Chapter 55: CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE | BRIAN

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE | BRIAN

RONAN

I called everyone together once I realized we were wasting time standing around the room like confused pups, especially with the way Aspen was staring at Brian.

I did not bother doing an introduction between them because I heard Rachel do that already when I was changing. I overheard her.

Rachel was leaning against the wall, Brian sat on the edge of the bed, and Aspen hovered near the door like she might bolt at any second.

“Come here,” I said, my voice calm but firm. “All of you.”

They gathered instinctively, with tired expressions written all over their faces. Even Brian, who seemed like nothing could wear him out in this world, had a tired but cunning expression written over his face.

“Our plans have changed,” I continued. I turned to Rachel and Aspen, and suddenly the words tasted strange in my mouth. “The person we’re targeting now is Alettoi.”

Aspen’s head snapped up. “Your uncle?” she asked, disbelief threading her voice. “Why?”

Even though I somehow knew she already had the answer in her mind, I looked at her. Then I really looked. There was hurt in her eyes, raw and unguarded, like she was bracing herself for another betrayal.

Something in my chest shifted. My wolf stirred, restless in a way it had not been in a long time. It wanted her. It wanted to apologize for wounds I had not even fully named yet.

I cleared my throat before the silence gave me away. “Because Alettoi has the same tattoo Pulp, the librarian, has.”

Aspen gasped softly, her hand flying to her mouth. Rachel was on her feet immediately. “Damn. How?”

“That means Alettoi is still on school premises,” Brian said. “We can track him. But first…” His gaze cut to me. “You need to draw that tattoo. Every single detail.”

I nodded. “So we can identify anyone else carrying it.”

They all nodded together, and somehow the war we were fighting felt like it was suddenly coming to an end, or should I say it was now clearer.

Then I noticed Aspen. Her eyes had gone wide, panic flickering across her face.

“What is it?” I asked gently.

She hesitated. “I think… I think I lost the book Pulp gave me.”

I could not help it. I laughed, though not in a mocking way. “You didn’t lose it,” I said. “It’s with me.”

I crossed the room, opened my bedside table, and picked up the small book. The moment I turned back, Brian snatched it from my hand.

“Hey…”

But the words died in my throat. Brian was staring at the cover like it had just bitten him. His face drained of color, eyes wide with something dangerously close to fear.

“Oh,” he said quietly. “This changes everything.”

“Do you know the book?” I asked again, slower this time, with disbelief creeping into my voice.

Brian snapped his head up like I had just pulled him out of a trance. “Yes,” he said immediately, without hesitation, and that alone unsettled me.

He looked back down at the cover and read the title aloud, his voice low. “The Secrets Under Your Name.”

The room went quiet in a way I did not like.

Aspen stepped closer to him without realizing it, her shoulder brushing his arm. “Where do you know it from?” she asked. There was urgency in her tone now.

Brian lifted his eyes to hers. “I’ve seen it before,” he said. “Once. It was with Landona.”

“What?” I cracked with disbelief. I felt my spine straighten instantly, and I saw Rachel stiffen beside me.

“The priest?” Rachel whispered. “The Landona?”

Brian nodded. “The priest of our packs. The most powerful one in the wolf world. She kept it locked away, and she treated it like it could bite if opened the wrong way. I wonder how you guys got your hands on it.”

I glanced at Aspen instinctively. Her face had gone pale. “Pulp gave it to me,” she said quietly. “Just like that. And there was nothing written inside it. I checked. More than once. We all checked it.”

Brian flipped the book open, his fingers careful now, almost reverent. He turned page after page, faster, then slower. It was blank, all of it. Nothing but clean, empty parchment, except for the few words that Pulp had written to lure Aspen and the rest of us out.

“See?” Aspen said. “Nothing.”

Brian exhaled slowly and closed the book. “That’s because you’re not supposed to read it like a normal book.”

I frowned. “Then how are you supposed to read it?”

He stood up, the casual humor he had walked in with completely gone. “It doesn’t reveal words unless it recognizes the reader. The name, bloodline, and intent.” He looked at Aspen again. “It reacts to identity.”

My wolf shifted again at that. It has been alerted now. My wolf was watching her, and suddenly I felt a strange pull toward her. I had a feeling that this book was specifically made for her.

“So Pulp didn’t give you an empty book,” Brian continued. “He gave you a locked one.”

Aspen swallowed. “And Landona had it because…?”

“Because it exposes truths people bury,” Brian said. “Especially ones tied to names. I’m talking about names, the kind that carry history.”

I ran a hand through my damp hair. “You’re saying this thing can tell us who we are?”

Brian’s gaze flicked to me. “No. I’m saying it tells you what your name has been hiding.”

Silence settled over us again, heavier this time.

“There’s a way to read it,” Brian added finally.

I watched him closely. “How?”

He straightened fully, eyes sharp. “First, we stop pretending this is just about Alettoi.”

“Fuck,” Rachel muttered, dragging a hand down her face like she was trying to wipe away the tension crawling under her skin.

Brian gave a short, humorless nod. “You heard me right.” He closed the book carefully, like it mattered how it felt being handled, then turned toward the door. “Don’t do anything, and don’t touch the book.”

He paused with his hand on the handle. “I’ll be back.”

Then he walked out, leaving the room heavier than before.