Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 131

Imperial 131 Summary

At dawn, the aftermath of a fierce battle is evident with a scarlet sky mixing with smoke and the battlefield strewn with broken armor and weapons. The survivors, including Vallin, Dhara, Castor, Mona, and Matt, tend to the wounded and remain tense, sensing the fight is far from over. Suddenly, the Venatorum forces return in disciplined formation, accompanied by gifted wolves—former students and warriors who have been turned against their own.

Durnham appears dramatically, exuding immense power and declaring himself the feared evolution, having enslaved those who once resisted him. Isaac confronts Durnham, accusing him of selfish ambition rather than salvation, leading to a fierce battle between them. Despite Isaac’s efforts, Durnham overpowers him and injures him badly, forcing the others to retreat and tend to Isaac’s wounds while defending against the advancing Venatorum.

Inside the Academy’s courtyard, Vallin realizes that Durnham is not merely attacking but is attempting to pull reality itself apart by reactivating ancient runes to open a dimensional door once sealed by Zerina. The ground trembles and the sky distorts as the door begins to open, threatening to unleash chaos that could consume both realms. Vallin explains that Durnham is using remnants of powerful tech and magic to fuel this fracture.

The chapter ends with the grim realization that if Durnham succeeds, the destruction will spread uncontrollably. The survivors steel themselves for the next wave of battle, determined to stop Durnham before the fracture consumes everything. The war for balance has only just begun, and the stakes have never been higher.

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Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Xander

Dawn came in red.

5 entrepr

The horizon bled with color–scarlet spilling into the gray of the smoke that hadn’t lifted since the night before. The field below the north wall was littered with the remains of the first battle: shattered armor, scorched weapons, and the faint smell of iron that clung to the back of every breath.

No one spoke. Not the wounded gathered along the barricades. Not the wolves still standing guard, eyes fixed on the treeline that shivered with something too quiet to be peace. Even the wind had gone still.

Azrien prowled restless under my skin, the silence twisting into tension that felt worse than pain. “It’s not over,” he said, low, his voice rough inside my head.

He was right. I could feel it—an unease that didn’t belong to the air, but to the world itself.

Vallin stood at the center of the courtyard, his robes singed, his staff cracked, his expression grave as he studied the light edging through the smoke. Dhara and Castor flanked him, the ground still faintly humming from the power they’d poured into it last night. Mona and Matt were tending to the injured near the wards, their clothes bloodstained, their faces drawn tight with exhaustion.

We’d survived the first strike. But surviving and winning weren’t the same thing.

“Movement!” a lookout shouted from the tower.

Heads lifted. Weapons followed.

Shapes emerged from the mist. Dozens of them. Hundreds. The Venatorum had returned, their armor dark and unbroken, their formation too precise for men who should’ve been scattered. Behind them, figures moved slower, their gait unsteady but deliberate.

When they stepped into the light, my stomach turned cold.

Gifted wolves.

I recognized some of them. Students. Warriors. Faces that had been missing since the Solstice. They walked in silence beside the Venatorum, eyes glassy, sigils burned black across their throats,

Rory’s voice was barely a whisper. “He turned them.”

I couldn’t answer. My chest was too tight, my jaw locked too hard to speak.

Then the rest of the fog split.

And he appeared.

Durnham didn’t walk–he arrived. Like the air itself decided to make room for him. His armor gleamed silver and black, streaked with faint gold veins that pulsed under the surface like living light. He held no weapon,

Chapter 131

but he didn’t need one. Power bled from him in waves, cu

the mist into strange, trembling shapes.

nd cold as glass.

When he spoke, the words carried too easily across the field, st

“You see what they made of us.”

He spread his hands, smiling faintly, like this was all some grand performance he’d already won

“The Venatorum wanted order. The gifted wanted control. Both feared what they couldn’t command. But me –“His voice deepened, vibrating in the air. “I am the evolution they feared.”

Vallin stepped forward, staff braced against the earth. “You’ve enslaved your own kind.”

