The Forbidden Heiress At The All Male Alpha Academy-Chapter 180: Midnight Rejection

"What?" Zeke stared at her back with disbelief, "You want me to-"

"Can you walk?!" She shot back.

"I can manage," He said.

"But you’re going to slow us down, now will you please put your ego aside and climb?" She whispered, glaring back at him.

He sighed exasperatedly, then lowered himself to her back. She stood him with his arms locked around her shoulders, and then she moved.

She remained in the shadows, slipping between shattered stone and collapsed fencing, her steps carrying no sound. Every instinct she had screamed to run faster, but she forced herself to slow when they reached the far edge of the ridge.

There was a small fracture in the mountain wall, half-hidden by hanging roots and old ivy. She had noticed it the first time she came to this place.

It wasn’t a cave, but more like a narrow vein in the rock, winding inward and downward. The air around it was a deadened, thick, swallowing sound. It smelled like something that hadn’t been explored for a long time.

Perfect.

She slipped inside just as another distant howl tore through the night.

The passage narrowed quickly, forcing her to duck and twist sideways until it opened into a hollow chamber no bigger than a small classroom.

The walls were carved with faint, ancient markings. Whatever this place had once been, it had been sealed away long before Gravemont was built.

Theo gently lowered Zeke to the ground.

He barely caught himself before dropping to one knee. His breath was even harsher than before, and he looked almost drained of life. He would probably start puking very soon.

"Stay with me," she said quietly, crouching in front of him.

His eyes lifted, unfocused and coiled with pain, "What are we doing here?"

"I’m going to pull the darkness out of you," She said.

For a second, he didn’t breathe. Like he was trying to process what she had just said.

"You need to trust me on this," She added.

"How are you going to-"

"I discussed it with my wolf a few weeks ago. If we mated and it didn’t work, we’d do this. It’s the only chance left of saving you,"

"No," Zeke shook his head and tried to stand up with a groan, "I can’t let you do that. It could be dangerous. Please don’t -"

"You said the holder of the pendant is the only one who can save you," She said strongly, cutting him off, "Now lay back down, and let me do my job,"

He still looked uncertain, unconvinced of whatever plan she had, but then he lay back down. If she could really pull out the darkness in him, then he wouldn’t argue about that. He can’t afford to be this weak when a big crisis is happening around them. He needed to protect her and make sure Cain never got to her.

She pressed her forehead to his, closing her eyes for half a second. Then she pulled back and inhaled slowly.

*Sera. We’re doing it,*

There was no hesitation this time.

*You understand the cost* Seraphina said, her presence coiling tight inside Theo’s chest, *Once you start, you cannot stop. If you lose focus, even for a moment—*

*I know.*

Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, one hand pressed over his heart, while the other hovered just above it. Her pendant was warm against her skin, pulsing faintly with ancient magic thrumming in response as though it knew what was about to happen.

"If it can hold mine," She whispered, voice shaking, "It can hold yours too,"

Then, she closed her eyes and let her wolf take over. She felt Seraphina moving, trying to tap into Zeke’s core. Moon shifted restlessly inside of Zeke as he felt Seraphina’s presence, reaching for something grave.

The moment she touched the darkness coiled in his core, it reacted violently.

Theo gasped as something thick and burning surged up her arm, flooding into her chest like liquid shadow. It was denser than she expected, swirling around. Her knees buckled as the air was ripped from her lungs. She could feel it wrapped tightly around his core, intertwined with it.

Trying to merge. But Zeke’s rejection kept making it recoil.

And then the memories hit. It was like the first time she touched him while he was sleepwalking, but this time they were much more vivid.

White lights, cold, thick restraints, and needles driven deep into muscle and bone. Heart-wrenching screams that never left the room, with Zeke’s voice breaking. His wolf howled in agony, trapped, silenced, and punished every time it fought back.

Theo cried out, clutching her chest as the darkness poured into her, wrapping around her ribs, her spine, and her throat. Her pendant burned hot, trying to contain it, trying to lock it down the way it did her own demon.

But this was different.

This wasn’t just darkness.

This was torture given shape.

She staggered, barely holding herself upright as another sensation flooded in.

At first, she thought it was in her head, but the sound wasn’t. There was a faint, distant ringing in Zeke’s memories, like a tiny bell being struck over and over again. It echoed through the memories, cutting through Theo’s reach.

And every time it rang, the darkness inside Zeke reacted.

It would surge and dive deeper at the same time.

The sound seemed burrowed further into his core like it was being driven there on purpose, to control the darkness in him.

Theo screamed.

The ringing grew louder vibrating through her skull until her vision blurred. Her heart slammed violently in her chest as the darkness inside her surged, trying to root itself where it didn’t belong. The pendant glowed even brighter.

She saw Zeke strapped to a table, eyes glowing orange with black specs with terror as the bell rang again and again, forcing his wolf to submit, and forcing the darkness to obey.

Her body tried to hold on, but it was too much. It was much more than she could have ever imagined, and Theo was thrown backwards as a violent scream ripped out of her.

The connection snapped violently as the darkness tore itself free from her grip and surged back into Zeke like a living thing.

She hit the ground hard, gasping and clutching her chest as the last remnants of the darkness burned out of her veins.

"No," she sobbed, "No, no, no..."

Zeke cried out at the same time, his body arching as the darkness slammed back into him, enraged, unstable, and spreading even faster now.

Theo shook violently where she knelt.

She had only seen a fraction of it, and it had almost destroyed her.

Tears streamed down her face as the realisation crushed her chest.

This was what Zeke carried.

Every day.

Every breath.

Her hands shook as she crawled back to him, pressing her forehead to the ground beside his knee.

"I’m sorry," She whispered brokenly, "I thought I could take it. I thought I was strong enough. I thought I was ready,"

Inside her, she heard a soft, weak whimper.

Then something collapsed.

*Sera?* Theo called out softly.

No answer.

*Sera!!* She yelled even louder.

Another whimper echoed once again.

Theo froze, as a cold dread seeped through her as panic clawing up her throat.

The backlash had torn through Seraphina and left her hollow. This was the cost of stopping midway.

’Once you start, you cannot stop,’ Seraphina had warned her the night she had explained everything.

Theo had stopped.

And now her wolf was paying the price.

Theo curled over herself with a broken sound, one hand clutching her pendant, the other reaching for Zeke as if sheer will could pull them both back from the edge.

Now, both of them were weak.

Zeke was too weak to move, and Theo’s wolf was a helpless whimper.

Could things get any worse than this?

It did.

In a distance, several howls cried into the wind and heavy paws smashed into the earth.

Wolves were headed their way. Her scream has alerted them of her location!

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