The Predator's Invincible Heir

Chapter 9: The Witch's Truth

The forest didn't feel like a sanctuary anymore; it felt like a cage closing in.

The next morning, the trees loomed larger than usual, their thick canopy blocking out the morning sun and casting long, distorted shadows across the dirt path. Tiffany wasn't with us. Her text from earlier that morning was still burned into my mind: "Can't make it today, Aria. Still shaking. Need to stay home."

I couldn't blame her. After watching her get tossed through the air like a ragdoll by a creature of pure myth, I was surprised she wasn't packing her bags to leave the state entirely.

So, it was just Liam and me. We hadn't even waited for the final bell to ring before slipping past the school's blind spots and heading straight into the thick of the woods.

The silence between us was heavy, broken only by the crunch of dry leaves under our sneakers. I kept my eyes glued to the path, my hands shoved deep into my pockets to hide how badly they were trembling. Every time a twig snapped, my heart skipped a beat, half-expecting a pair of massive, glowing eyes to peer out from the brush.

"Aria," Liam's voice cut through the quiet, low and grounded. He slowed his pace, matching mine perfectly. "What really happened yesterday in the woods?"

I stopped. The air caught in my throat as I looked up at him. His jaw was set, but his eyes—those intense, searching eyes—held nothing but genuine concern. I studied the sharp angles of his face, desperately trying to read him. If I told him the whole truth, would he think I'd finally lost my mind? Would he look at me with pity? Or worse, disbelief?

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced a ragged sigh.

"We saw something, Liam. Something impossible."

He didn't interrupt. He just stood there, a solid anchor against the sudden chill in the air, waiting for me to continue.

"It started before we even saw her," I whispered, my voice shaking as the memory flooded back. "We were just going home, talking as we walked. Then we collided with something. It was right there, but it was completely invisible. It wasn't the first time I've encountered something strange since I came to this town, but this time, she actually showed herself. She was massive. Majestic, but absolutely terrifying. Tiffany... Tiffany lost her head. She charged at her, and the beast didn't even blink. She just swiped her hand, and Tiffany went flying."

I watched Liam's face closely. I didn't hold back the weirdest parts—how the creature didn't use words, but her voice echoed directly inside my skull, reading my thoughts before I could even process them.

But I kept one detail locked tight behind my teeth: I didn't tell him that she claimed she had been waiting for me for one thousand years. The weight of that statement was too heavy, too crazy to utter aloud.

As I described the staggering scale of the beast, a subtle flicker passed through Liam's eyes—a split second of pure disbelief. In a pack of werewolves, size was a measure of power, but what I was describing defied the laws of nature. I couldn't blame him for doubting. If I hadn't looked up into that towering, ancient face myself, I would have thought I was dreaming too.

"She believed the pack soldiers were after her when they heard her roar," I continued quickly, moving past his silent doubt. "She said she didn't want to fight them because... because she would end up hurting them. She left to protect them from herself."

Again, I chose my silences carefully. I completely omitted the part where Astraea pointedly mentioned my love for him. My cheeks flushed hot just thinking about it. How could I confess that to the Alpha's son? What if it pushed him away? What if his protectiveness was just duty, not the burning connection I felt consuming me? I buried the memory deep down and skipped right past it.

Liam ran a hand through his hair, his brow furrowing deeply. "A beast that massive... it sounds like the Lycan my father was talking about at the pack house. He's been on high alert for days."

"I don't know," I admitted, my voice dropping to a fragile whisper. My chest ached with the sheer volume of unanswered questions pressing against my ribs. "I don't know what to believe anymore. My mind is just... spinning. But she told me her name. Astraea. And she said she would see me again. Next time, I'm going to demand answers. I need to know what she really is."

By the time we approached the secluded clearing where Morrigan's hut sat, the atmosphere shifted violently. The bright morning light vanished, swallowed whole by bruised, purple-gray clouds that rolled in with unnatural speed. The wind picked up, whipping through the trees and bringing the sharp, metallic scent of an impending storm. It felt ominous, like the sky itself was warning us to turn back.

We pushed through the creaking wooden door of the hut. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of burning sage, dried lavender, and something metallic stirring in a heavy iron cauldron.

Morrigan didn't even look up as the door banged shut behind us. She stood over her hearth, lazily stirring a thick, simmering potion. A knowing, fluid smile spread across her weathered face.

"Welcome," she murmured, her voice carrying a strange, rhythmic cadence. Finally, she lifted her gaze, ignoring me entirely to lock her ancient eyes onto Liam. A gasp escaped her lips, her eyes widening with a sudden, sharp emotion. "Oh my god... you look so much like her."

Liam stiffened beside me, his entire posture going rigid as a board.

Morrigan let out a soft, melancholic hum. "You know one thing I truly admire about you, William? You carry your mother's heart. Luna Selene was pure, humble, and fiercely kind. You inherited that light. I am so deeply glad she made the decision she did."

