Chapter 53 Bloom

The moment I opened my eyes, the cold gray haze of dawn spilling through my window slammed every blood-soaked memory from last night back into me. The lingering scent of blueberries and juniper clinging to my pillow stung my nose, dragging me straight back to the devastating closeness we'd shared... and the brutal way it had shattered afterward.

But waking up today felt different. There was a strange crowd inside my head. A dull ache pulsed behind my temples. When I closed my eyes and took a slow breath, I felt it—completely, unmistakably.

The massive pack bond that had been branded into my veins last night. I could sense the lower-ranking wolves in the manor courtyard cleaning up the aftermath of yesterday's attack. I could feel the exhausted pain radiating from the injured in the infirmary. Even the tense vigilance of the guards patrolling the grounds reached me through the countless shimmering threads woven through my mind.

I could read them all. I wasn't blind anymore. The energy of the pack awakening flowed through me like warm water beneath my skin. Even so...

Not even this incredible new power was enough to fill the enormous hollow inside my chest. I changed quickly and stepped into the hallway. An oppressive silence hung over the pack house, settling heavily across my shoulders. Nobody was talking.

Everyone was still trying to process the organized execution attempt that had nearly ended in disaster the night before. Without wasting a second, I headed toward the lowest level of the manor, descending into the cold, dim tunnels beneath the estate.

The usual group was already there.

Kai leaned against the stone wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Ivy stood beside him, her amber eyes lingering on me with quiet concern, though she didn't say a word. Alpha Ronan stood before an enormous iron door carved with ancient runes, his towering frame as motionless as a statue. Ordinary pack members weren't even allowed anywhere near it.

And then there was Cassian.

The instant I stepped into the chamber, his blue eyes found mine. There wasn't a trace left of the broken helplessness I'd seen in them last night. The pride of an Alpha heir had returned, covering his face with a mask of icy professionalism.

I answered him with an equally distant stare. The thread between us tightened almost instantly. But neither of us acknowledged what had happened in that bedroom... Beside that bed... Against the cold window.

We buried every second of it in the darkest corner of our memories as if it had never existed.

"Wow," Kai muttered, noticing the suffocating silence as he glanced between us. "The battle's over, but this room feels deadlier than those silver-masked psychos. Why does everyone look like they're at a funeral?"

No one answered him. The tension hanging in the air was so thick that even Kai gave up trying to joke and fell silent. Alpha Ronan's deep voice finally cut through the room.

"Enough."

Everyone's attention shifted to him.

"The silver-masked wolf who destroyed the border runes last night had only one objective."

His gaze settled on me. "To stop Bloom's awakening... and prevent her from uncovering whatever lies behind this door."

His expression hardened. "If our enemies fear what's inside, then our greatest strength is waiting beyond it."

Without another word, Ronan pulled a dagger from his belt. He sliced it across his left palm without hesitation. Blood streamed down his hand as he pressed it against the circular rune mirror embedded in the center of the massive iron door.

The instant his blood touched the ancient symbol, the runes crackled to life. One after another, glowing lines spread across the iron like veins igniting beneath its surface. A heartbeat later, an overwhelming wave of ancient energy rolled through the chamber. It was so heavy it felt like the air itself had gained weight.

The enormous door groaned open with the agonizing scrape of metal against metal. A blast of stale air rushed out to meet us, carrying the unmistakable scent of ancient parchment, old leather, and centuries of dust. Time hadn't simply slowed in this place.

It had stopped.

Ronan gestured toward the darkness beyond the doorway. "The entire hidden history of Dark Moon... and of these lands... is preserved inside this room."

His eyes swept across us. "Know exactly what you're looking for."

The moment I stepped inside, I forgot how to breathe. The room wasn't a library. It was a maze. Towering wooden shelves stretched toward the distant ceiling, disappearing into darkness. Ancient leather-bound books. Yellowed scrolls.

Stone tablets engraved with forgotten legends of long-extinct wolf bloodlines. It looked endless.

Kai and Ivy immediately disappeared between the shelves, already searching for anything connected to yesterday's attackers. Ronan and Cassian headed toward another section where enormous strategic maps covered the walls.

I didn't choose a direction. My instincts did. Something was pulling me.

My feet carried me deeper into the maze without conscious thought, guiding me farther and farther into the library's darkest corner. There... Hidden beneath years of dust... I found an old wooden desk.

Resting on top was a thick leather-bound journal that had been left half open. My heartbeat sped up. As I laid my hand against the dusty page, a sharp tingling shot through my fingertips, like static racing beneath my skin.

Slowly... I began turning the pages. Ancient runes. Symbols. Records written in a language I couldn't read. Then my eyes landed on several names written in thick crimson ink across the center of the page.

The air vanished from my lungs. It felt as though a massive hammer had crashed into my skull. It was a family tree. And at the very bottom...

I saw my grandfather's name. Directly beneath it... My father's. My eyes widened in disbelief as I read the lines again. And again. I wasn't mistaken. According to these records...

The very first pureblood packs ever established on these lands... The bloodline that had created the runes themselves... Had descended directly from my family. From my blood.

Shock froze every muscle in my body. How...?

My thoughts spun wildly. Does that mean... The ancient pack my father abandoned for my mother... Was this one?

My entire life, I'd believed I was nothing more than an uncertain hybrid. An outsider. Someone who never truly belonged to either world. But these ancient pages were screaming an entirely different truth. I wasn't an outsider who had wandered into this pack.

The true bloodline tied to these lands... To these runes... To this ancient power... Had always been my father's.

"Bloom?"

Cassian's voice echoed behind me. Cold. Controlled. Yet unable to hide the concern beneath it.

"Did you find something?"

Without taking my eyes off the page, I turned the parchment toward him. He stopped beside me. The instant his eyes found the names... His carefully maintained composure shattered.

The shock in those blue eyes hit me almost as hard as discovering the truth myself. The others heard us and hurried over. Alpha Ronan. Kai. Ivy.

All of them froze as their eyes locked onto the family tree spread across the desk. For the first time since I'd met him...

Alpha Ronan looked shaken. Completely shaken. His eyes never left the parchment. When he finally spoke, his voice had fallen to barely more than a whisper. "This..."

He swallowed. "This is impossible." His gaze slowly lifted to me. "The blood of the First Line..."

"You..."

I slowly raised my head. The fear disappeared from my eyes, replaced by the pride I'd clawed my way toward with my own hands. I looked at the powerful wolves standing before me... At every mystery waiting in the shadows behind them...

And spoke with a voice as cold as ice.

"It looks like all the answers we've been chasing were never hidden inside the silver-masked wolf or those fanatics."

I lowered my gaze to the family tree one last time. "The answers..."

I met every pair of eyes in the room. "...have been buried in my own bloodline all along."