaping. The bars are covered with wolfsbane, and I’ve put a special spell for you. I’m going to be the one delivering your meals. Aren’t we nice, Aleena?” Rose said with a fake smile.
Nice? I growled and glared at her, and she laughed out loud. They enjoyed looking at me being angry, frustrated, and miserable. They really were sadistic.
Andre and Rose left the dungeon, closed the bars, and Rose chanted a spell, releasing me from the binds of the chains.
“Be good, Aleena,” Andre said in the fatherly tone he used to talk to me. I wanted to throw up hearing his tone.
After they left, I tried to open the gate, but my hands were burned when I touched the bars. Giving up at the moment, I sat on the floor, thinking of everything I had witnessed. Are they really the truth?
“Celia…” I called my wolf as I needed someone to talk to.Belonging to NôvelDrama.Org.