Chapter 265
Cecilin
82%
A month had passed since the frostbloom incident in the eastern woods.
The northern mornings had grown colder, frost lingering longer in the hollows of the trees, turning the forest into a crystalline
labyrinth. Even at dawn, the air held a bite sharp enough to make my breath puff in small clouds. I had grown accustomed to it, but
it was a reminder: time moves forward whether we are ready or not,
I woke before the sun again, the hum of my magic already coiling beneath my skin. Fire and water, earth and air, each element
finding its rhythm before I even opened my eyes. The coven stirred owly around me; the northern woods slept lightly, but not as
lightly as before. Something had shifted in the balance here, subtle but unmistakable. I could feel it in the air, in the way the frost
clung stubbornly to the leaves, in the way even the smallest branche seemed to lean slightly away from me.
I rose and moved through the clearing to the stream, boots crunching softly against the frost–covered ground. I knelt and let my
fingers trail through the icy water, feeling its chill mix with the warmth of my magic. A small spiral of fire danced in my palm, quick
and contained, warming my chest, while the earth beneath me hummed approval. I closed my eyes, letting the air carry my
thoughts, steady and focused. My balance, my control, my fourfold power–it was everything I had always been, yet the tension of
the eastern woods clung to me still, a shadow that had not yet lifted
The frostbloom I had harvested a month ago had taken root in a small sunlit corner of the clearing, its petals pale but vibrant,
humming faintly with the echo of its place of origin. It was thriving more than I had hoped, and yet every time I passed it, I felt the
memory of silver eyes watching me.
“You’re up early again,” Seraphina’s voice came from behind me.
I didn’t turn immediately, letting her presence wash over me, familiar and grounding. “Morning,” I said softly.
Her eyes, dark and sharp, flicked to the frostbloom and then to me. You’ve been spending a lot of time with it.”
I smiled faintly, brushing water from my hands. “It’s delicate. Needs are.”
She snorted. “Delicate, yes, but it also remembers. You left traces in the eastern woods. The frostbloom felt it. I felt it. And I have a
suspicion it has not forgotten him.”
I froze, even though I had suspected it
myself. “You think… he sensed me?”
Seraphina’s gaze sharpened. “Not just sensed you. Marked the trace of your power. Lycans like him don’t forget things like that. And
I have a feeling he won’t let it lie.”
I let the words settle. I had felt it, every instinct and every element within me had confirmed it. Theron had seen me–not just my body, my presence, but the magic that moved through me like a tide he could sense even without understanding. And now, a month
later, that memory clung to both of us.
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12:30 Thu, Jan 29 BGB.
Chapter 265
“I need to check the eastern woods again,” I admitted quietly. “I need to make sure nothing else… lingers.”
ཐཱུ ཌུ,82%ཊྛཾ
Seraphina’s eyes softened for the briefest instant. “Be careful, Cecilia A prince is not the same as a wolf. And he knows the land
better than you ever will.”
“I know,” I said. “But I must. I can’t leave things half–done.”
By the time I left the northern clearing, the sun had risen enough to dapple the frost with light, painting the woods in shades of
gold and silver. My pace was steady,
measured, deliberate. I moved like a shadow, letting my magic guide me without forcing it, keeping my presence subtle, unseen, yet
fully aware of every branch, every rustle of leaves, every whisper of wind.
The eastern woods greeted me as they had before, dense and watchful. I could feel the tension of the trees, the energy of the
ground beneath me, the faint hum of distant predators. My steps faltered only slightly as I reached the familiar clearing near the
stream where frostbloom grew. It was untouched, as I had hoped, its pale petals flickering faintly in the morning light. And then I
saw him.
I hadn’t expected to see him again. The memory of silver eyes and black fur had faded into something half–remembered, a shadow
at the edge of my thoughts that I’d thought I could push aside. And yet, here he was, stepping out from behind a cluster of trees as
though he had always belonged to this clearing.
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