Chapter 42 Bloom

By the time the deafening howls rising from the ritual grounds faded into the darkness, the atmosphere hanging over the pack territory no longer felt the same. The proof of my hard-won victory still burned in my left palm beneath the strip of fabric Cassian had torn from his shirt and wrapped around my hand.

Even as we returned to the pack house and walked through the mansion's halls, I could feel the respect in the eyes following me and hear it in the whispers behind my back.

But I didn't care about the pack's admiration.

I didn't care about the glory of what I'd accomplished. The only thing I could focus on was the terrible pain crawling up my left arm like a venomous snake, sinking deep into my bones.

When I reached my room and closed the door behind me, I tried to draw a deep breath in the darkness. Even my lungs seemed to tighten beneath the poisonous aftereffects of that silver-alloy blade.

I sat on the edge of the bed and slowly began unwrapping the fabric Cassian had tied around my hand. The cloth had stuck to my skin where my blood had started to clot. very inch I peeled away made me clench my teeth so hard my jaw began to ache.

Once the fabric was completely removed, I was left staring at the deep, ominous cut across my palm. So this was the full effect of silver and ancient runes. The edges of the wound had turned faintly purple, and the silver's poison had completely paralyzed my cells.

The cut wasn't closing. Instead, it continued to burn through my flesh like molten metal.

A quiet groan escaped me as I leaned my head back. This was the price I'd paid to enter the library and claim my freedom. And I didn't regret it.

A soft knock came from the doorway. It was so faint that even a wolf might have struggled to hear it. My head snapped toward the sound. The door opened slowly, and Cassian stepped inside.

He was still wearing the black T-shirt with the torn hem. His messy hair had fallen over his forehead, and the storm in his blue eyes hadn't settled. In one hand, he carried a dark wooden box and several clean bandages. He closed the door gently with his foot as soon as he entered, his gaze immediately locking onto my left palm.

His intense, protective aura filled the room. It told me exactly how alert his wolf still was. The remnants of the desperate battle he'd fought with himself during the trial—his torment mixed with admiration as he forced himself not to drag me out of that circle—still weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Without saying a word, he crossed the room. His steps were as silent as a predator's, but every one of them was deliberate. He sat on the edge of the bed directly across from me and opened the wooden box. A sharp scent filled the room. Mint, moss, and something faintly magical.

"Give me your hand," Cassian said. His voice was rough, a low whisper pulled from deep in his chest.

It was obvious he was still clenching his teeth. His jaw formed a sharp line in the darkness. I slowly extended my left hand toward him. Cassian wrapped one of his large, powerful hands around my wrist. But his touch was incredibly gentle. He was so afraid of hurting me that I could feel the faint tremble in his fingers against my skin.

The moment he saw the wound, the dark ring around his blue irises widened. He released a deep breath that sounded almost like a growl. "The poison is still working," he muttered.

His fingertips brushed carefully over the bruised skin around the cut. "Silver alloy."

His expression hardened. "I can't believe my father still allows this ritual. It could've killed you right there, Bloom."

"But it didn't," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. "I'm still standing. I passed all three stages. I completed the trial."

Cassian's head lifted sharply. His eyes locked onto mine. The torment in them was instantly replaced by fierce anger. But it wasn't directed at me. He dipped his fingers into the box, gathering some of the greenish ointment, then began spreading it carefully over the deep cut in my palm.

The moment it touched my skin, the blazing heat of the silver gave way to an icy, numbing cold. I flinched. Cassian's hand tightened slightly around my wrist as he drew me closer.

"You didn't have to put yourself in that kind of danger," he said, his voice nearly turning into a growl.

He worked the ointment into every inch of the wound with painstaking care.

"Standing in the middle of that circle while the Alpha aura crushed your bones..."

His jaw tightened. "Axel broke every chain inside me, Bloom."

His fingers paused for a moment. "I nearly tore Ivy and Kai apart trying not to drag you away from that pressure or stop Nova from hitting you."

He lifted his eyes to mine. "Do you know what would've happened if I'd entered that circle?"

"My trial would've ended in failure," I answered without looking away from those burning blue eyes.

"And I would've been remembered as someone helpless who needed to be protected."

I held his gaze.

"You need to understand this, Cassian. I didn't enter that circle only because I wanted to join this pack."

My voice grew firmer.

"I did it for my freedom. To earn the right to open those library doors myself. To make sure no one could keep information from me anymore."

I shook my head.

"I couldn't let you—or anyone else—save me."

Cassian released my hand long enough to take one of the clean bandages. He began wrapping it around my palm. With every turn of the fabric, the physical and emotional pull between us seemed to drain the air from the room.

His face was so close to mine that his warm breath brushed against my split upper lip.

After securing the final knot, his gaze dropped to the dried blood on my mouth before rising to meet my eyes again.

"It wasn't because I saw you as helpless," he said.

His voice was quieter now. Almost surrendered.

"I lost control because watching you stand there—so strong, so unwilling to bow—filled me with something wild."

He swallowed.

"Even if I'm not certain of anything yet, Axel sees you as his mate. As the woman he's supposed to protect."

His eyes darkened.

"And watching you suffer is the worst kind of hell he can imagine."

The confession shattered the invisible walls between us. Cassian lifted my bandaged hand and pressed it against his chest, directly over his heart.

Even through the fabric wrapped around my palm, I could feel his heart pounding hard and fast beneath my hand, as though it were trying to break through his ribs. The possessive, protective fire in his eyes surrounded me completely.

He didn't say anything else. He didn't need to. Cassian slowly rose to his feet and left for his own room, carrying the exhaustion and tension of the night with him. After he was gone, I lay back on my bed.

Between the numbness from the ointment and the peace that came with my victory, sleep took me quickly. The next morning, I woke to pale daylight filtering through the windows. The relentless silver fire in my left palm had faded into a dull, manageable ache.

I got out of bed and changed. I had no intention of hiding my bandaged hand. It was my medal. We all left for school together.

The day passed in an almost ordinary routine, far removed from the whispers still echoing through the pack house. The students at school had no idea what had happened on the western grounds the night before.

For us, time simply dragged forward as we waited to return to pack territory.

When we arrived back at the mansion after school, the atmosphere inside still carried traces of the previous night's events. But the seriousness on Gamma Carter's face when he met us at the entrance warned me that something had changed.

"Alpha Ronan is waiting for you," Carter said. His eyes flicked briefly toward my bandaged hand before he quickly looked away.

"All of you. Now."

Cassian and I exchanged a look. Curiosity and alertness returned to his blue eyes. Together, we crossed the main hall and stopped in front of the Alpha's heavy wooden door. Cassian knocked twice.

"Come in."

The deep command came from inside. We stepped into the room. Alpha Ronan stood behind his desk, studying yellowed ancient scrolls and old maps spread across its surface. When we entered, he lifted his head.

There was no trace of the crushing aura he'd unleashed the night before, but his absolute authority still filled every corner of the room. His gaze moved first to my bandaged hand. Then to Cassian.

"Come closer," Ronan said, his heavy voice filling the room.

He pointed to an old text lying open on the desk.

"After your trial last night, I had the seals removed from the ancient records in the lower levels of the library."

His expression darkened.

"We found far more information than we expected about the legend."

He paused.

"And about the great secret buried beneath this town."