Zed's POV
As I observed Caitlyn walking onto the stone platform, her face gradually contorting with pain, I couldn't help but sense a twinge of unease in my heart.
"Alpha, now is not the time to hesitate," Azir's composed voice suddenly reached me from behind. He then produced a vial of purple potion from his pocket and pressed it into my hand.
"Grandpa, is this truly necessary?" I pursed my lips, suppressing a sigh.
"Do you want a repeat of Gwen's tragedy? Since Gwen's departure, our Fullmoon Pack has suffered a significant energy loss, forcing us to quietly develop in this secluded location."
"Don't forget, Gwen is Caitlyn's mother. If she discovers the truth, can you guarantee her loyalty to the pack?" Azir frowned, setting aside his usual kindness and fixing me with a stern gaze.
"But it might be unfair to Caitlyn. Give me a bit more time; I'm confident I can help her fully master her power. Then, I'll explain it to her properly, and I believe she'll understand."
Hearing Caitlyn's agonized cries from the stone platform, I couldn't help but be moved.
"Don't be foolish. Tryndamere's ambitions have been growing, and your impulsive actions have already placed our pack in a perilous situation. If you hesitate any longer, it'll be too late!" Azir's voice carried a mix of sadness and anger as he spoke with widened eyes.
I understood Azir's concerns; as the Alpha of the pack, I bore responsibility for all its members. The pack faced internal and external threats, and Caitlyn's arrival could be seen as an opportunity for revitalization, which was the reason behind my quest to find the lost members.
With this in mind, I sighed softly and mentally apologized to Caitlyn. "I'm sorry, Caitlyn."
I approached the stone platform slowly, coinciding with Caitlyn walking out from its center. Beads of sweat adorned her forehead, a clear sign of the unimaginable pain she had endured in that brief moment.
"Well? Are you alright?"
I forced a smile onto my face and regarded Caitlyn with concern.
"Well, it's a bit unrealistic to claim that I mastered it right away, but I likely know the direction to work towards to improve my transformation skills."
Caitlyn wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and sat down, looking a bit tired.
"Why do I feel like something's wrong with you? Why do you keep staring at me like that?" Caitlyn frowned at me, putting me on guard instantly.
"No, I'm just a little worried about you. When some of the members returned earlier, many tried this method, but not many managed to stick with it. After all, it's quite demanding on one's mind," I confessed truthfully to Caitlyn.
"That's true. When I first stepped onto that stone platform, negative emotions immediately surfaced in my mind. However, I could also feel the power within my body slowly filling up. The taste, though, isn't very pleasant."
"If only there were some kind of quick fix, I could go back and help Talon right away," Caitlyn said, laying down slowly with her head in her hands, blinking at the darkening sky.
"So, what if..." My voice was a little hesitant as I took the purple potion out.
"What's this?" Caitlyn curiously snatched it from my hand, then held it up and squinted at it.
"It's a potion that will help you better adapt to your transformed werewolf body and strengthen you," I explained to Caitlyn.
Hearing this, a small smile appeared on Caitlyn's face.
"I knew you must still have something good. Why didn't you take it out earlier and make me suffer for nothing?" Caitlyn pouted and pretended to be angry while slowly opening the bottle cap.
A faint aroma then wafted from the bottle.
"It can only serve as support and is intended solely for humans like you who have awakened their werewolf abilities."
I looked at the side of Caitlyn's face and couldn't help but recall Azir's earlier instructions.
"It smells pretty good, but shouldn't there be any side effects if I drink it?"
Caitlyn picked up the bottle, brought it to the tip of her nose, and sniffed it carefully before turning her head to look at me.
"No..."
I maintained composure on the surface, but my mind was already in turmoil.
"Okay. Here, cheers!"
Caitlyn raised the bottle in her hand and then passed it to me, immediately preparing to bring it to her mouth.
"Wait!"
I interrupted Caitlyn with a sudden outburst, and the movement in her hand stopped.
"What's wrong?" Caitlyn frowned.
"I'm just a little curious about that wish you hadn't finished talking about at the ball. It was a king's promise."
I was struggling inside because the potion in Caitlyn's hand didn't have any side effects, as I had claimed.
It did help Caitlyn better control her transformation into a wolf, but it came at the cost of erasing her memory.
In the end, she would only be loyal to her bloodline, turning into a powerful machine that only knew how to kill.
This was also why Gwen chose to run away in the first place.
"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
Caitlyn obviously didn't expect me to ask this question. She hesitated for a moment, and then a scarlet blush surfaced on her face.
"It's okay; I'm just asking. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."
I pursed my lips and pretended as if nothing had happened.
"It's not really anything over the top. I was just thinking about how Talon and I have been through so much, always on the run, and we've never had a good time together."
Caitlyn sighed and gazed up at the moon slowly creeping up into the sky.
"The truth is, I don't want to be the Luna or spend time at the palace. My favorite times were the ones in Smallville when I first met Talon. So all I want to ask the king is if he can let me and Talon go back to that town together and have another wedding. I'll be satisfied."
A smile swept across Caitlyn's face.
"But that will come soon enough, I guess," Caitlyn said, taking a drink from the bottle in her hand.
I looked at Caitlyn's lovely profile, and it felt like that I really did something wrong.