“I’ve freed them,” Durnham said softly. “You call it corruption. I call it clarity. They see now that the world doesn’t want balance–it wants dominance. It always has.”

Rory’s hand brushed mine. She was shaking, though her face stayed calm. Zerina’s light shimmered faintly in her eyes, like dawn fighting the dark.

Isaac moved before any of us could stop him. He stepped out from the front ranks, his hood falling back, his blond hair catching the early light. The scar across his jaw looked deeper today, like it had been carved open again by the weight of memory.

“Durnham,” he said, his voice rough. “You always talked about clarity. About salvation. But you were just building yourself a throne.”

Durnham’s eyes softened, almost fond. “Isaac. My wayward nephew. I wondered when you’d finally come crawling back.”

“I didn’t crawl.”

“No,” Durnham agreed. “You ran.”

The soldiers behind him shifted, waiting for a signal. Isaac stood alone between us and them, his hands clenched at his sides. The tension between them crackled like static, heavy enough to choke on.

“Leave them,” Isaac said. “Leave the Academy. Leave her.” His eyes flicked toward Rory. “This isn’t balance. This is madness.”

Durnham tilted his head, his smile widening. “You still think you can teach me morality?”

He raised his hand. The earth trembled. Power coiled around his fingers like smoke and lightning combined.

Isaac reacted fast, pulling moisture straight from the air, forming a whip of water that snapped forward in one fluid motion. It struck Durnham square across the chest–but instead of sending him back, the liquid froze midair, turning black before shattering like glass.

Durnham chuckled. “You’ve grown stronger.”

Isaac didn’t reply. He lunged again, this time drawing every drop of water from the ground itself. It rose in a spiral, sharp and glinting like a blade. He swung, forcing Durnham to deflect. The clash of power cracked the

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Chapter 131

ground open, spraying dirt and sparks.

The Venatorum advanced, but I was already running.

“Isaac!” I shouted. “Fall back!”

He didn’t hear me—or didn’t care. The next blow from Durnha

at him sprawling. Lightning arced from

Durnham’s palm, slamming Isaac against the remnants of the outer wall. The air filled with the smell of ozone and burnt flesh.

“NO!” Rory screamed.

I was there before she could reach him. I caught Isaac’s weight as he crumpled, his body hot and shaking, blood slick on my hands. His eyes fluttered open, unfocused, his breath coming shallow.

“Don’t-” he coughed, crimson spilling down his chin, “don’t let him take her.”

“Save your strength,” I muttered, dragging him backward, my vision tunneling. Arrows hissed past my head. The Venatorum line had begun to move again.

Rory covered us, her hands raised, gold light spinning into a barrier that deflected the arrows midair. Zerina’s hum filled the air, low and steady, the only thing holding the chaos back.

Behind us, Vallin shouted orders. “Get him inside the wards! NOW!”

I half–lifted, half–dragged Isaac toward the inner gate. His blood soaked through my armor, hot and slick. He tried to stand once, failed, then grabbed my forearm instead, his grip surprisingly strong.

“I was wrong,” he rasped. “About him. About everything.”

“You’re not dying here,” I said through my teeth.

His lips twitched, a weak attempt at a smile. “You sound like her.”

“Good.”

When we crossed into the courtyard, Mona and Matt were already waiting. Mona knelt, pressing her hands over Isaac’s chest as her eyes glowed faintly white. “It’s bad,” she muttered.

“He bought us time,” I said, my voice rough. “Make it worth something.”

Vallin’s wards flared again, sealing us off just as another blast hit the outer walls. The impact shook the Academy to its core.

Through the cracks, I could still see Durnham standing untouched amid the ruin, power rippling around him like a crown. His corrupted wolves knelt at his feet, their eyes glowing blue with whatever poison he’d filled

them with.

Azrien’s fury roared through me, a storm against bone. Let me out, he snarled. He bleeds for this.

“Not yet,” I hissed. “Not until Rory’s safe.”

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Chapter 131

She was beside me now, breathing hard, her face pale in Durnham. “He’s not just after me anymore.”

