Rejected And Reborn As The Alpha King's Luna

Chapter 38: Only The Dead May Enter

Thelma's POV

Xavier's hands dropped, and the devastation in his eyes was terrible to observe. But I turned away and kept walking.

The sun was setting when we encountered the ice wraiths.

They materialized from the snow itself, creatures of frozen mist and malice. I counted seven of them, their forms shifting and reforming as they circled our group.

"They feed on emotion," Luna said, her voice tight with fear. "Don't let them touch you."

The wraiths converged, and chaos erupted. Elena screamed as one wrapped around her, its touch pulling something vital from her body. Theo blasted two with his Alpha power, but they reformed instantly. Xavier fought like a demon, but every time a wraith touched him, he staggered, his face going gray.

I watched it all with clinical interest. The wraiths ignored me completely. When one drifted close, it recoiled as if burned, sensing the emptiness where my emotions should be.

"They can't hurt me," I announced. "I'll draw them away."

"No!" Xavier lunged for me, but a wraith caught him. He collapsed to his knees, his entire body shaking.

I walked into the center of the wraith cluster. They swirled around me, confused and angry, unable to feed. I was a void in their hunting ground, an anomaly that disrupted their nature.

"Run," I told the others. "I'll keep them occupied."

"We're not leaving you!" Theo shouted.

"Logical assessment says this is our best chance of survival." I looked at him, at all of them. "This is what I am now. Use it."

Luna grabbed Elena and started pulling her away. Theo hesitated, conflict clear on his face. Finally, he grabbed Xavier, who was still on his knees, and began dragging him.

"No," Xavier gasped, fighting against his brother. "Thelma. I can't, I won't leave her."

"She's giving us a chance," Theo said, and there was something broken in his voice. "Don't waste it."

I stood among the wraiths until the others were clear. Then I simply walked through them, following my group's trail. The creatures dissipated behind me, frustrated and hungry.

I found the others huddled in a small cave an hour later. Xavier was sitting against the wall, staring at nothing. Theo and Luna were whispering urgently. Elena was crying quietly.

"The wraiths have dispersed," I reported. "We can continue at first light."

No one responded.

That night, I didn't sleep. I sat watch, analyzing the events of the day, calculating optimal routes for tomorrow. The others slept fitfully, except for Xavier. He lay awake, his eyes tracking my every movement.

Finally, he got up and came to sit beside me. "Do you remember our first kiss?" he asked quietly.

I searched my memories. "Yes. It occurred in the underground tunnels after you administered the antidote. Duration was approximately eight seconds. Location—"

"That's not what I meant." His voice cracked. "Do you remember what it felt like? How your heart raced? How everything else disappeared except us?"

I consulted the memory again, examining it like an old photograph. "I can recall the physiological responses. Increased heart rate, elevated body temperature, release of dopamine and oxytocin."

"And now? If I kissed you now, what would you feel?"

I considered the question. "I would recognize the physical sensation of lips touching. I would taste you, feel the pressure. But the emotional component would be absent."

"Can I try anyway?"

I saw no reason to refuse. "If you wish."

He leaned in slowly, giving me time to pull away. When his lips met mine, I analyzed every aspect. The warmth, the slight chapped texture, the way he trembled. Through our bond, I felt his desperate hope, his love, his agony.

But inside me, there was only silence.

When he pulled back, tears were streaming down his face. "Nothing?" he whispered.

"I observe your pain," I said. "I recognize that this hurts you. If I could feel empathy, I likely would. But I cannot."

He made a sound like something dying. Then, slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. I allowed it, recognizing it as a comfort behavior.

"I'll get you back," he said into my hair. "I don't care what it takes. I'll get you back, Thelma. The real you."

I sat rigid in his embrace, feeling his heartbeat against my cheek, his tears soaking into my hair. My wolf Thalia howled somewhere deep inside, a sound of anguish I could observe but not share.

We stayed like that until dawn, Xavier holding me like I might disappear, whispering memories of our love into the darkness. I listened, catalogued each story, but couldn't connect to the girl he described.

That girl felt things. That girl loved him back.

That girl was gone.

When morning came, we continued our journey. The tension in the group had shifted. Theo kept looking at me with something that might have been grief. Luna's worry had deepened. Elena avoided my gaze entirely.

And Xavier, he walked beside me like a ghost, our mate bond pulsing with his unspoken pain.

Three hours later, we found it.

The cave entrance loomed before us, carved into the mountain face. Darkness poured from its mouth like liquid shadow. And standing before it, formed from the darkness itself, was a creature that defied description. It had too many limbs, too many eyes, a form that hurt to look at directly.

A voice echoed from deep within the cave, ancient and vast.

"Only those who have truly died may enter. Thelma qualifies."

The creature shifted, its attention fixing on me with terrible weight.

"But she must enter alone. Without her mate or her twin."

Xavier's hand found mine, gripping tight. Through our bond, I felt his terror, his refusal, his desperate need to protect me.

"No," he said, his voice raw. "Absolutely not."

"This is the only way," I said, gently extracting my hand from his. "The logical choice."

"Stop saying that!" Theo grabbed my arm. "Stop acting like your life doesn't matter. Like losing you would be acceptable."

I looked between them, my mate and my brother, and observed their fear, their love, their determination. I should have felt something. Anything.

"I have to go," I said. "You know I do."

The shadow creature waited, patient as death itself.