Fell for the Alpha-less Queen

Chapter 407 The Spring, The Bloodbond Ring

18 Pearls

Moonlight poured through the glass dome above them, spreading across the sacred spring in the center of the hall. The surface sparkled with silver light, and the faint scent of lilies floated in the air like a blessing.

Walter moved slowly toward her, staff in hand. He looked softer than usual, but beneath that warmth was gravity-a quiet power. The edge of his ceremonial robe whispered over the stone with each step.

"My Tessie," he said gently, "tonight you become an adult. In the name of Frostmoon Pack's former Alpha, I bestow upon you the rites of purification and blessing."

Tessa's chest lifted with a slow breath.

This is really happening.

Her pheromones sweetened the air around her like blooming lilies. She nodded through the blur of tears.

Walter lifted his staff and tapped it lightly against the spring. The pool stirred. A clear stream of water rose from its center, hovering right in front of her like magic come alive.

He began to chant, voice low and ancient, like pine trees humming in the wind. The springlight turned to mist, rising and swirling around her body-cool, clean, and holy.

Then it happened.

The silver ring on her finger flashed-black against the white mist.

The inscription on it-Forever Yours-shuddered with rage. The Bloodbound Sorcery inside it pulsed, reacting violently to the sanctified air.

It's fighting back...

The spell Nathan had slipped onto her five years ago when she was unconscious. His trap. His claim.

'Now it hissed like something alive, like a curse being scorched straight out of her veins.

Tessa felt it. A faint tremor from the ring on her finger.

Her breath caught.

No way...

silver ring wouldn't come off. She couldn't break it.

magic of the sacred spring... it was

Something's changing...

it too. The dark

flared in his

do to you,

10:03 Wed, 4 Jun

The Spring, The Bloodbond

→ +8 Pearls

something like this on you? This is forbidden sorcery.

the heck would

didn't have time to chase

here, right now-under the blessing of the moon and the power of the sacred spring-he had a chance

of his tongue without a word and let a drop of

an Alpha's blood could amplify the sanctum's power-just enough to burn something dark out of someone

prayed it would be

her body go soft, surrendering to the spring. Her skin soaked in the sacred

and clean-scrubbing away

then, as it passed her

Wait...

felt it. The faintest shift. The Bloodbound Sorcery loosened ever

As the mist finished its path through her body and

change lit something

means it can break. Maybe

circled her once. Then again. Then a third time. Each loop was dimmer than the last. By the end, it was nothing more than light-soft and

all the spring had

with regret. His shoulders sagged

1. it.

his spirit at full strength, he

Not yet.

the right moment. And next time, finish what

to the stone beneath her feet. Around them, the totem pillars began to glow a soft, otherworldly blue-like the