Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Chapter 63

*Rory*

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We practiced until my shirt stuck to my back and sweat gathered at the base of my hairline. The chalk ring on the floor was scuffed from where I’d stepped too close to the edge, heel smearing the careful lines.

Xander kept my focus simple-small, blunt truths that wouldn’t set the circle off.

I want to keep my friends safe.

I want to speak and be believed.

I want to hold my own name without someone trying to take it.

Each time, the runes pulsed faintly and the air shifted-sometimes warmer, sometimes quieter. Not dramatic, not dangerous. Just enough to feel like I was the one in control.

Between runs, Mona kept a stream of quiet sarcasm aimed at both me and Xander, light enough to keep my hands from shaking. Dhara sat by the edge, legs folded, eyes half-closed. Her low hum didn’t have a melody, but the earth settled when she did it.

Xander didn’t take his eyes off me. He watched every breath, every twitch in my shoulders. Sometimes his gaze was sharp, like he was ready to step in if I slipped. Sometimes it was steady in a way that let me borrow his calm. Once, his hand brushed the back of my neck, fingers warm right at the dip between my shoulders. The smallest touch, but it anchored me.

I missed it a few times. I didn’t master any of what we practiced, but I didn’t ‘blow up’ against either. The worst thing that happened was the truth runes blazing again and again, but I didn’t endanger my friends or myself again, and that made me feel much better to continue practicing.

Time blurred in the best way. We lost track of how many times I stepped into that ring. The circle started to feel less like a threat and more like a puzzle I could figure out.

I was wiping the sweat from my hairline when my stomach tightened, the same way it always did before a storm hit. The feeling crawled up the back of my neck-not Zerina, but something else. Something heavier, threaded into the bones of the building.

Mona moved first. “Someone’s coming,” she murmured, slipping to the edge to glance around the corner where the gym door was.

The narrow pane of glass at the top caught a shadow. Whoever it was didn’t stop, but their steps slowed just enough to scrape against the ground. A pause, then the sound of shoes moving again, fading around the

corner.

Mona erased the circle quickly, her mouth tightening. “Durnham. Peppermint tea and that cologne he wears that smells like he’s trying to impress the Council.”

“Why’s he sniffing around here?” I asked.

Xander’s jaw shifted. “He’s fishing. He doesn’t walk without a reason. I knew I should have told you this, Rory,

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Chapter 63

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but he has a specific interest in gifted wolves…” He met my eyes. “And you.”

I didn’t like the way he said that. I liked even less that he was right.

We finished eraring the circle, leaving the smudge marks.

But thanks to Dharra and the earth, she was able to regrow the grass fresh and lush just as we came as saw it.

“Quickly, act like you’re sparring,” Xander said urgently, and they moved accordingly.

This time Xander told me to focus on him-no flame, him. He knew me too well. He knew that the fear of being caught my cause my gift–or curse-to flared.

I pushed it toward the far grown, and he slid on top of me like he had me in a headlock… Skilled.

Vice Headmatser Durnham rounded the corner then, stopping short of us as if he wasn’t even surprised we were there.

“What’s happening here?” he asked, folding his arm behind his back.

Mona grunted as she threw a kick at Dharra’s head, evidently a better actress than me.

“We’re sparring,” she said in a bored tone. “I assumed that would be obvious, sir.”

He burned red as his eyes flickered to Xander and I, who released me from the fake hold.

“This is hardly a place to spar…. behind the school, in the dark? We have perfectly good gyms, including the one right in front of you if it is that you didn’t want any other students present.”

“We’re fine, thank you,” Xander said in a dismissive tone that would have anyone leaving. Hell, it seemed like even Durnham almost left.

Xander just had that effect.

“Your clothes… You’re not dress for sparring and…” He sniffed the air twice. “Do you smell smoke?”

“If you must know, sir,” Dharra said in her signature nonchalant tone. “The Alpha and his mate were having a private moment when my friend and I ventured to find her because he had an assignment to complete. Upon finding them, they quickly devised a lie that they were ‘sparring, and so we decided to join them as a joke. Would you like details of what we walked in on, sir?”

Durnham burnt a different shade of red this time as he looked everywhere but at us. Mona bit back a laugh as Xander slapped my butt with a resounding smack, that left Durnham looking even more uncomfortable.

“For the moon goddess’s sake, you young people! You have rooms for a reason. Please ensure you’re all in your rooms by midnight. The council has ordered all students to be sufficiently rested this upcoming week in preparing for solstice”

And with that, he turned and left, not questioning the smoke again.

“It’s our regular spot, so unless you want to see us-

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Chapter 63

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“I will refrain from visiting this spot ever again.” Durnham visibly shivered, and this time I really couldn’t bite back the laughter.

“Who knew you had wit in you!” Mona said with a laugh as she slapped Dharra’ shoulder. Yet, for some unknown reason, Dharra still didn’t laugh. I had no idea how to make that girl laugh.

“Well you saved our asses, so thanks,” I said as I stretched my limbs.

“We can call it a night, then,” Mona said, and we all agreed.

Almost being caught was not on my academy bucket list.

Mona tossed me a water bottle and I drank it in three gulps.

“We’ll keep this pace,” Xander said. “Every night until Solstice. We take it slow.”

I smirked at him over the bottle’s rim. “Since when am I the reckless one?”

“Since you stopped letting fear make your choices.” His mouth twitched. “I like you better this way.”

Dhara stood, stretching her arms overhead until her back popped. “The earth agrees that’s enough for tonight. And she also says if you two actually make this your ‘spot’ while standing in her grass, she’s going to trip you.”

Mona laughed. “Do it. I want to see him land on his ass.”

I flipped them both off. Xander just raised a brow, but I could tell he was weighing the risk.

We slipped out in pairs, timing our steps for the shift change in the halls. The Academy was quieter now, the usual night hum of pages turning and muffled voices from common rooms.

No one spoke until we reached the corridor leading toward the dorms.

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