Apologies for the late update. It took me some time to settle the storyline. By the end of it, I was so tired that I was writing things like,

"He passed his hair through his hand in frustration."

"He passed his hand through his hand in frustration."

Enjoy!

"So the Moon Ashes pack being closest to the East Border can act as..."

I tuned out the rest of the sentence as I leaned back in my chair before glancing at both sides.

On my right, Alpha Dylan, a brunette with a pretty pair of green eyes was enthusiastically giving suggestions on improving the safety of both his pack and the capital while on the far end of my left side, at the head of the table, King Erebus stared hard at the young alpha, continuing to listen to his yapping without showing any emotion or giving any response.

'He's cute but OH. MY. GOD! Does this dude have a mute button?'

I had to press my lips to stop myself from sighing again. My dad had forced me to join it as his heir apparent. This meeting had been going on since for hours. The sun was close to setting now and we were yet to reach a conclusive plan.

Resisting the urge to click my tongue, I glanced sideways to steal a quick glance at Erebus. I had only meant to look at him briefly but my eyes almost popped out causing me to take a double take when I noticed that instead of staring hard at Alpha Dylan, Erebus' impassive gaze was now fixed at me.

'Cute. Is he?'

His voice sounded so unimpressed, I was hardly able to keep myself from laughing. Someone was jealous.

'Yes, like a puppy.'

Giving him a mischievious look, I turned my head to stare straight ahead. It felt nice having him here with me through this boring to death session. We weren't allowed to mind link each other during pack meetings unless it was extremely important, a major reason why I hadn't talked to Erebus all through his meeting; But if the rule maker was the one bending these rules, who was I to complain?

'I didn't know kittens took such interest in puppies.'

Hearing his reply, I opened and closed my mouth a few times, like a fish under water, my cheeks turning bright red in the process.

He had called me kitten, like before.

"Kitten's got some fierce moves."

I remembered him saying this to me when we were almost caught by the Beta of the Silver Knight pack. I didn't want to think about it much but the endearment had made a small glimmer of hope stretch its wings inside my heart. Deep down, I wanted him to remember our time together from when his soul was still residing inside me. I wanted him to fulfill his promise to me.

We had formed a close bond during those few months that we had spent together. I wanted that bond back.

"Enough for tonight. Beta Lucas will brief you about your roles. I will address you all tomorrow morning before you set off to your respective packs. I need to discuss and sort a few things before that."

Erebus' booming voice instantly put a stop to all the small bickering going on in the background.

"Any questions?"

He was leaning forward on the table with his interlinked hands resting in front of him as he paused to stare at every alpha in the room. As expected, no one dared to object.

A low scraping sound resonated through the quiet room as Erebus stood up from his place. He was clad in a tight-fitting black shirt paired with black slacks that were hugging his legs in all the right places. He was taller than all the alphas in the room and with all of us sitting, he appeared more intimidating as he towered over us with his strong built.

'Just so you know, kittens are more interested in wolves, preferably a big bad wolf with a perfect ass such as yours.'

He had started walking towards the door but the moment I whispered this inside his head, he froze in his place. Every person in the room stopped whatever they were doing to stare in confusion as to why their king was standing motionlessly in the doorway.

'Erebus, I'm wet.'

The incidence from last night while he had teased me in the shower was still fresh in my mind. I wasn't letting that go so easily.

Crack.

My eyes turned to saucers as I whipped my head to look at the source of this abrupt sound only to find Erebus' hand clutching one side of the wooden doorframe tightly. He had squeezed the woodwork too hard causing it to crack under pressure.

He stayed there for another second before storming out of the room.

"Did we do anything to upset him?"

Multiple hushed whispers had started circulating inside the room.

"It was you, Dylan. You just don't know when to shut up!"

It sounded like the neighbouring alpha of the Moon Ashes pack. It was closely followed by the sound of a low growl.

"It wasn't me! Maybe he got angry because none of you other retards were capable enough to come with a good plan."

