Chapter 172
Chapter 172
FAYE
+25 Points
I stood before the mirror, fully dressed for the trip, my hands smoothing the front of my jacket though there wasn’t a wrinkle in sight. All I could feel was the heavy stillness inside me.
For hours, I’d ignored it…the quiet, the strange emptiness…but now, staring at my reflection, I couldn’t. I looked the same on the outside, but I didn’t feel the same.
“Nova,” I whispered, closing my eyes, focusing. I reached inward the way I always did, searching for that spark–the warmth that always responded, the familiar rush of shared energy that reminded me I was never alone. Her voice… nothing.
Nothing… just silence.
I tried again, harder this time, steadying my breathing, pushing past the noise of my thoughts. Nova, come on… please.
Still nothing.
My pulse quickened. I pressed a hand to my chest, as though I could summon her by sheer force of will, but there was no stir, no whisper, not even the faintest echo of her presence. It was like reaching into a place that used to be filled with life and finding only emptiness. My throat tightened.
Was this the price?
The thought hit again before I could stop it. Edna’s words returned to me, haunting and cold. She made
sure I understood that for every life I give, something must be taken.
Was my wolf the price I had to pay for bringing Alexander back?
Or was this something else–something physical, something temporary? Maybe it was the drugs Draco’s
men used when they captured me. Maybe the effects were lingering longer than they should. Maybe Nova
was just… healing.
But deep down, a part of me already knew better.
I took a slow breath, trying to steady myself, but it didn’t help. I felt hollow, unanchored, like a part of me
had been cut away.
My gaze drifted to the mirror again. I looked strong enough, composed enough… but my reflection didn’t
feel like me. It was weird.
And then, just as I was about to turn away, I saw his reflection appear behind mine–Alexander.
He stepped into the room quietly. He was already dressed for the trip, his dark jacket fitting perfectly, his
expression soft as his eyes met mine in the mirror.
For a moment, he didn’t say anything. He just looked at me, studying my face the way he always did when
< Chapter 172
*25 Fouts
he knew something was off but didn’t want to push too hard. Then his hands came around my waist from behind, his touch gentle and grounding.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly, his voice a low murmur near my ear.
I hesitated for a heartbeat too long before forcing a small smile. I didn’t need him feeling guilty about something I wasn’t even sure of yet. “I’m fine,” I lied, meeting his gaze through the mirror. “Just… ready to go home p>
His expression softened further, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Home,” he repeated. “I like the sound of
that p>
I turned slightly in his arms to face him, trying to hold onto that smile even as the weight in my chest
lingered. He brushed a stray strand of hair from my face and searched my eyes, maybe sensing the
exhaustion behind them.
“Then let’s take you home,” he said finally.
Something warm stirred in my chest at the way he said it–simple, steady, sure. Maybe it didn’t matter right now whether Nova was silent or gone. Maybe all that mattered was that he was alive, standing right
here.
I nodded. “Let’s go p>
He smiled faintly, leaned down, and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “As you wish, my lady,” he
murmured against my skin.
It made me laugh a little.
Then he laced his fingers with mine and led me toward the door. We walked down the hall in comfortable silence, his thumb brushing over my knuckles now and then, and for a brief moment, I let myself believe everything would be fine.
Outside, the air was cool, the morning bright and still. The car was already waiting by the front steps. Alexander opened the passenger door for me, his hand steady at my back.
I climbed in, the leather cold against my palms as I settled into the seat.
ALEXANDER
The car was silent for a while after we got in. The only sound was the faint click of the seatbelt as Faye fastened it and settled against the seat.
She turned her face toward the window. There was something distant in her eyes… a quiet kind of worry she was trying to hide, but it clung to her like a shadow she couldn’t shake off.
I gripped the steering wheel but didn’t start the car right away. I just looked at her. The more I watched, the more that feeling in my chest grew–the one that said there was something she wasn’t saying. I could sense it. The stillness in her, the silence beneath her usual calm, wasn’t just exhaustion. It was something
else entirely.
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Finally, I spoke. “It was you, wasn’t it p>
Prez
She blinked, slowly turning to face me. Her expression didn’t change much she was always good at masking her emotions–but the slight shift in her eyes told me I was right.
I took a quiet breath. “It wasn’t the medicine,” I said, my voice low. “The healer told me herself it was only meant to ease the pain… make dying less unbearable. She said it couldn’t reverse anything. There’s no cure for a poisoned silver wound, Faye. You and I both know that p>
Her gaze softened, but she said nothing.
I looked away for a moment, staring out the windshield at the sunlight shimmering over the driveway. “I remember everything,” I said quietly. “The moment I stopped breathing. The way the world faded. The pain that just… disappeared. Then nothing… absolute nothingness. And when I woke up…” I let out a faint breath I didn’t know I was holding and looked at her again. “I shouldn’t have been able to p>
The truth of it was still unsettling. The feeling of being gone… truly gone… had a weight I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t sleep. It wasn’t unconsciousness. It was absence. And yet here I was, alive, sitting next to the
woman who had defied death itself.
Inside, I kept turning it over–the impossible reality of it. I’d read about things like this before… rare accounts hidden deep within the old Crescent archives. They called them the forbidden restorations, stories of wolves who reached beyond the veil to pull another back. Most of those accounts ended the same way–with loss. Some lost their powers, some their minds, some even their lives. Because death
always demanded balance.
But if those stories were true, then someone had paid a price. And if it wasn’t me… then it had to be her.
I turned to her again. “What did you give up, Faye?” I asked softly. “Look at me, tell me the truth p>
Her shoulders stiffened, her eyes falling away from mine.
“Nothing,” she said finally. “At least… nothing I know of.” Her voice was quiet, careful. “Maybe I’ll just have
to wait and see p>
I studied her face, searching for cracks in her calm, but she gave me none. Still, I could feel doubt beneath her words. I wanted to press, to make her tell me more, but something in her expression stopped me. It wasn’t fear… it was exhaustion. The kind that comes from carrying too much for too long.
“Faye…” I began.
But she leaned forward and kissed me before the words could come out.
It was soft… a touch of warmth that caught me completely off guard. My thoughts stopped, my questions vanished, and for a moment, everything was still. When she pulled back, there was a small, almost mischievous smile tugging at her lips.
“No more negativity,” she murmured. “Maybe there’s no exchange. Maybe not everything we’ve been taught is true p>
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Her words were light, but I knew she didn’t believe them. She just didn’t want me to worry.
I brushed my thumb across her cheek, holding her gaze for a heartbeat longer. “You really think I’ll believe
that?” I asked gently.
She smiled again. “You’re supposed to,” she said.
I could have kept pushing… and part of me wanted to… but there was a strange peace in the car I didn’t want to break. The kind of fragile quiet that feels like if you move too quickly, it’ll shatter.
So I just let it be.
I turned back to the steering wheel and started the car.
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