UNDENIABLY DESTINED

CHAPTER 23

As I glanced around, I found everyone fixed on me with widened eyes, a mixture of shock and surprise etched across their faces. Fear was palpable, evident in their trembling expressions and the terror lurking in their eyes. In their perception, I had morphed into a monstrous entity, and the teenagers in the vicinity took hurried steps backwards, instinctively retreating from the looming threat I had become. Some of them assumed defensive postures, ready to shield their pack from what they saw as an imminent danger. It was at that very moment that the true, gut-wrenching extent of the peril I had unwittingly thrust upon the pack struck me like a thunderbolt.

A pitiful whimper emanated from the figure sprawled before me. The young man groaned in torment, his eyes awash with tears, yet his suffering rendered him incapable of coherent speech. He clung to his hand with desperate fervour, every movement causing his anguish to spiral further out of control. His hand contorted grotesquely, twisted at three different angles, and his left leg bore an equally gruesome disfigurement. The swelling had begun to creep in, casting an ominous shade over the twisted parts, and despite his wolf's valiant attempts to mitigate the pain, it remained an insurmountable ordeal. His eyes shifted, mirroring those of his wolf as it emerged, growling in an attempt to ward off any potential threats and protect his human self from further harm.

My guilt weighed on me like a leaden shroud, and I summoned the courage to step closer, eager to offer assistance. However, the wolf's growls escalated, teetering on the brink of desperation, interpreting my presence as an imminent threat. With every ounce of strength left in him, the injured man initiated a painful crawl, driven by an instinctual urge to escape the perceived danger I represented. He preferred enduring agony to being in close proximity to me.

My heart was a heavy burden, laden with remorse, as the chasm between my intentions of protecting the pack and the harm I had unwittingly inflicted grew ever wider.

Unbeknownst to me, my surroundings morphed in my imagination. The spectators of the fight leapt to their feet, erupting in cheers and applause, fervently celebrating the unexpected valour and precision of a female wolf, a rarity to behold. Their applause reverberated, drowning out the surrounding chaos. Yet in my mind, I began to slip into a realm of memories that were tense, vivid, and painfully distant from reality.

In the suffocating grip of guilt and self-blame, Aadaya unfairly burdened herself with responsibility for everything that had unfolded. She couldn't escape the overwhelming belief that she was at fault, and it gnawed at her, even though the truth was far from it. She had fought valiantly, adhering to the rules, while the injured young man belonged to a different pack entirely. But her mind, clouded by doubt, distorted reality, leading her to question if the goddess had mistakenly chosen her for these powers, unjustly placing the world's weight on her shoulders.

In her disoriented state, the people around her seemed to taunt and condemn her with every glance. Accusations and curses filled the air, laying blame at her feet, though it was merely a cruel illusion. She scanned the surroundings through hazy eyes, catching a glimpse of a girl hurling stones in her direction—an act that had never occurred in reality.

Her vision blurred further, and the faces around her twisted into grotesque masks of judgment. Her aunt, her uncle, and Zack all took turns blaming her for being born, their voices a cacophonous chorus of condemnation. The world around her began to close in, and panic set in as she struggled to draw shallow breaths, her chest constricting with an overwhelming sense of suffocation. Desperate and unable to endure it any longer, she sprinted toward the forest's edge.

Even within the sanctuary of the trees, she couldn't find respite. Imaginary eyes followed her every move, their expressions dripping with disgust. Her vivid imagination took an even darker turn as she envisioned her mother's anguished screams, branding her a demon responsible for the deaths of their packmates. Her father's accusations echoed, condemning her as an abomination, while her twin sister's hands wrapped around her throat.