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Chapter Two Hundred Thirteen
Silence settled over the battlefield. Even the fighting in the distance seemed to fade. Thorne’s expression froze.
His eyes lost their murderous focus for the briefest heartbeat.
“…Ra…”
The word caught in his throat. A flicker of confusion crossed his face. A memory… A smile beneath a moonlit sky. Soft dark, streaked with silver hair dancing in the wind. A woman laughing as she placed wildflowers in his hands. Warm fingers intertwined with his.
A gentle voice whispering…
“Thorne…”
His hand instinctively rose toward his chest. His heart… Why did it hurt? Why did that name feel… important?
“…Raven…” he whispered almost inaudibly.
Ravenna’s eyes filled with tears. She had seen it. Just for a heartbeat… The darkness had cracked.
The real Thorne… Her Thorne… Had tried to answer her. But just as quickly, black tendrils of magic wrapped around his body.
The crimson in his eyes deepened until no trace of recognition remained. He clutched his head violently.
“No…”
“No…”
The darkness hissed around him like living creatures.
“She is not Ravenna.”
“She betrayed you.”
“She chose the Silver Wolf.”
“She abandoned you!”
Thorne’s face twisted in agony before hardening once again. When he looked back at Ravenna… There was nothing left except hatred.
“I don’t know anyone named Ravenna.”
His voice was emotionless.
“The only White Witch before me… is another traitor.”
Ravenna lowered her head, silently wiping away a tear. But beneath the sadness… A tiny smile appeared.
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Chapter Twetandred Thirteen
Diana noticed it immediately.
“You remembered him, didn’t you?” Diana whispered.
Ravenna nodded ever so slightly.
“For just a second… My Thorne came back. And that means…”
She looked directly at the man consumed by Gideon’s curse. –
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“He’s still in there. No matter what this curse says… My mate is still fighting to come back to me.”
Diana looked at Ravenna with sadness filling her heart. The White Witch stood tall despite the tears glistening in her eyes. She never once lowered her gaze from Thorne, even after he denied knowing her. Diana could only imagine the amount of pain Ravenna was carrying inside. Every word Thorne spoke was like another blade driven into her heart, yet she remained standing beside them, ready to fight the very man she loved.
Diana lowered her eyes for a moment.
Could I do the same?
The question echoed inside her mind. If fate forced her to choose between Talon and the lives of thousands…
If the only way to save Black Howler, the allied packs, and every innocent pup was to raise her blade against her own mate…
Could she do it?
She slowly looked toward Talon. He was standing protectively in front of her, his broad shoulders tense, Fenrir’s aura swirling around him. Even wounded only moments ago, his first instinct had been to shield her.
No…
Diana’s chest tightened painfully.
I couldn’t.
Not because she lacked courage. Not because she feared death. But because the thought of hurting Talon… The thought alone made her feel like she could no longer breathe.
She loved him too deeply. He was not simply her mate. He was her home. Her peace. Her future.
The father of the two little lives growing safely inside her. How could anyone ask a heart to destroy the very reason it continued beating?
She turned back toward Ravenna. A newfound respect blossomed inside her. The White Witch was far stronger than anyone gave her credit for. Not because of her incredible magic. Not because she alone could oppose Thorne’s black magic.
But because every spell she cast… Every step she took toward this battlefield… Was another sacrifice she willingly made against her own heart.
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“I don’t know it I could do what you’re doing,” Diana said softly, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
Ravenna smiled sadly.
“I don’t know how I do it either.“.
Diana blinked. Ravenna looked down at her slightly swollen stomach before gently rubbing it.
“I ask myself that every day.”
Her voice trembled.
“Every morning I wake up hoping today will be the day Thorne remembers me. Every night I go to sleep wondering if tomorrow I will have to stand before him again. I keep asking myself whether I have enough strength.”
She laughed quietly, though there was no happiness in the sound.
“I never find an answer.”
Diana felt her own eyes sting.
“You still keep choosing this path.”
Ravenna nodded.
“I do. Not because it’s easy. But because I pray that one day… My Thorne will come back.”
Silence settled between them. The battlefield seemed far away for just a moment. Diana’s thoughts slowly returned to what had happened only seconds earlier.
She had seen it. She knew she had. When Ravenna asked Thorne to call her by her name… Something had
changed.
Only for the briefest heartbeat. His eyes… Those cold black eyes… They had softened. The endless hatred had disappeared.
There had been confusion. Pain. Recognition. Even longing.
It had vanished almost immediately, swallowed once again by Gideon’s darkness.
But… It had been there.
“I saw it too,” Diana murmured.
Ravenna slowly looked at her.
“You did?”
Diana nodded.
“For just a second… He wasn’t looking at you with hatred. He looked…”
She searched for the right word.
“…lost.”
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Chapter Twe+undred Thirteen
Ravenna closed her eyes.
know. My Thorne was fighting.”
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Diana looked toward the man standing several yards away. The darkness still coiled around him like living chains. His black eyes had once again become empty. Void. Filled only with Gideon’s hatred. Yet Diana couldn’t stop thinking about that single moment.
If Thorne could hear Ravenna…
If her voice could reach him…
Then maybe…
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. A possibility. One so fragile she hardly dared believe it.
“What if…”
She spoke almost to herself.
“What if we’re trying to break the curse the wrong way?”
Talon glanced toward her.
“What do you mean, my love?”
Diana’s eyes never left Thorne.
“For thousands of years… The Silver Wolves fought the vessel. The White Witches protected the Silver Wolf. They won every battle…”
She slowly shook her head.
“But never the war.”
Ravenna’s expression changed. Diana continued thinking aloud.
“What if the answer was never defeating the vessel? What if…A
She swallowed.
“What if the only one who can truly destroy the curse… is the vessel himself?”
No one spoke. Even Ravenna seemed afraid to interrupt. Diana continued.
“Gideon’s curse feeds on hatred. On obsession. On betrayal. It forces its vessel to believe lies until those lies become their reality.”
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