Trinity (A Werewolf Novel) ✔

Chapter Sixteen

I scarfed down the food on the plate before me with vigor, pausing only to drink from the glass nearby before continuing my feast. Cynthia sat across from me patiently, quietly watching me as I devoured the meal prepared for me. We were seated on the stage within the abandoned temple yet again.

Caleb had me on lockdown at this point. After finding out the situation during the hunt, both Logan and I were on his bad side. I was officially no longer guest status, nearly kept as a prisoner at this point. If it weren't for Diana, I'm pretty sure Caleb would have left me in a dungeon cell until Roman came back.

As for Logan, I knew he was being punished, though I didn't know how. I also knew his punishment had nothing to do with killing a pack member. I had almost been hurt during a pack hunt. It was two broken rules at once.

I felt guilt for several reasons. If I hadn't gone on the hunt, it wouldn't have created an opening for a wolf to try to hurt me, so Vio would still be alive. Logan wouldn't have been punished, halting any training I had planned with him. And Caleb would not be waiting for his Alpha to come back and delegate a punishment suitable for his Beta for not being as alert as he could be around me.

However, guilt wasn't strong enough of a feeling to outweigh the need for freedom. So it was with great stealth and difficulty that I was able to finally sneak out for a moment of freedom. The Temple was like a safe haven to me; a place none would go to if they were hunting me. By the time I was able to finally sneak out and hideaway there, Cynthia was waiting with a meal already made as though she had been told ahead of time. I'd already begun to accept that she was a creature beyond my ability to understand.

"He's been gone for ages," I finally spoke first, skipping all the formalities of pretenses that everything was okay. "How am I supposed to stop him from killing all of humanity if he isn't even here?" My frustration became renewed when voicing my own question, but Cynthia didn't seem fazed by my concerns.

"Have faith," Cynthia said wisely. I put down my fork firmly, gripping the edge of the table and sitting up straight to peer at her with indignation. Her dark sable eyes only watched me with that deep knowledge, calm as the lake under the moonlight.

"In what, exactly?" I finally muttered before looking away grumpily.

"In yourself. In the King Alpha. And in the Moon Goddesses." Cynthia suggested one after the other, as though she had an entire list beyond that of the three listed and I were the one being unreasonable.

"I still don't understand any of this. How can I shift, even a little bit? Did my entire village lie to me? Am I really some outcast wolf? I just don't understand," I sighed in exasperation, leaning forward to rest my head on my hand.

"Your village didn't lie to you. Your mother is your mother and your father is your father," Cynthia confirmed carefully, that familiar tone of voice creeping in. I just knew that she knew more than she was willing to say, always picking and choosing what information to divulge at any given time. Or perhaps she's an all-seeing witch who has had this conversation and all future conversations with me in her visions already.

But still, her statement brought me a form of relief. I wasn't crazy. I still belonged to the family I yearned to see again. And they would welcome me back as their own... as long as they didn't know the creature I had begun to turn into.

I frowned at nothing in particular.

"The wolves are going extinct... and yet Logan didn't hesitate to kill one of his own. And me... I killed one, too. I know it was to save my own life, but it feels like..." I hesitated, unsure of what exactly the emotion I was feeling was entirely. "A great sin? A great... shame."