Chapter 75 The Note That Shouldn’t Exist

ASHER

The soft glow of bdawn /bspilled through the tall, arched windows of the Grand bLibrary/b, stretching golden fingers across bthe /bpolished marble floor. The bsilence /bwas bthick /band reverent, broken only by the asional crackle of candle wax or the distant shift of bancient /btomes settling on their worn shelves.

I stood in front of the west bwing’s /bforgotten aisle, where books older bthan /bthe Academy itself lined the wooden shelves, some barely holding together despite years of careful preservation. The brittle pages of the volume bin /bmy hand had my attention. its spine cracked with time and its ink faded slightly.

Another page turned under my fingers–slow, deliberate, searching.

Then à voice cut through the silence.

“You refused to attend the overnight survival trial even though your name is cleared,” Alpha Instructor Jude said evenly. stepping into view, his silhouette tall band /bsharp against the rising blight/b. “Now, you’ve spent the entire bnight /bin the library. breaking curfew and brules/b.”

I didn’t lift my gaze. My thumb brushed the corner of the next page bas /bI flipped it calmly, eyes scanning a line of jagged symbols that seemed to pulse beneath the candlelight.

“I already exined my reasons, Alpha Jude,” I replied, my voice quiet but resolute. “You suspected all four of us during the murder incident, and cleared only three names. I understand bthat /bDante’s lineage makes him untouchable. The Academy is likely under pressure from his pack after his death. But the way Seth Darven is being treated. I find uneptable.”

Alpha Jude stood still for a long moment, watching me, I could feel the weight of his gaze, trying to read more than my

words.

“For that boy you are willing bto /bput your future on the line, you’re not friends with Seth Darven,” he said finally. “You weren’t even close. So where is this sudden concerning bfrom/bb?/b”

Silence stretched between us like a drawn bowstring.

But in my mind, I was no longer in the library. I was back in that vampire den as vampires chased us through the darkness Seth’s soft hand in mine, bwarm /bband /bfirm despite the cold, never letting me go. We were pressed together in a crevice between brocks/b, his beauty stealing breath from my lungs.

My wolf lived bthat /bmoment once again in my mind when I bsaw /bsomething that I could never forget.

“I was the team leader in that btrial/b,” I said slowly, “as the team leader I want all of my team members back and running in the Supreme Alpha bRace/bb” /b

Jude’s bexpression /bdidn’t change, but I could tell he was measuring something behind those cold eyes. “That boy has chosen to challenge Alpha Hugo’s decision and went to bprove /bbhimself/b. His destiny is in his hands now band /bwill be decided bin /ba few hours However.” His gaze dropped to the open book in my hands, then drifted to the bstack /bbeside me. “Is he also the reason byou’re /bsuddenly interested in ancientnguages?” he basked/b.

My hand froze. From that distance he could tell the book in my hand was ancient?

I bfinally /blooked up. Our beyes /bmet.

“Alpha Jude,” I said, voice steady, “can you read the ancientnguages?

He nodded, “Over the years I have learned it through the English trantion”

“What babout /bthenguages that haven’t been tranted into English? Can you read them?”

“No one can,” he answered, frowning faintly Anynguage we’ve been able to decipher is already tranted band /barchived. The rest well, some say they’re just gabberish Symbols from extinct tribes. bUnreadable/b.”

My lingers curled around the spine of the book i held, its cover thick and bdark/b, the scent of dust and time heavy in the air- vums fragile pages, tucked carefully like a secret, was a note. The note that I had secured. The note that I had ripped from that wolf’s throat after he swallowed it contained the bsecret /bthat led to Finn’s broken curse. The handwriting was thin. Not Tragmented Wenten in steady, deliberate strokes But was not found in any ancient book and no one could read it

11:54 AM P P ·

Chapter 75 The Note That Shouldn’t Exist

Bur Seth had just read it.

Like it was bnothing/b.

+8 Pearls

Then…” I asked, more to myself than to Alpha Jude, “is it possible someone can read anguage we don’t even know exists?”

He shook his head. “That’s impossible.”

With that, he turned and bwalked /bbaway/b. “bLeave /bthe library quickly. Only bthis /bonce will I pretend that I did not see you breaking the rules, his footsteps echoed down the aisle until silence reimed the space.

bBut /bI stood there, unmoving.

My eyes fell again to the note. bMy /bmind returned to that moment–Seth understanding them, his expression too calmb, /btoo familiar with the unknown.

Suddenly, bthe /bsilence in the library felt less like peace–and more like ba /bmystery.

“Then why could Seth Darven read it?” I murmured under my breath.

The question hung in the air, unanswered.

I gently closed bthe /bbook, sliding the note out from the pages, Seth’s beautiful smile and melodious voice that slipped once in the trial.

“Seth Darven…” I whispered under my breath, “it’s not what I am thinking, right?”

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