Chapter 67: The Awakening

**Thelma Zane’s POV** “Your Highness, are you alright?” Kara’s worried voice reached me as I stared at my pale, drawn reflection in the mirror. My hands gripped the sink’s edges, trying to steady myself against the growing waves of nausea that had been plaguing me all morning. I wanted to respond—to tell Kara I was fine, that there was nothing to worry about—but the words refused to come. Deep down, I knew they’d be a lie. I wasn’t fine. I wasn’t even close to fine. Was Aldrich to blame for this turmoil? Should I hold him accountable for hiding the truth from me? As my thoughts raced, the answer felt both obvious and contradictory. On one hand, I was his girlfriend; secrets between us should not exist. On the other hand, I carried a deception far greater than his. Because I wasn’t just Thelma Zane, future Queen of the Lycan Pack. Before that, I was someone else entirely. I was *Selma*, a mere shadow of my former life, a false identity created out of necessity. T