Chapter 83: In His Silence

(GRIFFIN)

For so long, I felt like I was drowning, like my sense of self and wolf that was always in such unity was separating. My human side was beginning to fade as the wolf took over, and without my human intellect, I knew I would become a mindless beast.

When did it start?

I don’t remember. There’s a lot that I don’t remember.

I do recall the out-of-body experience as my wolf raged while my own kind poked and prodded inside me. I was cut open, put back together, and had things inserted into my blood that drove me to the edge of madness.

It almost became a relief that my human side was fading. I couldn’t bear it anymore. And then she came.

Leaning against the wall of the cabin, I look down at the sleeping human. She seems restless in her sleep, but then, that’s how she’s been ever since I met her. She moves around, her forehead scrunching, worries that she doesn’t speak of clearly plaguing her.

My wolf didn’t recognize her because it was too far gone. Neither did my human side because what should have been one entity was separated. But my animal knew she was not an enemy. She wasn’t one of them. She was different. She gave us food and water.

She gave us her own food and water.

She would hold her stomach while she slept in those harrowing hours, and my wolf knew she was starving herself for it.

But it hadn’t eaten in so long, and it needed the nourishment.

She was not one of them, but she was nearby when I was held down and tortured. In those moments, her eyes would fill with tears, and she would comfort me when she could. I knew her situation was similar to mine. I was not yet the mindless beast I was on the way to becoming.

And then, one day, I felt the connection my wolf and I shared begin to mend. I knew it was because of her.

When I first saw her, her hair was short, a pretty shade of auburn. Now it goes past her shoulders. Her eyes are a soft baby blue and often seem filled with tiredness but determination. It was only in my human form that I realized how small she is. Her head barely touches my shoulder.

Small and delicate, with all the ferocity of a female wolf, this woman is the one who helped me finally escape.

Certain that she’s not going to wake up, I wrap a lock of her hair around my finger and play with it idly. I don’t know what she did, but she managed to bring my human side and my wolf side back together. She repaired the fracture.

I’d tried to shift plenty of times this past month, but it wasn’t till I tasted her blood that it happened. The moment her blood hit my tongue, my wolf reacted.

It knew what she was, who she was. She was mine.

And the traitor who had betrayed me was going to hurt her.

In a wave of fury, my strength returned. My body began to shift, and the shackles simply fell off, too big for a human form.

The connection between my wolf and me snapped back into place, almost as if it had never been gone.

When we were outside and facing the approaching wolves, once again, with whatever it was she gave me to drink, she was the one who helped me regain some of my strength.

I owe this tiny slip of a human everything.

I run my fingers through her hair, and her frown fades, as if my very touch is driving away the nightmares. Her hair has become brittle with the lack of nourishment, I note to myself. Her cheeks have sunk in. She’s weak, but her spirit is still unbroken.

My lips curve in a cold and cruel smile. We are free. And now I’m going to make all of them pay.

I stroke Maya’s hair. I like her name. The man who always brought her food used it. I don’t know if she’s aware, but he was quite interested in her. I smelled the slightest hint of his arousal whenever he was around her, more so she when she became mouthy with him.

I watch her nudge her head into my hand.

She’s not good at hiding her emotions. Or perhaps I’ve spent so much time watching her, fascinated by her, that I can tell what she’s feeling. Either way, I saw the distrust and wariness when she was looking at me.

She doesn’t fear me yet, and I don’t plan ever to give her a reason to.

But the distrust made me want to smile. It both amuses me and insults me at the same time. Of course, I’m not being entirely truthful with her. I know who I am. And I know that I was betrayed by my trusted right-hand man.

When I saw Quentin about to attack Maya, a memory returned, a stark one that sent me down a rabbit hole of anger and raw, unadulterated fury.

I was sold out by that man. I remember being injected with something and shifting into my wolf form in a retaliatory response. I remember being weakened. He was there, dragging me, handing me over to the people who held me captive for so long. But that is all I remember.

I know my identity. Griffin Wild, King of the Human Wolf Kingdom. I have a brother, Erik. He must have searched for me.

I don’t know why I feel compelled to hold back this information from Maya. I just know I have to be careful. I have to find a way back to my kingdom.

We are far away from our captors now. Even if they wanted to search for us here, they could not enter this witch’s territory.

She hates our kind with a passion. Which is why it is the safest place to hide.

