Madam’s eyes darkened faintly.

Aire’s heartbeat quickened again. The room suddenly felt suffocating. "What dream?" she whispered.

Madam did not answer. Instead, she stepped closer slowly. Her gaze searched Aire’s face carefully now.

Fear curled deeper into Aire’s chest.

Madam spoke. "Have you been completely honest with me?" she asked quietly.

The question hit harder than it should have.

Aire froze.

For one horrible second, every secret she had buried clawed violently toward the surface of her tongue, ready to let lose.

The room suddenly felt too warm.

Aire’s throat tightened painfully. Her tongue betrayed her instantly. "I can move things without touching them." She began, and the words echoed loudly inside her head.

Madam’s face changed immediately.

Aire could suddenly see the horror, and fear clearly.

"I lifted a couch tonight," Aire confessed. "I wanted to throw it at Nate to get him off me."

Madam stepped backward immediately. Her eyes widened slowly. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Aire’s chest tightened. "I didn’t mean to learn how," she continued weakly. "It just... happens sometimes."

The room felt colder now.

Madam composure slipoed, and she stared at Aire like she had become something unrecognizable.

Aire’s breathing shook.

"Sometimes flowers bloom when I touch them," she admitted softly. "Once, an entire dying branch bloomed in my hand when I was at my uncle’s pack."

Madam’s face paled.

Aire could barely keep speaking now, but she went on. Madam can help her and if all Madam needed was honesty, then she would give it.

"And sometimes..." Her voice cracked. "Sometimes I see things."

Madam’s eyes sharpened dangerously. "What things?" she asked, almost accusatory. She couldn’t hide the judgement at the edge of her voice even if she tried.

Aire’s stomach twisted violently. "Things from the war."

The words dropped heavily between them.

"I see fire," Aire whispered. "Blood and wolves dying. I hear screams sometimes in my sleep. I haven’t heard one for weeks now, but it happens."

Madam stared at her in silence.

Aire continued before she could stop herself.

"And sometimes..." Her breathing became uneven. "Sometimes I touch someone’s belongings and I see things that happened to them."

Madam stepped back again. "No," she whispered.

Aire nodded shakily. "I touched Luna Beatrice pearls,I saw how she was captured. I saw all that happened."

Madam looked horrified now.

Aire’s eyes burned.

"And the council member from months ago..." her voice cracked harder now. "I intentionally killed her."

Madam’s face emptied completely.

Aire felt her tears rise instantly.

"She was hurting me," she whispered desperately. "I didn’t mean to. I only wanted her away from me and suddenly she was hanged high by my eyes, and couldn’t breathe."

Madam inhaled sharply.

For one horrible moment, silence swallowed the room entirely.

Then Madam moved backward violently. "Stay away from me." she murmured.

The words hit Aire hard enough to stop her breathing.

Aire blinked.

Madam’s eyes was filled with fear now.

"No..." Aire whispered immediately.

"You truly are cursed," Madam spat harshly.

Aire flinched like she had been struck.

Madam shook her head slowly in disbelief. "All this time..." she whispered horrified. "All this time I defended you."

Tears slipped down Aire’s face instantly.

"Madam—"

"No!" Madam harshly cut her off.

Aire’s chest tightened violently.

"You’re exactly what they feared," Madam continued coldly. "No normal person sees the past."

Aire shook her head desperately. "I can explain—"

"You are a curse," Madam snapped. "And you will forever remain one."

The words crushed Aire’s chest.

"No..." Aire whispered brokenly. She stepped forward instinctively toward Madam.

Madam slapped her hand away instantly.

Aire froze at the rejection.

Madam looked disgusted now.

Fear crawled visibly across her face as she backed away toward the door. "Don’t touch me." she warned, her claws ready and prepared to harm Aire if she dared.

Aire’s breathing broke completely. "Please," she whispered desperately. "Please don’t look at me like that."

Madam shook her head. "You should have never come here."

Aire stared at her in horror.

Madam turned toward the door quickly.

"Madam!"

Aire rushed after her immediately and grabbed her wrist.

Madam jerked violently away from her touch.

"Don’t!" she snapped harshly, fighting hard to hold back from using her claws.

Aire stumbled backward slightly.

Madam reached the door now. "You bring ruin everywhere," she spat. "First the veil breaks. Then prophecies return. Then the Alphas lose control over themselves because of you."

Aire’s tears fell harder now.

Madam looked at her one final time. "You were born wrong." She said coldly, then left immediately.

She scrambled out of the room.

The doors slammed shut violently behind her. Silence crashed through the room immediately afterward.

Aire stood frozen. Her chest hurt so badly she could barely breathe through it.

The room suddenly felt enormous and empty.

Aire stared at the closed doors while tears streamed silently down her face.

Madam was gone.

Madam feared her too.

Aire’s knees weakened suddenly beneath her. A broken sound escaped her throat before she could stop it.

She slowly backed away from the doors. She took a step then another until the backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed.

Aire sat down heavily. Her hands trembled violently now. She stared ahead blankly.

Perhaps everyone had been right all along.

The memory of Nate’s eyes flashed through her mind again.

Aire curled slightly inward. Her breathing shook harder now.

She wanted her mother suddenly. The thought hit her so unexpectedly her chest nearly cracked open from it.

The room blurred around her as salt streamed out of her eyes. Aire slowly lowered herself fully onto the bed, curling weakly against the blankets.

Her throat still burned from Nate’s claws.

Everything hurt. Her chest, her thought, her heart. Everything hurts.

Aire squeezed her eyes shut tightly as Madam’s voice replayed in her head over and over again.

Then...

Aire felt something touch her shoulder suddenly.

She flinched violently.

"Aire." The voice shattered through everything instantly.

Aire blinked.

The room snapped back into focus.

Madam stood directly before her, one hand resting gently against her shoulder while concern filled her eyes.

Aire stared at her blankly. Her breathing came unevenly.

Madam frowned faintly. "I asked you a question, Aire."

Reality settled slowly around her again. The fireplace still crackled softly. Madam had never moved toward the door, had never called her cursed, and had never looked afraid of her.

Intact, she haven’t even said a word since Madam questioned her. What did she just see?

Aire’s chest rose sharply once. She realised it had all happened inside her head.

Madam still stood before her calmly waiting for an answer.

Aire swallowed hard. Fear still clung painfully to her ribs from the imagined rejection.

Madam’s expression softened slightly now. "Where did you just go?"

Aire looked away immediately. Her fingers curled tightly together. The truth sat dangerously close to the surface now, but she forced it back down again.

She forced every terrible thing back into silence. Finally, she shook her head faintly.

"I’ve been completely honest with you," she whispered quietly and somewhere deep inside herself, Aire hated the lie immediately.