The words hung in the air like a suffocating fog. We both knew exactly what she meant—the sacrifice that had cost Liam his mother.

Liam's face hardened into a mask of pure ice. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, his chest rising and falling in sharp, jagged breaths. I couldn't tell if he was about to explode in rage or collapse from the raw grief bleeding through his scent. He swallowed hard, his voice cutting through the warmth of the hut like a blade.

"That is not the reason why we are here."

Morrigan didn't seem offended by his harsh tone. She simply went back to stirring her cauldron, her smile fading into something more solemn. "I know. You came because of Aria."

My heart did a nervous flip. I stepped out from behind Liam's protective shadow. "How do you know my name?"

"Everybody knows your name, child," Morrigan said softly, a dark, profound weight in her words. "Everything knows your name. Every creature crawling beneath the dirt and soaring through the sky knows exactly who you are. You are not nearly as small or insignificant as you think you are."

I shook my head, taking a step back until my spine hit the rough wood of the doorframe. "You... you must be mistaking me for someone else. I'm nobody."

"No, I am not mistaking you," she countered, finally setting her wooden spoon down to look at me fully. "But tell me why you've sought me out. I already know the answers, but the universe requires the truth to come directly from your own mouth."

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the words out before I lost my nerve. "I want to know why I'm so powerless. Why I am so weak?"

Morrigan let out a sudden, sharp laugh that echoed off the cramped walls. It wasn't a cruel laugh, but it sent a shiver straight down my spine. "That is not the real reason you are here, Aria. You want to know why you have no wolf. You think your lack of a wolf is what makes you weak. You think it's the reason you are bullied, the reason you feel like nothing. Fine. I will give you a straight answer."

She turned back to her cauldron, her voice dropping into a devastatingly casual tone. "Aria, you are wolfless because you were never a werewolf to begin with. You don't have a wolf. You never did, and you never will."

The words hit me like a physical blow to the chest. The room seemed to tilt on its axis. I was struck completely dumb, my entire world shattered into pieces.

Every fragile string of hope I had been holding onto snapped in an instant. In a world where your wolf defined your worth, your rank, and your existence, I was an anomaly. A blank space. A ghost.

The realization washed over me in a wave of suffocating despair. I have no future here. I have no hope. How could I ever stand beside Liam? His father, the Alpha, would rather execute a human liability than let her near the pack's legacy. I could never, in good conscience, drag Liam down with me. I could never agree to be his Luna if my only role was to be a helpless target on his back.

A hot, stinging tear slipped down my cheek, followed by another, until my vision blurred into a watery smear of shadows. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak.

Suddenly, a heavy, warm hand gripped my shoulder. Liam stepped in front of me, his posture exploding with a fierce, protective aura that practically radiated heat. His eyes burned as he stared down the witch.

"Even if she doesn't have a wolf, even if she isn't one of us, she is something," Liam growled, his voice vibrating with a deep, primal authority. "I can feel it. Every time I'm near her, I feel this incredible inner strength. There is a stubborn, ancient, powerful spirit locked inside her. Tell me what she is!"

Morrigan stared at him, a spark of genuine approval lighting up her eyes. "Liam, you are exactly right. You can see it, and you can feel it, for one very simple reason—because she is your mate."

The entire world ground to a screeching halt. The crackling fire seemed to quiet. The howling wind outside faded into a distant murmur.

Morrigan looked at our stunned faces and broke into another loud, booming laugh. It was a wild, unbothered sound that eerily mirrored the booming chuckle of Astraea in the woods—a laugh that suggested the secrets of life and death were nothing more than a grand joke.

"You truly didn't know?" Morrigan mocked gently, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. "You don't know you are fated? Or have you both just been living in pathetic denial?"

Liam slowly turned his head to look down at me, his expression a mix of raw vulnerability and fierce conviction. He looked back at Morrigan. "I've known she was mine from the very first moment I set eyes on her. But... she doesn't have a wolf. I didn't think she could feel the mate pull. I didn't want to force a bond on her that she couldn't understand."

Morrigan's eyes shifted to me. Liam's eyes followed. The silence in the room demanded an answer. Do you know? Do you feel it?

I tried to open my mouth, to find the words to tell him that he was my everything, but the sob tearing through my throat choked the words away. More tears cascaded down my face. Seeing my distress, Liam didn't hesitate. He pulled me forcefully against his chest, wrapping his powerful arms around me. He buried his face in my hair, murmuring soft, soothing words, gently patting my back until the violent trembling in my chest began to subside.

Safe in his embrace, I finally found a thread of courage. I pulled back just enough to look into his beautiful, tortured eyes.

"The first time I saw you... I felt it too," I confessed, my voice breaking. "I was so confused. I thought, how can a broken, wolfless girl feel something so beautifully overwhelming? I was terrified. I didn't have anyone to ask. I couldn't even bring myself to tell my mom. But I knew. I knew my soul belonged to you. I wanted so badly to find my wolf, Liam. I wanted to be strong so I could stand by your side without being a liability. So your father and the pack wouldn't look at me with disgust. But it's over now. It's hopeless."

