117

Chapter 119

The voice cut through the haze like a blade. Bavanda pulled away, her breath hitching.

Avynna stood in the doorway, her eyes widened in shock. The room was deathly silent.

Bavanda stood frozen, her breath coming in sharp bursts. Across from her, her mother, Avynna, remained still, her expression filled with anger, though her eyes held a deep sadness.

Theresa had already backed away, silently watching the scene unfold. The air between them was thick, charged with unspoken words and emotions far too overwhelming to control.

“Bavanda,” Avynna started carefully, “I need to talk to you.”

Bavanda clenched her fists. She knew what this was about.

“You don’t have to explain anything to her,” Theresa murmured, barely above a whisper. Bavanda felt the warmth of her presence just behind her, a steady reminder that she wasn’t alone.

Avynna’s gaze flickered to Theresa for the briefest moment. “Leave!" She commanded. 

Bavanda shot up immediately. “What? No! Why are you sending her away?" 

“I need to talk to my daughter. Alone." She said, her voice harsh.

Bavanda's lips parted to say something, but Theresa stopped her. “It's okay. I'll leave." 

She turned to Avynna, her head bowed slightly. “Luna, please take it easy on her. It was more of my fault." She said.

"Theresa, what are you doing?” Bavanda questioned, her eyes filling with rage.

"I'll take my leave now.” Theresa mumbled, stepping out of the room afterwards.

Avynna's eyes followed her out, but as soon as the door closed behind her, her eyes locked back onto her daughter. “Bavanda, what the hell?”

Bavanda looked away. “What?" 

"Look at me.” Avynna thundered. 

Bavanda did, but with intense anger in her eyes. “Did you come in here to order me around, Mother?" The way she said the last word made Avynna's insides churn.

If sarcasm was a person…

Still, that didn't take away the rage that was boiling inside her like an over-agigated volcano. “Now, don't act like I didn't just walk in to see you kissing that girl, Bavanda." 

Bavanda retorted. “So? What's so wrong with that?" 

Avynna was shocked, to say the least. For some minutes, she stood there speechlessly, staring at her daughter that had become a stranger. “Bavanda…” she began, but her words failed her. 

She exhaled, batting her eyelids furiously to stop the tears from falling. "Bavanda, just three months ago, we held a party to find suitors for you. You kissed a man, you clearly had feelings for him enough to kiss him. How? How come you…”

Bavanda scoffed. "I kissed a man, and where did it land me, Mother? I almost lost my life, and I'm still facing the consequences. What else are you gonna say?”

Avynna parted her lips, but the words wouldn't form. For the umpteenth time. "Is this why? Is this the reason you insisted she stayed? Is this why you've been so protective about her? Because you're… because you're gay?”

Bavanda began laughing hysterically at this point, and her mother could just stare confused. “Really, mother? Really? It's now a problem, because it's me. It's wrong to be gay, because I'm the one. Right?" 

Avynna sucked in her breath, her anger reduced to nothing but pain. “I never said it was wrong, can you please just stop misunderstanding my words. I just want to know if that wasn't truly a mistake?” 

Bavanda bit her lips furiously. “You know what? I think you should leave now.” 

“Bavanda, I’m worried about you.” her voice was pleading now.

Bavanda let out a sharp laugh—bitter, humorless. “Worried?” she repeated. “You’re not worried. You’re controlling.”

Avynna took a step forward, arms crossed. “That’s not true.”

Bavanda’s nails dug into her palms. “Oh, really? Because it sure feels like you’re trying to tell me how to live my life.”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“No. You’re trying to keep me trapped.”

The words echoed in the room. Avynna exhaled slowly, like she was gathering patience she no longer had. “Bavanda, I can see what’s happening. Theresa—” she glanced at the closed door as if she was standing there, then back at her daughter, “—she’s changing you. You don’t see it, but I do.”

Bavanda’s body tensed. “No. She’s the only one who understands me. She listens. She doesn’t look at me like I’m some kind of… monster.”

