Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Chapter 76

*Xander*

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The academy walls had never felt so narrow.

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I’d walked these corridors for years, memorized every curve of stone and angle of stair, but lately they pressed closer, suffocating in ways they never had before.

Maybe it was because every time I looked at Rory, her skin pale with the fever the seal had left behind, I saw how little stood between her and collapse.

Maybe it was because Varra’s voice still rang in my head-calm, clipped, hiding things she thought we wouldn’t notice.

But I noticed. I always noticed.

Rory was sleeping when I left her, or at least lying still enough that I told myself she was.

Mona had one arm thrown over her protectively like a guard dog in human form, Dharra sitting cross-legged by the window with that strip of parchment in her hands again.

Never in a million years would I think I would be okay with allowing two other woman apart from my mate to stay in my room. A feisty-mouthed brunette and an odd, parable speaking earth girl would never make my list of roomies before.

But they had Rory’s best interest at heart, and for that I welcomed them.

Things between me and Matt were still a bit rocky. But we still worked well together. He was my future Beta, after all.

Mona and Dharra pretended they weren’t watching me, but I felt their eyes. They knew where I was going. None of us trusted Varra, not entirely, and someone had to dig deeper.

The East Wing was empty at this hour.

My boots echoed against the stone as I climbed to the upper floors where the faculty quarters were. Varra’s door wasn’t locked-not physically. Runes shimmered faint across the surface, warded against intrusion.

I pushed nonetheless and the door swung open-as if she was expecting me and already opened it.

She was waiting inside.

Of course she was.

“You don’t knock anymore,” Varra said, her voice dry, cutting across the chamber like a blade.

She sat at her desk, her hair braided tight, shoulders squared in her usual soldier’s posture. “Or perhaps you thought the element of surprise would help you, though I assure you, it never does.”

13:15 Wed, Sep 17

Chapter 76

(40)

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I shut the door behind me and leaned against it, folding my arms across my chest. “Surprise is wasted on people who already know they’re guilty.”

Her eyes flicked up, sharp as ice. “Be careful, Xander.”

“No.” I pushed off the door and stalked closer, every muscle coiled tight. “You be careful. Don’t stand there and tell me you’re handling this, don’t pretend you’re chasing Durnham when you and I both know you’re not giving us the full truth. I won’t have Rory bleeding for this academy again while you hide behind measured words and Council titles.”

Varra’s face didn’t shift, but her fingers stilled on the parchment spread across her desk. For a long moment she just looked at me, unblinking, until the silence became its own weight pressing down. Then she spoke, her tone low and controlled.

“You think I wanted this?”

“I think you knew more than you said.”

Her jaw tightened. “And if I did?”

“Then you’ve made yourself my enemy.” My voice cracked like stone splitting under pressure, hard enough that the words hung in the air long after I finished.

Finally, something cracked in her mask. Not anger. Not guilt. Something closer to exhaustion. She leaned back in her chair, her braid scraping the wood, and exhaled slowly.

“Listen to me. If Durnham accessed a Council extraction seal, then this is larger than the academy. Someone with power-real power-is protecting him. You can blame me if it helps you sleep, but know this: he isn’t working alone. And whoever is behind him doesn’t answer to me.”

The words landed like a blow. I stood there, fists clenching, fighting the urge to shatter her desk in half.

“So what? We let him roam free? We wait until he drags her back into another circle?”

Varra’s eyes sharpened again, fury beneath the ice. “You think I don’t want his blood? You think I wouldn’t burn him down for what he did?” She slammed her palm onto the desk, and the runes etched into the surface sparked with her anger. “Don’t confuse silence for indifference, Xander. If I move openly, I make myself a target. And if I fall, then there’s no one left in this building keeping the Council from snapping their fingers and handing Rory over.”

The air between us was knife-thin. I wanted to hate her, to shove her words aside, but the truth in them scratched too close to bone.

“I don’t trust you,” I said, voice low. “But if you’re right, then the only thing keeping her alive is the fact that you’re still breathing. So you better not falter.”

She held my gaze, steady, unwavering. “And you better not let your temper make you reckless. She needs you clear, not burning.”

I turned away before I could say something I’d regret, jaw tight enough to crack.

13:15 Wed, Sep 17

Chapter 76

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When I returned to my room, Dharra was still at the window, the strip of parchment glowing faint between her fingers. She looked up as soon as I stepped inside, eyes fever-bright. “It’s not just a seal,” she said without preamble. “It’s a map.”

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