ATASHA’S POV


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    67


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    “Cassian!” My voice cracked against the stone walls as I chased the sound of ws tearing into rock. The tunnel stretched ahead, narrow and suffocating, every twist filled with his guttural growls. My dagger shook in my hand as I forced myself to keep moving, the scrape of stone catching my shoulder as I shoved through.


    Then the passage widened, spilling me into therger clearing. I skidded to a stop, my chest heaving.


    And froze.


    Cassian was in the center of it.


    His body convulsed, jerking in violent spasms as if his bones were trying to rip free of his skin. The sound of it, his bones snapping, muscles tearing and reforming, echoed through the chamber until it felt like the air itself was breaking apart.


    His back arched so hard it looked inhuman, his hands twisting into ws that raked deep gouges into the stone floor. His jaw cracked wider, reshaping, his teeth lengthening into fangs that jutted past his lips.


    My breath caught.


    The red moon.


    Mendez had warned me about its power, about how it twisted beasts, but he had never said Cassian would transform into his wolf. I should have expected it. Every werewolf with a wolf inside could shift. It was natural. But for those with Alpha blood, the transformation was different, sharper, harsher, so much more brutal. The stronger the bloodline, the more agonizing the shift.


    And Cassian… Cassian was drenched in Alpha blood.


    I stood there, rooted to the floor, as the truth sank into me. He was enduring a torment that would shred any ordinary wolf to pieces. The red moon was pulling his beast forward, and it was tearing him apart.


    His scream split into a howl, shaking the surrounding walls. The sound hit me like a hammer, vibrating through my ribs until my knees buckled. Dust rained from the ceiling. The air itself seemed to tremble.


    Then his head snapped toward me.


    My blood went cold.


    His wolf eyes locked onto mine, glowing like fire, stripped of all reason.


    “Cassian,” I whispered, but the word barely made it past my lips.


    He moved.


    One moment he was crouched, the next he lunged, massive, monstrous, his body three times the size it had been only moments ago. The floor cracked under the force of his paws as he barreled straight toward me.


    8:13 <b>Mon</b><b>, </b>Sep <b>15 </b>


    67


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    A strangled cry escaped me as I stumbled backward. My back hit the narrow tunnel’s mouth just in time. I shoved myself inside, scraping my arms against jagged stone as I fell hard onto the floor. The breath left my lungs in a painful rush.


    He hit the entrance a secondter.


    The stone shook from the impact. His ws shed at the edges of the gap, sending chunks of rock scattering across the floor. His head jammed against the opening, jaws snapping, fangs shing only inches from my face. His hot breath sted across me, thick with the stench of blood and fury.


    But he couldn’t get in.


    He was too big now. His massive frame jammed against the narrow entrance, his shoulders and ribs straining against the rock.


    I scrambled backward on my hands and heels, heart hammering so violently it hurt. “Cassian!” My voice cracked. “It’s me! Stop!”


    But he didn’t.


    His ws raked uselessly at the stone, gouging deep scars into it. His jaws mped down on nothing, teeth gnashing against the edge of the wall as if he could bite his way through to me. His eyes glowed brighter, and for a moment I thought there was recognition, something human flickering in them again. But then it was gone, swallowed by the feral hunger.


    Tears burned at the corners of my eyes. My dagger shook in my grip, but I couldn’t lift it. Not against him.


    “Please,” I whispered, my chest aching so badly I could barely breathe.


    The man who had held me only moments ago, who had kissed me, who had washed my hair with his own hands, was gone. In his ce was the beast, fighting with everything in him to reach me.


    And all I could do was sit there, my heart breaking, as I realized he didn’t even know who I was.


    For what felt like forever, I stayed frozen, every muscle locked as his massive body heaved against the stone. His ws tore onest line into the entrance, sparks spitting from the rock. My lungs burned, my dagger slick in my grip, but I couldn’t raise it.


    Then, just as suddenly as the frenzy had started, it stopped.


    Cassian’s movements slowed. His snarls dropped to a low, guttural rumble that made the stone vibrate beneath me. He pulled his head back from the gap, shoulders rolling as if the fight drained from him all at once. His breath came in ragged bursts, steam pouring from his muzzle.


    I didn’t dare move.


    He lingered at the opening, eyes glowing like embers in the dark. For a heartbeat, I thought he might lunge again. But instead, he shifted his weight back, massive paws scraping against the floor.


    Then he howled.


    8:14 Mon, Sep 15


    <b>67 </b>


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    The sound ripped through the cavern, louder, deeper than before. It shook the walls, dust raining down in thin streams. My chest clenched so hard it hurt, my heart twisting at the raw agony in it. This wasn’t just rage, it was pain, the kind I couldn’t touch or heal.


    Before I could call out his name again, he spun and bolted.


    The sound of his ws pounded against stone, then faded into the distance as he tore through the outer clearing and vanished into the night beyond.


    I sat there in the tunnel, dagger trembling in my hands, my whole body shaking with the echo of his howl still rattling through me. My breath came in broken bursts.


    The cave felt empty without him. Too empty.


    But the silence didn’tst.


    Suddenly, a weight pressed into the air, settling over the cave like a shroud. My lungs fought against it, every breath harder than thest. The dagger trembled in my hand, but I clenched it tighter until my knuckles


    ached.


    The aura wasn’t Cassian’s. I knew that much. This was different, darker, colder, a pressure that crawled under my skin and made every instinct in me scream to run. My legs stiffened, but I forced them to move.


    “Cassian…” I whispered, but I didn’t stop to pray.


    I shoved myself through the narrow tunnel. My chest burned with every step, the weight of the aura pressing tighter the further I pushed myself forward.


    The passage spat me out into therger chamber, but I didn’t stop.


    Cassian had run this way. I had to follow.


    The exit loomed ahead, a jagged tear in the stone where faint night air seeped through.


    The aura thickened with every stride, pressing down on me until it was hard to breathe. My grip tightened on the dagger.


    “Cassian!” I shouted, my voice echoing hard against the walls.


    I didn’t know what I was thinking then. I reached the outer tunnel, shoved myself through the narrow opening, and stumbled into the open air.


    The red moon had climbed higher, staining the snow in deeper crimson. My breath fogged white in front of me as I searched the clearing. His tracks cut deep into the snow, a trail leading away from the cave and into the waiting forest.


    I didn’t hesitate. I ran after him.