All their predecessors were killed during the Great War. These alphas were young, trained by my father; After Erebus' return, they had all visited the capital to welcome him. They were still wary of his presence.

"Enough! Go to your rooms."

It was my dad.

"I'll take my leave now."

Casting a polite smile, I pushed my chair back and strolled out of the room, looking for Erebus.

'What happened to him? I didn't even tease him that much.'

Trailing my fingers on the edge of the railing, I was stepping down the stairs when my eyes landed on Erebus. He was already out of the main door of the pack house.

It looked like he was going to his house.

'Should I follow him?'

Taking my bottom lip in between my teeth, I suppressed a smile as naughty thoughts started swarming my head.

'I can just go to his house and we can talk about the mole too.'

Barely able to contain my excitement, I started trudging towards his house while maintaining some distance between us.

I only stopped once I saw him coming to a halt in front of his house. A brunette with sharp brown eyes who had been standing there for some time, beamed as soon as she saw him before running to stand behind him.

The smile dancing at the corners of my lips wilted as soon as I saw her gently touching Erebus' arm while talking to him. I stood rooted to my spot, watching mum as she smiled beautifully at something before giggling in a small voice.

Gritting my teeth, I tilted my head to the side while trying to put a name to that face.

My eyebrows furrowed as I realized it was Alpha Dylan's younger sister.

I couldn't help but wonder whether it was karma coming for me because I called her brother cute in front of Erebus.

"Please refrain from making unnecessary contact. I don't like it when people touch me."

Before I could intervene, a gentle but firm voice reached my ears making me look up. Giving the girl a small nod Erebus walked inside his house leaving the girl standing astonished outside his door.

She seemed like the kind of person who wasn't used to getting rejected this blatantly.

'Don't take it to your heart, sis. He doesn't even let his own mate touch him.'

Smiling to myself, I ran behind his house, climbing up to the window to reach his bedroom.

"Oomph!"

A small sound escaped my lips as I landed on the ground with a small thud.

'Erebus?'

Getting up to pat my washed jeans, I called out his name inside my head while walking around the room.

The room was drenched in darkness. It took my eyes some time to adjust to the it but till then due to the lack of movements and sounds, I had already realized that Erebus wasn't there.

'Where is he?'

A loud creak resonated through the empty house as I turned the knob to his room and stepped out into the hallway. Straining my ears, I tried picking up any sounds I could find in the house.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It didn't take me long to pick up a racing heartbeat originating from the kitchen.

'Erebus?'

Carefully stepping down the stairs, I tried to produce as less sound as possible as I picked up a nearby vase and crawled towards the kitchen. I could scarcely see a silhouette standing in the middle of the kitchen. He was leaning against the kitchen counter.

'Beta Lucas. If you don't hear from me in the next five minutes, I need you to come help me in King Erebus' house.'

"Luna Thea? What happened? Are you alright?"

Lucas' alarmed voice rang inside my head, making me jump in surprise. He sounded sleep deprived.

'Just remember. Five minutes.'

I wasn't taking any risks this time.

I had my back pressed to the wall under the staircase as I leaned forward a bit to peek inside the kitchen. The silhouette had vanished.

'Fuck, Erebus. Where are you?'

I was in process of turning my head back to lean against the wall again when I saw someone standing right in front of me causing me to let out loud scream. Wasting no time, I threw the vase right at their head. If it weren't for the person's fast reflexes helping him dodge the attack at the last second, his skull would've acquired quite a lot of damage from the blow.

Seeing this, I leapt towards the main door but my attempt was stopped midway when my attacker grabbed me from the waist lifting me off of my feet. Sparkes erupted on my skin as soon as my alleged attacker's hands came into contact with my arms making my struggle come to a halt.

"Erebus?"

He had one arm wrapped around my waist and the other around my chest. My breasts were pressed flat against the muscles of his forearm.

'Lucas, I'm alright. No need for the help.'

"Thea?"

