When The Moon Hides Her Crown - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

SERAPHINA
“Phina… Phina…” I gasped, standing beneath the icy spray of the shower. My body trembled as I moaned through clenched teeth, pain raking through me. I knew it had only been half an hour, far too early for this to pass, but the heat flooding my blood and my wolf’s growing need were driving us both to the brink.
Phina whimpered weakly in my mind. She was fighting just as hard as I was, holding herself back from the primal urge threatening to consume us.
My knees buckled.
I collapsed to the cold tile floor, panting. “Just a little longer…” I murmured. “It’ll be over soon…”
Truthfully, I didn’t know if this trick would work. I just knew I couldn’t give up, not now. It had to work.
The pain was unlike anything I’d ever known. My vision blurred, my mind clouded with fog. It felt as if something was tearing my soul from my body.
Desperate to stay conscious, I dug my nails into my arm, pinching and scratching at my skin. “Don’t faint…” I muttered to myself, though my voice was already fading, cracked and hollow from the strain.
I fought to stay awake, minute by agonizing minute, clinging to the cold, the sting, the pain. Time dragged on until, slowly, I began to notice a change. The fire in my blood dulled. The ache in my bones eased. The haze in my head began to lift.
My lips were chapped, my limbs numb, but I leaned against the shower wall and let the water wash over me. The worst of it was passing. My heat was ebbing away.
Yet I couldn’t move. My muscles had locked up, every inch of me sore and broken. My vision remained blurry, and my awareness dimmed. I only meant to close my eyes for a second, but sleep claimed me before I could stop it.
When I next opened them, my heart lurched.
Footsteps.
“We passed out!” Phina yelled, panicked.
Morning light was already slipping into the room, and someone was approaching.
I scrambled upright, my body still weak, and darted for my clothes. The pain had completely subsided, my heat was over. Phina’s voice confirmed it. She was back. Whole.
I wrapped my chest tightly, slipped into the Academy’s uniform, and spritzed on perfume to mask my scent. Then I threw open the door and rushed into the hallway.
Only to find it empty.
I froze, puzzled. I was certain I’d heard footsteps. But now?
Nothing.
“Even if we imagined it,” Phina said, her voice steadier now, “those footsteps woke us up. If we hadn’t heard them, we might not have woken up in time.”
She was right. Real or imagined, that sound had jolted me awake and spared me from disaster.
Just then, the Academy’s morning bell rang.
I exhaled deeply, still trying to steady my heartbeat as I made my way toward the dorm. The night had been the most terrifying of my life. But no one knew.
That was what mattered.
Back in the room, the others were already awake. Finn was stepping out with a towel slung over his shoulder when he spotted me and blinked in surprise. “You showered already?”
Relief swept through me.
They hadn’t noticed I’d been gone all night.
“Yeah, woke up early,” I replied with a small smile.
Reed shot me a cold glare, and Cassius wasn’t much better. I ignored them both as usual and thankfully, they didn’t linger. But then my attention shifted.
Ronan.
He sat atop his bed like it was a throne, calmly buttoning his shirt. His gaze locked on mine the moment our eyes met.
My pulse stumbled.
The memory of his touch…the way his nearness had sent my heat spiraling out of control…it all surged back, unwelcome and far too vivid. I forced myself to look away, tearing my gaze from his.
This Alpha…I need to stay far away from him. He’s far more dangerous than I imagined.
Now, only the two of us were left in the room.
If I turned and suddenly left, it would look suspicious, maybe even cowardly.
So instead, I walked to my bed, grabbed the dirty mattress, and headed for the exit under the guise of disposing of it.
Anything to escape those eyes.
The rolled-up mattress was heavier than it looked, awkwardly pressing into my hip as I made my way toward the back of the Academy building. The air was thick with early heat, but the inner courtyard offered a small slice of calm. This was where old bedding and broken furniture were left for the Academy's cleaners, some unseen force that whisked it all away by morning.
I dropped the mattress with a tired sigh, brushed my hands, and turned back toward the dormitory halls.
Only halfway through the walk, I hesitated.
“Was it the left hallway or the one next to it?” I looked around confused.
Wolves had a great sense of direction but this time I was not able to tell.
The corridors looked identical with the same stone archways, same mossy corners, same rows of tall windows bleeding in slivers of golden light. Same pale walls, same torches flickering with enchanted flames, same sharp scent of cedar and fresh linen.
I turned left instead of right, then veered down one corridor and then another.
Ten minutes passed.
The air here felt…different. Quieter. Almost sacred.
My boots echoed softly over the stone floor as I passed a row of polished wooden doors, all identical, all perfectly spaced and immaculately kept. No nameplates. No noise. No signs of life.
A long line of doors ran along one side, each dark wood carved with ancient symbols. Dorms?
Alpha instructors, maybe? I wondered, slowing my pace.
“Why is no one here?” I wondered and looked around as if I could ask for someone’s help to get back to where I belonged but there was no one.
My fingers skimmed along the wall as I passed door after door, until one caught my eye. The door was slightly ajar. Was someone in there? I could ask them for directions.
“Hello, is someone inside?” I called and was greeted by only silence. I knocked this time, “Hello?”
I waited for a half of the minute, again no response.
Looking around for signs of life, I pushed the door open, “Hello, sorry for my intrusion.” Curiosity tugged harder than caution but I was cautious as well. I peeked inside and then slowly stepped in, “ I am lost. Can I…”
My words caught in my throat and I gasped.
It was beautiful. The room was absolutely stunning!
A large, sunlit bedroom unfolded before me, so unlike the bare-bones quarters we students shared. The stone walls were smooth and warmed with amber-toned lighting.
A king-sized bed rested in the center, draped in rich navy linens. The scent here was clean but masculine leather, forest, and storm.
A private bath was visible through the archway on the side.
This was someone powerful. Respected. High-ranking.
It was luxurious. Silent. Sacred.
Whoever lived here wasn’t just someone, they were important.
But it was too clean and no one was here. “Could it be a guest room?” I wondered.
My gaze swept over the space as I ventured deeper inside, drawn toward the large desk near the window where an open ancient book rested.
“What is this?” I grew curious. Gold-scripted. Handwritten. I leaned in, scanning the odd language that stirred something oddly familiar in my chest. A name wasn’t etched on the cover. No photos, no scent. Nothing gave away the identity.
My fingers hovered over the spine, then unsuccessfully I tried to read it but I could make out one word, ‘Rogue.’
My hand froze. Rogues?
The memory of those rogues in the ruins flashed in my mind. Was this book about those rogues? Who were they? Why were they…
Suddenly a voice came like smoke against my ear. “You really like touching things that don’t belong to you?”
I gasped, spine stiffening, heart leaping into my throat.
His scent hit me first, stormy, rich, dangerous.
Ronan.
I spun around, eyes wide, and heat flaring all at once. I turned around my breasts bumping into his hard chest. Our eyes locked as he leaned down to whisper, “What are you doing in my room, little wolf?”
The book dropped from my hand. “Your room?”
My heart skipped a beat.
He leaned down towards my face even more, our breath mixing and our lips were dangerously close as if they might touch any second, “Yes, my room,” he whispered.