Chapter 20 Energy Corridor
Austin narrowed his eyes. "That's not an answer that reassures me."
Seara sighed. "Healer Winona gave me a choice."
"What kind of choice?" Austin's tone changed immediately. There was no longer any teasing in his voice.
Seara looked at her hands, still wrapped in thin cloth. “I can keep my healing powers and take the risk of touching the Ancestral Stone… or cut off my energy flow temporarily.”
Austin froze. “Cut off your energy flow?”
“For a few days. Maybe a week,” Seara replied quickly, before she could panic at Austin’s reaction. “The stone won’t be able to detect my energy if the pathway is closed.”
Austin rubbed his face. “And, you chose?”
Seara looked at him straight on. “I chose to cut it off.”
Austin was silent for a few seconds. “You’re serious?”
“Serious. I’m not going to lose my hand just because the Elders want dramatic proof.”
Austin snorted softly. “Finally, we agree on something.”
Seara rolled her eyes. “Don’t get too excited. It’s still annoying.”
Austin stared at her for a long moment, then suddenly smiled slightly. "You know what? You're braver than you think."
"Don't start flattering me. That's usually followed by something suspicious," Seara replied with a suspicious look on her face.
"I'm not always suspicious." Austin said, turning his face away in annoyance.
"Yeah, right. You're only eighty percent suspicious."
Austin chuckled softly and looked back at Seara. "All right, Miss Eighty Percent Paranoid. Come with me."
Seara immediately narrowed her eyes. "Where?"
"To my room," Austin replied teasingly.
Seara looked at him in disbelief. “Austin.”
“What?” He raised his hands. “I’m serious.”
“You always say that before you make me angry,” Seara said, frowning.
“I promise this isn’t one of those moments.”
Seara remained standing in place. “Why do we have to go to your room?”
Austin took a step closer. "Because there's something I want to give you before tomorrow night's ritual."
"I can take it here," Seara said without moving, afraid of her dirty thoughts.
"No, you can't," Austin replied firmly.
"Why?" Seara asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Because it's a family heirloom," Austin said softly, almost whispering.
Seara fell silent.
Austin's face softened. "Do you want it, or not?"
Seara sighed softly. "If you try anything—"
"I'm an Alpha, not a rebellious teenager," Austin cut in quickly.
"That doesn't make me any more convinced."
Finally, after a small argument filled with suspicious glances and half-smiles, Seara followed him.
Inside Austin's room, the atmosphere was calmer than usual. There were no excessive jokes, only the scent of Austin's body that made Seara close her eyes for a few seconds.
Until she bumped into Austin's back in front of her.
"You're daydreaming again. Oh, moon spirit... don't take Seara Louisette's soul before she becomes my Luna." Austin said, winking one eye, his index finger tapping Seara's forehead.
There was nothing wrong with Austin. He was always right in a strange way, making Seara's heart flutter.
Austin opened the drawer of his wooden desk and took out a small box covered in dark velvet.
Seara stared at the box. "You're making me nervous."
"Relax. It's not a dramatic engagement ring," he said, turning to Seara.
Seara stared at him intently. "Start again."
"Okay. I'll be quiet," Austin chuckled softly.
He opened the box slowly.
Inside was an emerald bracelet with delicate silver engravings. The green stones reflected a soft light.
"It belonged to my mother," Austin said softly. "She wore it during her coronation as Luna."
Seara was silent.
"I want you to wear it tomorrow night."
Seara shook her head slowly. "Austin... it's too precious."
"That's exactly why," he replied. "It's not just extra protection. This bracelet carries my mother's energy. It will stabilize your aura."
Seara stared at the bracelet for a long time. "And if I refuse?"
Austin shrugged. "I'll still tie it on your wrist."
Seara thought there was no harm in trying. Besides, Austin had never lied to her before.
Seara sighed softly. "You're not giving me much choice."
Austin took the bracelet and stood in front of her. His hands moved carefully as he fastened the bracelet on Seara's right wrist.