Avynna’s lips parted slightly, like the words had physically struck her. “Bavanda, no one thinks that.”

“Yes, you do,” Bavanda snapped, her voice cracking. “You’re scared of me.”

“Bavanda, please!" Avynna thundered. A tear fell off her eyes at the same time. “Please. Please stop this. You're killing me, can't you see? I'm your mother, how can you say things like that?" 

Bavanda bit her lips. One could tell she was trying to resist the tears too. "Because they're true, Mother. They are, and you know it." 

“Bavanda…" 

Bavanda cut her short. “That's why you called in Nancy. That's why you had her question me like I was some villain. That's why your thoughts scream, ‘what are you?’ even when your lips say I'm your daughter. You don't think I'm your daughter anymore, do you?”

Avynna hesitated. Only for a second, but Bavanda saw it. She snapped.

The walls shook. The air thickened.

The shadows in the corners of the room flickered like living things. A deep, unnatural chill crept through the space, settling into Avynna’s spine like ice.

Bavanda’s eyes changed. Not the usual glow of her wolf, but something else, way darker.

Avynna’s breath caught. For just a second, she swore she saw a different face reflected in Bavanda’s eyes—a monstrous, twisted version of her daughter. However, just as fast as it came, it was gone.

Bavanda sucked in a sharp breath, taking a step back, terrified of herself.

She placed a hand on her chest, her touch grounding. “Breathe,” she whispered, her voice as calm as ever.

Bavanda couldn’t stay here. She turned abruptly, shoving past her mother, storming out of the room without another word.

Avynna just stood there, staring at the empty space where her daughter had been.

The fear that had tortured her for weeks now returned with full force. She was scared, truly scared.

Was she losing her daughter?

Steve was outside the door, when Bavanda stormed out. He had heard everything, and shocked couldn't quite explain how he felt. He had seen enough.

He didn’t trust Theresa. Not one bit. He didn't trust her from the start, now this just added to the whole thing.

And Bavanda? She wasn’t herself anymore. He had watched her grow, had been so close to her. She was different now—distant, on edge, lost in something he didn’t understand. It all started when this girl arrived, it had to be her.

So when he caught Theresa alone later that night, standing in the pack’s courtyard beneath the dim light of the moon, he didn’t hesitate.

Neither did he think it through. “You need to stay away from Bavanda.”

Theresa turned at the sound of his voice, her expression unreadable. “Steve,” she greeted, like they were old friends.

“I mean it.” He stepped closer, his fists clenched. “I don’t know what you’ve done to her, but I won’t let you…”

Theresa interrupted him. “What would you do to keep her safe?”

The question cut through his words, smooth and sharp like a knife.

Steve frowned. “What?”

Theresa took a slow step toward him. Her presence was calm—too calm.

“If it meant saving her,” she murmured, “would you do anything?”

Steve’s instincts screamed at him. He had seen many dangerous people in his time, but Theresa—Theresa was different.

His jaw tightened. “Of course.”

Theresa smiled. It wasn’t a kind smile. “Then stop looking for answers.”

And before Steve could react, something hit him—hard. His body froze. The world tilted.

A sharp pain shot through his head, unbearable, suffocating. His knees buckled. His vision darkened.

And the last thing he saw was Theresa’s face, watching him with cold, detached eyes.

Then, blackness.

***

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was the pounding in his skull. The second was that he couldn’t remember why.

Steve groaned, pushing himself up from where he had collapsed in his room. How did he get here?

Something was missing.

His eyes fell on Baron sitted beside him, his face buried in his hands.

“Alpha," he called weakly.

Baron looked at him, letting out a relieved sigh. “Dude, what the…? You scared the hell out of me. What happened to you?” 

Steve's brows furrowed in confusion. "I… I was about to ask you the same thing.” he mumbled.

Baron raised his brows, confused just as much. “What do you mean?" 

"What… what happened to me?”