Chapter 103: Chapter 103: The Formal Marking

Lila’s POV

I looked at Jasper, feeling not a trace of fear, only a strange sense of anticipation and belonging. I nodded gently.

He let out a low growl and forcefully pressed me down beneath him. This time, he held nothing back. His kiss turned wild and fierce, as if he meant to devour me whole. I could feel every cell in his body trembling—the eruption of restraint pushed to its absolute limit. The moment our bodies finally joined, a jolt of pleasure shot through me like an electric current. I couldn’t help but let out a soft moan, my nails digging deep into his back.

In this symphony of life, it was as if I saw the two Silver Wolves again. They ran and chased each other across a snowy plain before finally embracing. The Silver Wolf lowered its head, leaving a deep mark on the side of the moonlit wolf’s neck. In that same instant, I felt a sharp sting on the side of my own neck, followed by the warm sensation of flowing liquid.

The resonance between our souls peaked in that moment. I felt a powerful energy surge from his body into mine, as if to fuse our two souls together completely. All our memories, emotions, pain, and joy melted into the purest form of connection. I finally understood—this wasn’t just a physical union, but a contract of the soul.

But the next second, searing pain followed.

It wasn’t the physical pain of fangs piercing the flesh of my neck, but an agony that felt as if it were tearing my very soul apart. The instant Jasper’s canines broke my skin and his energy rushed madly through my veins, the gentle Moonlight Silver Wolf in my mind suddenly let out a piercing, mournful howl.

The world before me instantly collapsed. The snowy plain vanished, replaced by a blinding white light.

“No—!”

A bloodcurdling scream pierced the mists of time and space. I saw it.

It was a stormy night, no longer a snowy plain but an ancient, hidden chamber. A young Isolde, my mother, knelt on the floor, covered in blood. She clutched a swaddled infant to her chest—it was me, as a baby. There was no fear in her eyes, only a desperate madness.

“I’m so sorry, my little moon.” Her voice trembled as her hands formed an ancient, complex seal. “Only by sealing your power can you live like a normal person, so they won’t take you away…”

In that instant, countless silver chains materialized from thin air. They didn’t wrap around my body; they pierced directly into my soul! The agony was a thousand times more intense than what I felt now. I saw my infant self’s mouth open in a silent scream, unable to make a sound, as my soul was forcibly compressed and crammed into a mortal shell.

“No! Let me go!” I wanted to scream, to rush over and stop my past self, stop my mother.

But I was both an observer and the one experiencing it all.

Reality and illusion overlapped. I felt myself being torn apart as the pain of the past intertwined with the agony of the present. The seal began to crumble. Under the assault of Jasper’s dominant Wolf King power, the ancient silver chains snapped piece by piece. With every break, I felt the searing pain of my soul being stripped away.

“Lila! Wake up! Look at me!”

Jasper’s voice seemed to come from a distant horizon, laced with panic. I could feel his body shaking, not from the aftershocks of passion, but from fear. He could feel me growing cold in his arms, as if my soul were about to leave my body.

“Mom!” I shrieked, a cold sweat instantly drenching the sheets beneath me.

My eyes flew open and I gasped for breath, my heart pounding as if it would burst from my chest. Before me was Jasper’s handsome, bloodshot face, inches from my own. His golden eyes were filled with terror. His canines were retracted, but he was still biting down on the side of my neck, continuously pouring his energy into me, trying to stabilize my collapsing state.

“Lila, I’m here… I’m here.” He released his bite and cupped my pale face in his hands, his thumbs trembling as he wiped away the tears from the corners of my eyes. “Don’t be afraid. The seal is breaking. I’m helping you… I’m helping you!”

But I couldn’t feel his warmth. The backlash from the seal’s collapse was too violent. It was a loneliness that felt like being abandoned by the entire world, a dizzying vertigo from the chaotic rush of fragmented memories. I felt as if I were that helpless, cold, and terrified infant again, passively enduring the sealing.

“It hurts… Jasper, it hurts so much…” I grabbed his arm, my nails digging deep into his flesh, my voice shattered. “I saw her… Mom… She was bleeding…”

“I know, I know.” Jasper crushed me against his chest. His body temperature was alarmingly high, like a raging fire trying to melt the ice that encased me. “Don’t fight it, Lila. Follow my power. You are a Silver Wolf, not a caged bird!”

He flipped over abruptly, pinning me beneath him not just with his physical weight, but with his spiritual presence. His Wolf King bloodline erupted without reservation, golden energy flowing around him to forcibly envelop my dissipating silver light.

“Listen to me, Lila, breathe! Match my breathing!” he growled, pressing his forehead to mine. His golden eyes held an almost magical power, forcibly dragging my consciousness back to reality.

Following his lead, my ragged breathing gradually calmed. That dominant yet warm power surged through our bonded bloodline like a torrent, washing away the last fragments of the seal within me. The silver chains SIZZLED under the Wolf King’s flames, finally turning into motes of starlight and dissipating into the air.

“Ah—!”

I threw my head back and let out a long, inhuman cry.

The trapped Moonlight Silver Wolf in my mind had finally broken its chains. It threw its head back and howled at the sky. Its silver fur glowed with an unprecedented luster under the moonlight, its body grew leaner and more agile, and its eyes shone with a wild light.

In the real world, the wound on my neck was healing at a visible rate. In its place, an ancient totem glowed with a faint silver light—the exclusive mark of the Wolf King, and the proof of my new status as his Queen.

Drenched in sweat, I went limp in Jasper’s arms, completely drained of strength, yet my mind was clearer than ever before. Not all of my sealed memories had returned, but I could feel a long-lost power awakening in my blood. The weakness and confusion felt like an old shell being peeled away, layer by layer, then carried off by the wind.

Jasper still held me tightly, his heartbeat thundering in my ear. He looked down at the perfect mark on my neck, a complex mix of ecstasy and lingering fear flashing in his eyes.

“You did it, Lila.” Trembling, he kissed the tear tracks from my face, his voice hoarse and reverent. “You’re back.”

I lifted my hand and gently touched the mark on my neck, which was still radiating a gentle heat. I looked at him, the corners of my lips lifting into a weak but genuine smile.

“I can feel it,” I said softly, my voice carrying a hint of newfound strength.

The mark on my neck still ached faintly, but the pain carried with it a strange sense of peace. I knew now what I had to do at the upcoming Moon Crown Ceremony.

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