Chapter 16 Water Elemental
Lulu
The next morning, after breakfast, that faint bitterness was still sitting in my chest. The attack from those sorcerers… and Morpheus’s magical aura from last night. His presence clung to my mind far more than I liked to admit.
I shook my head lightly. Not my business. It shouldn’t be my business.
Yet my chest tightened every time I remembered him. Bloody hell. It was like my brain had been wired specifically to keep thinking about him.
“Are you alright, Miss Lulu?” Dalila asked, clutching two mugs of coffee. “You look like… someone who’s just been visited by a ghost in their dreams.”
“Close enough,” I muttered, taking the mug. “But I need your help today, Dalila.”
“What is it?” Her eyes widened, bright with excitement.
“Can you take me to the library?”
Dalila blinked at me before her whole face scrunched up. “The pack house library? The big one?”
“Yes.” I took a breath. “I need to find information about the sorcerers here… especially those with elemental powers. There’s something I need to understand.”
She stepped closer immediately. “Are you serious? Miss Lulu, that place is ridiculously massive. And… you need permission.”
“Permission?”
“From Alpha Caspian.” Dalila exhaled long and loud. “The library’s safe, but there are restricted sections only the Alpha family or the Elders can enter.”
My stomach dropped. Which meant… I had to see him. Again.
With all the awkwardness and icy tension after what happened in Ivy’s garden. Absolutely annoying, but what else could I do? He was the one in charge here.
“Well, if I have to…” I straightened my spine. “I’ll go ask.”
Caspian’s room was on the third floor, near a broad balcony overlooking grand pack house garden. I could feel his aura even before I knocked—cold, steady, with that subtle pressure underneath… like a still lake hiding a storm.
I knocked softly. No answer. Not surprising for a Saturday morning; he was probably exhausted after entertaining his little crowd of she-wolf admirers last night.
Before I could step back, the door swung open. Caspian stood there, hair slightly tousled—as if he'd just finished training, or… something I refused to imagine. For all I knew, one of those she-wolves had been in his room.
His eyes landed on me—blank, unreadable.
“Yes?”
His voice was flat. Cold. Like I was nothing more than an inconvenient knock on his door.
I swallowed. “I… want to go to the library. To look for some information.”
He didn’t reply. His gaze dipped briefly to the empty coffee mug in his hand, then back to me. “For what?”
The question cut deeper than it should’ve. I remembered how he snapped at me when I asked about sorcerers. But I needed answers. I wasn’t going to live the next year of my life walking blind.
“…about elemental sorcerers,” I said at last. “I need to understand what’s happening to me and… maybe something about Morpheus.”
For a fraction of a second, something flickered in Caspian’s eyes. But it was gone too quickly to catch.
He turned away. “Come in.”
I stepped inside carefully. The room was large, neat, stiff—everything covered in cool shades of grey-blue, like the colour of the ocean at night. A faint saltwater scent hung in the air, and it made me even more aware of how moody he usually was.
Caspian closed the door and stood with his back to me for a moment. “You may enter the library.” His voice was low, formal. “But there’s a condition.”
I lifted my head.
“Do not enter the restricted corridor. There is no reason for you to be there.”
His tone became… heavier. As if he already knew I’d be tempted. Or… as if he was afraid I’d find something.
Well, too bad for him. My name wasn’t Lulu for nothing—I was very good at breaking rules.
I nodded politely. “Alright.”
Caspian studied me for a long time, as though trying to read my thoughts. His gaze was cold, but beneath it… something was held back. Something tightly controlled. Ever since last night, he hadn’t looked at me the same way. Like his attention had shifted far, far away.
He finally nodded. “Dalila will take you.”
That was it. No smile. No small talk. No lingering eye contact. Just distance. Which, honestly, worked in my favour.
The Sapphire Water pack house library was far bigger than I ever imagined. From the outside it looked like a three-storey glass building, but inside… it felt like stepping into an endless forest of knowledge. Towering maple shelves stuffed with old books, journals, folders, ancient scrolls.
