Chapter 30 Bloom

The moment I stepped onto pack territory, the storm raging inside my mind seemed to merge with the harsh evening wind sweeping through town. Dominic’s words kept echoing against the wall of suspicion buried in the darkest part of my soul.

About being a hybrid... and about the absence of your wolf... you should ask the people beside you who claim to protect you for the details.

My steps struck the ground harder than usual.

I had cast aside every invisible burden weighing on my shoulders. All that remained was the uncompromising determination of a woman who wanted the truth.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

The sky was slowly darkening, shifting into unsettling shades of violet and deep blue.

When I reached the large backyard of the pack house, I found Alpha Ronan and Luna Sienna sitting with several senior members of the pack’s high-ranking bloodlines.

From the outside, the scene looked peaceful. Elegant. Almost perfect. They sat around a wide wooden table, sipping wine beside the soft glow of the outdoor fireplace. Their voices remained low as they talked among themselves, smiling with the quiet confidence of people who believed the town’s rigid order was still safely under control.

Then I entered the garden. The illusion shattered. The determined anger radiating from my body instantly placed every wolf on alert. One by one, their eyes turned toward me. Hands holding wineglasses froze in midair. They could feel the dangerous, challenging energy surrounding me.

I didn’t waste time.

My steps never slowed. I walked straight toward Alpha Ronan and Luna Sienna and stopped across from them. The distant mask I wore had hardened into something completely cold. I looked each of them directly in the eyes.

“You invited me to join this pack,” I said.

The raw determination in my voice seemed to overpower even the crackling fire.

“You asked me to become one of you.”

I placed one hand against the table and leaned toward them slightly.

“I thought the things you told me about myself and my past meant there was some level of trust between us. Otherwise, you never would’ve allowed me through these doors.”

My gaze sharpened.

“So I’m going to rely on that trust now.”

I looked from Ronan to Sienna.

“I think we’ve reached the point where I deserve to know.”

My voice turned colder.

“What are you hiding from me?”

Ronan slowly lowered his glass to the table. The authoritative Alpha expression on his face wavered before settling into cautious calm. Sienna narrowed her eyes slightly as she studied me.

“Bloom,” Ronan said, keeping his voice controlled, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“With all due respect, Alpha, you understand perfectly.”

I cut him off without looking away.

“My hybrid blood.”

“The absence of my wolf.”

“The fact that I’ve never had one since the day I was born.”

My hand pressed more firmly against the table.

“What legend is behind it?”

“What truth do you know that I don’t?”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

At that exact moment, a familiar scent reached me from the entrance to the garden. Every nerve in my body sharpened. I didn’t even need to turn around. I knew Cassian had entered from the heavy, angry rhythm of his boots striking the stone path.

Goddess.

Why could I always feel the second he entered a space? It was becoming incredibly irritating. The jealousy from the cafeteria...

The way he had driven as if he wanted the SUV to slide out from beneath us... The furious intensity in his eyes when he’d pinned me against that tree... All of it still clung to him.

But now, another kind of tension had been added to those personal frustrations. The dangerous, irreversible confrontation I had just started with the pack leaders. Cassian crossed the distance between us in three long strides.

He stepped forward as if he intended to place his massive body between me and the others, pull me away from the interrogation, or shut the entire conversation down before it went any further.

“Bloom, stop this.”

His voice carried both command and poorly concealed concern.

“You can’t speak to the pack leaders like that.”

His jaw tightened.

“Go to your room.”

I slowly turned my head toward him. The instant he saw there wasn’t even the slightest intention of surrender in my eyes, the sharp light in his blue gaze froze.

One look from me silenced him.

I lowered my voice until only he could hear, though the words carried enough force to destroy whatever remained between us.

“You already knew, didn’t you?”

I stared into the deepest part of his eyes.

“You knew everything about me.”

My chest tightened.

“And you never told me.”

Cassian’s jaw flexed violently. His lips parted. But no answer came. Then he looked away from me and toward his father. Alpha Ronan. That single movement gave me all the confirmation I needed. I was right.

The people standing in front of me had known the truth behind the greatest emptiness I had carried my entire life. My lack of a wolf. And they had hidden it from me. A deadly silence fell over the garden. Alpha Ronan and Luna Sienna exchanged a long look through their silent mental bond.

Of course they had known this day would come. They had known I would eventually question the unknown force buried inside me. That I would push against the walls they had built around the truth. But they clearly hadn’t expected me to confront them this soon.

Or this directly. Or at a moment when they were completely unprepared. The senior pack members around the table recognized the gravity of the situation. One by one, they slowly rose and left the garden, giving us privacy. Ronan pushed his wineglass aside completely.

He let out a deep, weary breath -one that carried the weight of the entire pack on his shoulders. Then he folded his hands on the table and looked directly into my eyes.

“Sit down, Bloom.”

This time, his voice wasn’t an order. It sounded like surrender.

“What I’m about to tell you is tied to some of the oldest legends in this town.”

His gaze darkened.

“Stories buried beneath generations of dust.”

“Stories no one has dared to speak aloud in a very long time.”

I didn’t step back. I didn’t sit either. I simply remained standing and waited.

“But before I begin,” Ronan continued, his Alpha seriousness returning, “I need you to understand something very clearly.”

He held my gaze.

“We haven’t confirmed whether the old prophecies and legends are true.”

“To us, they were only possibilities.”

“Dangerous shadows left behind by the past.”

His expression hardened with regret.

“We kept this from you because we wanted to protect you.”

“To give you a safe place in this world while we continued searching for answers.”

His eyes briefly flickered toward Cassian before returning to me.

“Our investigation isn’t over.”

Ronan paused.

“But since you’re standing here now…”

“Since you’ve already opened that door…”

His voice lowered.

“Then listen.”