I was still dangling in his arms when I twisted my torso to turn a bit and stare at him in surprise.

He seemed disheveled and confused.

'He had been fine just a few minutes ago. What exactly happened?'

"Why didn't you mind-link to tell me that you were coming here?"

To say my jaw dropped to the floor after hearing this sentence would be an understatement.

"I did! I called your name multiple times. You never answered."

He stared at me in confusion for a few seconds before a dreadful look replaced it.

"Oh."

Saying this, he let me go instantly.

"Go back, Thea."

"Go back where?"

I whirled around to look at him only to find him with his back turned to me. He was passing a hand through his hair in frustration.

I parted my lips to inquire about his weird behavior but I paused as soon as I realized something wet was sticking to the back of his shirt.

"What's this, Erebus?"

Taking a few strides, I closed the distance between us. I didn't need to touch it, just taking a small whiff of its scent was enough to tell what it was-blood.

"You're bleeding."

"Yes."

His voice had come out in a defeated sigh.

"What do you mean by 'yes'? Remove your shirt. Let me take a look at it."

Panicking by that point, I was pulling at the back of his shirt, urging him to lift it over his head.

"There's no point to it. It's not a fresh wound."

"Then why is it still bleeding?!"

Holding his arm, I tugged at it as hard as I could, making him turn around to face me. He had his eyes lowered.

"Because it's inflicted by the rogue alpha's claws."

All the tugging and shaking I had been doing to his arms stopped abruptly as I stared at him dumbfounded.

"Huh?"

"He separated us yesterday because he wanted to make us weak in order to turn at least one of us. He was probably planning to win the war by turning the King or Queen into one of his species. A wendigo ruler would no longer defend werewolves. This way kingdom would be left without a ruler."

My hold on his shirt loosened as my arms fell back to dangle at my sides.

"You knew that the mole is the alpha himself. You knew he was aware of the crest sharing."

He let out a small sarcastic laugh before answering,

"I only came to know about it yesterday. It was carefully plotted. He only let out those creatures that had bite marks so we'd think the only route of transfer is through a bite. He sent a small army of his to attack the West Border and then created panic amongst us by luring you to the East border so if one of us got accidentally scratched, we wouldn't even notice it until it'd be too late to do anything."

'Is he...?'

I couldn't even bring myself to think about it.

"Don't worry. I won't turn into a wendigo. I'm immune."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "Immune?"

"Argh..."

Suddenly, Erebus let out a small grunt before falling down on his knees with a small thud.

"Erebus!"

I ran to grip his shoulders for support but stopped midway when he motioned me with his hand to keep a distance,

"I'm sorry, Thea. I should've told you this sooner."

All of his riddle-talking was agitating me to no point.

"Get to the point, Erebus! You're scaring me."

I had started rubbing my arms nervously. I couldn't keep my anxiety bottled up. A wendigo had slashed him, but he said he was immune to it. How could he be so sure? Why was he apologizing? Why wasn't he letting me get close? Why was he trembling? All these questions were making my head dizzier by the second.

"The one who transferred his soul to you, the person you fancied, the one who trained you, the one who made promises to you, the one you fell for, it wasn't me, Thea."

"What?"

My breath got caught in my throat as the hand I had been trying to extend in his direction stopped midway.

"You're joking, right?"

My gaze was frantically travelling all over the room.

"Erebus?"

Slowly, I dropped down to my knees, my hands reaching out to hold Erebus' warm hands with my own.

"You're the king who won the Great War and went into hibernation. You gave me the crest. Your soul lived inside me for years. It was you. Who else can it be? It was you, right?"

"It wasn't my soul!"

I fell back in horror as Erebus raised his head to yell the answer in my face. It wasn't his tone that had surprised me. Despite the raised volume, his tone had remained gentle.

What terrified me was the pair of crimson eyes staring down at me with pain.

If golden eyes were a symbol of the crest holder then red eyes were a classic characteristic sign of a Demon Wolf.

"Y-You're a Demon Wolf."

