My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 254: The Private Archive

Rowan

She turned slowly, her gaze sweeping across the towering shelves.

"I didn’t expect..." She trailed off, shaking her head faintly. "This is enormous."

"It is." I walked in and she followed me until we reached the end of the vast space. I gestured toward the far side of the chamber, my voice dropping. "That section is solely dedicated to Lycans."

Violet went very still.

Three large shelves stood there, separated slightly from the others. They were older than the rest, and the contents were more varied in size and condition.

I watched her face as she stared at those shelves. Something shifted in her expression, a flicker of emotion that passed too quickly for me to name.

"The first two shelves contain accounts written by my ancestors," I continued carefully. "Observations, records of encounters, documentation of the hunts." I hesitated. "Much of it is biased... like I have previously said... I want you to be prepared for that."

She nodded slowly, but her eyes remained fixed on the third shelf.

"And that one?" she asked quietly.

I followed her gaze to the shelf in question. The contents there were different, the books and scrolls older, stranger. Some were bound in strange leather that had darkened with age, others were rolled parchments sealed with wax that bore symbols I had never been able to identify.

"Those were taken," I said. "Documents that belonged to Lycans. They are records of their own making. My ancestors... collected them during the hunts and raids."

The word collected tasted bitter on my tongue.

Violet was silent for a long moment.

Then she walked toward those shelves, her steps slow and measured. She stopped before them, her hand rising but not quite touching the spine of an ancient book.

There was something reverent in the way she stood there. She looked a bit sad while admiring what was before her at the same time.

"I’m not sure how long it will take you to go through everything," I said, breaking the silence gently. "Weeks, perhaps. Maybe longer. You’re welcome to spend as much time here as you need."

She nodded without turning around.

I moved closer, stopping a few paces behind her.

"I thought we could start with the Lycan documents tonight," I offered. "The ones written by your people. They might be more useful to you than my ancestors’ accounts."

"Yes." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I would like that."

We settled at one of the reading tables nearest the Lycan shelves. I retrieved several of the older scrolls and a few of the bound journals, laying them out carefully on the sturdy stone surface.

Violet sat across from me, her fingers hovering over the aged parchment with a hesitance that spoke of fear as much as reverence.

I guided her through the initial documents, explaining what I knew of their origins and how they lived. Some had been taken from Lycan settlements during raids. Others had been found on the bodies of those who had been killed. A few had been surrendered by Lycans who had tried to bargain for their lives.

None of them had survived.

The thought sat heavy in my stomach as I watched Violet carefully unroll a scroll covered in unfamiliar script. We hadn’t been able to decipher some of their texts.

Her eyes moved across the symbols, and I saw recognition flicker in her expression.

"You can read it?" I asked.

"Not really." Her voice was soft, distant. "But it strangely looks familiar, I am not sure why."

She then fell silent, her attention absorbed by the ancient text.

I sat with her as the hours passed, fetching additional documents when she needed them, answering questions when I could. The library was silent except for the rustle of parchment and the occasional creak of old bindings being carefully opened.

I watched her more than I read.

As the night wore on, I noticed her movements growing slower. Her shoulders had dropped, and the tension in her frame had eased slightly, replaced by the heaviness of exhaustion.

But the distance was still there.

The quiet withdrawal that had settled over her since she saw Nessa leaving my chambers.

I couldn’t let it fester any longer.

"Violet."

She looked up from the scroll she had been studying, her grey eyes meeting mine.

"About earlier," I began, choosing my words carefully. "Nessa and I... were old friends."

She looked surprised, then she shook her head softly.

"You don’t have to explain anything to me," she said, her voice quiet. There was a hint of sadness beneath the words, carefully controlled but still audible. "I know nothing happened."

The words should have been reassuring, but they weren’t.

"She won’t be barging into my space like that again," I offered. "I have reprimanded her for tonight. It won’t happen again."

Violet’s eyes widened slightly.

"Reprimanded?" she repeated, stunned.

"Yes." I held her gaze steadily. "What she did was inappropriate. You are my mate, and my guest, and she had no right to put you in a position where you might misunderstand the situation."

Violet stared at me for a long moment.

Then she looked down at the scroll beneath her fingers, her expression unreadable.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For telling me. And for... this." She gestured vaguely at the documents spread across the table. "For letting me see all of this."

"You’re welcome," I said. "Take as long as you need. I’ll be here."

She hesitated, her fingers stilling on the parchment.

"You don’t need to stay," she said softly, not quite meeting my eyes. "I don’t want to keep you from your rest. You’ve had a long day."

"I want to stay." I kept my voice gentle but firm. "Especially for the first night. I’d like to help you navigate what’s here. And I really don’t mind."

She looked at me then, looking a bit guilty.

"You don’t need to feel responsible for this," I told her. "It is my decision."

She was quiet for a while before turning her attention back to the scroll with a low murmur. "I won’t take long. I promise." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

I settled back in my chair, content to simply be near her while she searched for the pieces of her stolen past.