Chapitre 31

The hot water completely surrounded me and washed away all the dirt and sweat that was clinging to me. I had gathered my hair in a bun. Eros and I had been together all morning, half of it in bed.

I felt a new calm and contentment within me. Soon everything would come to an end and we were free at last. Tomorrow he wanted to make me Luna and defeat the primeval wolf at the same time.

Very high ambitions.

I sighed in the hot fog that surrounded me. When it was all over, I would finally, with Demetrius' help, build us a house that was unique. But first we had to make a plan with Pollux and his help.

I got out of the bathroom. The beads ran down my body and splashed into the dirty bath water. Finally I was clean again.

I dried off and changed into fresh clothes before opening the door to our room. The fresh smell of baked dough filled my nostrils. Lucia was carrying a tray on which fresh croissants and coffee were steaming.

I looked at her in surprise before remembering that Karen was in the dungeon. After the ceremony, we absolutely had to question her. Why had she only wanted to kill me? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't find a logical explanation.

Eros sat in the corner at his desk, undeterred to leave me alone. His full concentration was on the papers in front of him. His beautiful eyes flew over the lines and every now and then a pen scratched them.

Bringing my thoughts back to the present, I smiled gratefully at Lucia before noticing her expression. Heavy circles under her eyes covered her otherwise flawless face and shadows darkened her cheekbones.

She looked tired, completely drained from the world.

"Are you alright?" I asked worried, walking towards her.

"I- where have you been? Everyone here was incredibly worried," she said weakly.

Had she suffered so much because of me?

"I'm fine," I said, sitting down on the sofa in front of the tray. "But you're not. Lucia, you have to eat something."

I pointed to the steaming breakfast.

“All of a sudden Karen wasn't there anymore and Julien didn't want to tell me anything. He's not himself lately, but he doesn't want to talk to me about it."

Lucia's voice died. Her eyes were completely dull.

"I'll tell you everything if you eat something," I said, my voice sounding almost desperate. I had never seen her like this and I didn't want to see her like this, consumed with worry.

Lucia hesitated for a moment before sitting down across from me. She picked up a cup of coffee and sipped it carefully.

Why had Julien left her in the dark? He was her mate and mates should talk about everything. Now I was allowed to take over.

"Karen is in the dungeon," I said shortly, watching her eyebrows rise. She frantically glanced at Eros, but he wasn't paying us any attention.

"What?"

"I couldn't believe it either, but she wanted to poison me and if Demetrius hadn't noticed, I would probably be dead by now..."

“But… Karen is such a good soul. Why would she do such a thing?"

Lucia's voice tensed audibly, as if she was looking for an explanation.

"Eros will question her, soon . Then we'll know more," I said, grabbing one of the croissants. I almost gave it away.

"Soon?"

It took all my strength not to tell her about the ceremony tomorrow, or about the secret meeting tonight. Eros and I swore it to each other. He couldn't let Julien or Johnson in on it so they couldn't tell anyone either, and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone either.

I just nodded and bit into the crispy puff pastry. I almost groaned at the warm taste of the dough soothing my tongue.

Finally good food again.

I looked again at Lucia, who was completely frozen in her seat.

"Are you all right?" I asked. Something seemed to be going terribly wrong. Was it to do with her mate? "You can talk to me about anything. If Julien has done something-"

"I'm fine," she said statically, but her face spoke volumes. I leaned forward, worried. "Lucia, really. Talk about it."

She stood up abruptly.

"I'm going now," she said, and before I could even jump up, the door slammed shut behind her.

Damn speed of werewolves.

I sighed and flopped back onto the sofa. I couldn't force her to talk about it, and I couldn't just question Julien because then he would know that Lucia had talked.

The two of them had to do it themselves.

I rubbed my forehead, behind which a new headache was brewing. Why was everything so tricky? Why couldn't it be easy for once?

"Let them go. Julien's been really weird lately, but he's not giving anything away. Sometimes I think he's obsessed..."

Eros got up from the desk and came over to me before changing the subject.

"It's time."

I looked out the window. Did we really spend the whole day together? The sun made the snow on the mountains shine and the clouds glowed orange and red on the horizon.

I just nodded and got up.

"Are you alright?" Eros asked, wrapping his arm around me. I snuggled into his warmth. We left the room and headed down the stairs.

"Yes, as soon as everything is in order again" I replied and looked up at him. Eros didn't seem happy with my answer, but he didn't say anything.