Apparently Erebus was both.

I watched baffled as a pained smiled bloomed on his lips,

"How can I not be? A crest alone doesn't give you enough power to transfer souls or create a whole body out of a person and then merge back. A crest alone couldn't have helped me win against an army of thousands of rogues, all alone."

His voice turned smaller and smaller as he approached the end of his speech.

"It was him. He helped you win the Great War."

I feel like my throat was getting constricted.

"When I was dying in The Barren Lands, I wanted to pass my crest onto you but he didn't want to. He must've interfered and instead of the crest, transferred part of his soul to you instead. As long as I remember, he's been obsessed with the crest. He wouldn't just give it you like that, Thea. He's a demon. Deceiving is in his nature. He sweet talks his way through matters. He probably only kept you alive so you could help him get his hands on my body and the Liber. You ruined his plan by marking me. He can't kill you now or he'll die too."

The more he spoke, the heavier my heart got.

Suddenly I remembered a conversation that I had with Erebus when he was inside my body.

"Were you a science geek?"

"You can say that. I wanted to explore the full extent of the crest's powers."

"Is that what made you the undefeatable king?"

I watched as the wolf's eyes turned hazy for a second before he blinked and met my gaze again,

"Enough questions for today..."

Now that I compared, he was awfully similar yet so different than Erebus. He was bolder, devilish and more sexually expressive. He seemed experienced when he made me touch myself unlike Erebus who turned red with the mere thought of me relieving his frustrations.

"Why..."

He knew what I was asking. I didn't need to voice my thoughts out loud. Why did he not tell me all of this sooner?

His head was still hung low as he opened his mouth to answer me,

"He's a part of me. He's the epitome of my deepest, darkest and most selfish desires. I kept this part suppressed as long as I could but I needed his help in the Great War. I didn't know he would go to this extent to keep us alive. That's why I avoided you when I woke up. That's why I wanted to return the crest to you and disappear from your life. I didn't want to be in your way. But after you kept expressing your willingness to be with me, I couldn't keep myself away from you. I thought I could save you from him."

I was reminded of another snippet from our previous conversation, back when Erebus had relieved my heat for the first time after waking up from his slumber,

"You think we will be able to live normally, Erebus?"

"Yes, as long as we get the Enforcers on our side. As long as I don't get in your way."

"You're my way, Erebus."

Tears brimming in my eyes had started flowing down my cheeks.

"A wendigo is born out of a man's selfishness and greed. This wound can't change a demon into a wendigo but it brings the most selfish and greedy part of a person out, for me it's my demon. This wound has strengthened him."

By the end of it, he was trembling uncontrollably,

"I failed to protect you."

He seemed broken as he raised his head to glance my way. It seemed as if he were a dying man taking one last look at his lover.

"I'm sorry."

He kept staring at me for a few minutes before he finally closed his eyes.

"Erebus? Erebus?"

I was angry at him for hiding the truth from me but the way he had turned silent all of a sudden had made me forget all about my anger. His sudden silence was scaring me immensely.

"Erebus?"

Time seemed to have slowed down as I watched Erebus lift his eyelashes, revealing one of the most bewitching pair of rubies that I had ever laid eyes on. In that moment, all expressions were wiped off of his face until slowly the left corner of his lips pulled up into a deadly smirk as he said,

"Here's the woman who ruined all my plans of possessing the whole crest."

My eyes widened with fear, my heart jumping to my throat as realization dawned on me, this wasn't Erebus talking.

'It's him.'

The empty look in Erebus' eyes remained settled as he slowly tilted his head to the side while letting his lips stretch into a full-blown smile. He looked crazed.

"I prefer Marchosias, baby."

How did you all like the twist? Does that answer your question as to why Erebus didn't remember her after waking up? 😜

Spoiler Alert: Marchosias is a crazy bad boy.

Can you all see inline comments? Cause I can't. I see the comments in the comment section but most of the inline comments people leave on my stories, I don't even know which paragraph they're talking about!