NovelEnglishChapter 371 Trust or Trap Maybe... she could try trusting him.
After six months of training together, Tessa smiled at Nathan for the very first time.
When she smiled, joy flashed in Nathan's eyes.
+8 Pearle Back then, she thought it was because he felt accepted. She didn't realize it was something else entirely- the thrill of a predator watching his prey finally drop its guard.
During their tat the training camp, Tessa had truly considered Nathan a friend. They shared stolen chocolate on rest days, fought back-to-back during simulated battles, and she even patched up his wounds while cursing him out.
But little by little, that friendship twisted into something else. His protectiveness started to feel more like control. His loyalty? Possession.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtOne day, all she did was pick up a dropped magazine for a guy on the team next door.
The next day, that guy collapsed in the dining hall. His tray hit the floor, shattering, as he let out a muffled choke-his tongue had been cut out. The wound was coated with the blood-clotting powder used by Yalvaria shamans.
Nathan pulled out a chair for her like nothing had happened and set down a tray with her favorite- perfectly roasted potatoes. He smiled, like the nightmare she'd just witnessed hadn't even been real.
Another time, she complimented their captain's tactics in her training log.
That night, she woke up to the sharp stench of blood. Nathan was crouched on her windowsill, blood dripping from his fingertips. In his hand was the captain's strategy notebook, soaked in fresh blood. "He didn't deserve your praise," he whispered.
Outside, the captain's body hung from the training ground scaffolding, the word unworthy carved into his wrists in crooked, messy lines.
That was when she began to see it-what lay beneath Nathan's gentle surface. Madness.
She tried to talk to him. Tried to keep her distance. But all that did was make things worse.
Her training gear would suddenly vanish-only the outfits he had gifted her remained. Every guy's nin her contacts turned into random, unreadable symbols. And if she looked a male instructor in the eye for more than a few seconds? The next day, she'd find a bloodied wolf claw stuffed into her pocket.
Then cthe day she found the photo album under his pillow.
Aged photographs filled the pages all centered on a silver-haired woman wearing the Frost Pack Luna's crown. Nathan stood behind her in most shots, his arm wrapped around her waist, his smile soft and loving.
And that woman... looked just like her.
"She was Joanna Gray, Luna of the Frost Pack." Nathan's voice cfrom behind, low and calm. His hands gripped her shoulders, and his thumb pressed hard against her collarbone, firm enough to hurt. "Three 1/2 IVI Chapter 371 Trust or Trap + Pearls years ago, she shieldedfrom a wolfsbane mist. Died in my arms. But before she did, she madepromise not to mourn. Said she'd cback to me... in a better form." He leaned in, inhaling her scent like it belonged to him. "The moment you walked in, I knew. She sent you.
And just like that, everything made sense.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmNone of those run-ins with Nathan at the camp had been accidents-they were all part of his plan.
Every smile, every kind gesture-it had all been bait, designed to carn her trust and lead her straight into his trap.
"From now on, you'll speak the way she did." He shoved a silver ring onto her finger. Joanna's nwas e m etched on the inside. The barbed edges cut into her skin, and the blood that surfaced was quickly absorbed by the metal. A Bloodbound Sorcery. One that could track her wherever she went.
He ran a hand down her cheek, his voice soft but unhinged. "Start with 'Nathan, hold me. Your voice is too cold it needs to sound like hers-gentle, loving, like you actually mean it." Back then, Tessa wasn't strong enough. His Alpha pressure crashed over her like a tidal wave, leaving her hands trembling and her body frozen.
She saw herself in his eyes-just a stand-in. Not Tessa. Not a person. He didn't love her. He loved the idea of someone else. Piece by piece, he was trying to turn her into that woman. Her voice, her clothes, even the way she looked at him-it all had to match. In Nathan's world, she had never been Tessa. She was someone to shape, to change, until she becJoanna- whether she wanted to or not.
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