Author's Note:

It's unedited so there will still be mistakes in it.

Bold Italics signifies what Erebus is saying inside Thea's head. 

Do comment and share your views with me. I love reading your thoughts, my dear readers. 

~

"Are you Thea?"

As I raised my head slowly to witness the gigantic wolf standing before me my eyes almost fell out of their sockets. It was huge, way bigger than any wolf I had seen before in my life. Even my father's wolf who was considered the oldest and strongest amongst all the other alphas would have seemed like a pup in front of it. Its head alone was equal to the size of my torso or maybe even bigger than that. Its fur, the only way I could describe the color of it was by comparing it with the darkness of a moonless night. Despite being so huge in size, the wolf's spotless black fur was doing a great job at making its presence merge with its dark surroundings.

This was no ordinary wolf. This was a perfect predator carved and aided by nature itself, and that predator was looking directly at me.

Its appearance had intimidated me to the point that I was scared of looking into its eyes.

'Father must have sensed by now that a wolf of some unknown origin has crossed the border. I just need to keep myself safe until the pack warriors arrive.'

Gulping inaudibly, I straightened my slumped figure as I crouched on the ground, trying to slowly get away from the wolf.

Contrary to its looks, the wolf's stance didn't look menacing at all. From the moment I had noticed it, it hadn't changed its position. I was just standing still on all fours with its head tilted to one side as its golden eyes continued observing me silently.

'Wait, golden eyes? Isn't that a king's trait?'

"Yes. They are."

"Oh, my God!"

I almost jumped out of my skin as the deep voice that had called out to me before once again echoed in my head.

"W-Who?"

My brain had shut down for a good few minutes after spotting that large wolf but as I slowly came back to my senses and started paying more attention to my surroundings, I realized a few things; there was no one else in that area except for us two which meant there was a good chance that the voice in my head belonged to the wolf standing before me. Moreover it had golden eyes, a king's trait, which probably made it easier for it to talk to me as kings had the ability to mind-link every wolf that came under their rule.

"Is it you? Are you speaking in my head?"

I tried my best to keep my voice from trembling as I directed this question to the black wolf while starting wide-eyed at him.

"Yes, I am."

Hearing his voice, I jumped again unable to hold in my surprise. This feeling was very foreign to me. I had never shifted therefore I was unable to form a mind link with the rest of my pack yet surprisingly this golden eyed crest holder was able to talk inside my head without any problems.

'Maybe this is a king's trait too?'

"B-But how is that even possible? We don't share a mind link."

"Every wolf in this kingdom shares a mind link with me."

'As expected. He's a crest holder.'

I was already expecting this answer yet the realization of being in a king's presence was overwhelming to the point that I almost forgot about the lake behind me. As I backed up in surprise, my foot landed on a wet stone, making me stumble. Seeing this, the wolf started running towards me making me panic even more. In my haste of getting away from the wolf, I ended up losing my balance completely.

Time slowed down as I felt the cold water touching my legs before I felt myself tumbling backwards. Sensing this I squinched my eyes close mentally preparing myself for the painful impact with the pebbles in the freezing lake but it never came. Instead my fall was broken by something warm stepping in between my back and the small stones.

As I stabilized myself a bit, I tilted my head back to look back only to find the wolf cushioning my body in the cold lake.

'The wolf... it helped me.'

"He, not 'it'."

Hearing him speak again in my head, I flipped myself to meet his golden eyes. They were only an inch away from my face now. Surprisingly, I wasn't scared of him up close. The close contact had actually put my heart to ease.

We were both in the middle of the lake, I was on my knees, my legs and the hem of my white dress drenched in the cold water whilst the wolf appearing unaffected by the cold had only gotten its paws wet.

Suddenly I was reminded of the legend about this lake's water; Soaking in this lake with your mate strengthened your bond for life.

'What am I even thinking?'

Shaking the thought off I asked him, "Who are you, crest holder?"

"Erebus."

His golden eyes, his huge built and the name I had seen written in every history book that I had read since I was born, it didn't take me long to put two and two together.

"King Erebus?"

"Yes."

'So he's not a new candidate.'

"My king."

Bowing my head, I went on to show him my neck as a sign of submission.

"It seems like Alpha Adrian has raised you well."

Hearing my father's name I flinched unknowingly.

'How does he know about father? Does being a king mean you know everything about every pack member?'

"Relax."

My chain of thoughts broke as Erebus nudged my chin with his nose.

"Huh?"

"I couldn't use my paws on your face."

Nudging another wolf with your head was considered a playful act and he was giving an explanation for why he did that.

I was still peering into his mesmerizing golden eyes. They remained impassive, but their intimidation on me was long gone. It was an indescribable emotion, like how you meet a stranger but the moment you start talking to them it starts feeling like you've known them for a life time.

"What's the purpose of my king's visit? Have you come to visit my father? Is he aware that you have arrived?"

Licking my lips with uncertainty, I shot my next series of questions at him. I didn't know at that time that the answer to it was far from what I had imagined.

"I'm here because of you. You awakened me."

"What?"

The air around had somehow turned more serious than before.

"I haven't come to meet your father. I live inside you, Thea. My soul has resided inside you for years."

"I-I don't get what you're saying."

With a frown on my face, I was staring hard at him as I stumbled to find the right words.

"You weren't breathing at the time of your birth. At the same moment, I was losing consciousness, going into what you can refer as hibernation to recuperate from the toll the war had taken on my body. Leaving this kingdom without a functioning king right after the battle was not safe, so I decided on transferring the king's crest to you. I guess something wrong happened considering how instead of the crest, part of my soul got shifted to you."

By the end of hearing his speech in my head, I had slumped back in the water, knee deep.

"I don't get you."

Denial was my first reaction after comprehending his words.

"Then I'll make you understand me."

As he said this in my head, the wolf stood up to his full height before bringing its head down near my chest. The moment his muzzle touched my chest, I felt a warm feeling spreading inside my chest. Before I could even bat an eyelash the wolf had disappeared from my view.

"Uh..."

A surprise sound escaped my lips as I watched the enormous wolf disappear into the thin air.

"King Erebus!? Where did you go?"

I was looking around frantically as I called out to him in the empty forest.

"Inside you."

I didn't want to accept it but it was undeniably true, whatever that wolf had told me. It was scary how in the blink of an eye, my world had turned upside down.

"Come out."

The burning pain in my chest I had come to hate returned the moment I said those words. It was followed by painful heaving for a minute or two before my back arched and I felt something clawing its way out of my chest.

If I had blinked for even one second, I'd have missed the moment when a burst of light came out of my chest taking all my pain away with it. Next thing I know, a humongous black wolf was towering over me proudly.

"Don't make a habit of it. I'm not strong enough to gain a perceptible form at will. For now, I can only materialize before you on full moons."

He was saying this in my head as well yet somehow he felt closer to me than before. Swallowing nervously, I reached out my hand to him. As my hand touched the side of his wolf's head tingles erupted on my palm reaching all the way up to my neck, "Why do I feel this pull towards you?"

"It's because we share souls, just as mates do."

"Are you my mate then?"

What I heard next made my blood run cold.

"A king can never have a mate, Thea."