Chapter 75 The Note That Shouldn’t Exist
ASHER
The soft glow of <b>dawn </b>spilled through the tall, arched windows of the Grand <b>Library</b>, stretching golden fingers across <b>the </b>polished marble floor. The <b>silence </b>was <b>thick </b>and reverent, broken only by the asional crackle of candle wax or the distant shift of <b>ancient </b>tomes settling on their worn shelves.
I stood in front of the west <b>wing’s </b>forgotten aisle, where books older <b>than </b>the Academy itself lined the wooden shelves, some barely holding together despite years of careful preservation. The brittle pages of the volume <b>in </b>my 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 <b>and </b>sharp against the rising <b>light</b>. “Now, you’ve spent the entire <b>night </b>in the library. breaking curfew and <b>rules</b>.”
I didn’t lift my gaze. My thumb brushed the corner of the next page <b>as </b>I 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 <b>that </b>Dante’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 <b>to </b>put 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 <b>from</b><b>?</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, <b>warm </b><b>and </b>firm despite the cold, never letting me go. We were pressed together in a crevice between <b>rocks</b>, his beauty stealing breath from my lungs.
My wolf lived <b>that </b>moment once again in my mind when I <b>saw </b>something that I could never forget.
“I was the team leader in that <b>trial</b>,” I said slowly, “as the team leader I want all of my team members back and running in the Supreme Alpha <b>Race</b><b>” </b>
Jude’s <b>expression </b>didn’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 <b>prove </b><b>himself</b>. His destiny is in his hands now <b>and </b>will be decided <b>in </b>a few hours However.” His gaze dropped to the open book in my hands, then drifted to the <b>stack </b>beside me. “Is he also the reason <b>you’re </b>suddenly interested in ancientnguages?” he <b>asked</b>.
My hand froze. From that distance he could tell the book in my hand was ancient?
I <b>finally </b>looked up. Our <b>eyes </b>met.
“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 <b>about </b>thenguages 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 <b>and </b>archived. The rest well, some say they’re just gabberish Symbols from extinct tribes. <b>Unreadable</b>.”
My lingers curled around the spine of the book i held, its cover thick and <b>dark</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 <b>secret </b>that 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
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Chapter 75 The Note That Shouldn’t Exist
Bur Seth had just read it.
Like it was <b>nothing</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 <b>walked </b><b>away</b>. “<b>Leave </b>the library quickly. Only <b>this </b>once will I pretend that I did not see you breaking the rules, his footsteps echoed down the aisle until silence reimed the space.
<b>But </b>I stood there, unmoving.
My eyes fell again to the note. <b>My </b>mind returned to that moment–Seth understanding them, his expression too calm<b>, </b>too familiar with the unknown.
Suddenly, <b>the </b>silence in the library felt less like peace–and more like <b>a </b>mystery.
“Then why could Seth Darven read it?” I murmured under my breath.
The question hung in the air, unanswered.
I gently closed <b>the </b>book, 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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