The Crown's Entrapment

Chapter 671 Accepting Defeat

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Aurelia hissed through her teeth as she let Calypso lead her to a room of her own. It was by her own request that he give her her own room for the night to see if she could try and meditate through her problems by herself. Because clearly, Calypso was just as clueless as she was when it came to her current situation.

"Are you sure about this?" Calypso asked her as he opened the door to an empty room. "You can always do this in our room, you know."

[I'd like a bit of solitude for now, Calypso,] Aurelia mutedly replied. [Seeing as I'm still stuck like this, I'm sure that the solution to my problems currently lies in my own mind.]

It was technically the truth anyway. She shifted herself into this wolf form on her own, and she sure as heck would like to shift back to her human form of her own volition. She would like some control back in her life after… a few revelations.

[Revelations that you are now finally ready to face?] Aura asked.

[You're on thin ice right now, Aura,] she growled. [I'm not going to tolerate hearing myself tease me.]

Her wolf promptly shut up, and she could only sigh as she trotted into the empty room. Behind her, her mate gave her one last look before she closed the door behind him, leaving her to her lonesome as she circled around and sat on the ground.

[Call me if you need anything, alright?] Calypso reminded her, his tone sounding a mix of worry and reassurance. [You can do this. If there's anyone that can figure out your problems, it's you.]

[I know that much,] she scoffed at him, but not without flashing him a reluctantly grateful smile. [Go ahead. I'm sure I'll be done shortly.]

Hearing Calypso leave, Aurelia took a deep breath as she made sure that her privacy was secure. Putting up a wall against her mate, she then closed her eyes and started meditating. With each breath, she found herself relaxing until she was once more within her mindscape, her inner wolf sheepishly waiting for her as glared at her.

[So, what do you have to say for yourself?] Aurelia immediately asked. [You knew we'll be having words, and now we're here.]

[I thought you're going to try and get your human form back?] Aura weakly uttered. [And I know I might've overstretched my boundaries, but believe me that I'm still on your side.]

[Then what's all this then?] Aurelia growled. [Why are you suddenly acting against me? Why constantly tease me when you didn't do so back then?]

[Because I can't help it, alright?!] Aura cried out. [How can I? I'm literally the part of you that's supposed to embody your wolf-like instincts. It's already a miracle that I'm smarter than most inner wolves…]

Aurelia scoffed at her wolf's pitiful excuses. Still, seeing herself being this… weak almost made her want to smack her wolf back to her senses. 

[Aura, when we first met, we both declared that we're each other's halves,] Aurelia began, sighing as she approached her wolf. [What you feel, I feel, and vice versa. It's only safe to assume that what you're feeling is what I'm truly feeling, especially since you're apparently a lot more honest than me.]

[T-That's right…] Aura weakly smiled. [I just… We have the same goals, but I'm more affected by your emotions than both of us would've liked. And right now, your emotions for Calypso have completely overridden my logic.]

Aurelia shook her head at her wolf's words. They were true, after all. She could at least acknowledge that.

[That's fair,] she smiled, placing a paw on her wolf's shoulder. [I suppose I've been hard on you for simply following your instincts. That's simply your nature, and I shouldn't fault you for acting on them.]

[I also shouldn't have teased you that hard these past few hours,] her wolf apologized. [I knew exactly how you thought, and yet I constantly tried to rile you up instead of actually giving you useful advice. I should've guided you, and used my words properly to make you see reason.]

[Reason, huh,] Aurelia chuckled. [And by reason, you mean accepting that I'm in love with Calypso?]

[Exactly,] her wolf nodded, her voice now devoid of her teasing tone. [Also, don't you think that might also be a part of the problem why you couldn't shift back?]

Aurelia raised an eyebrow at Aura. [Elaborate.]

[Based on my own, well, instincts, we should both be in sync to even shift in the first place,] Aura postulate. [And while we were exactly that when we shifted into your wolf form, I started, uhm… acting out shortly after you were unable to shift.]

[Which would mean that we were out of sync this entire time,] Aurelia finished off. [How about now then?]

[Well, you finally accepted that you love Calypso, right?] her wolf chuckled. [Unlike before when you were repressing it onto me, we can now both share in these emotions.]

[Which would balance us both and return us back in sync.] Aurelia finished off as she rolled her eyes at her wolf. [You're really going to rub it in, huh.]

[Now that I'm partly more logical again, I realized that it was your fault that I acted out in the first place,] Aura smugly chuckled. [Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be a regular occurrence.]

She scoffed as she turned her attention back to her own body. With her problems seemingly sorted out, she channeled her energies throughout her body, and this time, she actually felt her form change, eventually leading to her opening her eyes with her human body now in view.

[That went well,] she casually remarked.

[As smoothly as we expected from ourselves,] Aura noted, her tone now back to what Aurelia was used to. [So, shall you call for our mate?]

Aurelia took a deep breath as she stood up. Thankfully, Calypso left a change of clothes for her in the room before she left. Making herself presentable, she prepared herself for something that she never thought would happen in her life… accepting defeat.