Chapter 192
KAT
I never thought I’d step foot in the gym again after the murder
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For weeks after Shelly died, the thought of this place had made my stomach twist. I’d given the deed back to Mal just to make sure I never had to return. But I’d seen and done far worse since then.
The memory didn’t scare me anymore, not the way it used to.
The police tape was gone from the door, and it stood slightly open when I arrived. I paused on the pavement for a moment before stepping inside, not just to prepare myself to walk in again after so long, but to get a tighter grip on my magic.
Nathan’s pine scent drifted towards me immediately. I didn’t even want to know how he’d got the keys or reset the alarm.
The gym was silent when I walked in. Dust had settled over the remaining equipment, softening the edges of the room. Mal had cleared most of it out before we’d run, but a few things were still scattered around-old weights stacked in the corner, a battered bench against the wall, a lone mat we’d used for training.
Nathan stood in front of the basement door, sleeves rolled up, staring at it as if he had a lot on his mind. Now that I knew what had really caused Shelly’s death, I understood why something inside me had recoiled from this place long before I’d shifted. My instincts had known it was dark magic. My mind had recognised it before I knew what it was.
I stopped beside Nathan and stared at the closed door, too.
“You look like shit,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He turned to me then, studying me properly. There was no humour in his expression. No teasing, no smirk. Just the same serious look he’d worn when we’d first met.
“Your magic is unstable,” he said.
My gaze flicked to him. How did he know that? I thought I’d hidden it well, at least until the cafeteria.
“I can feel it,” he continued calmly. “Magic has a presence. Arhythm. It should be peaceful and serene, and an extension of yourself.”
His gaze sharpened slightly.
“But yours isn’t.”
“Good to know,” I muttered.
“It’s chaotic,” he said. “Violent,”
“Then I guess it’s an accurate extension of myself.”
I gave a short snort, but Nathan didn’t react.
“It’s not a joke, Kathri-Katerina,” he said, correcting himself quickly. “You need to stabilise it. Stop fighting it blindly. Suppressing it without control leads to rapture.”
“Rapture?” I echoed.
He nodded slightly. Even with me pushing everything down, I sensed his worry,
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15:42 Fri, Mar 6 A MO
Chapter 192
“Emotional rapture. Magical rapture. Physical rapture. Same thing.”
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I swallowed. I’d survived political games, betrayal, assassination attempts, a supernatural awakening, and a near execution. And now I had to worry about losing my mind because of magic
Nathan stepped closer. He didn’t touch me, but the warmth radiating from him was enough to anchor me slightly.
“I can help you stabilise it,” he said quietly. “Breathe. Don’t shove it down, let me see it.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
He’d seen what those shadows could do. I wasn’t about to unleash that on anyone again, especially among the humans.
“It settled before we left the castle,” he said. “What happened?”
Hunter happened. The magic stirred again at the thought of him rising like a storm inside my chest. I ignored Nathan’s instructions and shoved it down hard.
“Nothing,” I lied.
Nathan\’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“I can smell him on you. What did you do?”
My gaze snapped up to his. For a second, I thought he meant the dream. Then I realised he’d simply caught Hunter’s scent lingering because I’d been close to him all morning. An alpha wouldn’t miss something like that.
“Can’t we just find Zachary and let him take it back?” I said instead, gesturing vaguely towards my chest. “The pendant caused all this. He can have it back.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Zachary is already cultivating his magic again. Giving him the pendant back won’t help.”
Of course. Nothing was ever that simple when it came to me. Perhaps it was a curse.
“Besides,” he continued, “I told you before. The magic chose you! You can wield it far better than Zachary ever did.”
“I don’t want it.”
I folded my arms and looked at the door again, aware I sounded like a spoilt child.
“You don’t have a choice,” he said with a sigh.
His voice softened slightly. “It’s part of you now. Either you let me help you control it or work it out here, the way you always have.”
My gaze drifted towards the corner of the gym. The lone mat sa there, rolled up against the wall. Across from it hung the old punching bags Mal had insisted we practice on when he’d first started teaching me how to fight.
That was why I’d come. Before the suppressants kicked in, Mal had taught me how to focus here.
Nathan was already walking towards the mat, unrolling it as if he knew exactly what decision I’d make.
“You’ve always been a fighter, Katerina,” Nathan said. The mat thumped softly against the cold floor. “Unbreakable. Don’t let this little setback stop you.”
I walked over slowly, hoping he was right. He stepped beside me again.
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15:42 Fri, Mar 6 A MO
Chapter 192
“You still have to let it out,” he murmured. “You can’t tame something you refuse to face.”
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I hesitated. Then I loosened my grip on the control I’d been clinging to all day. I stopped numbing myself and let the shadows rise. They unfurled around me like smoke, and cold spread across the gym floor as they thickened, curling around my arms and shoulders.
Nathan didn’t even flinch.
“Good,” he said quietly. “Now breathe. Focus on the bonds between your wolf and your magic. Understand them. They should work together. It should feel as natural as breathing.”
I did. I closed my eyes, and that was when I felt it. A faint pulse the threads. It rippled through the invisible strands woven deep inside me, vibrating through my blood and bones. For a segond, I thought it was my magic reacting to exposure.
Then the gym doors slammed open.
The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot, and that familiar scent filled the room. Sandalwood and orange blossoms flooded the space before I even turned around. Hunter His presence filled the gym instantly.
It was powerful and furious. Impossible to ignore. His gaze locked on the shadows coiling around me, then shifted to Nathan standing too close. Something dark crossed his face, and his eyes flashed red.
The pulse inside the threads intensified, and suddenly, I understood. It wasn’t my magic. It wasn’t Nathan’s. Hunter’s.
Shadows unfurled around him as his fury surged forward. Shadows that looked like mine.
No. Absolutely not.
He didn’t get to be angry about anything.
“Get out,” I hissed.
My shadows were moving towards him, just like in the dream. And like then, he didn’t flinch.
“No,” he said quietly. His gaze never left mine. “I can give you anything else. Do anything else. But I won’t allow this.”
The threads pulsed again, the magic burning between them, tightening painfully around my chest. And then I felt him. Just like I had in the dream. All of him.
The connection slammed into me so hard my knees buckled. I staggered backwards, and Nathan caught me. Hunter’s gaze dropped to the arms around me, and his jealousy erupted through me.
And suddenly, I couldn’t tell anymore. If the chaos inside me was my magic unravelling, or a mate bond reforming
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