Chapter 140 Damn Pheromones!

Chapter 140: Chapter 140 Damn Pheromones!

The floor shifted beneath them.

One second, Noah and Lamia were standing in that strange, dried wilderness surrounded by golden coffins. The next, everything blurred. A violent pull ran through Noah’s body before the world snapped back into place. He staggered. Lamia appeared beside him at the same time.

But something was wrong.

The moment Noah opened his eyes, he realized he was back in the cottage. Everyone was there. Lysander was already moving toward them, his expression unusually tense as he tried to understand what had happened.

Noah looked around. Then his eyes landed on the two bodies lying motionless where they had been left. His own body. Lamia’s body. They looked stiff and lifeless. For a terrifying second, Noah wondered if only their souls had returned while their bodies had remained behind. Nobody seemed to understand what was happening.

"Noah, baby." Lysander’s deep voice cut through the confusion. "Is everything okay?"

Damian was hovering around the bodies with a worried expression. "Noah?" There was no response. Neither Noah nor Lamia seemed capable of speaking. They simply stood there, staring ahead.

Damian’s eyes suddenly caught the tears sliding down Noah’s cheeks. His expression changed immediately. "Why is he crying?" He looked toward Lysander. "What happened?"

Lysander’s eyes darkened. "Oliver." Oliver looked at him. "Can you bring them back properly? I don’t want them staying trapped in there any longer."

"I—"

Lysander was already preparing to use his power when suddenly both bodies jerked. Noah gasped. Lamia’s eyes snapped open. The two of them came back at once.

Everyone released a breath of relief. But that relief lasted barely a second. Because Noah was crying. Not quietly. Tears were streaming down his face.

Lysander immediately moved closer. "Noah."

Noah shook his head. "Marcus..." His voice cracked. "Marcus can’t wake up anymore."

The room fell silent.

"What?" Killian moved closer.

Noah ran a trembling hand through his hair. "His soul is trapped under some kind of dark spell. I don’t know how it happened, but..." His breathing became uneven. "He isn’t coming back anytime soon."

Killian’s expression hardened. Eugene stepped closer as well. "What did you see?" "What happened to him?"

Noah looked at them helplessly. "I don’t know." He wiped his tears. "I saw him inside one of those golden coffins. There was some kind of blood-red rune around it. Lamia said it was dangerous."

Damian looked like he could barely process the information. He remained near the bed where Marcus’s body lay. "Wait." He looked toward Lamia. "Tell them."

Lamia sighed. He was still recovering from the trance, but his expression had become grim. "It was the Emperor."

The atmosphere changed instantly. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Damian’s voice dropped.

Lamia stared at Marcus’s motionless body. "I don’t know exactly how he cast the spell, but the magic is ancient." He paused. "And from what I could sense, the knowledge required to perform something like this is only accessible through the Book of Shadows."

Silence. Complete silence. The revelation seemed to suck all the air out of the room.

Damian’s face twisted in horror. "That’s a disaster." He ran a hand through his hair. "This is a fucking disaster." He looked toward the others. "Wasn’t the Book of Shadows supposed to have burned with the academy?"

No one answered. The question hung heavily in the room. Because everyone knew what it meant if the Emperor had somehow obtained the book. The Book of Shadows wasn’t an ordinary magical book. It contained knowledge that could destroy people in ways they couldn’t defend against. And if someone as powerful as the Emperor had that knowledge in his hands, then there was almost nothing stopping him. Unless they found a miracle.

Noah’s chest tightened. His gaze unconsciously drifted toward the corner of the room. The sword was lying there. His sword. But now it was calling to him. Not through words. Through a strange pull inside his chest.

Noah stared at it. He could feel something ancient humming beneath its surface.

Lamia noticed. He walked toward Noah. "The Emperor has the Book of Shadows." His gaze moved toward the sword. "And now the next things he’ll come after are you and the Heavenly Sword."

Noah swallowed. "We can’t let him have either."

"No." Lamia’s expression became firm. "We can’t." He stepped closer. "This is the moment where you stop putting everything else ahead of your training."

Noah looked at him.

"You need to begin your full training." Lamia pointed toward the sword. "You need to master your divine powers." His expression became more serious. "And your dark side."

Noah’s brows furrowed. "My dark side?"

"That grave affinity you possess." Lamia lowered his voice. "All of it matters now. Your light. Your darkness. Your connection to the sword. Everything." He looked around the room. "These are the powers you’re going to need if you’re going to defeat that bastard and protect the people around you."

Noah stared at Marcus. His heart ached. He hadn’t even known Marcus’s soul could be attacked this way. He had spent so much time worrying about the Emperor’s physical attacks that he hadn’t considered something far more dangerous. A spiritual attack. The enemy didn’t need to reach them physically anymore. He could reach them through their souls.