I finally realized where it was leading me: the underground library. Bad images flashed through my mind, even though I knew they weren't real. We descended the stairs, on which the shadows of the torches encircled each other.

We walked under the archway and immediately impatient footsteps greeted us. I could hardly believe my eyes as I saw the old man marching in circles before stopping abruptly.

His gaze flicked to us. More pressure fell from my lungs as I saw him standing there, unharmed, with his unmistakable skeptical expression.

"Demetrius!"

I broke free from Ero's arm, ran towards him and hugged him. I could almost hear him wrinkle his nose. It took a moment for the old man to relax.

"You can let go of me now. I am fine. But I hear you messed with the last of the hunters," he said, a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Hunter? I didn't meet anyone, just a poor girl and drunk adults," I said, seeming to be hit by a big hammer.

sunny

I spun on Eros and searched his eyes for an answer.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"We don't have any news yet. She's headed up north, but we're still tracking her," he replied.

"Oh."

She would not survive long in the freezing cold. She had said she was never out of hiding. Did she know how to survive in the north?

I felt in my pocket for the cool gold dagger she had given me and weighed it in my hand. That was the only memento of her. When she came back I could give it back to her.

I shook my head. Ero's warriors would surely bring her back once she ran out of strength. Now I had to concentrate on our plan.

"Where's Pollux?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm here."

The lonely twin emerged from between the bookshelves. The scar cast a deep shadow over his eye. He eyed me and the others and I couldn't help it.

"Pollux, I never wanted something like this to happen. Please forgive me,” I said, bowing my head in front of him. Only the fire of the torches crackled through the room for a few seconds before his footsteps echoed across the floor.

"Castor gave his life to protect me. I will give mine to do the same for you, as was our assignment. Then I can pay my last respects to my brother."

I raised my head at his words. Pure determination shone in his eyes, one of the first strong emotions they had ever felt.

"Good," Eros said, stepping to my side. "It's time we came up with a precise battle plan. Tomorrow is the full moon. That means we can do the ceremony at noon, in daylight."

Demetrius came to us in the circle of initiates. We stood around a wooden table on which a map of the territory was scrawled. The gray lines were made of graphite and I recognized houses, forests, the border and the opening to the far north.

"We won't tell anyone until shortly before then," Demetrius said, stroking his white beard thoughtfully. "If the Primordial Wolf has to react spontaneously, he won't have time for tactical considerations. Hate will overcome him and expose him at the same time. It's both our advantage as well as disadvantage."

Eros nodded in agreement.

"As soon as we start, we have to get everyone to safety, as quickly as possible. Otherwise it will be a bloodbath," he said, resting his hands on the table.

"Once the warriors see the monster, they will defend the pack. But you're right. One of us has to make sure everyone who can't fight is taken to safety," Pollux said.

Then all faces turned to me.

I stared at her in amazement.

"You want me to do that? But the monster is after me . Wouldn't that be very counterproductive?" I asked.

"Ephilia is right," Eros agreed, glancing at Pollux. "You'll do it."

"Alpha, thank you for your trust in this mission, but I want to fight. I must."

Eros gave a short growl before slamming his fist on the table.

"I will not leave Ephilia's side when that monster shows its face. Demetrius is barely taller than some of the puppies. You have enough authority for them to listen to you. I place this task in your hands so that you may prevent more needless blood from being spilled."

Finally, with Demetrius looking sour as a lemon, Pollux bowed his head.

"Very well, Alpha."

"I do have authority," Demetrius grumbled, and I couldn't help but laugh amusedly. The mood regained some lightness as I imagined Demetrius trying to create order in a chaos of people.

He couldn't even keep order in his own house.

"Okay, how is this supposed to take place?" I asked.

"We need an open space," Eros said thoughtfully, examining the map.

"How about the border?" I asked, pointing to the shaded spot. It was the only spot I'd seen here without trees so far.

"On vervain?" Demetrius scoffed, shaking his head at my naivety.

"I know," Eros replied. "There. By the waterfall, far from the houses and any borders."

He pointed to the lake marked with gray waves. Pollux nodded in agreement and Demetrius seemed happy with the decision as well.

"How exactly is it supposed to work?" he asked, stroking his beard again.

I searched for Ero's hand under the table and as soon as I found it, I laced my fingers through his to steady myself. Tomorrow at noon everything would happen and then hopefully the suffering would finally be over.

Ero's thumb began tracing circles across the back of my hand as he explained the plan he had come up with...