“No,” I said. “He’s after everything.”

The first wall crumbled under another blast. The Academy above.

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ser of firelight. Her gaze stayed locked on

dlust raining down from the arches

Vallin steadied himself against his staff, his voice grim. “Get everyone ready. The next wave won’t stop at the gates.”

As he spoke, Durnham lifted his hand again. The soldiers knelt. The air burned.

The sun broke over the horizon, washing the world in crimson.

And the war for balance truly began.

era and ash.

with energy so heavy it made

We’d fallen back into the inner courtyard, what was left of it anyway. The once–smooth stone was carved by claw marks, splintered roots, and scorch trails that hadn’t cooled since the last strike. The Academy walls shuddered with every echo of Durnham’s power outside.

“Something’s wrong,” Vallin said quietly, though wrong didn’t begin to cover it. He was kneeling near the base of one of the Solstice pillars–those ancient markers that had survived every age of war. His fingers traced the cracks that had begun to crawl up its side, the sigils faintly glowing red. “He’s not attacking. He’s pulling.”

“Pulling what?” I asked, though my stomach already knew the answer.

Vallin rose slowly, his face ashen in the glow. “Reality.”

I stared at him. “That’s not possible.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be,” he said grimly. “But the runes you helped me study–the ones carved under the north tower? They were fragments of something much older. He’s re–creating the circle that was once used to bridge dimensions.”

My heart dropped. “The door.”

He nodded. “The same one Zerina once sealed.”

Outside, a tremor rolled through the ground so deep it rattled the marrow of my teeth. I turned toward the broken archway leading to the courtyard’s edge. Beyond it, the horizon had changed–colors I didn’t have names for spilling across the sky. The air shimmered, vibrating between light and shadow.

The door was opening.

I could feel it. Every rune Durnham had activated pulsed through the bond like a heartbeat gone wrong. The ground beneath my boots wasn’t steady anymore; it was breathing, alive and unstable.

“Rory,” Vallin said, his voice tight, “he’s feeding off the remnants of the Z3 compounds. They weren’t just weapons–they were conduits. Venatorum tech mixed with ancient magic. He’s found a way to use the chaos it leaves behind.”

“Which means if he finishes this…”

“The fracture won’t stop here,” he said. “It’ll spread through the ley lines. It’ll consume both realms.”

My throat went dry. “Then we stop him.”

Conclusion

The chapter closes on a tense and fragile moment, where the weight of loss and the looming threat of Durnham’s power settle heavily over the survivors. The emotional toll is palpable—Isaac’s sacrifice, Rory’s quiet strength, and Xander’s fierce determination all intertwine, underscoring the deep bonds forged in the crucible of war. As the Academy braces itself, hope flickers amidst the devastation, a reminder that even in the darkest hours, unity and resilience remain their strongest weapons.

Yet beneath the surface, the true battle has only just begun. The opening of the ancient door and the unraveling of reality itself signal that the conflict transcends mere physical combat, touching on forces far older and more dangerous. This chapter leaves us suspended on the edge of chaos, where courage will be tested and the very fabric of their world hangs in the balance, setting the stage for an epic struggle that demands every ounce of their strength and resolve.

What to Expect in Next Chapter?

The next chapter promises to plunge us deeper into the escalating chaos as Durnham’s dark ambitions threaten not just the Academy, but the very fabric of reality itself. With the opening of the ancient door—a gateway to unknown realms—the stakes become immeasurably higher, and the fragile line between worlds begins to blur. Xander and his allies will have to confront not only overwhelming power but also the haunting implications of what Durnham’s twisted vision could unleash.

Emotions will run raw as loyalties are tested and the weight of sacrifice looms large. Rory’s role grows ever more pivotal, and the tension between past bonds and present betrayals will simmer beneath every decision. The battle for balance is no longer just a fight for survival; it’s a desperate struggle to preserve everything they hold dear from slipping into darkness. Expect moments of heart-stopping intensity and revelations that will challenge everything the characters thought they knew.