Lamia’s voice brought him back. "As Damian said, the book should have been gone." His jaw tightened. "But it clearly isn’t." He looked directly at Noah. "And we cannot allow the Emperor to get you."

Noah’s hands curled into fists. "Then we fight."

Lysander finally stepped forward. His baritone voice filled the room. "I’ll strengthen the security around the cottage." His eyes moved toward Oliver. "And I need a witch to help me reinforce the barriers."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Of course you need me."

Lysander ignored him. "We can’t have another breach."

Eugene suddenly spoke. "We shouldn’t stop at barriers." Everyone looked at him. "Look at Marcus." His expression was grim. "We’re being targeted one by one." He glanced toward Noah. "And I think the reason is obvious."

Noah lowered his gaze. "Me."

Eugene nodded. "They can’t reach us physically, so they’re going after us another way." He looked at Marcus. "Through our minds. Our bodies. Our souls." He swallowed. "I don’t know if there’s a spell that can protect all three, but we need to find one." His voice became firm. "Because if the Emperor can attack our souls without us knowing, he could wipe us out before we even realize we’re under attack."

Everyone exchanged looks. The danger had suddenly become much more real.

Then Rose stepped closer. Her eyes narrowed. "Wait." She was staring at Noah. "What’s that on your hand?"

Noah blinked. "My hand?"

"Yes." Rose pointed. "That mark."

Noah looked down. "There isn’t anything on my hand."

Killian was still standing close to him. His arm was wrapped protectively around Noah’s waist. He lowered his gaze. Then his entire expression changed. "Noah..." He grabbed Noah’s arm gently. "What the hell happened to your hand?"

Noah looked down. And froze.

There it was. A strange rune was etched across his skin. It stretched along his upper arm toward his shoulder, dark lines forming an intricate symbol he had never seen before.

Noah stumbled backward. "What is that?" He tried rubbing it away. Nothing. He scratched at his skin. Still nothing. "What is this doing on my body?" His breathing quickened. "Somebody take it off!"

He tried peeling at the edges, but the mark didn’t move. It felt like it had hardened beneath his skin.

Lysander’s expression changed. His eyes darkened instantly. Lamia and Oliver exchanged a look. They recognized it.

Lysander stepped forward and carefully took Noah’s hand. "This..." His jaw tightened.

Noah looked at him. "What?"

Lysander stared at the rune. "It’s a tracking mark."

Noah’s heart dropped. "A tracking mark?"

"Used by demons and wraiths." Lysander’s fingers tightened around his hand. "And right now..." His eyes burned. "You’re being followed."

Noah’s entire face went pale. He nearly lost his balance. Eugene and Killian immediately caught him.

"What do you mean followed?" Killian demanded.

Lysander’s eyes remained fixed on the mark. "They can use it to find him."

Lamia stepped closer. "That’s what happened in the wilderness."

Noah looked at him. "What?"

Lamia’s expression was grim. "When we were inside that place, something grabbed Noah’s wrist." Everyone froze. "I tried to pull him away, but the spell had already connected."

Lysander’s expression became murderous. "Why didn’t you say that earlier?"

"I didn’t know the mark had followed him back!" Lamia snapped.

Noah stared at the rune. He suddenly remembered the hand. The voice. I have found you. His stomach twisted.

Then his body suddenly stiffened.

Noah’s scent changed. It spiked through the room so quickly that every Alpha froze.

"What the—" Killian stumbled backward.

Eugene’s eyes widened. Damian grabbed the edge of the table to steady himself. Even Lysander’s expression changed.

"Noah?" Lamia looked at him. "What’s happening?"

Noah didn’t answer. He took one step backward. Then another.

His head suddenly began pounding. It felt as though something was trying to split his skull open from the inside. He grabbed his head. "Ah..." His vision blurred. The room spun around him.

His pheromones surged again. Stronger. Thicker. Overwhelming.

Every Alpha in the room reacted instantly. One by one, they dropped to their knees. Even Lysander staggered. Lamia and Oliver weren’t spared either as the force of Noah’s supernatural energy swept through the cottage.

"Noah!" Eugene tried to reach him. But Noah stumbled away. He didn’t seem to hear them. His breathing became ragged.

Something was happening to his body. His scent was becoming stronger by the second, and the strange heat spreading through him was completely different from anything he had experienced before. His legs trembled. He grabbed the wall for support.

"No..." His voice came out weak. "Not again."

He looked down at himself, horrified. "This isn’t right."

His body was reacting on its own. A strange, overwhelming wave of pheromones continued spilling from him. Noah’s face flushed. His breathing became uneven. He had experienced something similar once before. They had called it heat. But this wasn’t the same. This felt wrong. Dangerous. Almost as though the tracking mark had triggered something inside him.

Noah threw his hair back in frustration. "Not again." His voice rose. "Not this damn pheromone!"