ZIELLE
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"Where would that book be?"
Footsteps echo through the aisles. I clamp a hand over my mouth, holding my breath.
"I don't know, Arieth," Lyla whispers. "Do you really want to do this? Your mother wouldn't be pleased."
"Shut up, Lyla," Arieth snapped. "I need to find a spell to seduce that alpha. Zielle might think she's something special—but I want that too. I want to tame him myself. I hate seeing her so close to my alpha."
My eyes widened.
Is she serious right now?
She has no idea what she's asking for. No idea what he is. That she can be nothing more than ash under his wrath.
"Now you're going too far," Lyla mutters. "No one can tame an Alpha like her. Not even you."
A pause. I hear Arieth's heel scrape as she turns on her friend.
"You think I care?" she hisses. "If I can cast the right spell, I'll have him wrapped around my fingers. Once we mate, can you imagine the power I will get? We never had an alpha this strong before."
My pulse pounds in my ears. She is planning this much even before knowing the true power this alpha holds. Even before knowing he is a star-bond one. What happens once she realises?
And a spell? To force a bond with him?
She's insane. Stupid, desperate—or both.
And if she finds the wrong book… she could unleash something none of us are prepared for.
I press myself deeper into the shadows, swallowing hard.
I can't let her find anything.
I can't let her know I found something first.
I clutch the book tighter to my chest, the old leather pressing into my fingers. My heart feels like it's about to tear out of my ribcage.
What if they come this way?
What if they find me crouched here, with the very book Arieth's looking for?
I tilt my head slightly, just enough to glimpse between the cracks of the shelves. Their footsteps grow louder, closer—heels clicking sharply against the marble.
"I swear this section had something on forbidden Alpha bonds," Arieth mutters. She sounds irritated now, frustrated that knowledge is just beyond her grasp. "Help me look, Lyla."
Books begin to rustle.
I bite down on my tongue, forcing myself to stay silent even as anxiety coils tighter in my chest. They're in the wrong row—for now.
But if Arieth gets too curious, too desperate, she'll find me. She'll take the book. She'll cast something reckless and irreversible. And the worst part?
She'll try to make him hers.
A strange heat pulses under my skin at the thought. Not just fear. Not just duty. Something sharper. Wilder. Possessive.
He's not hers. My omega hisses.
She couldn't handle him if she tried.
I take a breath so shallow it barely counts.
"Ugh, it's all useless junk," Arieth snaps, slamming a book shut. "Maybe the High Omegas keep the good stuff hidden. But I'll find it. I always do."
Not this time, I think.
"Where is it? Uh!" Arieth grumbles, "I need to know at least how to draw a rune that will help to make him attracted to me."
"Then we need to look for books that are about runes." Lyla whispers.
"Where is it? Ugh!" Arieth groans, frustration dripping from every syllable. "I need to at least find a rune—something that'll make him attracted to me."
"Then… we need to look for books about runes," Lyla whispers, hesitant but trying to help.
"Oh, thank you for your brilliant insight!" Arieth snaps, her voice laced with mockery. "I had no idea that's how searching works, Lyla."
There's the unmistakable sound of another book being dropped on the floor. I flinch at the noise, afraid it might mask any sound I accidentally make.
They're getting more frantic. More careless.
And more dangerous.
I grit my teeth. Arieth doesn't care who she hurts or what she unleashes—as long as it gets her what she wants. She doesn't even know what he is, and yet she's ready to draw runes and cast spells like she's dealing with some tame Beta prince.
He's not someone you summon with ink and candles, I want to shout. He's a Star-Bound Alpha.
And I've already felt the edge of what that power can.
"Here! I got it!" Arieth shouts suddenly, her voice echoing off the marble and stone.
I flinch, heart stuttering in my chest.
"Oh my gods, keep your freaking voice down!" Lyla hisses. "Someone will hear you!"
"So what?" Arieth scoffs, unapologetic. "I'm a High Omega. I'm allowed in here."
"But you're not allowed to study runes, especially not to use them on someone, without an elder omega's permission," Lyla snaps back, her whisper sharp and urgent.
There's a pause. I can almost hear Arieth rolling her eyes.
"Oh, please," she mutters. "That rule's only for scared little Omegas who don't know what they're doing. I'm not going to hurt him. I'm just going to… make him want me."
Make him want her.
The thought claws at my chest.
I grip the book tighter.
I don't know why I am getting triggered by her words, I already know the mere reason I'm to tame this alpha is to mate him off to Arieth.
They know he is powerful, they need an heir with him.
But she has no idea what she's playing with.
This isn't a simple Alpha.
He's not some spoiled heir waiting to be impressed, he's Star-Bound. He is wild, fierce, and anything but simple.
One wrong mark, one rune drawn with the wrong intent and she could set off a bond she'll never be able to control. One that'll destroy both of them.
I can't let her take that book.
I can't let her touch him. Not with a spell, not with a lie, not even with a thought.
I press my back deeper into the shadows, steady my breath… and let the fear inside me rise like smoke.
Let it shape itself. Let it slip out into the air around me. It smells like smoke and deadly.
The book in my arms pulses once—like it hears me. Like it agrees.
A sudden gust of cold wind whips through the library aisles, even though no window is open.
The lanterns flicker violently, shadows twisting across the shelves like hands reaching from the dark.
Arieth freezes. "What… was that?"