Chapter 94 HE MIGHT...DIE
UNKNOWN'S POV
The candle had burned low as wax spilled slowly down the brass holder.
Ragnar couldn't understand why the librarian liked using candles instead of properly installing lights and electricity.
For a librarian, you would think he wouldn't be using things that would be considered dangerous to books.
He leaned back slightly in the chair, dragging one hand across his face before lowering his gaze to the book in front of him again.
Nothing.
Another useless text.
He had been at this for hours, maybe longer after the whole talk with Ava.
He came back here just to continue his search for knowledge.
The first books he had opened spoke broadly about ancient wolves. Mostly stories more than records of them. Legends passed down by elders who had probably never seen such creatures themselves.
Some described them as gods among wolves, while others described them as monsters.
None had given him anything useful to work with.
And the few texts that seemed promising had all ended in the same frustrating way.
They all stopped abruptly.
As if someone had deliberately cut the story short.
Ragnar tapped his finger against the edge of the page as he tried to think of the reason why.
He understood after some time.
Ancient wolves were not typically studied whenever they were found, they were immediately killed.
If one appeared, the packs didn’t gather scholars to learn about them, they called the hunters.
Which meant there were very few records left behind and the others would just be folktales.
Ragnar closed the book slowly and pushed it aside.
Another dead end.
His gaze shifted to the remaining pile that had dwindled down to a single book.
One more.
He reached for the smallest of the texts, one he had avoided earlier on. A small narrow leather volume with cracked binding and yellowed pages.
The book looked like one might crumble to dust if it was handled too roughly.
Carefully, he opened it.
The handwriting inside was uneven and required a lot of thinking to get.
It looked like a private diary of someone.
A journal perhaps.
His eyes scanned the first few pages as he saw that it described old pack disputes and migration patterns.
Nothing that mattered to him or was considered important to him.
He flipped ahead to another page.
Then another.
And another.
Then his eyes caught a phrase that made his fingers still as he paused.
Ancient wolf.
Ragnar leaned forward slightly on his seat as he brought it in even closer.
The text around it was faded, but still legible to understand so he began to read.
… The matter of sealed ancient wolves remains poorly documented. Most occurrences end in immediate execution before any formal record may be made. The packs consider them too dangerous to study…
Ragnar frowned slightly.
That matched everything else he had found and had discovered.
But the writer continued,
… However, several scattered accounts suggest the presence of a soul-binding phenomenon. In these cases, the ancient wolf’s spirit is sealed within another wolf’s body, often before birth…
Ragnar’s jaw tightened.
His mind immediately conjured Sebastian, or rather, the wolf inside of him.
Alisander.
He forced himself to keep reading anyway
… The vessel typically displays unusual resilience, strength, and erratic shifts in temperament…
Yeah that was Alisander alright.
Ragnar thought as he exhaled slowly through his nose.
That part was painfully accurate.
He turned the page carefully to the next one.
The ink on the next passage was darker, as if the writer had pressed harder when writing it.
… Little to nothing is known about the long term consequences of such wolves. Observations are limited due to the rarity of surviving vessels…
Ragnar’s finger traced the margin of the page.
It was because most of them never lived long enough to be studied.
His eyes moved to the final paragraph on the page where he stopped completely.
… There exists only one recurring note across all fragmented accounts…
Ragnar felt a strange tension settle in his chest as he read the next line slowly.
… If a sealed ancient wolf finds his mate and completes the mate bond right down to end, the ancient wolf will be free….
Silence filled the room as the burning candle flickered softly beside him.
Ragnar did not move as his eyes remained fixed on that line.
Free.
His mind repeated the word over and over again.
Free.
He read the sentence again and again but the words did not change.
Free.
A slow unease began creeping up his spine as he flipped the page but there was nothing after that.
Just empty parchment so he turned another page just to be sure.
Still nothing.
The entry ended there with no explanation or elaboration on it, just that one maddening statement.
He sat back slowly in the chair, staring at the book in his hands.
Free.
The word twisted in his mind like a knot he couldn’t untangle because it now is.
“What does that even mean?” he muttered quietly.
His voice sounded strangely loud in the silent room echoing off of walls and empty chairs.
Free.
Did it mean…?
His mind began to race through the several countless possibilities that might mean.
The first was the most obvious one about the fact that if the mate bond was completed, perhaps the ancient wolf would finally be released from the vessel perhaps?
Meaning Alisander would no longer be trapped inside Sebastian.
Did this mean he would have his own body again?
Ragnar’s stomach tightened at the thought.
Would that mean Sebastian survived?
Or would the ‘freeing’ process tear him apart?
The book didn’t say anything more after that.
Ragnar rubbed his temples that were aching him as another thought crept in.
What if “free” meant something else entirely?
What if Alisander didn’t simply leave Sebastian’s body…
What if he simply took over it?
Ragnar’s eyes narrowed slightly as that thought started to feel real and make sense to him.
If that was true… then Sebastian might die.