Chapter 227
227 Hidden Cracks
Third Person POV
But Aubrey only pressed her lips together and said nothing.
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She admitted to herself that she still felt her heart stir for Henry from time to time, but the same obstacles between them remained. Unless Henry could treat her as his equal, her feelings alone wouldn’t be enough to keep them together.
And now there was the contract. The sibling bond they had sworn under the Moon Goddess stood between them like a chasm. Unless Henry dared to risk the Moon Goddess’s sacred grounds and return alive, or they somehow obtained the rumored potion that could sever contracts, they could never truly be together. Any wolf who violated the Goddess’s gift would face Her punishment–losing their strength forever.
Ella, however, wasn’t having it. Sibling contract ? The Moon Goddess never agreed to it ! I can feel it – Henry is still our fate mate ! That bond hasn’t weakened one bit !
Maybe the Moon Goddess is just … occupied . Sooner or later She’ll fix this , Aubrey answered in her mind.
I don’t care ! I don’t care ! I only recognize Henry as our fate mate ! No one else matters ! Ella covered her ears and rolled around stubbornly in Aubrey’s thoughts.
The headache from Ella’s tantrum pushed Aubrey to step outside for air. But as she wandered, she noticed something unsettling–wolves of the Flame Pack were keeping their distance from her. When they spoke, their heads dipped low, voices subdued, eyes carefully avoiding hers.
They were afraid of her. But why?
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15:27 Mon, Sep 8 G
227 Hidden Cracks
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Meanwhile, Henry had just finished giving Adelyn a string of instructions regarding Shadowmoon Pack. At last he paused, and she, her voice thick with emotion, said, “…Don’t worry about the pack. Your father can still hold it together. What you need to worry about is yourself. I can see it— something’s wrong with your body.”
Henry froze, surprised she had noticed so soon.
From the start, he’d known what infection meant. At best, he had a month to live. The Lupine virus ravaged the body relentlessly. Aubrey had managed to keep him alive, but the disease would not relent. Day by day, it would worsen.
She had warned him herself: even with constant training, medicine, and treatment, his body would still decay. Muscle wasting, collapsing immunity, the steady rot of a body eaten alive from within. One day, perhaps even a raindrop on his skin would feel like a bullet wound–until finally he lost all sensation, a hollow shell of pain and emptiness.
He had long been prepared for that fate.
Before Aubrey, he kept no mask—limping, slowing, showing strain. But before her eyes, he never faltered. Every step that tore through his muscles, every stab of fire in his bones–he bore it without a flinch, walking as if nothing were wrong.
That was why Adelyn had seen what Aubrey could not.
Henry’s expression remained unreadable. “These changes are inevitable. They can’t be stopped. Not unless we break the virus.”
He added quietly, “And Aubrey mustn’t know. No need to give her more pressure.”
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15:27 Mon, Sep 8 G.
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227 Hidden Cracks
Was it really pressure he wanted to spare her, or simply her worry?
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Adelyn didn’t press him. She could see well enough—her son had already buried Aubrey into the marrow of his bones.
And because of her, his life had stretched this far at all. All Adelyn could do now was pin her hopes on the girl, pray Aubrey truly would succeed.
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