Seara saw Austin smile briefly.
"This is also a symbol," he continued softly. "That I'm serious about making you my Luna. Not because of pressure from those fussy parents."
Seara felt her heart beating faster. "You could have chosen a less tense moment to say something like that."
Austin smiled. "I've never been good at timing. Time is like smoke that easily disappears when blown by the wind."
Seara turned her face away slightly, trying to hide her small smile. "Thank you."
"For the bracelet, or the confession?" Austin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't ruin the mood," Seara pouted.
Austin laughed softly.
The next morning, the sun didn't fully rise.
Seara sat cross-legged in the healer's pavilion. Healer Winona stood in front of her with a cup of thick yellow liquid that she had prepared the day before.
Austin stood a few steps behind, his face tense but trying to look relaxed.
"Are you sure?" Winona asked again.
Seara nodded. "I don't want to take any risks during the ritual."
Winona touched Seara's forehead with her fingertip, checking the energy flow in her body.
"This process won't hurt," she said reassuringly. "But you will feel... empty."
Austin interrupted softly, "What kind of emptiness?"
"Like temporarily losing a part of yourself."
Seara swallowed hard but nodded anyway.
Winona began chanting the spell softly. The yellow liquid was applied to the pulse points on Seara's wrists and neck.
At first, she felt nothing.
Then slowly, Seara felt something being pulled from within her.
The warm current that usually flowed through her body suddenly stopped.
Her breath caught.
Arach, her wolf, growled softly in her mind.
\[What's happening?\]
"We're just closing the path temporarily," Seara whispered in her heart.
The energy that usually felt stable was now fading. Its connection to healing powers seemed to be slowly extinguished.
She opened her eyes when the ritual was over.
Seara stared at her palm. There was no warm flow from Arach. There were no soft vibrations that she usually felt when trying to summon healing.
Arach sounded weaker.
\[We... are muffled.\]
Seara takes a deep breath. "Just hold on, don't be a crybaby."
Winona lowers her hand. "Your energy path is closed. The Ancestral Stone won't detect your power tonight."
Austin approached quickly. "How does it feel?"
Seara tried to smile. "Like you taking my coffee in the morning and saying it's for my own good."
Austin blinked. "That sounds really sad."
"It is a sad joke."
Austin gently took her hand. “It’s only temporary.”
Seara nodded, but deep inside her was a sense of loss she hadn’t expected to be this great.
She had never realized how strongly her identity as a healer was ingrained in her until that path was completely closed.
Night fell.
Seara stood on top of the hill with Austin and the Elders. The wind blew colder than usual.
In front of them, the Ancestral Stone stood tall. Its surface was dark gray with a strange cold aura.
Austin stood beside her, not touching her, but close enough.
"You don't have to do this if you change your mind," he whispered softly.
Seara snorted softly. "It's too late to back out now."
"You're always so stubborn," Austin hissed angrily.
"And you're always so critical. Just be quiet and let me focus, okay," Seara said softly, but with annoyance.
Austin smiled slightly.
The Elders gave a signal.
Seara slowly removed her gloves.
Her hands felt lighter without the usual flow of energy she felt.
She stepped closer to the Ancestral Stone.
The air felt oppressive.
Arach remained silent, weaker than usual, but still there.
Seara raised her hand.
She was only a few centimeters away from the surface of the stone.
Then suddenly, Ash Fang's Mark on her left hand pulsed with heat.
Seara flinched.
Her energy flow had been cut off.
The mark shouldn't have reacted.
But the heat spread quickly, as if resisting something.
The Ancestral Stone emitted an increasingly strong cold aura.
Seara's hand was still hanging in the air.
Austin saw her expression change. "Seara?"
The hot pulse in the mark grew sharper.
Even though her energy was suppressed, something inside her still responded to the purifying power of the stone.
Seara groaned, starting softly and growing louder.
"Explain to me what's happening to Seara!" Austin shouted in panic.