Chapter 44 Bloom

The moment the heavy, rune-carved door to Alpha Ronan's council chamber closed behind us, the pressure inside the room gave way to the cool, unsettling silence of the hallway.

But the silence didn't last. We had only taken a few steps when Ivy finally drew in a deep breath and ran both hands through her hair. Her face had gone almost completely pale beneath the weight of everything we'd just learned.

"Two different groups?" she whispered.

She tried to hide the tremor in her voice, but failed. Her gaze moved between Cassian and me beneath the dim hallway lights.

"This is insane. One side wants to kill you because they believe your hybrid blood would taint a pureblood line, and the other wants you gone because they're terrified of the power that could awaken inside you."

Her expression tightened with fear.

"Bloom, this means two deadly factions are hunting you at the same time. How are we supposed to know when they'll attack or where they'll come from?"

"We don't need to know," Kai growled.

His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, and the veins along his arms stood out beneath his skin. A fierce, predatory light burned in his hazel eyes.

"Let them come." His voice hardened.

"I don't care who they are or what they believe in. If those fanatics or that cowardly alliance tries to touch Bloom, I'll tear them apart the second they step across our borders."

He looked at me. "We all saw what she did in that circle last night. She's part of this pack, and more importantly, she's our friend."

His jaw tightened. "No one is laying a hand on her."

"Kai's right. No one is going to touch her," Cassian cut in. "But this isn't only about guarding the borders."

His voice came out so low and rough that the air in the hallway seemed to grow heavy beneath the force of his aura. He stepped toward me, eliminating the distance between us until he stood directly in front of me.

Beneath the messy black hair falling over his forehead, his blue eyes had darkened with Axel's possessive, feral instinct.

"From now on, you won't be alone for even a second, Bloom." His gaze never left mine.

"At school. In the halls. In this house. On the training grounds. One of us will be with you every minute." His jaw flexed.

"My wolf is losing his mind. We'll do whatever it takes to protect you and keep those shadows away from you."

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" I asked, tightening my fingers around the bandage on my left palm.

The lingering ache reminded me exactly who I was and what I'd willingly endured the night before.

"I can take care of myself. I dragged that blade across my own palm. I don't need anyone locking me in a cage for my own protection."

"This isn't a cage, Bloom. It's survival." Cassian didn't look away. The concern and need to protect me in his eyes were so tangible that my chest tightened.

"What about the second trial?" Kai asked, cutting through the argument.

He glanced back toward the council chamber, clearly thinking about the ancient documents spread across Ronan's desk.

"You passed the physical stages. You fought, endured silver, and stood against an Alpha's aura. Do we know what the next trial actually involves?"

Cassian drew in a deep breath. I could see the confusion and worry churning inside him. Without hesitating, he said, "There's one way to find out." His eyes went distant for a moment.

Beta Zane approached us with slow, measured steps. The same stern, professional expression remained firmly in place. He didn't seem offended by the way Cassian addressed him as the Alpha heir. Instead, he studied the tension surrounding the four of us before stopping directly in front of us.

"Is there a problem, Cassian?" Zane asked calmly.

"The second trial," Cassian said, getting straight to the point. "My father didn't explain the details. We want to know what Bloom is facing."

His tone sharpened. "She's already proven herself physically. What happens now? We know it's a spiritual examination, but what does that mean?"

Zane's expression didn't change in response to Cassian's impatient anger. His eyes briefly dropped to my bandaged hand before returning to him. "I can't reveal the details before the trial, Cassian."

His voice remained even. "It would violate pack tradition and the council's laws. Bloom has to enter that circle completely unprepared and rely only on her own inner strength."

His gaze shifted to me. "If I tell her what she'll face, the trial loses all meaning."

"Her life is in danger, Zane!" Cassian snapped, stepping closer. "There are two different factions waiting outside to hunt her down, and you expect us to throw her blindly into another unknown trial?"

Zane opened his mouth, clearly ready to answer sharply. Then the dim hallway lights flickered. For one terrifying second, it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of both the room and the corridor. Time slowed.

The bandaged wound in my left palm erupted with the same unbearable fire as if molten silver had been poured directly over it. A cry escaped me as I wrapped my right hand around my left wrist. My knees buckled.

"Bloom!"

Cassian's voice sounded impossibly far away, muffled as though it were reaching me from beneath deep water. His powerful arms caught me before I hit the floor. But the reality around me had already begun to fracture. The mansion hallway vanished.

In its place appeared the western edge of the pack lands, where towering oak trees swallowed the sky and the dark forest began beyond the territory line. Wind roared inside my ears. Within seconds, the sound twisted into whispers sharp enough to drive someone insane.

But it wasn't a single voice. It sounded like dozens, hundreds, speaking the same cold words at once.

"Impure blood has no place in a pureblood's bed." The first voice was full of hatred and fanaticism. Through the dim, shifting light, I saw faceless shadows watching me from the forest boundary. Only their eyes were visible. They glowed with the savage yellow of wolves.

"The bond will not be formed."

The whispers surrounded me.

"The power will not awaken."

Their voices grew louder.

"Before you can join the pack—before the seal accepts you—we will bury your bones beneath this land."

Then a second mental force exploded against the left side of my mind. This one was completely different. Cold. Mechanical. Arrogant. It belonged to the dark alliance that feared the power inside me.

"We will not stand by and watch your awakening, hybrid."

The words tore through my thoughts.

"We will not allow you to claim that power or destroy the balance."

The shadows shifted closer.

"The pack cannot protect you."

The pressure inside my skull intensified.

"Very soon, before those runes can reduce you to ash, we will burn you ourselves."

A final whisper scraped through my mind.

"Your time is running out."

The two separate voices echoed inside me like claws tearing at the walls of my brain. Both factions intended to destroy me before I could fully join the pack and enter the Forbidden Vault.

This mental illusion was a warning. A direct, bloody assault against my soul. But how had they found out?

"Get the fuck out of my mind!" I screamed into the darkness inside my mind.

I gathered every trace of willpower I possessed, every piece of the fierce, unbreakable victory still burning inside me, and slammed the doors of my mind shut in the faces of the shadows.

My eyes flew open. I was back in the mansion hallway, held securely in Cassian's arms. My chest rose and fell rapidly. Cold sweat ran down my forehead. Cassian stared at me in horror while Ivy and Kai surrounded us, their bodies tense and ready as they tried to understand what had happened.

Beta Zane watched me with narrowed eyes, his expression darker than before. He had felt the sudden surge of magic. The attack against my mind.

"What happened?" Cassian asked, his voice trembling. "Are you okay?"

He placed both hands against my cheeks, trying to pull me fully back to reality.

"They came..." I said breathlessly. My fingers tightened around his arms.

"They're here. Near the edge of town." I struggled to steady my breathing.

"Both groups. They aren't going to wait for me to join the pack." My voice shook.

"They want to destroy me before the trial." Zane immediately turned toward the hallway windows and stared out at the dark forest beyond them.

When he spoke, his voice was ice-cold. "The attack wasn't physical. It was a mental illusion and a warning."

His expression hardened. "The enemy is much closer—and far more impatient—than we believed."

He looked back at me. "They intend to act before Bloom has time to join the pack."

Zane didn't hesitate. "The second trial must happen immediately."

His voice became a command. "We'll gather everything we need."

He fixed his gaze on me. "Be ready tomorrow night, Bloom."

Then he turned and disappeared down the hallway at a near run, heading back toward the Alpha's chamber.