“The magic section is on the second floor,” Dalila said, rubbing her temples. “But don’t go right. That’s the restricted corridor.”
I gave a soft smile. “Don’t worry.”
Inside: Not yet.
I began scanning the shelves. Titles of all kinds filled the aisles. My hand slid across the spines at my eye level. A hard-covered green book smelling faintly of old paper drew my attention: The Origin of Elemental Sorcery. Then another—its gold embossed symbols of the four elements shimmering under the light: A History of Ignith, Hydros, Terragaia, and Glacius.
Moving to the next shelf, I spotted a worn leather-bound book, edges frayed from overuse: Hybrid Wolves with Magical Signatures. And a thin one compared to the rest: The Forbidden Transition Between Elements.
I placed them on a nearby table and began reading.
The Origin of Elemental Sorcery explained the four primary elements—fire, water, earth, ice. There were sketches of legendary sorcerers; some with glowing ember eyes, others with hair flowing like liquid.
A particular note caught my attention:
Elemental inheritance will always be extraordinary when it chooses its vessel through another form of magic.
A chill skated down my spine, curiosity burning hotter than fear. Maybe Morpheus was right. Maybe those elemental sorcerers would hunt me eventually.
I reached for an article from the Sorcerer Council—a thick journal full of stiff formal language, but one line made my breath hitch:
Some level 8 Hydros sorcerers can create total concealment mist capable of masking footsteps, aura signatures, and even heartbeat.
That was… exactly like Morpheus. His disguise spell when we arrived at the pack house had made us completely undetectable—even to the wolves.
I stretched back in the chair, picking up the tea Dalila had brought fifteen minutes ago. My gaze fell to old tabloids and newspapers spread across the table.
This was the part that gave me goosebumps—an album of photos and portraits of sorcerers from centuries ago. Some stood with wolf packs; others alone in forests, eyes glowing strangely.
One photo froze me in place. A water sorcerer—grey robe, half-covered face. He looked so much like Morpheus. I shook my head hard. Impossible. Morpheus looked young. But still… the resemblance made my heart pound.
Seriously, what was wrong with my heart?
Time slipped away quickly. I was so absorbed I didn’t realise more than four hours had passed.
Dalila sighed, massaging her shoulder. “Miss Lulu… I swear, I’m exhausted. Can we take a break?”
“Yes, yes…” I shut the book. “You can go back to the pavilion. I… just want to check one more thing.”
Dalila’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “One?”
I smiled. “Promise.”
She eventually left, footsteps fading down the hall. The moment the sound disappeared, I stood up instantly.
Time to move.
The restricted corridor was on the right side, blocked by a large wooden door carved with waves. No guard outside—just a veil of magic clinging to the air like mist.
The moment I stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted. Heavier. Colder. As if the corridor recognised me as foreign and wanted me gone. Shelves were filled with forbidden journals, black books without titles, scrolls sealed with glowing blue sigils.
I approached one shelf and found a journal labelled:
Hydros: The Lost Line of Water Sorcerers.
I pulled it out. The moment I opened the first page, the water symbol glowed faintly.
Inside, it read:
Some high-level water sorcerers can manipulate memory and time through mist.
My chest turned to ice. Logic snapped instantly to Morpheus—and to the bizarre things I had experienced since my second chance at life.
“Lulu.”
Caspian’s voice sliced through the silence, freezing me. The book almost slipped from my fingers.
I lifted my head slowly and there he was—Caspian—standing in the doorway. His whole body tense, jaw clenched, blue eyes burning into mine like a tidal wave ready to crash.
He looked at me as if I’d just broken the most sacred law in this entire territory.
“I told you,” he said, voice low and dark, “not to come here.”
I went utterly still. My tongue refused to move. All I could hope… was that I hadn’t just pushed him past his limit.