Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 51 - Chapitre 60

Chapter 51: Blood & Bruises (Cassian’s POV)

Raven’s threat echoed in my head “Whatever you see in him, I’ll make sure it ends” as I stood in the Combat Yard, the morning sun harsh on my face. Val’s silence last night, her stubborn refusal to open up, had left me restless, my wolf pacing. The bond burned, pulling me to him despite my doubts, his walls clashing with my emotional walls. He was a lot of things but open wasn't one of them. Always on the defensive. It was really frustrating when all I want to do is help him.It has always been my personal decision to not involve myself in anyone's business but Val was making it difficult for me to go through with my decision. The Dominance Trials roared around me, students shouting, it was another day and the competition was still on, I didn't have eyes for anyone but him. Just when my eyes found Val, standing in a far corner to hide his presence, Darren, the dorm bully, stepped forward, his sneer wide. “Rhen, you’re up,” he barked, pointing at Val. “No declining.” My heart kick

Chapter 52: Caught (Valeria’s POV)

I woke up with an odd feeling.Not the kind of feeling that comes from a bad dream. The kind that settles in my chest before my brain catches up. Like something had gone wrong but I couldn't place what it was. My body ached. Ribs, shoulders, the deep bruise along my left side that pulsed every time I breathed. I remembered Darren's fists. I remembered the dirt in my mouth and staying on my feet anyway.What I didn't remember was changing my clothes.I looked down.Clean shirt. Different pants. My breath stopped.I turned slowly, heart slamming. Cassian was on his bed, one arm draped over his eyes, breathing like he was asleep. His chest rose and fell, slow and even.But his head tilted the moment I moved.Just slightly.Just enough.My stomach dropped.He knows.No. I didn't know that. I couldn't know that. Maybe I'd changed before I passed out. Maybe I'd—I hadn't. I knew I hadn't. I'd been bleeding and dizzy and too exhausted to lift my arms. And now someone had cleaned the blood

Chapter 53: Mine (Cassian's POV)

She was still on her knees when I rose to my full height. I didn't reach down. Didn't offer a hand. I just stood there and let the silence do the work, because silence was a weapon I knew how to use better than most.The forest was still around us. Wind through leaves. Somewhere far off, the faint sound of drills continuing without us.She breathed hard. Mud on her palms. Leaves in her hair. Eyes locked on the ground like if she didn't look at me, I might stop being real.I waited.Ten seconds. Twenty."Stop it," she finally said."I haven't done anything.""You're just standing there. Looking at me like—" She cut herself off. Pushed to her feet on her own, not accepting the help I hadn't offered. Smart. "Like you've already decided something.""I have."That got her to look up.Her eyes were blue. I already knew that. But in the dim light of the trees, with mud on her jaw and her chest heaving, they looked almost silver. Wild. Like something that had been cornered too many times to

Chapter 54: Collared (Vera's POV)

A single sheet of paper on my desk, weighed down by my wolfsbane vial like he'd placed it there deliberately. Like he wanted me to see both at the same time, the thing keeping me alive and the thing reminding me who held the leash now.I sat up and read it.Six a.m. — morning drills. With him.Seven-thirty — breakfast. Solas table, east end, second seat.Nine — Leadership class. Front row.Eleven — combat review. His schedule, not mine.Afternoon — strategy sessions he'd circled twice.Every hour. Mapped out. His handwriting was clean and precise, each letter exactly the same size as the one before it. Of course it was. Even his penmanship was perfect.I sat there for a long moment with the paper in my hands.Then I set it back down very carefully, because what I wanted to do was tear it into pieces and shove it under his pillow.He was already gone. Bed made, room empty. Like he'd never been there at all.I pressed my palms flat on the desk and breathed through it.You have no choice

Chapter 55 — What He Heard (Cassian's POV)

I wasn't spying.I told myself that twice while I stood behind a curtain of hanging vines in the herbology greenhouse, close enough to smell damp soil and dried lavender and the faint, suppressed thread of Val's scent underneath all of it.I'd come to find her. That was all. She'd missed the first ten minutes of the window I'd blocked for conditioning work, and I didn't like when schedules slipped.Then I heard her voice and I stopped moving."I don't know how long I can do this."She said it quietly. The kind of quiet that meant she'd been holding it for a while.Lyra was beside her, both of them crouched over a low shelf of herbs, hands busy. "You've lasted this long," Lyra said."Barely." Val set something down. "Before it was just the academy I had to survive. Now I have to survive the academy and him. At the same time. Every hour."Something moved in my chest."He's not going to expose you," Lyra said, and I noted that she said it with more certainty than she should have had, whi

