Chapter 240

Olivia

The pale blue color of the full moon draped itself over the clearing like a blanket, transforming the environment into a realm of mystique. The grass shimmered like a sea of silver, the standing stones whispered tales of an age gone by, and all around was a tangible hush, as if the world held its breath.

But I felt anything but calm.

The hooded woman stepped forward with a deliberateness that sent shivers down my spine. It was as though time seemed to bow to her, each step syncing with the rhythmic beat of my own heart.

She came to a halt right in the center of the moonlit stage nature had crafted. Resting my hand on Nathan’s shoulder, I felt him become tense as the stranger came closer, his protective growl adding a base note to the nocturnal symphony around us.

“Who are you?” I demanded, my voice carrying authority I wasn’t quite sure whether I felt or not. The mystery of the stranger’s shrouded face made it all the more daunting.

Silence stretched between us, like a tangible entity, thick and foreboding.

Annoyance flared within me at the lack of response. “Identify yourself!” I shouted, injecting as much command into my voice as I could muster.

And then it came, not a voice in the true sense, but a thought, a whisper in the very depths of my mind.

“You know me, Olivia.”

I gasped, recognition dawning. The sensation was not unfamiliar; the way the words permeated my consciousness, bypassing the ears, stirring memories from the recent past. At the sunrise rally outside the Council building, I had heard her voice.

Freya. The Silent Elder.

“Elder Freya? Is that you?” I breathed, almost in awe.

The hood slid back gracefully, revealing a cascade of auburn hair that framed an ageless face. Those intense, almost ethereal green eyes confirmed my suspicions.

“Indeed,” she said, her voice still echoing in my mind. “It is I.”

My pulse quickened. “Why are you here? How do you know about my wolf?” I fired off the questions that were plaguing my mind, my patience already thinning.

Freya’s eyes seemed to dance with a light of their own. “Olivia, there is much you do not understand. But you will, in time. I’ve been waiting for you; I’m glad you came.”

Each word she ‘spoke’ reverberated within me, creating ripples of emotions. I felt violated, exposed, yet strangely connected.

“How did you know I was coming tonight?” I asked probingly, baffled by her strange powers. “You never gave me a specific date or time to meet you.”

A gentle laugh echoed in my mind, although her lips never moved. “I knew when you would come,” she said, her voice sounding sweet and tender like the tide lapping against the shore. “I know you well, Olivia.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion, casting Nathan another glance. He shot me an equally apprehensive look.

“Do you trust her? One of the Elders?” he asked, nodding his head toward her. “She could be working for them.”

I chewed my lip for a moment, thinking. Truthfully, I didn’t know whether I trusted her or not. Elder Freya, the “Silent Elder”, had always been an enigma. There were stories about her, campfire tales for children about how she sold her voice to a witch in exchange for power and youth.

I had always believed those stories, back when I was a kid. But I wasn’t a kid anymore.

“Tell me how I can trust you,” I called out, tightening my fingers in Nathan’s fur. “Prove to me that you’re not working with the other Elders.”

Freya was silent for a few moments. But then, my confusion only deepened when she made a startling revelation.

“Very well. It was I who persuaded your father, Kamran, to bind your wolf. To protect you, to guide your destiny.”

Anger surged, overwhelming my senses. My father, my hero, the pillar of strength in my life, and this mysterious Elder were linked in ways I hadn’t anticipated. The betrayal stung, its venom seeping deep within.

“It was you?” I snarled, releasing my grip on Nathan’s fur to curl my hand up into a fist at my side. “You were the one who taught him how to make my wolf dormant?”

Freya simply nodded, unperturbed by my anger. “Yes,” she replied. “I helped him.”

Ignoring the pain in my limbs, I lunged toward Freya, propelled by a potent mix of anger and betrayal.

But she moved with a grace and speed that seemed almost otherworldly. Within moments, she was at the other end of the clearing, her cloaked silhouette appearing almost dreamlike against the moon’s backdrop.

“Haste will not serve you here,” she said, her voice a blend of warning and sadness. “I can help you, Olivia. I can guide you to release the power within. But trust and patience are paramount.”

I was torn. A part of me wanted nothing more than to unleash my fury on her, to demand answers for the web of deception that seemed to entangle my life.

Another part, the pragmatic side of me, recognized that this could be the only chance to truly understand and control my powers.

My gaze slid to Nathan. In his wolf form, he seemed the embodiment of nature’s raw power and beauty.

His eyes, always so expressive, were filled with a cocktail of caution, curiosity, and concern. He was poised, a coil of potential energy, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. His unwavering support was my anchor in this tempest of emotions.

Freya seemed to have all the time in the world. She waited, allowing me the space to process, to decide. The wind rustled the trees around, their leaves whispering tales of old, of power, betrayals, and redemption. In the distance, a lone wolf howled, its mournful cry weaving a poignant tapestry with the night.

Gathering my thoughts, I managed to find my voice, though it trembled slightly. “Why all the secrets, Freya? Why the deception? My father... you... Why not just tell me everything?”

Freya’s eyes seemed to pierce right through me as she spoke.

“Sometimes, Olivia, protection takes the form of secrets. Truth, when revealed prematurely, can do more harm than good. Your journey, your destiny needed you to be molded, to be shaped by experiences.”

I clenched my fists, fighting back tears. The weight of her words, the truth in them, pressed down on me.

My family’s sacrifices, the journey Nathan and I had embarked on, the looming threat to our pack, it all seemed intertwined in this cosmic play of fate and choice. And yet here I was, in my adulthood, having been left in the dark on my own fate for my entire life.

I swallowed hard, drawing upon reserves of strength I didn’t know I possessed. “I need answers, Freya. Real answers, not riddles or vague prophecies. You owe me that much.”

Freya looked at me, her face an inscrutable mask, but her eyes, they held a depth of sorrow, understanding, and perhaps, hope.

“Your quest for knowledge is justified. And in due course, all shall be revealed.”

But I wasn’t going to let her off easily. With a deep breath, I squared my shoulders, determination flooding my veins.

“Tell me everything,” I said, leveling my gaze with Freya’s. “I want to know now.”