<h4>Chapter 516: Her Final Decision</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    I pouted at the screen as I finished typing the one hundred and twenty-third page of the herb and potions record book.


    One hundred and twenty-three.


    The number stared back at me like a quiet usation.


    Three days ago, when I had first dusted off the heavy tome and carried it to my table, I had briefly worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish digitalizing the entire book within my remaining working days. Back then, it had felt like a reasonable concern, something I could push aside with determination and hard work.


    Now?


    Now, as I leaned back in my chair and stared at the progress bar mocking me from the bottom of the screen, the truth settled heavily in my chest.


    Nearly two hundred Chapters still remained.


    Two hundred.


    I sighed, letting my forehead rest against the cool edge of the desk for a second.


    It wasn’t just disappointment... it was grief in the smallest, nerdiest sense. This book had been everything I loved wrapped into brittle pages and faded ink. Ancient herbalbinations. Forgotten potion bases. Marg note scribbles from a healer who had lived three hundred and seventy-three years ago and thought future readers deserved honesty instead of polish.


    I had been so excited.


    And now, in less than two hours, I would have to say goodbye to it.


    It was myst day at work.


    The realization made my chest ache in a way I hadn’t fully expected. This ce... the chaos of sealed boxes, the smell of old parchment, the quiet satisfaction of turning centuries-old knowledge into something permanent and essible... had be part of my routine.


    I nced at the book resting beside myptop, its spine cracked with age, its pages yellowed and fragile.


    "I’m sorry," I murmured under my breath, ridiculous as it sounded. "I really wanted to read you."


    Shaking my head, I straightened and ced my fingers back on the keyboard. Self-pity wasn’t going to get the next page done. If I couldn’t finish the book, at least I could make sure I left it better than I found it.


    As I typed, my thoughts drifted back to thest two days.


    Chaotic didn’t even begin to cover it.


    All thanks to Alpha Elion Grey.


    The day after he had sent me away from his office with unanswered questions and a pounding heart, I had gone back. Not immediately - no, I had needed an entire night of pacing, talking, thinking, and arguing with myself first. But when my shift ended the next day, I found myself standing outside his office again.


    This time, I had been prepared.


    "I’ll ept your offer," I had told him calmly once I was seated. "But I have conditions."


    The faintest flicker of surprise had crossed his face... so subtle I might have imagined it... but he hadn’t interrupted.


    I hadid them out carefully.


    First - I would never work past eight in the evening during those exceptions he mentioned. Not even during emergencies. Eight was my limit.


    Second - I needed at least one full weekend off every month.


    Third - If I ever felt threatened, pressured, or forced... directly or indirectly... I could walk out and resign without penalty.


    And fourth...


    "You tell me everything," I had said, meeting his gaze steadily. "EVERYTHING you know about our bloodline. About my healing power. No half-truths. No omissions."


    Once I had finished, he had taken his time to respond.


    For a moment, I had wondered if I’d pushed too far. But then he had nodded... slowly, thoughtfully... and agreed.


    Just like that.


    No arguments. No negotiations. No attempts to weaken my terms.


    Still calm. Still unreadable.


    Which somehow made him even more unsettling.


    The contract had arrived the next day - printed, clean, professional. I had taken both copies straight to River, watching his sharp eyes scan every line, every use. When he finally handed it back to me with a nod, something inside me had settled.


    I signed it and handed it to him this morning.


    The decision was real now.


    My future had shifted.


    I shook my head, forcing myself back into the present. The cursor blinked patiently on the next page, waiting.


    I started typing again.


    I hadn’t even reached the middle of the page when it happened.


    The sensation rolled through me without warning - warm, familiar, deeply grounding.


    My fingers stilled over the keyboard.


    The mate bond hummed softly, recognition blooming through my chest like sunlight breaking through clouds.


    <i>Kieran</i>.


    I lifted my head just as he stepped into the northest section of archive hall... exactly where I was currently working.


    He was with a group of people, including the senior overseeing our project.


    And his presence made the entire floor change.


    There was no other way to describe it.


    Kieran owned the space the moment he entered it.


    His presence radiated authority and calm power, the kind that didn’t need to announce itself to be felt. Conversations died mid-sentence. Typing slowed. Heads lifted.


    Eyes followed him.


    Some gazes held surprise, others awe. Admiration. Curiosity.


    And some... many... were openly melting.


    I swallowed hard.


    He looked... devastating.


    Dressed in tailored ck cks and a dark charcoal shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his long blonde hair tied neatly in a bun. He wore his headmaster persona like a second skin. His posture was straight, his expressionposed, his steps unhurried.


    He looked every bit the Alpha.


    Every bit the professor.


    Every bit the man who already belonged to me...pletely and irrevocably.


    It took everything in me not to smile. Not to stand. Not to cross the floor and throw myself into his arms like a lovesick fool.


    Professional, Eva.


    Be professional.


    I stayed seated, hands folded neatly on the desk, heart racing traitorously as his gaze swept the hall.


    And then... inevitably... it found me.


    The mate bond thrummed stronger, recognition sharpening into warmth. His eyes softened for just the briefest fraction of a second... so quick no one else could have caught it.


    But I did.


    Always.


    Then his expression returned to neutral as he continued walking, the senior beside him speaking animatedly.


    Straight toward me.


    Oh.


    I straightened instinctively, smoothing my top and pushing my chair in slightly. My pulse picked up as they stopped beside my desk.


    The senior cleared his throat and turned to Kieran. "Headmaster Thorne, you must already know Miss Evaline as she’s one of your students. She is the one working on the herb and potions records you requested."


    My heart skipped.


    Requested?


    I nced down at the heavy tome, then back up at Kieran, curiosity ring bright and sudden.


    He met my gaze steadily.


    "Yes," he said calmly, pointing his gaze at the book sitting on my desk. "That’s the one."