Chapter 40

The memory dissolved, and in its place, I felt a surge of heat—scalding, raw, and unrestrained. It flooded me, rushing through my veins with a force so fierce it felt like fire and ice intertwined, searing every nerve, every cell. I gasped, clutching my chest as the heat surged, blazing hot until it reached a point of such intensity that it turned cold. It was a cold that burned, clawing up my spine, freezing and yet blistering all at once, as if my body were breaking under the weight of its own unleashed power.

My magic. It was finally mine, unbound, unfiltered—and it hurt. It hurt. The edges of my vision blurred, spots of black and white dancing before me as I tried to ground myself, to steady the roiling chaos inside.

Then, through the haze, I felt it—a throb, a pull. Silas. His binding mark on me flared, pulsing with his worry, his concern, bleeding through our bond. His emotions swept over me like a balm and a warning all at once, an anchor that I clung to as I struggled to regain control. His worry mingled with my pain, his instinctive need to protect clashing with the barriers of distance. It felt like his arms should be around me, like he should be here, but the ache of his absence burned just as much as the power still raging within me.

Calm, I told myself, fighting through the pain, through the pull of Silas’s protective instinct echoing in my mind. Calm, breathe. But the power kept building, twisting through me like an unrelenting storm.

Then, slowly, the searing sensation began to ease, fading like embers dying out, until all that was left was a hum—a steady, resonant pulse of energy deep within me. My magic. Unbound, unrestricted, finally mine.

I let out a shaky breath, feeling my body sink as the fog of pain lifted. The sharp edges of my mindscape began to soften, the blurred shapes and dark shadows fading, giving way to the warmth of something softer, something soothing. I was back in the ritual room, but… something was different.

A warmth surrounded me, cradling me. I blinked, trying to make sense of the sensation, the soft, rhythmic pulse that thrummed beneath my cheek. I felt fingers combing gently through my hair, steady, reassuring.

I was lying in someone’s lap.

Draven’s dark gaze met mine as I opened my eyes, their fingers moving through my hair in a motion so soothing it tugged at the edges of my consciousness. They looked down at me, a slight smile curving their lips, their expression calm and watchful.

“Easy,” they murmured, their voice a low, soothing rumble that vibrated through my body, grounding me in a way that was strange and yet… deeply comforting.

They brushed their thumb across my temple, and the sound of a low, rumbling growl filled the room. It was steady and comforting, a vibration that resonated through my bones, easing the tension in my muscles. I felt my body relax instinctively, the ache in my chest ebbing as the sound washed over me, calming the lingering storm within.

The growl was strong, commanding. The kind of growl that would calm any omega, that would soothe instinctive fears and quiet anxieties. But there was something different about it. Draven didn’t smell like an Alpha, nor like a Beta or an Omega. They were… unique, a scent that defied the boundaries of second gender, something primal and ancient. It was just Draven.

But my omega instincts responded to it all the same, and I found myself relaxing further, sinking into their embrace as their fingers continued to trace gentle patterns through my hair.

Draven’s voice was soft as they murmured, “Now that your magic is yours again, you will need a way to carry it, to contain its strength as it settles within you.”

I blinked, their words filtering through the comfortable haze, and realized there was something cool and delicate resting against my chest. My hand moved instinctively, finding a small chain around my neck, and I lifted it, glancing down to see the pendant resting against my collarbone.

A stone hung from the chain—a garnet, deep and rich in color, glowing faintly, almost as if it pulsed with energy. The gemstone was a deep red, a Pyrope garnet, but it seemed brighter somehow, like it held a fire all its own, as if the magic within me had found a home inside its facets.

I looked back up at Draven, confusion flickering in my gaze.

“It’s my gift to you,” they said, their voice a soft murmur. “This garnet is bound to me. It will keep your power balanced, help you anchor it as you learn to control it. And no one—not even you—will be able to remove it. Only I have that right.”

A part of me registered the words, felt the faint twinge of unease at the thought that something so personal, so deeply tied to me, could only be removed by Draven. But that worry drifted away, unimportant under the warmth of their touch, the soothing vibration of their growl. The garnet felt… right. Like it had been meant for me, like it had always been mine.

I let my fingers brush over the smooth surface of the stone, feeling the power pulsing within it, steady and calm. It was like an extension of Draven, a piece of them that I could carry with me, a link to the shadows that had chosen me. And for some reason, the thought didn’t scare me. Not while I was here, wrapped in Draven’s arms, their scent surrounding me, grounding me.

Their hand continued its gentle motion in my hair, and I felt my eyes flutter shut, my body finally relaxing into their embrace. I knew I should feel alarmed—knew I should question the fact that I couldn’t take off this necklace, that Draven held that control over me. But in that moment, with their arms around me and their fingers tracing soft lines down my spine, I found I just didn’t care.

I was safe. And for now, that was all I needed.