Brute 189

Chapter 189 

Cassian didn’t ask me to move, and I didn’t plan on moving either. 

Somehow, without even realizing how it happened, I ended up sitting on his lap. My knees were folded, and my arms stayed locked around his neck like I was afraid the moment I let go, something would drag him away again. His hand rested at my hip, the only thing keeping my heartbeat from running wild. 

The room should have felt peaceful. The fire in the hearth crackled softly, throwing warm light across the wooden floor and the thick fur rugs. Snow fell steadily outside the window, turning everything white beyond the glass. Anyone walking in would think this was a quiet, safe place. 

But Lucas was standing in front of us with blood on his sleeves and a report that stripped every bit of serenity from the air. 

“There were more dead than expected,” Lucas said, voice low but steady. “We anticipated resistance. We didn’t anticipate witches working under Matron Yara.” 

My fingers tightened on Cassian’s coat. He placed his hand over mine, grounding me, even while his expression stayed sharp as he listened. 

Lucas continued. “They had stones, not normal suppressors. These were corrupted. The moment one of them lifted the stone, every werewolf in range locked up. Limbs stopped responding. Breathing turned shallow. Some collapsed immediately.” He swallowed, jaw tight. “Most of the casualties happened in the moments when the soldiers couldn’t move.” 

I felt the weight of that settle on my chest. They couldn’t even defend themselves. They were frozen, helpless, waiting to die. 

I couldn’t help but glance at Elder Agape who stood near the fire, hands folded behind his back, his gaze fixed on the flames. For some reason, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had knowledge about the witches. 

“They were not using ordinary fae stones,” the elder said. “But you already know that… ” he made a deliberate pause before he continued. “What they carried were corrupted ones. Stones that have been forced to channel witchcraft far beyond their original purpose.” 

I shifted a little but didn’t move far from Cassian. His arm tightened around my waist unconsciously, as if he was reacting to the shift before he realized I had done it. 

Agape continued, “To corrupt a fae stone, a witch needs a sacrifice. A living one. The stronger the stone they want, the greater the sacrifice required. Some witches offer animals. Some offer adults.” His eyes darkened as he looked toward the window, the reflection of the fire flickering across his face. “But the strongest corrupted stones come from a specific kind of offering.” 

My stomach twisted. “What kind?” A part of me already know the answer. 

Agape didn’t soften his tone. “Children. They are innocent and untouched. Their life force is pure, making them the most powerful sacrifices for this kind of corruption.” 

A cold wave ran down my spine. Cassian’s fingers curled against my waist as if he felt it too. 

“However, they should not have been able to use the stone on their own,” Elder Agape continued.”There is what we call an anchor. It is something that witches use to support the ones holding and carrying the corrupted stone. To keep them from being corrupted themselves.” 

Lucas exhaled sharply. “We found traces of it in the forest near the outpost. Burned marks and circles drawn in ash. Bones that were too small to belong to adults.” He shook his head. “Not many. But enough.” 

I swallowed hard. “How many witches were there?” 

“Three confirmed,” Lucas answered. “But there were signs that more had been there earlier in the day. They fled before we 

arrived.” 

Agape nodded. “Corrupted stones do not last long once they have been activated. The witches likely ran as soon as the stones began to crack.” 

My mind drifted back to the hooded man in Yara’s study, the way the stone flickered, the way it refused to let me heal Grace and Lucas, the way it had pressed on my chest like something trying to suffocate the room. 

Agape continued speaking, each word dragging a deeper dread through the room. “Corrupted stones do not only restrain. They consume and drain the vitality of anyone caught in their influence. They can twist healing. They can twist life itself.” 

For a moment, I could only stare at him as everything clicked into place. 

Was that the reason why I couldn’t heal Cassian? 

Lucas straightened a little, as if bracing himself for the next part of his report. “Matron Yara has been taken to the dungeon,” he said. “She is heavily guarded. We are waiting for your orders on when the interrogation will begin.” 

Cassian’s jaw tightened the moment Lucas mentioned her name. It wasn’t subtle. The muscle near his cheek twitched, and his grip on my waist shifted just slightly, but enough for me to feel the tension running through him. His eyes darkened, not with exhaustion, but with something sharper, heavier, and far more dangerous. 

Anger. 

It rolled off him slowly at first, like it didn’t know where to settle, then gathered strength as Lucas continued describing the ambush and the casualties. I didn’t need a bond to sense what was building inside him. I felt it in the way his breathing changed and the way his fingers dug faintly into my hip before he realized and loosened his hold. 

I clenched my jaw and pressed my palm lightly against his chest. I didn’t say anything yet, but I shifted just enough to let him know I was there, that I understood what he was trying not to break in front of Lucas and Agape. He had led these men. He had watched them die helplessly under a stone that wasn’t even meant for wolves. Every bit of the rage simmering through him made sense. 

I opened my mouth to speak, to tell him to breathe for a moment, to let me handle the pieces of fury threatening to spill out of him-but suddenly, a sharp knock landed on the door. 

Lucas stopped mid-sentence. 

Cassian’s gaze snapped upward. 

Even Agape lifted his head, frowning slightly. 

Then, a soldier’s voice sounded from the hallway. “My Lord, Lady Kenneth is requesting an audience.”