Chapter 39: Ritual

She walked towards me with a small dagger and grabbed my arm. The dagger felt like ice against my palm as Estava pressed it into my skin.

"Hold still, girl," the old woman murmured. "Do not pull away when it bites."

I nodded stiffly staring into the cauldron bubbling over. Below our feet, the cottage floor vibrated rhythmically.

Vesper hadn't stopped throwing himself against the cellar door since Estava locked him in. Every impact sent a jolt down my spine, along with a sliver of guilt. Part of the reason he was this way was my fault and the thought of that haunted me

Estava sliced a quick, stinging line across my palm. I gasped, but I didn't pull away. She held my hand over the cauldron, squeezing until thick drops of blood fell into the couldron.

Where the blood hit the liquid, it turned violent violet, indigo steam rising up.

"Good," Estava rasped, releasing my hand and tossing me a linen rag to press against the flow. "Now, we wait for the Alpha’s contribution. If he survives the night without chewing through his own wrists."

Julian, who had been pacing near the frosted window, whirled around. "Is that necessary? You talk about him like he’s a rabid dog you’re waiting to put down."

"He is rabid, boy," Estava countered, stirring the darkening brew. "Your city ways have made you soft. You forget what a wolf is when you strip away the humanity. It is hunger and rage. Right now, Vesper is nothing else."

I pressed the rag to my hand,m. "And the potion... it will bring his humanity back?"

"It will force his mind back along his own timeline," Elara corrected. “Past this lifetime entirely, back to the root of his existence. If he can find his footing there, he can walk back to the present whole. If he gets lost in the memories..." She shrugged. "Then the wolf is all that's left."

A heavy silence fell over the room, leaving only by the cracking fire and Vesper’s muffled snarls from below. Aleera reached out and squeezed my uninjured hand, her face pale in the firelight.

Suddenly, Estava stopped stirring. Her head snapped up, her eyes narrowing toward the front door.

"We have company," she whispered.

A second later, I heard it. The roar of engines cutting through the quiet mountain air.

Julian moved to the window. He stiffened. "Oh no."

"Who is it?" I asked, my heart leaping into my throat. "Did my father find us?"

"Worse," Julian said, stepping back from the window as headlights swept across the mist outside, illuminating the cabin interior in white flashes. "It's his father."

From the cellar, Vesper let out a roar that was different from the others—deeper, louder sound. He knew his father was here.

The cottage door didn't just open; it was nearly torn off its hinges.

Senator Bianchi stood in the frame. He was dressed in his usual attire, though the tie was gone and mud splattered on his shirt. His face, usually a mask of calculated political indifference, was contorted into a snarl that mirrored the one I’d seen on his son in the woods.

Two massive men in dark suit flaked him, crowding the small entryway.

The Senator’s eyes swept the room, dismissing me and Aleera instantly, landing hard on Julian, and finally resting with burning intensity on Estava.

"Where is my son?" he demanded. His voice was low and deadly, the Alpha command woven into every syllable, making my knees weak.

Estava didn't even turn around from her cauldron. "He is indisposed, Thomas. And you are trespassing."

The use of his first name made the Senator stiffen for a second. He stepped fully into the room, the temperature seeming to drop ten degrees with his arrival.

"Trespassing? I am the Alpha of the Cyan Moon pack. My authority does not end at the city limits. You are harboring a fugitive member of my pack—my heir—who fled without permission after causing a national incident." He glared at Julian. "And you helped him. Your father will be hearing about this treason, boy."

Julian straightened up, though he looked pale. "Sir, Vesper needed to get out of the city. He was unstable. The sedatives were—"

"The sedatives were necessary!" The Senator shouted, slamming his hand on the back of the wooden bench, making me jump. "He exposed us! He lost control on live television because of her." He pointed a shaking finger at me. "Because of Seratti's poisoned little plant."

"He lost control because you drugged a hybrid and then paraded him around like a show pony while his mate bond was shattering. You caused a chaos in his system," Estava said calmly, finally turning to face him. She looked tiny next to the Senator and his guards, but the air around her was almost equally heavy. "You broke him, Thomas. I am merely trying to put the pieces back together before he murders someone."

The cellar door shook violently on its hinges. A high howl ripped through the floorboards.

The Senator went rigid. His gaze dropped to the floor, then snapped to the heavy wooden door in the corner of the room. He scented the air, his nostrils flaring.

"You..." The Senator’s voice was a breathless whisper of disbelief that quickly escalated into a roar. "You put him in the root cellar? Like an animal? You locked my son in a cage?"

"Currently, he is an animal," Estava retorted. "A dangerous one."

"Get him out," the Senator commanded, his control snapping. "Now. We are taking him back to the estate. My doctors will deal with this."

"Your doctors will kill him," Estava spat. "At least, the human side of him. If you inject him with any more synthetic garbage while he is in this state, he’s be gone. He stays here."

"I wasn't asking, witch."

The Senator jerked his head at his enforcers. "Tear that door off. Bring Vesper to the SUV. If anyone gets in your way, remove them."

The two massive guards stepped forward.

Julian moved faster than I thought possible. He planted himself in front of the cellar door, shifting into a defensive crouch, his eyes flashing gold. "No. You can't let him out right now. He'll kill the first thing he sees. Sir, please, listen to her!"

"Move, Julian," the Senator warned, his own eyes beginning to glow. "Do not make me put you down."

"You'll have to," Julian said, his voice shaking but resolute.

The guards reached for Julian.

I knew if they opened that door, Vesper would attack. His father would fight back. They would tear each other, and this cottage, apart.

I couldn't just sit there.

I stood up, my legs trembling, and stepped right into the center of the room, between the advancing Senator and Julian guarding the door.

"Stop!" I yelled, the sound pathetic compared to the growls filling the room.

The Senator stopped, looking down at me with a disgusted expression. "You. Move out of the way, girl. You've done enough damage."

"No," I said, looking up into his furious face, terrified but standing my ground. Below us, Vesper threw himself against the door again.

"He's right below us," I whispered, my voice shaking. "He knows you're here, and he's furious. If you open that door right now, Senator, you won't be retrieving your son. You'll be fighting a monster you helped create. And only one of you is walking out of this cabin alive."