Chapter 4: Tears and goodbyes

최신 챕터

• RITUAL MATE GAMES: FATED ENEMIES   Epilogue – One Year Later

  The scent of wildflowers lingered in the air, the soft breeze carrying their perfume through the flourishing village now pulsing with life and laughter. A year had passed since the day Aria and Kai had pledged themselves to each other, not out of duty, but out of choice. And in that year, Moonfall had blossomed.The once-guarded warriors now trained with purpose, not out of fear, but to protect something precious. The children played freely in the sun-drenched fields, their laughter echoing across the hills. The borders no longer bristled with unease. Instead, they welcomed traders, allies, and the occasional wanderer curious about the once-fractured pack that had somehow become a beacon of peace.And Aria? She was finally learning how to rest.The constant fight that had defined so much of her life had settled into a quiet rhythm. The nights were no longer haunted by strategies or the weight of impending war. Instead, they were filled with stories by the fire, shared meals, and soft

• RITUAL MATE GAMES: FATED ENEMIES   Chapter 137: The End

  The morning after the family dinner dawned crisp and golden, sunlight spilling over the training grounds where the morning mist still clung to the grass. Aria found herself waking with a strange weightlessness in her chest, a feeling she hadn’t known in years.There was no looming crisis waiting for her, no immediate fire to put out. Just the steady rhythm of Moonfall slowly knitting itself whole again.And Kai.She found him waiting for her in the courtyard, their staffs already laid out. His expression was open, patient, like he’d been expecting her all along.“Thought we agreed on training at dawn,” Aria called out as she approached, her steps light.“You’re late,” Kai teased, spinning his staff with ease.“I’m never late,” she shot back, taking up her position opposite him. “I arrive exactly when I mean to.”His grin deepened. “You’ve been spending too much time with Jayden.”They fell into their familiar rhythm, the clack of staffs and the sharp thud of boots on stone filling the

• RITUAL MATE GAMES: FATED ENEMIES   Chapter 136: Moonfall Rhythm

  The rhythm of Moonfall was steadier now.The chaos had quieted, the wounds were slowly stitching themselves closed, and with each passing day, Aria found herself breathing a little easier. Her nights weren’t as restless. Her mornings didn’t weigh as heavily on her chest. And maybe—just maybe—she was starting to believe she could build something here again. Not just for the people she led, but for herself. For her family.For Kai.Their days fell into a quiet rhythm.They trained together in the mornings, just as they used to—not as adversaries or guarded allies, but as two people who knew each other’s rhythms better than anyone else. Their sparring sessions had become something of an unspoken ritual, a shared space where words weren’t necessary.The clash of their wooden staffs echoed through the courtyard, the thrum of muscle and breath filling the space between them.Aria struck low, quick, her movements sharp.Kai parried, his grip steady, the corner of his mouth tugging in a famil

• RITUAL MATE GAMES: FATED ENEMIES   Chapter 135: Healing

  Moonfall was healing.Not quickly. Not perfectly. But it was healing all the same.The damage Silverfang had wrought lingered—fractured alliances, scarred territory, trust that needed careful mending—but the people of Moonfall did what they had always done.They endured.And this time, Aria wasn’t carrying the weight of it alone.Kai had decided to stay with her, slipping into their rhythm with an ease that surprised even her. He didn’t arrive as the sharp-edged enforcer he’d once been. He came as something steadier. Softer, though no less formidable. And somehow, that made all the difference.He didn’t push. He didn’t pry.He simply stayed.When Aria rose at dawn to survey the perimeter, he was already waiting with two cups of bitterroot tea—one for her, one for himself.When she sparred with the new recruits, he joined the drills without hesitation, his movements sharp but never showy, his corrections firm but patient.When Council matters threatened to drown her, he didn’t offer em

• RITUAL MATE GAMES: FATED ENEMIES   Chapter 134: Not alone

  Time didn’t heal all wounds. Aria had learned that much.But time, at least, softened the sharpest edges.The weeks that followed her discovery in the archives passed in a strange blur. She returned to her duties, attended Council briefings, led training exercises, made her reports—all the motions expected of her—but a quiet shift had begun beneath her skin.The ache that had once been a raw, festering thing had begun to settle. Still painful. Still present. But no longer the iron chain around her throat.Every morning, she told herself the same thing:Ethan made his choices. And she had to live with hers.She still visited the cliffs, still held the bundle of his letters, but the weight of them had changed. No longer an anchor. Now they were something else—something lighter. A memory, not a monument.And with that softening, something else began to stir.The space where her grief had once suffocated everything… it wasn’t empty anymore.Kai.She’d kept him at a careful distance, too a

• RITUAL MATE GAMES: FATED ENEMIES   Chapter 133: Let Go

  The air in Moonfall was thinner now. Aria could feel it pressing against her lungs as she walked the familiar halls, her boots echoing in the silence. The walls, once symbols of justice and tradition, now felt like cages, their stone facades suffocating beneath the weight of lies she could no longer unsee.Kai’s revelations clawed at her every step. She had to know for herself. She had to peel back the layers, even if it meant tearing apart the pieces of Ethan she had fought to preserve.She didn’t tell Kai where she was going. She needed to do this alone.The pack archives were rarely visited outside of formal audits. Dust coated the high shelves, the scent of parchment and aged leather heavy in the air. Aria lit a lantern, its soft glow dancing across the rows of records that chronicled generations of alliances, debts, and betrayals.She began where Kai had told her to: the debt ledgers.Ethan’s name appeared far too often.Her fingers skimmed the worn pages, tracing the entries. Th