Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 117

Castor crouched in front of her, the wind quieting around him. For once, his smirk was gone. “I’m sorry,” he said simply.

Dhara gave a small nod, her eyes wet but steady. “I’ve spent years pretending I was over it. That anger kept me sharp. But lately…” She exhaled. “Lately, I don’t want to fight because of grief anymore. I want to fight for something else.”

Castor studied her for a moment. His voice was low when he spoke. “Then when they come again, they’ll meet your storm before your grief.”

Her eyes lifted, and for the first time since the Solstice, Dhara smiled like she meant it.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked away, giving them a moment. The frost glittered along the grass, the wind carrying faint laughter from the east wing where students trained. Somewhere, someone played music too softly to make out.

It wasn’t peace exactly. But it was close.

I leaned back on the bench, feeling the cold bite through my coat. For the first time since the Academy reopened, I let myself think maybe–just maybe–we’d done it. Maybe the world had stopped spinning long enough for us to breathe.

But beneath that fragile calm, something trembled. The kind of quiet that wasn’t safety, only the pause before

a storm.

Zerina’s faint hum brushed against my mind–weak, almost gone, but there.

Balance trembles before it breaks.

I closed my eyes, exhaling through the cold.

It was beautiful, this morning. Too beautiful to trust.

AD

The boy in front of her flinched so hard his own gust of air smacked him in the face. He coughed, stumbled, and nearly tripped over his own feet.

Two–thirds of the academy had returned since his reforms began, and while the halls were still tense with whispers, fear no longer ruled the air.

“Control doesn’t mean silence,” I reminded a student struggling with his flame rune. “It’s not about holding back–it’s about choosing where to let it burn.”

He nodded, sweat dripping from his temple as the fire steadied between his palms.

“Good,” I said softly. “See? It listens when you do.”

Mona barked another order from across the field, her voice carrying like thunder. A few students jumped into line out of pure survival instinct.

She caught my eye and grinned. “Progress.”