Chapter 56: The Cost of Silence (Cassian's POV)

Soren's office smelled like old paper and authority. The heavy oak desk dominated the center, cluttered with stacks of papers and ink bottles. He didn't look up when I walked in. Just kept writing, his pen moving slow and deliberate across the page, scratching out each letter with precision, like he had all the time in the world.I stood and waited, my boots planted firmly on the worn rug that muffled any sound. Finally, he set the pen down with a soft click and looked at me. His eyes were sharp, and they pinned me in place without effort."Sit."I sat in the chair opposite him, the leather creaking under my weight. "Tell me about Rhen," he said, his voice calm. "Honestly."I met his gaze without flinching. "He's undisciplined," I replied, choosing my words with care. "Slow to follow instruction at times. But he's improving. Showing real potential in sparring sessions.""Is he." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. Soren folded his hands on the desk. "His entry records list th

Chapter 57: What He Owes Her (Valeria’s POV)

“What do you want to know?” Lyra asked, her tone heated.Cassian looked between us like he was reading the room. Taking inventory. His gray eyes moved from Lyra to me and back again, slow and deliberate."What were you arguing about?" he asked.Lyra didn't even blink. She didn't shift her weight or soften her expression. She just looked at him straight and said, "Val doesn't need another alpha pretending to own her."The silence that followed was so complete I could hear the distant echo of students in the corridor two floors down.Cassian's jaw tightened. Just slightly. His eyes moved to me.I said nothing. I appreciated her decision to protect me from my roommate, but I didn't want her to stir things up and end up making everything worse."Lyra," I said finally, quietly."No." She picked up her bag from my bed and slung it over her shoulder, movements sharp and deliberate. "I'm saying it because it's true and you both know it." She turned to Cassian, and her voice didn't waver once

Chapter 58 — The Professor's Interest (Valeria’s POV)

Cain pulled out a chair across from us and sat down like he'd been invited.Nobody had invited him."Val Rhen." He said my name the way someone says a word they've been turning over in their mouth for a while. Testing the weight of it. "I've been meaning to ask — how are you finding the ritual coursework?""Fine," I said."Fine." He smiled. "Such a modest answer for someone placed in Solas." He tilted his head slightly, and I felt it, the almost-imperceptible shift as he leaned just a fraction closer. Not obviously. Not enough that anyone watching would clock it.But he was sniffing.Slow. Patient. Like he had all night.Under the table, I felt a shift in the air beside me. I didn't look, but I knew. Cassian's hand had curled into a fist against his thigh. I could feel the tension radiating off him like heat."I manage," I said, keeping my voice even."I'm sure you do." Cain's dark eyes moved to Cassian briefly, then back to me. "I find the students who merely manage are often the mos

Chapter 59: No Safe Doors (Valeria’s POV)

Cain's office smelled like dried herbs and something darker underneath. Something chemical and faint that I couldn't name but didn't like.He was already seated when I arrived, hands folded on his desk, a small ceramic pot of tea sitting between us like this was a casual visit between colleagues."Val." He gestured to the chair across from him. "Sit. Please."I sat. I kept my bag on my lap."Tea?""No thank you.""Of course." He poured a cup for himself, unhurried, and studied me over the rim as he took a slow sip. "I'll get to the point. I've been watching your performance since you arrived.""I'm aware," I said.A small smile. "You have unusual control for someone your age. The way you manage pain, regulate your responses under pressure, maintain composure during energy exercises." He set the cup down. "Impressive resilience. For an alpha."The word sat between us. He was already suspecting something but he needed me to confirm it.He let it sit. Didn't move on from it. Just watched

Chapter 60: Blood and Sand (Cassian's POV)

The arena was loud the way only the Lunar Combat Arena got loud, the kind of noise that pressed against your chest and lived there, crowd packed into every row, moonlight cutting hard across the sand floor below.I rolled my shoulders and looked across the arena.Two rings. Mine on the left, Val's on the right. Twenty feet of sand between them that might as well have been a wall.Val was already in position, arms loose at her sides, watching Bram Cole rotate his neck across from her. Cole was Ferox through and through, wide, heavy, the kind of fighter who won most of his matches before they started just by showing up and letting people look at him.He was looking at Val the same way he'd looked at her across the yard three days ago. Like the answer was already written.I caught her eye across the sand.I gave her a single nod. Short. Direct.She stiffened. Looked away. I saw her jaw tighten.Good. Anger was better than nerves. I'd take it.Severus stepped into my ring.He was already

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