Chapter 133: ¹³³: Sudden intrusion.

Chapter 133: 133: Sudden intrusion.

I lowered my gaze toward the hospital bed I was sitting on, the same bed where I had been receiving my regular treatments. My fingers unconsciously curled against the blanket beneath me. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t panic again.

After everything Damian had said to me in the field, I had decided that I needed to give myself enough time to understand and absorb all the new things happening in my life. I couldn’t keep allowing every new piece of information to send my thoughts spiraling out of control.

But despite that promise, these things were making me anxious again.

The first was this test....I didn’t know why, but I had a terrible feeling about it. Perhaps it was because of the way Mother Elena had behaved whenever the subject came up.

Maybe I was simply overthinking it, but there was a small part of me that couldn’t shake the feeling that she was trying to keep something from me.

And after losing my wolf because of these two cursed wounds, I didn’t want there to be something else I could lose because of them.

The thought alone made my stomach twist. What if the results revealed something worse? What if there was something happening inside me that even Mother Elena hadn’t told me about?

I pressed my lips together, trying to push those thoughts away. The worst part was that I was helpless.

There was nothing I could do about it right now. Whatever those results revealed, whether I liked the truth or not, I would have to face it.

I could only wait, and somehow, the uncertainty was worse than knowing. At least when I knew something, I could find a way to deal with it. I could make a plan. I could fight against it.

But this? I didn’t even know what I was supposed to fight.

My thoughts shifted to the second thing that had been troubling me. It had been over four days since Luna Selene had gone to that mysterious temple after learning everything from me.

A temple I still knew almost nothing about. I didn’t know why she had gone there. I didn’t know what she had discovered. And most importantly, I didn’t know what she knew about me and my situation.

That was what bothered me the most. There was clearly something she knew. Something important enough that she had left for that temple and hadn’t returned yet.

Knowing that there was information about me sitting somewhere beyond my reach made every part of me want to get up and go after her.

A part of me wanted to disobey Luna Selene’s orders once again. I wanted to find that temple myself. I just fricking wanted to confront her and demand answers.

But I knew I couldn’t simply rush off again especially not when I was still recovering. Not when Mother Elena had warned me about my condition.

I clenched my hands slightly, forcing myself to remain still. Why did everyone around me seem to know something about me that I didn’t? Why did I always have to wait for someone else to decide when I was ready to hear the truth?

"Athena?" Mother Elena’s voice suddenly broke through the string of thoughts running through my mind. I quickly lifted my head.

She was looking at me with a concerned expression, her brows slightly drawn together as she studied my face. "Why are you looking so worried, Athena?"

"Nothing, Mother Elena. I am fine," I responded with a small smile, not wanting to make her worry about me.

I tried to make my expression look as natural as possible, but Mother Elena had already become familiar with the way I tried to hide things. Her eyes remained on my face for a few moments, studying me with the quiet patience of someone who knew there was more behind my words.

"Are you worried about the tests?" she asked again. Before I could come up with another excuse, she moved her hand toward me and gently placed it against my cheek.

The warmth of her palm immediately made something inside me soften. There was something incredibly reassuring about that simple touch. It wasn’t demanding, and she wasn’t trying to force an answer out of me. She was simply there, reminding me that I wasn’t alone.

For a moment, I found myself wanting to lean further into her hand and allow myself to forget all the questions troubling my mind.

"Don’t worry," she continued, her voice filled with such gentle reassurance that I couldn’t help but listen. "Given how beautifully your body is responding to my healing, I am sure there will be nothing serious in those tests."

Her thumb moved lightly against my cheek as she continued speaking, her expression remaining calm. "They are just a precautionary measure. I only wanted to make sure there isn’t anything else that we need to be concerned about. So don’t stress yourself too much over it, hmm?"

Her final word came with a slight tilt of her head, almost as though she were gently scolding me for allowing my thoughts to run so far ahead.

I stared at her for a moment. I knew she couldn’t promise me that everything would be fine. She couldn’t possibly know what the test results would reveal until they actually came back.

Yet somehow, hearing those words from her still made the tightness in my chest ease a little.

Maybe I had simply needed someone to tell me that I didn’t have to fear the unknown before it even arrived.

I reached up and held the hand she had placed against my cheek, gently squeezing it. "Okay." I said and nodded at her, forcing another smile onto my face. "I won’t worry."

At least, I would try not to. Mother Elena’s words hadn’t erased the questions from my mind, but they had made them feel a little less overwhelming.

For a few seconds, the room was quiet again. The warmth of her hand remained against mine, and I allowed myself to breathe more steadily. Perhaps I had been overthinking everything. Perhaps the tests really were nothing more than a precaution.

Perhaps tonight would bring nothing but good news. I wanted to believe that. But just as I began to settle down, the door to the room was suddenly pushed open with such force that the loud bang echoed through the room making me flinch violently at the unexpected sound.