The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!

He told Primrose that the wolf inside a Lycan or werewolf wasn't tied to the body, but it was tied to the soul and their fated bond.

"It's not like I came from your past timeline," his wolf explained. "But since I'm bound to his soul—whether it's the one from your past life or the one he has now—I can see everything that happened to him."

Primrose went quiet. His words made a strange kind of sense, like something out of a fairytale, but it still left her speechless.

After a brief pause, she finally gathered the courage to ask, "Does that mean … you've known I came from the past since our wedding day?"

If the wolf truly had access to all of Edmund's lifetimes—past and present—then he must've realized something was off about her.

Her behavior, her decisions, her entire personality … none of it matched the old Primrose.

"Oh, it was really easy to tell," he said with a short laugh. "I mean, sweetheart, you're way more aggressive in this lifetime. I gotta admit …" he leaned in slightly, his grin widening, "I kinda like it."

Primrose pushed his face away. Even if it was technically her husband's face, it still felt strange when she knew the person she was speaking to wasn't Edmund.

"If you knew about our past life," she asked, narrowing her eyes, "then why didn't you tell Edmund?"

Earlier, he'd mentioned that Edmund in this lifetime didn't know the truth yet. But wasn't it strange? Why would his wolf hide something that important from him?

"Sweetheart," the wolf sighed dramatically, "as you probably know by now, I'm not just here to make him … hornier." He smirked, clearly proud of that comment. "I'm also here to protect him from all kinds of danger."

"I've been shielding him his whole life, keeping his instincts sharp, watching his back. But this whole rebirth thing? That's a lot to dump on someone all at once. If he found out too early, before he was ready … it might've broken him."

If even Primrose could guess that telling him about their tragic past relationship was a bad idea, then his wolf, who lived inside him, would understand that ten times better.

He'd seen Edmund's pain up close. He knew how much guilt Edmund already carried all the time, even without remembering what happened before. Adding something like this? It could destroy him from the inside out.

"You get it now, don't you?" the wolf said softly, like he could hear her thoughts. "He already blames himself for things he never even did. Can you imagine how much worse it would be if he remembered letting you die once because he accidentally neglected you?"

"I know …." Primrose whispered, "That's why I'm not sure about this. But … I promised him. I told myself I would tell him everything."

"Oh, about that …" the wolf scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I didn't plan to keep the secret forever either. I was just waiting for the right moment to tell him, at least until your bond was strong enough to handle the truth."

He gave her a crooked smile. "And, well… I figured you two were doing pretty well now, so … I might've already told him."

Primrose's eyes widened in shock. "WHEN?!"

"Just a little while ago," he replied casually, like he hadn't just dropped a bombshell. "Actually, that's why we switched places. He's … uh … not exactly in the best state right now."

He let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck again. "Let's just say … he's having a bit of a meltdown, and trust me, you don't want to see him like that."

Primrose's mouth fell open. "A meltdown?!" she nearly panicked. "What do you mean a meltdown?! What did he do?! Where is he now?!"

The wolf raised both hands in a calming gesture. "Relax, sweetheart. He's not out there flipping tables or setting villages on fire or anything." He paused, then winced a little. "Well … emotionally, maybe. But physically? He's just resting inside. I'm keeping him safe and also keeping you safe from whatever storm is brewing in there."

Primrose was speechless. She had no idea when exactly the wolf had told Edmund everything. It all happened so fast, she almost thought she was dreaming.

"Why didn't you let me tell him myself?" she asked. "I was so close to telling him everything."

"Are you sure about that?" the wolf asked with a knowing look, raising one brow slightly, like he could see right through her. "You've had more than enough chances, sweetheart. But every single time … you had a panic attack."

Primrose opened her mouth to argue, but then quickly shut it because … he wasn't wrong.

"Was it you who made me unable to read his thoughts?" she asked quietly. "Does that mean I've been talking to you this whole time, and you were just pretending to be him?"

"Oh, no, no, no," he waved his hand like the idea was ridiculous. "When you told him you could hear his thoughts, that was him, completely him. But yes …" he added, a little more seriously this time, "I'm the one who blocked his mind from you."

Primrose blinked, stunned. All this time… the wolf had been carefully choosing which thoughts she could hear and which ones he kept hidden. He hid it so well, in fact, both of them didn't even notice.

"You mean … you've been filtering his thoughts this whole time?" she asked, her voice soft with disbelief.

"Only when I needed to," he admitted. "To protect him, and you, too."

"From what?"

"From the mess," he said simply. "His thoughts can get really, really messy when he's overwhelmed. I didn't want you to hear something that would scare you. Or worse, make you doubt him."

Primrose looked down at her hands, processing everything.

She didn't know what shocked her more the fact that she had been unknowingly reading a censored version of Edmund's mind, or the fact that this wolf, this second self of her husband, had been protecting them both from something he believed they couldn't yet handle.

"Do you always do that?" she asked after a long pause. "Step in when things get too heavy for him?"