Chapter 63: I Was Nothing But A Ghost To Him
The damp air hung heavy in the forest, thick with the scent of upcoming rain and ancient, rotting earth. Above them, the moon—once a bright, silver shield—was slowly being swallowed by a crawl of bruised, dark clouds. The starlight died with it, plunging the clearing into a suffocating shadow.
Odesse stood completely frozen, the raw weight of the truth crushing the breath from her lungs. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she pressed her palms against her five-month pregnant belly, her legs trembling so violently she felt as though the earth itself was crumbling beneath her feet. Sweat beaded across her forehead, cold and slick, matching the frantic, uneven hammering of her heart against her ribs.
Before her stood Eryx’s body, but every gesture, every line of his posture, had transformed into something chillingly feminine. He stood with his hands resting lightly on his hips, his spine curved in an elegant, mocking arch as a wide, hollow grin split his features.
"Are you shocked, Odesse?" Azure’s voice purred from Eryx’s mouth, the tone smooth and sharp, like silk dragging over a hidden blade.
He began to walk closer, his strides slow, rhythmic, and deliberately predatory. He circled her, his eyes locked onto her face like a wolf watching a wounded rabbit.
"I made sure to play my role perfectly, didn’t I?" he murmured, stopping directly behind her shoulder, his breath warm against the back of her neck. "I wanted to be seen as the strict, quiet tutor who was simply keen on discipline and royal tradition. And you..."
Odesse flinched away, spinning around in pure terror to face him, her breath hitching in her throat.
"...you fell for it so beautifully," he finished, a low, melodic chuckle vibrating in his chest.
Odesse stared at the hollow shell of her close friend, her voice cracking as she forced the words past her dry lips. "Why are you doing this, Azure? Why?"
He laughed out loud, a harsh, mocking sound that echoed off the dense treeline. "Why am I doing this? Oh, Odesse, I have known his highness for as long as my memory stretches. The story about my father being the royal teacher to the king and his brother... that was never a lie."
Eryx’s face softened slightly as Azure tilted his head back, looking up at the disappearing moon with a wistful, distant smile.
"My father was highly esteemed by the king himself, chosen above all others to shape the minds of the royal lineage. And one particular day, he decided to take me with him to the grand palace." He looked back down at Odesse, the expression on his face suddenly turning warm, sweet, and deceptively genuine—a perfect, terrifying facade before a dark smirk broke it apart. "I was a very shy, very quiet child back then. It was incredibly difficult for me to speak to anyone. My mother despaired over my silence, but my father... he never stopped loving me. I was his only child, his pride."
Suddenly, Eryx stepped forward and snatched Odesse’s hand. Before she could pull away, he executed a swift, elegant movement, twirling her around in the center of the clearing as if they were dancing in a grand ballroom.
Odesse’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief and horror at the bizarre, fluid movement of his male frame. "Stop it, Azure! Let go of me!" she cried, ripping her hand back.
He stopped instantly. Odesse watched in profound discomfort as a deep, crimson blush crept up Eryx’s cheeks, his features twisting into the bashful expression of a smitten young girl.
"I saw him standing right there," he whispered, his eyes gleaming with an obsessive light. "He stood beside his brother, King Valex. He was so tall, so magnificent, so incredibly handsome. He was sixteen years old at the time, and I... I was only thirteen. That was the exact second I fell in love with him." He twirled around on his heel, his arms lifting slightly into the air. "From that day on, I tried to follow my father to every single lesson. I had my own studies to attend to, of course, but I would pretend to be terribly sick, weeping in my bed, just so I could steal away to the palace and glimpse his highness again."
Eryx’s movements stopped. He turned his back to Odesse, his shoulders dropping as his voice sank into a low, hollow register. "I tried so hard to summon the courage to speak to him, but the words would always trap themselves in my throat." He whipped back around to face her, a radiant, blinding smile illuminating his dusty face. "But then, one day... he looked at me. Truly looked at me. I thought my heart would stop right there in the corridor. I couldn’t believe it."
In a flash, the warmth vanished. Eryx’s eyes turned entirely black, the pupils dilating until they looked like two empty voids in his skull. "That was the moment I knew. He had to be mine. No matter the cost."
His jaw tightened, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists by his sides. "One afternoon, I saw him alone in the study chamber. I stood by the cracked door, peeping through the wood, gathering my breath to finally walk inside and present myself to him. But a servant caught me. That miserable, wretched servant reported me to his highness and lied, claiming I was trying to steal from the royal archives. Why would I, a wolf of proud lineage, ever need to steal? But the damage was done. My father was stripped of his title as royal teacher. We were cast out, forbidden from ever entering the palace grounds again."
He took a slow step toward Odesse, the aura radiating from his body turning heavy, suffocating, and entirely laced with malice. "I was destroyed. We left the Silverclaw pack entirely, moving far away to a distant territory where I was completely isolated from his highness. I spent years waiting, Odesse. I thought my fated mark would only ever appear for his highness. But the universe is cruel. Instead, my mark appeared for a common soldier—a man I never loved, a man I despised from the moment he touched me."
