Chapter 31
ATASHA’S POV
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“Heal all of them. I’ll take care of the rest,” Cassian said, already turning away before his words. had even settled. I didn’t stop him. Instead, I focused on what I needed to do.
I moved quickly, going from cage to cage, placing my hand on each child and pushing healing energy through their bodies. Their wounds closed faster than I expected. Unlike Cassian’s lieutenants, these children were easier to heal. Whether it was because their injuries weren’t as severe or because their bodies hadn’t yet hardened from years of battle, I wasn’t sure.
“My name’s Aries and you won’t be able to fight them,” the first boy I healed said suddenly, his voice surprisingly steady for someone who had been barely conscious minutes ago. He was standing beside me now, alert and upright. “If it’s just the two of you… there’s too many.”
I glanced at him, noting the clarity in his eyes. He looked completely different, awake and aware. Alive.
“He’s not like most,” I said quietly, more to myself than to the boy. “Cassian… is different.”
But I didn’t dwell on it. There were still too many children in cages, and I couldn’t waste time. I moved to the next one, pressing my hand against a girl’s bruised shoulder.
“You don’t have a wolf, do you?” Aries asked suddenly.
My hand froze. I turned to him, startled. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “I just do. But it doesn’t matter. I can help you open the cages.”
I nodded, choosing not to ask how he knew. It didn’t matter. If he could help, I needed him.
I focused on healing the older, stronger–looking children first. My reasoning was simple, if they could stand on their own, they could help free the others. And I was right. The boy grabbed a nearby stone, heavy and jagged, and slammed it against a rusted lock. The metal cracked under the force.
One cage after another began to open. The boy moved quickly, using a large stone to smash through the rusted locks while I focused on healing the next child. Soon enough, we developed a rhythm. I healed them then he frees them and tells them the current situation, stabilizing them.
Some of the children were strong enough to stand right away, while others needed longer before they could even sit up.
For a moment, it felt like we were making progress. Then the sound hit me.
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Chapter 31
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It wasn’t just a distant movement, and I didn’t need to see it to know that it was the sound of chaos. Steel clashing against steel, heavy thuds, low snarls, and the sharp cries of combat.
My head snapped toward the direction Cassian had
gone.
This wasn’t a scuffle or a quick ambush.
He was fighting multiple enemies at once. A lot of them.
“Hey… healer!” Aries suddenly said, his voice louder now, urgent. “That one. You need to heal him first. He’s not going to make it.”
“Atasha… call me Atasha,” I mumbled as I followed the direction of his pointing finger and immediately moved, weaving around open cages and sluggishly moving children until I reached the farthest corner of the cave.
The cage was smaller, more rusted than the rest, as if it hadn’t been opened in years. Inside was a boy who couldn’t have been older than nine. He was curled in on himself, his back against the bars, face pale and drenched in sweat. Blood streaked the corner of his mouth, and the stone floor beneath him was splattered with vomit, thick, dark, and tinged red.
My stomach twisted at the sight.
I dropped to my knees, reached through the bars, and pressed my hand to his chest. His heartbeat was faint, erratic and struggling. His body felt feverishly hot, but as I pushed my healing into him, I realized this wasn’t just internal bleeding or infection. He had burns. Deep ones. They ran across his torso and back, hidden under torn fabric and dried blood.
These injuries were different from the others. More brutal. More intentional.
Still, I didn’t hesitate. I poured more energy into him than I had for the others, guiding it through his bloodstream, targeting the burns, the damaged tissue, the poisoned lining of his stomach. He didn’t resist it. His body didn’t reject my healing like some older warriors tended to do when their systems had been hardened by trauma or training. Slowly, his muscles relaxed, his breathing steadied, and the color began to return to his cheeks.
Then, without warning, his eyes snapped open.
They locked with mine instantly, sharp, unblinking, intense. Something primal flickered behind them. Not fear, not confusion, but instinct. It was Dominance, power. My breath caught as I stared into those wild, amber eyes.
He had Alpha blood.
It wasn’t just the look in his eyes. It was the raw pressure that rolled off him the moment he sat up. Even in his weakened state, I could feel it, an unmistakable surge of natural authority. This
11:10 Wed, Sep 10
Chapter 31
child wasn’t just another captive. He was something else entirely.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on that.
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“Open the cage,” I said without looking away, and Aries, who was already beside me with the stone, shattered the lock in a single swing.
I moved on without a word. There were still a few more children left. My hands trembled from the constant healing, but I kept going. The last boy had a fractured leg and multiple bruises along his ribs. I pressed my hand to his side and focused, feeling the strain pull tighter in my chest as I completed the process.
Then I heard it. A low, guttural growl coming from behind me. It was close, too close.
I turned quickly, instincts kicking in just as my eyes locked onto the figure standing a few feet
away.
Jack.
The son of Beta William.
He looked furious, chest heaving, eyes fixed directly on me with undisguised hatred. His fists were clenched at his sides, and his posture made it clear he hadn’t come to talk. He wasn’t confused or hesitant. He had already made up his mind about me.
“You,” he snarled. “I knew it. I knew you’d betray us.”
He stood just a few feet away. His eyes flicked from me to the open cages, to the children now standing, free, and slowly regaining their strength.
“You traitor,” he spat. “I will kill you!”
I barely had time to react before he lunged.
His body shot forward, claws unsheathed, fangs bared. The suddenness of it caught me off guard. I stumbled back, nearly slipping on a patch of drying blood, barely managing to raise an arm to shield myself. His weight crashed into me, and I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked from my lungs.
Pain shot up my spine, but I forced myself to stay conscious. Jack was already raising his arm for another strike. There was no time to think. No time to call for help.
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Chapter 32
