The Mate Inside Me

Chapter 25

"Someone's trying to morph the Werewolves into a creature called Wendigo."

"... What?"

My eyebrows drew closer as the word left my mouth in confusion. I thought Wendigos were spirits only found in the legends. I don't think anyone alive had ever seen one for real. There were was nothing to them except for a bunch of hand drawn pictures, folklores and a small topic dedicated to them in our history books, a topic I had skipped.

"There are countless legends surrounding their presence and according to the most trusted one, a wendigo is created when a human overpowered by greed resorts to cannibalism, but unlike the lore I don't believe the wendigos to be spirits. They are a species, just like us. They have a body, that needs to eat for survival; they own a form that can be killed. Despite originating from the humans, they are different, far more powerful and intelligent than their predecessors. They have evolved with time."

The tiled wall I had been leaning against was starting to feel even colder than before.

"I believe whoever is turning the werewolves into those heinous creatures has found the link connecting a human to a wendigo and they're applying it on us now."

I could hear my dad moving before the sound of him slumping on a chair reached me,

"Those creatures you stumbled on were only failed experiments. They were nowhere near the actual final product. Even the traditional wendigo is too hard to outsmart and kill. I can only imagine what a werewolf turned wendigo would be like. Those creatures you fought, they were brainless, no tactics. They attacked blind. Wendigos are not like that. They can mimic the voices of other creatures. Their speed is unmatchable. They're near perfect hunters."

Suddenly the flashes of those cannibal werewolves we encountered in the woods started swarming my head, only this time they weren't attacking us blindly. This time, they were trained predators.

"Ha..."

If it hadn't been for Erebus holding my waist, I'd have ended up sliding down towards the floor.

"It must be overwhelming for you to know this, but it is my duty to inform the king whenever I find any big piece of information especially one that can prove to play the key role in war. I think there's a traitor amongst us. The appearance of those creatures, so close to the capital, has only strengthened this idea of mine. Knowing something like this, you can't remain safe for long. I needed to tell you this as soon as possible."

I was so stunned, I had to cough a bit to clear my throat before addressing him,

"Why didn't you go to Erebus?"

A small laughter found its way to me soon accompanied by an answer that made my heart clench with an unnamed feeling,

"Why go to him when my lovely daughter is going to be the best ruler of all eras?"

Three years.

He hadn't talked to me properly for three years, mostly because, according to him, he was trying to push my shift but those three years had done their damage. They had drawn a line between us and no matter how he behaved, those cracks weren't getting filled.

"I know what you're thinking; how could I say this after neglecting you for three long years."

Yes.

"No."

I lied in a flat voice.

"I'm sorry, sugarplum. When you've lived as long as I have you start to pick things up; My senses were telling me that something was going to happen, something big. The werewolves needed their king. I needed to push you, deprive you of love so that you'd seek it inside you and you did. You awakened him."