He walked closer, his voice dropping into a rhythmic, chilling chant. "We got married. We stayed married. I tried so hard to forget his highness, oh, but Odesse... it was impossible. And then that soldier began to complain. He complained that I wasn’t putting enough effort into our marriage. He said I was cold. He said I was distant."
Eryx suddenly raised his hands, slamming them over his own ears, his fingers digging into his scalp as he shook his head back and forth. "He said it over, and over, and over, and over again! He never stopped nagging me!"
He tilted his head slightly, a sudden, unnerving calm taking over his features as his hands dropped back to his sides. "I got tired of the noise. So, one day, I killed him. And oh, the peace of mind it gave me. The absolute silence."
Odesse gasped, her blood running cold as she stumbled backward a step. "You... you killed your own mate?" she whispered, her hand trembling against her stomach.
Eryx moved his face incredibly close to hers, nodding his head quickly, repetitively, like a manic puppet. "Yes, yes I did, Odesse," he whispered gleefully before standing perfectly straight, a serene smile gracing his lips. "I left that pathetic pack and came straight to the Moonlight Pack. I knew everything that was happening here. I knew about the curse Malrik had placed on his highness from the very first day. I noticed the shift in the wind, the taint in the soil."
He looked down at his boots, a soft, dry laugh escaping him. "You see, Odesse, because we as the daughters of royal teachers, people tend to underestimate us. They think we only know poetry, etiquette, and histories. But royal teachers have access to hidden archives, ancient texts that no common wolf is ever permitted to see. It takes immense power and knowledge just to qualify for the position. I trained myself in secret. And in those dark, forgotten texts, I discovered witchery—the ancient, forbidden art that was banned from the wolf kingdom centuries ago. I knew the exact moment the curse took hold of the king because the spirit realm shifted and bled. But I didn’t complain. Why would I? It was entirely in my favor. If the royal lineage died out, his highness would eventually be left entirely alone, cast down, and then I could finally step into his life and cure him myself."
His smile stretched wider, his teeth flashing in the dimming light. "But I was still bound to that soldier at the time. I only gained my true freedom after his highness was dethroned. That was when I decided to dispose of my husband. It was the best decision of my entire life. His highness never remarried, which made me profoundly happy. I began to meticulously plan my return into his life, designing the perfect moment to present myself as his savior. But then... you happened."
Eryx’s eyes shifted, turning incredibly dark as he glared at her with unbridled hatred. "Odesse. A nobody. A mere side character who was never meant to be important in the grand design of this kingdom. You came into contact with him, and suddenly, everything became imbalanced. You ruined everything I had built!"
He lunged forward, his fingers clamping tightly around her upper arm. Odesse winced, looking down at the rough grip before looking back into the maddened eyes of her captor. "What are you doing? Let me go!" she cried out, struggling against his strength.
"He began to love you," Azure hissed through Eryx’s lips, his grip tightening. "And you loved him too. I watched from afar, fully expecting the curse to take you, expecting you to die a gruesome death like the others. But you didn’t. You survived, and then you both got married!"
"Let me go, Azure! Leave me be!" Odesse screamed, twisting her body away until he slowly, deliberately let her arms slip from his grasp.
"When I saw the notice that the palace was searching for a royal teacher to instruct the new queen, I couldn’t stop myself," he continued, pacing back and forth in front of her. "I applied instantly. And when I finally walked through those heavy oak doors, when I saw you sitting there... my mind was screaming. It was ready to tear you to pieces right then and there."
Odesse stood completely paralyzed, the sheer shock stealing her ability to speak.
"But I had to compose myself," he whispered, his eyes darting around the empty trees. "The only person I truly needed to see was his highness, but he was never there. Every single moment I spent in that room with you, watching you learn, watching you carry yourself like a queen, I felt the overwhelming urge to strangle you. To cut your pathetic body into pieces. But I held myself back. And then, when his highness finally returned... I saw the two of you together. It made me go entirely mad."
Suddenly, Eryx clutched his own head, his fingers tangling into his hair as he began to pull at it with horrifying, brutal force. Odesse stumbled backward, her eyes widening in horror as tears flowed freely down her pale cheeks, forced to witness the absolute manifestation of madness unfolding before her.
He pulled and twisted his hair continuously until a thick clump was ripped violently from his scalp, and dark, heavy blood began to stream down the side of his face. Odesse’s breathing became incredibly heavy and uneven, her chest heaving as she slammed her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream.
Eryx stared blankly at the torn hair in his fist, then lifted his fingers to touch the bleeding wound on his head. The physical pain stung him, causing his eyes to twitch, but a manic laugh escaped his lips. "Oh, wow... blood. Look at that, Odesse. That is the exact pain I felt every single time I saw the two of you together. How he held you. How he kissed you. He didn’t even care that I was standing right there in the room. I was nothing but a ghost to him!"
