Elaine's POV
It's been two days since I saw Kai, and even though I longed to see him, I was also grateful that he didn't show up so that I could have more time to focus on studying. I asked Cordelia a few questions, and she helped me search for ancient books that would somehow give me answers to the questions I was asking myself.
"I have a question for you, Elaine, and I want you to answer me honestly," Cordelia asked after she left my lunch on the table.
"Alright, I'm listening."
"Do you love Kai?" she asked, taking me by surprise. I looked up from the page I was currently in to meet her gaze, and she really had them fixed on me.
"Of course, I do love Kai," I answered, disappointed that she was even asking me that question in the first place.
"Well, it's so easy to decide which room you feel safe in when you're already used to staying in a particular room, don't you agree?"
I tried to understand what exactly she was driving at and gave her a look of disapproval immediately.
"I see what you're doing, and you're right, but I already chose Kai. In fact, we've mated or bonded—I don't know which of the terms means which," I blurted out.
Cordelia's jaw dropped, leaving her mouth ajar. Now, the look on her face really scared me. Had I done something wrong?
"He agreed to it too?"
"Of course, Mrs. Cordelia. Why wouldn't he?" I replied almost rudely.
"Listen, Elaine. What exists between the two of you at this point isn't something ordinary, and if something were to happen to him or you were to find out that you made the wrong decision choosing him, it would be very difficult for you to cope or deal with it when the time comes," she spoke sincerely out of worry.
"You know what? When the time comes, we'll see about it. For now, I want to get all the information I can about the dynamics of these creatures, the pros and cons, and everything that'd help me achieve victory in the end, okay?"
"If you say so," she sighed. "Don't forget that you can always come to me when things are tough, because now, I see you as the daughter I once lost, and I wouldn't want to lose her again," she smiled sadly and left while I sat dumbfounded, her words repeating themselves in my ears.
I tried to distract myself from everything that I was thinking while eating so that I could return to studying afterward, but it was so difficult, so I decided to do something else. I changed into an attire that would let me run as freely and fast as possible, grabbed my backpack, and left the motel through the back door. I needed to clear my head, and I didn't want anyone, not even Cordelia, to worry about me.
Taking a safe distance away from the motel, I started by jogging, slowly increasing my pace until I was almost leaping. I ran as I should have if something else had happened that night I needed to run away from the cult members. However, something was odd about it. I could swear that this was no ordinary human speed that I was in because I could barely feel the earth under my feet, neither could I bring myself to stop.
I was starting to panic when my legs couldn't stop moving, and the only thing I had control over was the turns I'd take. Using that to my advantage, I aimed for a tree trunk, bracing myself for the pain once my body collided with it, but then again, I stopped just a very few inches away from the trunk I was supposed to hit.
Trying to catch my breath, I sat on the ground and looked around to see if I could recognize where I was. I kept panting and fell each time I tried to stand up, obviously because I needed more strength than I had to keep going. Nothing except the sound of my loud breath filled my ears until my eyelids felt heavy, and I fell asleep right in the middle of the woods.
The next time I opened my eyes again was when it was already dark. I picked myself up immediately and tried to find my way back. I didn't know how, but my vision got clearer than usual, exposing my footprints all the way back to the motel. Feeling scared about what was happening to me, I ran into my room, locked myself in, and went straight to sleep, hoping it would make me forget everything.
"Good morning, Elaine," Cordelia greeted this time, but not in her usual tone—rather in one that showed she demanded answers right away.
"I don't know what's happening to me," I confessed, avoiding her gaze.
"Last night was the third time you returned utterly distorted as if you'd seen a ghost. You don't know what's happening, you need help, and I've been waiting patiently for you to come to me, but since you've refused to, I decided to come to you. So talk to me. What is happening?!"
I shuddered from how she had raised her voice at me. It was the first time she had raised her voice at me, and for what? She was really concerned about my well-being, and she no longer saw herself as an outsider to worry about me declining her help.
Recalling a few things from how I had killed one of the cult members that night—my sudden inhuman speed and my brighter vision—I didn't want to admit what was in my head. But then again, if I really wanted to be helped, I needed to be open, at least to Cordelia, who had proven countless times that she wasn't just on my side but was filled with a lot of knowledge.
"I think I might be like Kai," I bit my bottom lip, unsure if I should have said that or not.
Maybe she sensed how serious I was and sat close to me, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.
"How exactly do you mean?"
"That night we went on a date, four members of the ancient cult showed up… they almost killed Kai, and I couldn't stop myself. I broke through Luca's spell and killed the one that almost killed Luca. I've never felt such strength in my entire life, and for these past days… there's this inhuman speed that I can't explain. I take off, I can't bring myself to stop, and I also can't slow down either. My vision automatically becomes sharper, and I don't know what to do because these things don't usually happen to me," I panicked.
"Did Luca do something to you when he took you?" she questioned me.
"No, he didn't."
"And does anyone know anything about this? Kai included?"
"No, it's just been a few days, and I haven't seen anyone who could have known about this," I told her in all honesty.
She kept mute as though thinking of something really important. She looked so lost that I wondered if she even remembered that she was talking to me seconds ago. Snapping my fingers before her eyes, I brought her back to reality.
"Is something wrong?"
"Follow me," she ordered, ignoring my question.
I did because she didn't give me a better option than to follow her, even though I wasn't sure where she was taking me or whether she understood what I had explained to her earlier.
"Kai is not the first Lycan to be cursed, and something special happened in Kai's time. One of the members of the cult, the oldest if I'm correct, who still had the original principles and intentions for making the cult in the first place, was the only one to stand on the truth. Out of pity and because he was able to foresee the future of these different species if power wasn't taken out of their hands, he made a severe adjustment in the form of a prophecy that got him killed."
"What is the prophecy, and how is it related to me or what I'm going through?" I asked impatiently when we came to a stop before the very portrait she took me to when I was still new in the motel.
Reaching behind the portrait, she took out a scroll perfectly attached behind the large frame.
"A very powerful ruler would emerge. Though deeply wounded and grieved, on his shoulders lies the future of our kinds. With him shall be a special seed in this bloodline of mine, capable of taking his grief away and healing him—therefore helping him achieve his purpose—or utterly destroying him, leaving the rest of our kind in eternal destruction," she read the contents of the scroll to me without even looking at it.
"And?" I raised my brow at her in slight confusion.
"With your relationship with Kai so far and everything you've talked about, you could be the special seed mentioned in the prophecy."