Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Xander

“You’re going to burn through the floor if you keep pacing like that.”

Rory’s voice came from behind me, soft but edged, the kind of tone she used when she wanted to sound calm and wasn’t.

I stopped mid-step, glancing down at the faint scorch marks that had begun to char the old stone tiles beneath my boots. Azrien was restless inside me, heat crawling under my skin, begging for release.

“I’d rather burn the floor than sit still,” I muttered, turning toward her.

She was sitting cross-legged on the training mats, palms resting on her knees, trying to breathe through whatever chaos Vallin’s ritual had left inside her. The faint blue shimmer of the Solstice runes still ghosted over her wrists when the candlelight caught them, like the remnants of a storm refusing to fade.

“You’re not helping anyone pacing holes in the ground,” she said, eyes still closed.

“Neither are you,” I said, instantly regretting it when her head snapped up, glare sharp enough to make Azrien flinch.

“You think I don’t want to help?” she shot back. “I can’t even call to Zerina without my chest feeling like it’s being ripped open.”

I exhaled through my teeth, dragging a hand through my hair. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then say what you meant, Xander,” she snapped.

I crossed the room slowly, crouching in front of her. “I meant you don’t have to keep trying until it breaks you.”

She laughed, low and humorless. “Too late for that.”

The sound hit somewhere deep in my chest. I wanted to tell her she wasn’t broken, that she was more whole than anyone I’d ever known, but words had a habit of coming out wrong lately. So I did the next best thing-I reached out, brushing my thumb across her wrist where the runes pulsed faintly under her skin.

“You’re still here,” I said quietly. “That’s what matters.”

Her lips parted like she wanted to argue, but no words came.

Outside, the wind howled against the walls of the Academy. Since Vallin’s decree, things had been quieter- too quiet. The students trained, rebuilt, pretended that peace meant safety, but all of us knew better. Durnham’s shadow hadn’t vanished; it had only gone still, like a predator waiting for the right moment.

I stood, trying to shake off the heaviness pressing against my ribs. “Vallin wants to check the outer wards again tonight. The runes are flickering.”

Chapter 121

“Flickering?” she asked.

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“Not all of them,” I said, grabbing my cloak. “Just the ones on the north wall. Isaac said it looked like something was pressing back against the barrier.”

Her brows knit. “Venatorum?”

“Maybe,” I said. “Or something worse.”

Her eyes flashed, a familiar defiance lighting up behind them. “Then I’m coming.”

“No, you’re not.”

Her head tilted. “Did you really just tell me no?”

“You’re exhausted, Rory. You fainted yesterday. Vallin said—”

“I don’t care what Vallin said,” she cut in, rising to her feet. “If something’s trying to break through the wards, I’m not sitting here pretending meditation will stop it.”

I clenched my jaw. Arguing with her was like arguing with lightning. “Fine,” I said finally, tossing her my cloak. “Stay close.”

Her lips twitched like she wanted to smile but refused to. “Always do.”

We made our way through the outer corridors, the air colder than it should have been. The hall torches burned low, shadows bending strange against the walls.

By the time we reached the courtyard, Dhara and Castor were already outside, testing the edges of the ward circle that shimmered faintly above the gate towers.

“It’s weaker near the north tower,” Dhara said, glancing up as we approached. “Like something’s feeding off it.”

“Or through it,” Castor added, his tone clipped. “There’s residue in the energy field. It smells metallic.”

Rory frowned. “That’s Z3.”

The words hit me like a punch.

Vallin appeared from the stairwell behind us, coat trailing, expression grim. “We found traces of the compound buried near the lower rune. Whoever placed it there knew exactly how to bypass the seal.”

“Venatorum?” I asked.

He hesitated, then shook his head. “Possibly. But the energy doesn’t match their usual weapons. It’s… older.”

Rory stepped closer to him. “How old?”

“Pre-Academy,” Vallin said softly. “The markings resemble the original rune sets from the Solstice field. Someone’s trying to reforge what was broken that night.”

Chapter 121

A chill spread through me that had nothing to do with the cold.

“We need to reinforce the wards before they crack completely,” I said.

Vallin nodded. “Do it.”

We spent the next hour carving counter runes into the stone, our breaths misting in the air. Rory’s hands trembled as she worked, the blue glow of her magic sputtering between her fingers. I caught her once when she swayed, steadying her before she could fall.

“Easy,” I murmured.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, though her voice shook. “It just hurts sometimes.”

“What does?”

She looked up at me then, eyes glassy with exhaustion. “Trying to fill the space where Zerina used to be.”

I swallowed hard. “You don’t have to.”

“I do,” she said, voice cracking. “Because if I don’t, that space starts to eat me alive.”

There wasn’t anything I could say to that. So I didn’t. I just stayed close, my hand brushing hers each time the light flickered.

By the time we finished, dawn was beginning to paint the horizon in pale streaks. The ward’s pulse had steadied, but something about it still felt wrong-like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to the body keeping it alive.

As we turned back toward the hall, Rory stopped suddenly, eyes fixed on the snow at her feet.

“What is it?” I asked.

She crouched, brushing away the frost. Beneath it, burned into the ground, was a single phrase carved by heat.

The door opens at balance.

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