Chapter 17

Chapter 17: A Different Man

With a loudly banging heart inside my chest, I immediately ran outside, searching for the trail of Luhence's scent. I knew it was him. I had already gone familiar with my boyfriend's scent, and as soon as I saw him a few meters away from the West border of Claivan, Auror stopped me from taking another step.

"Lu?" I called.

He turned to face me, but when I saw his face, Auror warned me to go back to the village because it was too obvious that something had changed about Luhence. He looked... stronger, as if there was something else running through his veins besides his Alpha blood. Considering that he wasn't surrounded by his people, his scent was not supposed to smell this much power.

"Babe..." He flashed a smile. "I missed you. Can you come here, please?"

Don't. Auror warned me again, and my gut told me to listen to my wolf.

I swallowed the pool of saliva in my mouth as I balled my fists. "What happened to you? Why did you and your Mom go missing? Are you alright?"

He ran his fingers onto his tousled hair. "Yeah, Babe. Mom and I are okay."

"W--Well, are you here to fetch me and your Dad? Is everyone back in the village?"

His eyes faded away. "We're coming home to something bigger, Babe. We deserve better than a small home with less than a hundred army."

My brows furrowed in confusion. Alpha Lawrence may be ruthless towards me, but never did I ever hear him label his people as 'army'. He treated pretty much everyone an extension of himself, a family, and I knew he would never want to hear his own son call his people that way.

"You mean our pack?" I asked, still giving him the benefit of the doubt even when on the back of my mind, I knew something was definitely wrong.

I watched Luhence took a few steps towards an old tree. "For several years, we both suffered in this place. My Dad beat you up almost every single day while I was denied of the right to feel a father's love." His nails began to grow until it finally scratched on the poor tree. "We don't deserve to still stay miserable."

My fists clenched tighter as I felt chills down my spine. "Everything has already changed. You're the new Alpha of Zenios and I won the fight--"

"I have no right to claim the throne." His eyes turned cold as he looked at me, the glint of anger in his rims terrified the shit out of me for some reason, as if I no longer recognize the man I thought I'd like to spend forever with. "Everything about my life was a fucking lie..."

"W--What do you mean?" I stuttered, no longer able to hide my brewing fear towards him.

Luhence's brows slowly furrowed. "Are you scared of me, Babe? Do you think I should be feared now, hmm?"

"N--No." I swallowed when I felt my throat getting dry. "I'm just... worried about you."

He smirked. "You shouldn't be. I feel much powerful now, and if you will come with me, we could share what I possess."

"Lu..." I tried to take a step but Auror warned me again not to get any closer towards Luhence. "I don't understand you."

I watched his nails retract before he offered his hand to me. "Cross the border and come with me, Babe. I'll help you understand how powerful we can really be..."

My eyes stared at Luhence's hand for a moment while the fear and worry in my heart became stronger. Everything about him right now didn't feel right, as if my boyfriend had been reborn into something far more dangerous than his father.

"Come on, Nadine. There's something bigger waiting for the both of us. You wouldn't want to miss the chance to avenge yourself for all the suffering my father had put you through."

I brought my gaze back into his pools as I pursed my lips together. When I finally shook my head in response, I saw how his eyes burned with anger as if he didn't expect me to turn down his offer.

"No?" He smirked. "Why? Don't you love me anymore, Babe? Didn't you promise that we'll build a life together? Have you forgotten everything you said to me?"

"It's not like that. I--"

"Nadine?"

I turned around as soon as I heard Calgary's voice. He looked worried and confused as he took his steps towards me. When he reached my side, I looked at Luhence again, only to find him nowhere.

"Who are you talking to?" Calgary asked.

I tried to blink, totally confused with what was going on. I even crossed the border and searched for Luhence everywhere, but there was no trace of him at all as if he just disappeared in a blink of an eye. Even his scent was gone, no matter how hard I tried to sniff the air.

"Is everything alright?" Calgary asked me with a worried tone as he walked towards me.

"Yes." I gulped and looked at him with pale cheeks. "No. I... I swear I saw Luhence. He was right here a few seconds ago. I turned to look at you, and when I went to face him again, he was already gone." I rubbed my palm on my face. "I swear I saw him. We even talked."

Calgary's inky brows almost met. "You were talking to yourself earlier. No one was here when I saw you."

My heartbeat almost stopped. "You... didn't see him?"

He shook his head. "If he was hear, the others would definitely sense him."

"But I swear I saw Luhence. We spoke and he even scratched the tree--"

My lips remained parted as my blood drained from my face when I saw no trace of Luhence's scratch on the tree. I even ran towards it to see it closely, but as soon as I realized that there really wasn't even a single scratch of Luhence's nails on it, I turned to Calgary with a paler face.

"I swear I'm not lying. I really saw him earlier. He... he looked like a different man, though but I know it was him. In fact, he invited me to come with him."

Calgary's face darkened as he clenched his jaw. "And what did you tell him?"

I gulped. "I said I wouldn't."

His face lightened up before he released a breath. "Let's just go back to the village. We'll let Ahma and Lawrence know about this. Maybe they could enlighten the both of us."

"You... believe me, Cal?"

A ghost of a smile found its way to his lips. "I do... and I always will."