CHAPTER 217: _BATHE IN THAT MADNESS

"Wait, what?" Odessa mumbled with confusion as she followed my gaze.

I pointed at the spot in the forest just beyond the pack walls, my grip on the railing of the balcony tightening slightly.

"There was a cloaked figure standing right in front of those trees. Watching us."

I felt Odessa’s confusion increasing as I glanced at her.

"Wait, wait... how sure are you that it was us?" She queried, her voice brimming with disbelief. "Maybe they were spying on the pack or—"

"And that’s somehow supposed to make this better?" I interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "I don’t know who that person was but we need to be careful, Odessa."

My gaze fell to her bracelet just then, my eyes squinting.

"The ban on your abilities. The Elders of your coven only said you can’t use it in public, right?" I queried, bringing my gaze back to her eyes.

She seemed disoriented and stressed out but still managed to nod as she brushed her right hand through her hair. "Yeah, but I don’t want to take any chances. Which is why I feel the way I feel right now."

I turned fully to face her, grabbing her right hand and slowly guiding her to bring her gaze to me. The moonlight above us gave her violet eyes an ethereal shimmer that brought an odd sense of peace to my soul.

"Odessa..." I mumbled, rubbing her hand gently, almost in reverence of how smooth her touch was. "How do you feel?"

She blinked, her face reddening slightly as she tore her gaze away from me.

"With the mate bond active, you should be able to feel that clearly, Kaelos." She said softly.

I tilted my head slightly but decided to focus. I tugged at the invisible strands of the mate bond and felt her emotions like they were mine, skimming past her thoughts.

What I wanted access to now wasn’t what she thought. But how she felt.

And instantly, it came flooding through.

"You’re afraid," I muttered, smiling wryly. "But not of me. It’s... a primal fear that most of us face. A fear of the unknown. A fear of being a burden."

She nodded slowly, taking a step forward. "Is there anything else?"

I concentrated a little harder now and got another feeling.

"Uncertainty. Despair..." I frowned, raising my head and staring directly at her. "But why?"

She slowly tried withdrawing her hand but I tightened my grip on it, refusing to let go. She parted her lips slightly before sighing lightly.

"Kaelos, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be of any use to this mission now that I’m restricted from using my powers." She revealed, lowering her head. "The Elders of the coven are watching me through this damn bracelet. I’m forced to hide who I am to avoid scaring people. To avoid another massacre."

I shook my head, bringing my free hand to her face and fondling it softly. "Odessa, you’re seeing it from a different light. You were a powerless witch before you were a hybrid, remember? Did I see you as useless then?"

She blinked, tilting her head suspiciously. "Well? Did you? Don’t lie, I can feel if you’re lying through the bond."

I chucked softly, answering honestly. "Well... at first, I did—"

She gasped before I could say anything else, hitting me on my shoulder with her free hand.

"You couldn’t even butter it up." She grumbled, pouting her lips.

I chuckled again, placing a hand on her waist while still holding her hand. Her eyes widened slightly as she swallowed hard, struggling to maintain eye contact.

A small smirk pulled at my lips as I shook my head. "You didn’t let me finish, dear wife. Yes, I saw you as useless at first. But that was only because I was trying so hard to reject the fact that I was mated to a witch. A powerless witch at that."

She clicked her tongue and looked away, clearly pissed by that last part.

Dear goddess...

’Could you stop bringing up the fact that she was a powerless witch as if she hadn’t known that all her life?’ Damon scoffed in my mind, sounding like he wanted to come out and continue the conversation himself.

I wish...

"The point I’m trying to make is that you proved your usefulness to me in more ways than one." I cleared my throat and continued, praying mentally to the gods that I wouldn’t say something else that she would take the wrong way.

"From your flawless potion brewing skills. To your ability to stay by my side despite my bullshit. The way you navigated seamlessly through the insults and judgment from the wolves of Blood Oak and the continent at large."

I watched with glee as her face reddened and she brought her gaze to my eyes, letting out a flustered breath.

"Are you trying to flatter me, Kaelos?" She asked with a whisper, leaning in. "Because it might be working. Just a little though."

I smiled at that, slowly trailing my hand to her stomach. She gasped lightly at first until she smiled as well.

"And now you’re carrying a child. Our child. At first, I thought having a child with you would be madness." I remarked, shaking my head. "But now? If that makes me mad I want to bathe in that madness. Nay, I want to swim in it until it clings to me like a second skin."

She fluttered her eyelids at me, her smile never disappearing.

"I love you." She finally muttered, resting her head on my forehead. "And yeah... the little urchin growing inside me is another reason why I’m scared. I don’t want to endanger them in any way. And at the same time..."

She paused, her eyes blinking at me yet again.

"... I want to fight to build a world that wouldn’t ostracise them like I was."

I nodded, fondling her stomach gently. "We’ll build that world together, Odessa. I promise. I swear it."

Then I slowly turned my head to the Iron Fang pack grounds again, my gaze trailing all the way to the forest.

The wind blew gently just then, the leaves and trees in the forest rustling as if to acknowledge that whoever was out there was still watching.

"We’ll take down one scum at a time..."