When The Moon Hides Her Crown (Seraphina) by Pooja novel Chapter 226

RYKER

Percy’s voice echoed urgently down the long corridor of the Academy, chasing after me with a tremor that mirrored the shaking in my own hands. “Alpha, you don’t have time for this! You have to return—now!” His eyes darted to the veins pulsing red beneath my skin, a warning I could no longer ignore. “I told you before—you shouldn’t have stayed here. You must come back!” he urged, breathless and desperate.

I gritted my teeth, my steps sharp and determined as I pushed forward. “I’m not leaving without her,” I growled fiercely, the memory of her hateful words burning like acid in my chest. She said she hated me—how could I just walk away? No. I would drag her away, even if it killed me.

“But Alpha, it’ll be too late!” Percy’s voice rose in panic as he struggled to keep pace. “Your skin’s already turning red. If you lose control of your wolf here, shifting back won’t be possible—especially not inside the Academy!”

A cold fury surged through me, and I stopped abruptly, turning to face him with eyes blazing crimson. “Then so be it,” I snarled, my voice booming through the empty corridor. “If I don’t take her with me, what was the point of coming here at all? Of wasting days in this cursed place? Right now, taking her away is all that matters.” Rage throbbed in my veins, fueled by the knowledge that she had given herself to Ronan. I would tear everything from her—starting with her body.

Percy’s shout cut through the tension. “Is dragging her away more important than Alpha Ronan searching for the Blood Petal?”

His words struck me like lightning. I halted, every muscle tense, then slowly turned back toward him, my eyes flaring brighter. “Ronan’s after the Blood Petal?”

Earlier, as I made my way through the Academy’s forest to meet Percy, the symptoms had already begun—the burning pulse, the trembling veins beneath my skin. I called him to me as I returned to the building, knowing I had barely ten minutes left. But nothing, absolutely nothing, was more important than the Blood Petal.

“How the hell does he even know about it?” I demanded, voice sharp.

Percy’s expression twisted with surprise and unease. “Honestly, Alpha, I was just as shocked as you. No one in the realm knows about the Blood Petal—at least, no one who would dare speak of it. Not even the Alpha instructors at the Academy. But remember the footage you saw the other day, the one where Alpha Ronan killed Cassius? You said he was the intruder. Now, I think he’s been searching the Academy’s hidden chambers for the Blood Petal.”

His voice dropped to a tense whisper. “His Beta is digging for someone named Wraithe, too. They’re investigating everything. Ronan’s already figured out the Blood Petal was used, and he’s looking into his own background off the record. I looked deeper—his mother’s death wasn’t simple. She suffered madness for decades before he killed her. She was part of the Blood Petal ritual the Academy orchestrated years ago. Ronan’s come here to find and destroy it.”

I clenched my fists until the skin broke and blood trickled down my palm. “So he’s hunting the Blood Petal,” I muttered, lips curling with bitter rage. “What about that red aura of his?” The memory of it clawed at my sanity, a fragile thread ready to snap.

Percy hesitated, sweat beading on his forehead. “I couldn’t find anything, Alpha. It’s not recorded anywhere—not even in the restricted archives. Not even his father, Alpha Odric, knows why Ronan has that red aura. No one in the realm has ever been born with it before.”

My wolf growled deep inside me. “Then why the hell does Ronan have it?”

I stormed down the corridor, the crimson glow around my knuckles intensifying with every step.

“Alpha! Please, let’s go!” Percy’s voice urged behind me, but he was forced to duck behind a pillar as an Academy Attendant passed by. By the time he reemerged, I was already pushing open the massive doors to the Grand Hall.

—

The Grand Hall was unnervingly silent at first—an eerie calm before the storm. Then chaos erupted.

My eyes locked onto the center of the room, and I froze.

Seraphina stood there, drenched in shimmering water, her disguise stripped away. Her hair hung loose and wild, scent exposed, every secret laid bare.

“Seraphina…”

The moment my eyes landed on her, standing alone in the middle of the hall, soaked and vulnerable, my heart seized. Her hair clung to her face, her clothes heavy with water, and she looked so small—so utterly alone.

Every gaze in the room felt like a blade aimed straight at her.

I was too late.

My pulse thundered in my ears as I rushed forward, instincts screaming, my wolf raging inside me. Then her eyes lifted and met mine—glistening, trembling, raw and unguarded.

“Ronan,” her voice whispered through my mind like a ghost’s breath.

I staggered to a halt, breath caught tight in my throat. It was the first time she had mind-linked me, even though we hadn’t marked each other.

“Don’t come closer,” she pleaded through the link, voice fragile and breaking. “From this point on… you don’t know me.”

Her words shattered me—soft but final, cold as the water dripping from her skin.

Seraphina…