I chose this place deliberately. Each witch marks her territory, and I recognized the mark of the oldest bloodline. The witch is going to come soon, once she realizes that her barriers have been breached.

Shifters and witches have a shaky relationship. We generally tolerate each other. But even a witch who hates shifters will not dare to refuse the orders of a king.

And as for this little spitfire, I plan to take her back with me.

Not every shifter finds their fated mate. However, I always wanted to find mine. As a boy, I held on to this dream, but I soon grew out of it. Once I assumed responsibility for the kingdom, I was less focused on the romantic aspects of my life.

The Human Wolf Kingdom is different than the two kingdoms in the realm across the Veil. Humans believe that the world they live in is the only one in existence. The truth is that while we did coexist with humans once, on the same plane, they reproduced with an intensity that put our kind in danger of being wiped out.

During that era, witches and shifters lived in harmony, and the witches helped our kind find a new home. Three different families stepped forward, and blood sacrifices were taken from them to create the other realm, where the Northern and Eastern Wolf Kingdoms now exist.

These three families were considered the royal families, and they are the only ones who can lead the wolf kingdoms on both sides of the Veil. Their blood sacrifice is deeply rooted in the earth, which makes any other family incapable of ruling their territory. It was a way to prevent war and greed for more land.

However, we could not entirely ignore the human world, so one of the families decided to stay there, and the Human Wolf Kingdom was born. We grew alongside the humans, only a scant few knowing of our existence. We controlled economies from the background, entered every field and industry.

While the North and the East have continued to practice their archaic laws, the Human Wolf Kingdom has evolved. We had to if we wanted to live unnoticed by the humans.

I don’t know what the state of my kingdom is going to be when I return. I don’t even know how long I’ve been missing.

I hope Erik is alright. My brother was always the lighthearted one. He was not built to rule, preferring to be on the battlefield. He always said he belonged with the fighters. He couldn’t understand how anybody could bear the stuffy life of running a kingdom, but he must have had to step up during my absence.

I smile slightly. Knowing Erik, he’s not going to let me hear the end of this.

Letting out a sigh, I tilt my head back to stare at the ceiling. There is no sign of the rain letting up outside. Thankfully, this cabin was stocked with food and water. But I need to eat meat.

My strength is still not up to par. Once this rain stops, I’ll have to go hunting. Entering a witch’s territory is different from hunting in it, though. The animals that live within a marked territory are under the protection of the witch. Only she can kill them. I’ll have to get permission from her before I can hunt in this area.

I run my fingers down Maya’s cheek. She needs to eat, as well. She’s too thin. And I’m aware of how dangerous head injuries can be in humans. Fragile little beings.

But a human as a fated mate? I’ve never heard of such a thing.

There have been shifters who have mated with humans. It is not unprecedented. Those humans have cut their ties to the human world and integrated with our society. However, fated mates are different. And more importantly, I’m not just any shifter.

I am a king. Whom I mate is never going to be a private matter. The pack elders will definitely have their opinions about this, but I’m not going to budge. Fated mates are a gift from the Goddess, in my opinion. A gift that should not be taken lightly. And this tiny woman is perfect for me in every way.

Her nose scrunches, and I smell the stench of fear coming from her. Straightening up, I see her begin to thrash in her sleep, her arms outstretched as if she’s trying to push somebody away.

“No! I don’t want to!” She suddenly covers her head with her arms, curling her body into the fetal position. “I said no!” She lashes out with her hand, and I grasp it before she accidentally hits me. Her eyes fly open, and I see unimaginable terror in them. The scream that follows chills me to the bones.

Left without a choice, I pull her into my arms, restraining her before she hurts herself. “Let go!” she shrieks.

I hold her closer to me, ordering, “Wake up!”

She lets out a weeping sound that has my heart clenching helplessly.

“I don’t want to,” she mumbles now, her eyes unseeing as she looks at me. “I want to go home.” Her tears are those of a child, petrified and helpless.

I tighten my arms around her protectively. “I’ll take you home,” I whisper fiercely. “But you have to wake up.”

She doesn’t awaken, but her body begins to go limp, and then she slumps against me, back in a deep sleep. My heart uneasy, I study her, stroking her hair as she sleeps, still buried in my arms. I let her warmth seep into me and rest my chin on top of her head. I won’t be able to sleep now. Not after hearing her cry like that.

It seems I’m not the only one keeping secrets.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep