Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Chapter 69

*Rory*

…

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The bindings pulled tighter when I tried to move, cutting across my skin with heat sharp enough to split it

open.

The smell of iron threaded the air, copper mixing with the smoke. My aether surged in answer, slamming against the walls of my ribs, Zerina pressing hard from the inside, her growl vibrating low in my skull.

She wanted out.

She wanted to shred through this circle and reduce Durnham to ash.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t move. I had no control of my body-my limbs.

Unlike the circle that I used to practice in, this one was different.

It was darker… older. The magic felt old and forbidden.

‘That’s because it is old and forbidden!’ Zerina roared in my ears. ‘He’s trying to use us to open something

that he shouldn’t!’

“Durnham!” Xander’s voice cracked the chamber, raw and furious. I could feel his anger.

No, I could feel Azrien’s wrath. I knew if Xander got his hands on Durnham, he was a dead man.

His fists pounded the barrier until blood slicked his knuckles. He tore at the unseen wall like it was flesh, shoulders straining, muscles trembling, veins standing out in cords. “Let her go!”

Durnham didn’t so much as flinch. He didn’t even spare Xander a glance. His eyes stayed fixed on me, gleaming with the same unshakable calm he wore like armor.

“Do you feel it?” His voice was steady, conversational, as if we were sitting across a table instead of me shackled in a cage of flame and geometry. “The way the circle hums when you breathe? The seal knows you, Aurora. It was always waiting for you. It recognizes your blood, your bones, the fire buried in your marrow.”

My chest heaved against the bands locking me in place, each breath smaller than the last. “You think you can use me to open it?” My voice came out hoarse, but hard.

His smile deepened, sharpness glinting through the mask.

“I don’t think.” He tilted his head, letting the key drift lazily in the air beside him, smoke twining around it like

a leash. “I know.”

The words hit harder than the heat lashing into my skin.

Xander slammed himself at the barrier again, shoulder-first, the sound reverberating like thunder. He roared with the impact, fury and desperation tearing out of him in one sound that shook even me. Sparks exploded, scorching his arm raw, but he kept driving forward, teeth bared, eyes blazing so bright that they almost

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Chapter 69

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looked orange, with Azrien so close to breaking through.

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Dharra was crouched beside him, her palms blackened from burns, still dragging shaking fingers through the ash. She tried to etch counter-runes into the geometry, but every time she pressed one into the floor the circle shifted, twisting like it was alive, mocking her efforts. Sweat streaked down her face, her lips moving in a frantic mutter as she fought to outpace the magic.

And me-

The circle tightened like a predator savoring its catch. Each breath was a knife-edge. My aether hammered against the bindings, snarling, begging to rise.

Zerina’s voice curled against my mind, smoke and flame, velvet and teeth. ‘Let me loose. Burn it. Burn him. Tear the world down if you have to.’

I wanted to. goddess, I wanted to.

But Durnham’s smile told me exactly what he was waiting for.

If I burned, if I gave in, the door would open-whatever the hell door that is. And if he went to such heights to open it, something told me we didn’t want it opened. And it wouldn’t matter if I was ash by the end of it.

I clenched my jaw so tight my teeth ached. My body trembled against the bindings, blood dripping down my arms where the heat cut deepest, but I forced myself to stillness. Silence was all I had left, the only weapon he couldn’t twist.

Durnham stepped closer, just outside the burning circle. The key hovered near his palm, the air around it rippling like heat rising from stone. His voice was soft, almost kind, which made it worse.

“You can fight me, Aurora,” he said. “But it won’t matter. This was never about choice. The moon already marked you. I am only here to… assist.”

His hand lifted, and the circle answered like it belonged to him. The bindings cinched again, crushing my ribs until I couldn’t pull air past my throat. Spots burst behind my eyes, the edges of the room fading black.

And still-still-I refused to scream.

“Rory!” Xander’s voice tore through the roar in my head, ragged, breaking apart at the edges. “Hold on! I’ll break it-I’ll-”

The barrier flung him back mid-sentence. His body cracked against the stone wall with a force that made me flinch, the impact shaking dust from the ceiling. He slid down, blood running from his temple, his breaths harsh and shallow. But he forced himself upright, staggering, eyes blazing with murder.

“I’m coming for you.” His voice was broken glass, jagged with rage. “Do you hear me? I don’t care what it takes. I’ll tear it down. I’ll tear him apart. Just-hold on.”

The vow carved itself into my bones, but it wasn’t enough to stop the circle from tightening.

Durnham finally turned his head, slow as if humoring the outburst, regarding Xander with faint amusement. Like a teacher watching a student throw a tantrum. He dismissed him with the flick of his eyes, then slid his

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Chapter 69

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gaze back to me, sharpening.

“You’re ready,” he said.

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