Chapter 5

GWEN 

Two days

That's how long it's been since the rogue attack.

The wounds on my side were healing well, just a dull ache beneath the skin. I looked fine. Mostly 

But I didn't really feel fine.

Not really.

Ever since that moment in the healers room when Conan touched my wrist and something invincible pulled between us, I haven't been able to breathe properly.

And Conan, we hadn't spoken again.

He was silent at dinner, as always. Stiff, distant. But I caught him looking at me, and then looking away almost immediately. 

I think the others noticed too.

“You're not eating," Raya said that afternoon, setting a folded blanket on the edge of my bed. 

I wouldn't say my relationship with her was very good now, but it was better. I was more comfortable around her. She was nice.

“Is it the food or your thoughts?”

I glanced up at her from where I sat, legs tucked up under me.

“Both” I murmured

She didn't tease. Instead, she stepped closer, her expression softening. “You're more quiet than usual.”

“I was quiet before “

“But your quiet was never this heavy”

I have a tired shrug “ I'm just trying to process everything and keep a low profile”

“It's hard to do that when everyone can smell you.”

That made me freeze “ what?”

Raya sat down beside me, her tone gentle but serious. “ Your scent’s changing, Gwen. The Omega’s have been whispering. Even the guards are on edge.”

“I don't know what's happening” I said quickly

“I know” she cut in softly. “Yet it's shifting. Sweet one moment, normal the next. Like it's unsettled.”

I look down at my hands 

“Maybe there is something wrong with me,” I say quietly.

“Or maybe there is a hidden meaning behind your changing scent.”

After almost a minute of silence

“Put on something decent,” Raya says as she walks to my wardrobe.

“Why? I'm healed” I say in confusion.

“We are going to ask the healer about your scent.”

“So you think she noticed it too?”

“Everyone has,Gwen. They just don't say it to your face.”

The Healer’s chamber was quiet and warm, filled with hanging herbs and the sharp bite of crushed roots.

She looked older than I remembered. Her long grey braids coiled over one shoulder like a thick rope. Her eyes though… they were young. Bright and knowing.

She looked up when I entered, and waved Raya to close the door. 

“Gwendolyn,” she said softly . “Something is changing, and you came to ask about it.”

I sat. Slowly.

The healer didn't touch me. She just watched. Then she said, “Your blood sings, Gwendolyn . It always has. But it's only now that your body has started to listen.”

I didn't understand. “What does that mean?”

“You are descended from a line of healer women blessed by the goddess. Not common or potion mixers but sacred blood bearers. Women whose scents shifts when they are near a tipping point

“A tipping point?” I swallowed.

“Your Wolf is stirring.”

I went still.

“You were rejected, yes. But your Wolf was young, quiet and submissive. And now, she's beginning to rise.”

I shook my head. “This has nothing to do with my Wolf. It's just the stress. The trauma…”

“No. This isn't from the pain. It's a transformation. Your scent is not mate driven. It's your essence changing. That's why it pulls others. Why it makes the air heavier around you. You are beginning to radiate.”

I sat down. Stunned.

She continued, “your blood is rare. Your scent reflects that, and the Alpha… he is responding to it in a way he doesn't understand 

My heart twisted.

“He doesn't want me.”

“He feels you. And that's more dangerous than want.”

I left the healers chamber quietly. Raya didn't speak much, just gave my arm a little squeeze before parting ways in the hallway.

I barely tasted my food at dinner.

And I didn't dare meet Alpha Conan's eyes across the table.

Because I now understood.

He wasn't just drawn to me.

He was being pulled.

Later that night, I couldn't sleep.

The air in my room felt too full, like it was pressing against my lungs. My skin prickled. My thoughts spiralled.

As I slipped into my robe and walked barefoot through the cool stone halls and toward the eastern garden.

The air was cool. The moonlight shining bright.

It was peaceful. Quiet. I let out a sigh.

I look around the garden. It was beautiful. I begin to walk into the garden.

And there— by the edge of the garden wall stood a massive black Wolf. Eyes clear blue as the sky.

It didn't move. Just stared at me.

The Wolf stepped forward, nose twitching, eyes glowing with something more than instinct.

I didn't move. I couldn't.

 He circled me once, then pressed his muzzle to the base of my throat and inhaled.

Hard.

Again.

And again.

A shudder ran through my spine.

“Alpha?” I whispered.

Then, like a burst of magic, he shifted.

And Alpha Conan stood before me. Bare, breathless and trembling like he was holding something back. He inhaled deeply.

“I shouldn't be here,” he said, voice hoarse. “ I didn't mean to… I just… your scent – it's everywhere.”

He looked dazed. Not fully present. As if drunk on something invincible.

“I can't stop smelling you,” he rasped. “ I don't know what's happening to me.”

“I don't either, Alpha–”

“Conan. Call me Conan” he says as he comes in contact with me. Chest to chest, I feel his hardness against my stomach. He is painfully hard. 

He touched my wrist, just as he had in the healers chamber.

His hands trembled.

His hands slid to my waist, hesitant — then desperate.

“Tell me no,” he begged. “Say no, Gwen. Say it and I'll go.”

But I don't

Because I wasn't afraid

Because I needed to be seen, and for the first time, I was.

He kissed me. Hard. Desperate. Needy. And then he kissed me softly. Like he was learning me all over again.

His hands began to roam my body. His body betraying his words from before.

His words came between kisses. “ I don't want to want you… but I can't stop.

His lips traced my collarbone. His teeth grazed my neck. I moaned. I wanted him as much as he wanted me. Maybe more.

The robe slipped from my shoulders, and I felt the ache in his fingers. The way they clung to the fabric.

“I am going to take you right here in this garden Gwen. And I won't be gentle. But I will never hurt you. Please… let me have you.” he whispered in my ear.

“Yes Alpha, I am yours.” I moan out.

He growled deeply as his eyes flickered between blue and black, finally settling down on black. 

His Wolf had taken control.