Chapter 23 Possession
Helena POV
I did not wait.
Waiting is for the weak. For gods who hesitate. For sisters who apologize only when cornered.
The moment Magnus crossed the temple
threshold, the moment his back turned to my prison and he believed—foolishly—that he was still in control—
I moved.
The chains did not stop me.
They never truly had.
They were optics. Theater. Selene's favorite illusion. Containment enough to calm divine eyes, never enough to cage will.
Magnus's spine went rigid mid-step.
I slid into him like breath into lungs.
Like blood into veins.
Like a memory snapping into place.
He gasped-sharp, startled—and his hands clawed at his chest as my presence flooded him, ancient and precise. His heartbeat stuttered, then synced to mine. His thoughts flared wild for a breath—
—and then quieted.
"Oh, Magnus.
You were always such an accommodating vessel."
"No—" he tried, panic surging late and useless. "Not yet—"
Too late.
I wrapped around his consciousness, not crushing, not tearing. I wanted him awake for this. I wanted him to feel every stolen second, every borrowed breath.
I straightened his body.
Rolled his shoulders.
Tested his voice.
Yes, this would do nicely.
The temple doors sealed behind us with a thunderous groan. The wards hummed, confused but compliant. They sensed no escape.
How precious.
Inside his skull, Magnus raged. "You said—You promised—"
"I did," I replied aloud, using his mouth. His voice cracked slightly on the first word, then steadied as I settled deeper. "I said I would help you. And you said I could possess so what's the problem? These were all things we agreed to."
I stepped down the broken stairs, boots crunching against gravel. Each movement grew smoother as muscle memory bent to my will. It's good to be free. Even if it's not my body or my wolf form. It beats dreams and sending messages through telepathy. I breathed in more deeply. Damn, how long has it been?
"I did not say I would wait." He argued. I didn't even know what he was talking about.
Fear bloomed then in me. Well in him. Real fear. The kind he hadn't felt since the night his child died screaming beneath the moon.
"You'll kill me," he whispered.
I smiled.
"No baby, c'mon, I'm not that heartless, you released me," I murmured gently. "I need you alive."
Alive enough to speak.
Alive enough to confess.
Alive enough to deliver truth like a blade straight to her heart.
The bond flared as we crossed the forest boundary—sharp, red, unmistakable.
Hazel.
Ah.
"There you are. You're so close, I can taste it. Can't wait to see you for real."
Her power brushed against us like heat lightning, restless and wild, threaded with the red wolf's power and echo. Flora. Awakened. Finally.
Good.
I tightened my grip on Magnus's throat—just enough to remind him who held the reins.
"You wanted survival," I told him softly. "This is the price."
His pulse raced. His body shook once, then steadied as I flooded him with calm, with certainty, with divine intent.
I tilted his face toward the moon.
"Hazel will hear the truth," I said. "From your lips. Not Selene's. Not Helene's."
Mine.
Through you.
Every lie you swallowed for power.
Every family you burned.
Every lifetime you broke her.
Magnus tried one last time to fight me.
I laughed—and swallowed him whole.
We stepped into the night together.
And somewhere ahead, the Red Wolf waited—
Unaware that the monster who ruined her life was about to speak again.
And this time?
He would not be allowed to lie.
Neither would his grandson, her precious lover. Ohhh, this was going to be exciting. I loved this.