Liam let out a sound—a deep, agonizing groan that ripped from the very depths of his chest, sounding exactly like a wounded, suffering animal. He cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs wiping the moisture from my cheeks with desperate tenderness.

"Aria, listen to me," he commanded, his voice shaking with an intensity that made my heart race. "With or without a wolf, I love you. Do you hear me? That is the only truth that matters. That is all that will ever matter. If I am fated to be the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, then there will be no other Luna by my side but you. Period."

"She would be your Luna, William..." Morrigan's voice drifted over from the hearth, cutting through our bubble like ice water. "...if you can manage to keep her alive."

We both snapped our heads toward her. "What did you just say?" Liam demanded, his grip tightening on my waist.

Morrigan's face lost all its humor, turning deadly serious. "Aria may not even survive to see her next birthday. She has been born four times into this life, Liam. And each time, the shadow of death takes her the moment she turns eighteen. That same dark, hovering curse is bleeding into this life right now."

My breath hitched. Born four times? Dead at eighteen?

"The only way she survives," Morrigan continued, her gaze locking onto mine, "is if she awakens whatever it is that is sleeping inside her. The very thing Liam can feel. I do not fully comprehend what sleeps within your soul, child, but it is there. If it stays buried, you will die again. If you awaken it, you will live a longer, more powerful life than anyone could imagine. You will be the greatest Luna the Blackwood Pack has ever seen. But until then... you must protect her, Liam."

"How?" Liam demanded, stepping completely in front of me again. "Protect her from whom? Tell me what is coming for her!"

"I don't know," Morrigan said. The raw frustration and helplessness in her voice proved she wasn't lying. She genuinely didn't know.

My mind spun into complete chaos. Who do I need protection from? My thoughts flashed back to the towering, majestic form of Astraea. No, it couldn't be her. Even though she was terrifyingly powerful, her voice had been gentle, almost maternal. She felt like a protector, not a predator. So if it wasn't the beast... what was coming to kill me?

I had come to this hut searching for a cure, a spark to awaken a wolf. Instead, I was leaving with a death sentence hanging over my head.

Liam grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the exit. We couldn't stay here any longer. But just as his hand touched the wooden door handle, Morrigan's voice cracked through the room like thunder.

"William! Listen to me very carefully."

We both turned.

"Aria is going to get hurt. Badly," the witch warned, her eyes wide with an eerie, prophetic certainty. "When it happens—and it will—do not take her to the pack doctors. If you let them touch her, she will die. The moment she is wounded, you bring her straight back to me. You defy everyone. You defy your father, your pack, your duties. Even if she stops breathing, even if you think her heart has beat its last count... you run her to this hut as fast as your legs can carry you. It is the only way her story doesn't end in blood again."

Liam's jaw clenched, distrust dripping from his expression. "How can I trust a single word you say? My mother died because of your cryptic predictions."

Morrigan slowly closed her eyes, a heavy sorrow drooping her shoulders. When she opened them, they were filled with a profound, quiet peace. "It is true. I did not foresee that Selene would exchange her life for yours in the ritual. But I know your mother, boy. Even if she had known the price beforehand, she would have laid her life down for you seven times over. She died out of pure, unadulterated love. Do not insult her sacrifice by carrying bitterness. Live a life worthy of the glory she gave you. Now... remember my words. When Aria bleeds, bring her to me. Let no one else touch her."

We burst out of the hut and into the woods. The storm had finally broken. Sheets of icy rain slammed down upon us, drenching us within seconds, but neither of us cared. We walked in absolute, agonizing silence. The weight of the witch's words hung over us, heavier than the storm clouds above.

My head was pounding with a vicious, throbbing ache. Four lifetimes. A recurring death sentence. A mysterious power I couldn't access. I felt entirely swallowed by the dark.

Liam guided me through the torrential downpour until we finally reached the porch of my house. Thankfully, my parents' car wasn't in the driveway. They were still out.

Liam stood on the edge of the porch, the rain cascading off his shoulders, staring at me with an intensity that burned right through the freezing cold. Before I could turn to open the door, he caught my wrists, pulling me flush against his warm chest.

"Aria," he whispered, his voice cutting through the roar of the thunder. "We have this. I don't care what the witch says about a curse. We are going to fight this together. You are going to live. For me. For us."

A single, hot tear escaped my eye, instantly mixing with the rain on my face. Liam leaned in, his thumb gently wiping the moisture from my cheek. Then, he pressed a soft, lingering, fiercely protective kiss against my forehead.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," he murmured, his eyes promising me the world. "Don't let the dark consume you tonight. We've got this."

With that, he turned and disappeared into the sheet of gray rain.

I stumbled inside, locking the door behind me. Shivering and completely numb, I just managed to change out of my soaked clothes. I collapsed onto my bed, the exhaustion pulling me under into a deep, dreamless sleep.