Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 259: Going mad.

Leilani.

I had told Darius off.

Yeah, and I had made sure I did it so straight forwardly that he would never be confused by my words or actions.

So imagine the shock I got when I arrived at my house later that evening only to find an extremely large bouquet of roses by my porch. With it was a note in the usual style that screamed ’Darius!’

—And heavens, as soon as my eyes landed on the unwanted objects, my anger flared.

I picked it up unceremoniously and didn’t even bother to check what was in the note this time around as I stomped over to the trash cans. I was panting like I had just run a marathon, fuming like I’d been told that my car had been smeared with poop. With a thump, the bouquet landed into the thrash can and I sighed, turning away from it, only to halt in my tracks when I noticed an old neighbor watching me intently.

She cocked her head to the side, her washed-blue eyes staring dreamily at the roses as she drawled; "That youngling has been consistent for a while now."

I frowned.

It took me a moment to understand what she was talking about and when I realized that she thought these roses were coming from a suitor that I wanted, my cheeks burned.

"No... no madam Cordelia!"

"You seem to not want him... why not tell him exactly that?"

Exactly!

I had told him exactly that but he doesn’t seem to care. However, when I briefly explained this to her, her eyes turned glossy. She sighed; "He, just like every other person, has seen how much of a special gem you are."

A special gem?

A special gem? Me?

I wanted to ask her what she meant by this when suddenly she turned around and went into her house, her walking stick hitting the floor with a click-clack sound with each step that she took.

I stood there for a while watching her leave and it wasn’t until she was gone that I finally let out the air I’d been holding.

She had called me special... but it wasn’t the words that stuck out to me. It was the look in her eyes. It was the way it seemed as though she could see into my very soul.

But... but... isn’t she supposed to be a human?

Isn’t she supposed to be the eccentric old woman that everyone avoids and just waves past?

Discarding these thoughts, I turned away and went into my own house, blissfully forgetting all about Darius and his annoying flowers.

But as soon as I stepped into my house, my body jerked in a way that I found weird. Sweat poured out of my glands, soaking through my shirt. But do you know what was worse? The wracking headache that tore through my skull. The pain that was lancing through my spine as if threatening to break me into two.

A stifled cry left my lips as I crashed to the floor, and as tears streamed down my face, I realized then and there that it was my wolf. The stupid wench that doesn’t inform me before she shows up!

But for some reason today, the pain was too much.

It was burning right through me.

My body shook so much, I could barely hold myself together and as the seconds passed, my cries soon turned to screams... screams of agony.

But nothing was happening.

I wasn’t shifting. I couldn’t shift. My vision was getting blurry and the strange strength coursing through my veins was too much, I feared it would burst right through my skin.

In a moment of desperation, I immediately shut my door and sent a quick text to Maya, but that was the last thing I could remember doing before the world closed off on me. Before I was thrown into a very dark abyss and my heartbeat came to a stuttering stop.

I struggled to stay awake... I struggled not to sink into this bliss this silence promised but as my eyes fluttered shut and my body jerked wildly, I knew then and there that I couldn’t fight it.

I wasn’t strong enough...

And then, the world went dark.

When I woke up later, I was surprised to find myself laying down on my couch. My hair was a mess, my clothes were ripped in places that would make one think I had been attacked by rogues.

My throat felt patched and my skin was bruised in places I knew I had scratched too hard.

Tears fell freely from my eyes as I struggled to sit up and due to the agonizing pain tearing through my body, that seemed as possible as spreading my wings and flying.

A stifled groan slipped past my lips as I sat up and with the heels of my hands pressed into my temple, I groaned; 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Everywhere hurts."

"Huh?"

I froze, not expecting to hear anyone speak as I’d been thinking I was alone. When I spun around and my eyes met Maya’s, warmth bloomed in my chest.

I cried; "Maya?"

"Oh, my baby!" She cried too, coming to wrap her arms around my neck.

She pulled me into a crushing hold, only stopping when I groaned from pain. When she pulled back, she held me at arm’s length, her breath hitching as her eyes raked down the length of my body.

She sighed; "You look unwell."

"I feel unwell." I answered truthfully, hating the way my voice sounded like it was being grated against ice. "What happened?"

"I should be asking you." She answered, sounding so worried, I feared she would cry.

My memories were fuzzy so for a few minutes, I could barely remember what had happened to me. Pinching my eyes together, I tried to remember how I’d gotten in that position, but the more I tried... the harder it became.

I rasped; "How did you know that something happened to me?"

And as soon as I asked that, she rose to her feet, rolled her eyes at me and then resumed doing whatever she’d been doing with my cookware. She spat; "You sent me a text, Lani."

"I did...?" I began to ask but stopped when several memories flooded my mind.

I could remember sending Caelum off, coming home to find those roses... my conversation with Mama Cordelia, then... then...

The episode.

I stilled.

And goddess, I could swear that I heard my heart stop in my chest.

With my suddenly swollen lips, I looked up at Maya and whispered; "I remember now."

And at the sound of my voice, she stopped what she was doing, lifted her eyes to meet mine and cocked it expectantly, her voice soft as she asked;

"You can remember what happened to you?"

"Yess," I hissed through the pain in my spine. "I tried to shift... again. But this time, it was very painful. Too painful, I felt like I was about to die."

"Does it happen like that naturally?"

"It used to," I answered shakily, "...it used to happen like this but stopped after a while and began to feel more... natural. I can’t remember when last I felt this much pain... this feels worse than when I had to witness my mates making love to my sister..." I cried, causing Maya to gasp in surprise.

"That bad?" She asked, and I could only nod as suddenly, it felt like I could no longer find my voice.

But in that silence that followed, I couldn’t help but think back to Darius and the things he’d said to me... his voice, the worry on his face and the way he’d seemed like he was looking out for me.

Or wasn’t he?

Isn’t this exactly what he said would happen?

I closed my eyes and dragged in a lungful of air, my heart breaking at the thoughts now flooding my mind. And before you all would ask what thoughts, don’t worry, I’d tell you:

I was already beginning to consider his proposal, if only that would create a way out of this agony.

If only that would mean I could now shift more naturally.

When I peeled my eyes back open, I looked up to find Maya already watching me. And call me crazy but I blurted the first words I could think of.

I said; "I think I’ll marry Darius."

She froze.

"Your Targaryen cousin?" She snorted and I nodded, thinking myself mad.

And maybe that was true.