Page 14 of The Wolf’s Appetite (The Lycans #8)

AISLING

D awn had barely stretched over the property by the time we made it back to the royal family’s estate. The sound of rainwater dropping from the branches was still echoing in my ears when the front double doors closed behind us.

Lennox hadn’t spoken since we left my cottage, but he hadn’t needed to.

Not with the way he kept me close to his side like he was afraid someone would take me away.

I still didn’t know what threat was out there, but I didn’t feel crippling fear. Because I knew Lennox wouldn’t let anyone or anything hurt me.

The storm had calmed during the night, but everything still felt breathless. As if the world itself were waiting for the other shoe to drop .

I didn’t know what had caused him to break his control for me, but I didn’t want to go back to the way things had been.

I still felt the ghost of his touch on my skin, still felt the deep thrum of need between my legs, one that hadn’t been satisfied and only stoked. Because I needed him inside me.

“My family?” I asked, twisting slightly to look at him.

His hand, which had never left my side, tightened. “Safe. We’ve got guards stationed in the east now, and nothing will breach the border. Yer father was tae stubborn tae come to the estate, stating he could protect his mate.”

Relief loosened the knot in my chest, as well as irritation. Like all Lycan males concerning their fated mates, they were fiercely loyal and possessive of their females. To have other males try to tend to them riled them up.

But I was thankful Lennox still had sentries on their property. Safety was better in numbers.

“I assured him I was bringing ye tae the estate. I was pretty sure he wanted tae grill me, but I told him I’d protect ye with my life. That seemed tae calm him.”

Still, knowing my parents were alright grounded me. At least for now.

The grand foyer was quiet but not empty. An elderly female stood near the hearth cloaked in dark sapphire with a walking cane in her aged, withered hand. I knew her.

She was the half Lycan, half witch who’d been there to help Lennox when he’d first been brought home after being injured.

Her presence sent a jolt up my spine—not from fear but from something I couldn’t name.

She looked up at us. Her face was lined with age and experience, yet her eyes spoke of a youthfulness that was unsettling. My skin prickled.

“Ye have a guest,” one guard murmured beside us.

Lennox didn’t speak. He simply nodded once, eyes locked on the Lycan witch as she offered a faint smile.

She gave me a long, measuring look—one that felt like it reached inside me and pulled truths I wasn’t ready to admit to.

Then she bowed her head slightly toward Lennox. “My prince,” she whispered. “We have much to discuss. But for now, you’re needed elsewhere. Your father awaits in the war chamber.”

He hesitated. Her gaze flicked to me again then back to him. “Worry not. She’s safe.”

He nodded and reluctantly turned, now facing me. Lennox brushed his fingers along my lower back before walking away. I still felt his touch long after he left.

I let out a shaky breath once he was gone then looked back at the witch. Her expression didn’t change. “I remember ye,” I finally said. “Ye helped Lennox when he was injured.”

“You’re sharp, little wolf. That will serve you well.” I knew she wasn’t talking about what I’d just said. “I’m Magdalena.”

I frowned. “Is everything okay? Are ye here for Lennox?”

Her lips curled into a strange, almost sad, smile. “Just here to help.”

I didn’t question her.

She stepped closer, and when she spoke, her voice was a whisper. “I’m here to help him.”

My throat tightened.

“With his wolf,” she said softly. “His beast was screaming in agony after the wound nearly severed the tether between spirit and body. If it had gone on unchecked, the pain would’ve driven him to madness.”

My heart clenched, and realization was a hot poker right in my middle. “So ye?—”

“I silenced the wolf,” she confirmed, her gaze steady on mine. “Muted him. Temporarily.”

My lips parted, but she kept speaking, as if she’d waited years to unburden these truths.

“His wolf was wounded beyond flesh. The blade that nearly took Lennox’s life severed more than muscle.

It tore at the spirit—at the ancient bond that ties the beast to the man.

If I hadn’t acted, the pain would have driven him mad.

You’ve seen it, haven’t you? That quiet in him…

that rage simmering just beneath the surface? ”

I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.

“He needed time,” she said. “Time to heal without the wolf tearing him apart from the inside out. Time to find you .”

My heart was thundering. I knew she could hear it. “Why me?” I whispered.

Her eyes lit with something too vast for this world. “Because you’re his fated mate, Aisling. You are the catalyst. The one thing powerful enough to draw his wolf back from the dark. Without you, the bond stays dormant. Broken.”

I swayed where I stood.

“You’re not just a spark in his life—you’re the flame. The one who can anchor him when the wolf returns. The one who can balance what he’s becoming with what he used to be. Your presence will either stabilize him…”

She stepped closer, her voice lowering to a whisper.

“…or consume him.”

An icy shiver ran down my spine.

“His wolf hasn’t recognized me as his mate… and mi ne hasn’t, either,” I whispered. “But the way we ache for each other, the way desire coils tight like instinct—it feels like everything I’ve heard about the bond, just without the confirmation our wolves are supposed to give.”

Magdalena stilled, her expression unreadable for a moment before something ancient flickered in her eyes.

“Because the bond has already rooted itself in your souls,” she said softly. “Long before your wolves were ready.”

I blinked, stunned.

Her voice lowered with gravity. “The body knows, Aisling. The heart knows. But sometimes the wolf is tied to instinct and survival and must be coaxed into remembering what fate already carved. Especially when one wolf is wounded—or silenced.” She looked toward the shadows where Lennox had disappeared.

“Your wolves aren’t rejecting the bond. They’re simply waiting—held back by trauma. By fear. By wounds you cannot see.”

Her gaze returned to mine, and I felt like crying, like thanking the gods that I was given some kind of explanation as to the why of it all.

“But when the silence breaks, when his wolf rises again… the recognition will explode like a storm.”

“Does he kno’?” I whispered. “That ye did this?”

She exhaled slowly. “Not yet. But he will. I want him to know. He needs to understand what was done and why—so he doesn’t run from what’s waking inside him. So he doesn’t run from you.”

I nodded, though I didn’t feel steady. I felt like the ground beneath me was shifting.

“But be warned, Aisling,” she added, her voice sharpening. “When his wolf returns, it won’t come back docile or tamed. It will return knowing . With a hunger only you can sate.”

She reached out and took my hand, her skin papery and warm yet pulsing with a strange, thrumming energy. For a heartbeat, I swore I saw a younger woman behind her aged face—feral and beautiful, full of moonlight and power.

Then she was just a woman again. Wrinkled. Wise. Knowing.

“Some males,” she said softly, “must lose the loudest part of themselves to truly hear–and see–what matters. What’s been right in front of them all along. To understand what they’ve been given... and what they might lose forever.”

And with that, she turned and walked away, her dress trailing behind her small body.

I stood frozen. The hearth crackled, the shadows stretching long and endless across the floor. I didn’t know what scared me more.

The idea of Lennox’s wolf returning.. .

Or the idea of what he’d become once it did—and once he knew I was the one thing that had the power to either tame or unravel him completely.