Chapter fifty: Tea Leaves and Thorns

Bab terbaru

• Six-Times Rejected Freak: Claimed By The Alpha Prince   Chapter ninety one:Blood Before Dusk

  DamianI couldn't feel my arms.Not from pain, but from the weight of holding back.Alina had insisted on sparring with me. I tried to talk her out of it, knowing full well that tonight's battle would demand everything I had left in me. But when Alina got an idea in her head, there was no deterring her. She stood across from me, hair tied back, defiance in her stance, fire in her eyes."Come on, Damian," she had said, eyes locked with mine. "Show me what you're made of."She charged at me like she had something to prove. Maybe she did. Maybe she was sick of feeling like the omega everyone pitied. I didn’t hit her back, not at first. I dodged, parried, blocked, until her foot slammed into my thigh and she growled, "Stop holding back."So I did.I moved with precision, never striking hard enough to leave a mark but enough to make her work. She grunted, ducked, twisted around and caught my side with a jab that made me blink. That’s when I realized she was already panting, her legs trembl

• Six-Times Rejected Freak: Claimed By The Alpha Prince   Chapter ninty: The Edge of Fire

  AlinaI thought I was going to lose my mind.Sleep had completely abandoned me. It was like my brain refused to shut off, taunting me with images of Damian, broken and bloody, lying on the arena floor. I curled into myself under the thick covers, eyes wide and burning in the dark. Beside me, Damian slept like there was no tomorrow, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. It was maddening.How could he sleep?How could anyone sleep when everything was falling apart?My stomach twisted again as I sat upright and pressed my hand to my chest. The weight sitting there wasn’t just fear. It was helplessness. It was the image of Rylan's smirk. Of the Alpha's cold stare. Of Blair’s fake tears and venomous voice. Everything felt like it was closing in on me."Alina," Damian mumbled, voice low and thick with sleep. "Come back to sleep."I shook my head, though I wasn’t sure he could see me in the dark. "I can't."He shifted, arm reaching for me, fingers brushing my hip. "You need rest.""An

• Six-Times Rejected Freak: Claimed By The Alpha Prince   Chapter eighty nine: The Cost of Loyalty

  AlinaI couldn't believe it. I stood there, jaw tight, fists clenched, watching the mess of tension and insolence that had somehow become normal in this pack. They weren't even pretending anymore. The courage everyone was showing—the blatant disrespect, the disregard for me, for Alina—it was a sickness, and it had one source.My father.This wasn’t just neglect or oversight anymore. It was punishment. Deliberate, quiet, cruel punishment. All because I chose her. Because I chose Alina.I had started to think Darius might actually be right. That thought alone made something bitter creep up my throat. Burning bridges? I wasn’t just burning them, I was setting fire to every connection I’d ever had, watching them collapse into ash without blinking.And I didn’t regret it.Not even a little.Because in the middle of all this rot, Alina was the only thing that made sense. My mate. My omega. Mine.Rylan, smug and vile as ever, had the nerve to look at her again. I caught the shift of his gaze

• Six-Times Rejected Freak: Claimed By The Alpha Prince   Chapter eighty eight:Tangled in the Storm

  AlinaI tried to breathe, but it felt like every inhale was dragging over broken glass. My lungs ached with the effort, and my skin felt too tight for my bones. I pressed a hand against my chest, but it did nothing to ease the storm raging inside me. I moved across the room in restless loops, my bare feet brushing against the cold floor, and I counted every step like it might anchor me somehow.Had I done the right thing?I didn’t know. Maybe I never would.Telling Damian about what happened with Rylan had seemed right in the moment. Necessary, even. I couldn’t keep that kind of danger to myself. But now, I felt like I had lit a match and tossed it into a dry forest. Everything was too quiet, too tense—as though the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for the next blow.I didn’t want to be the weakness that pulled him under. I didn’t want to be the reason he lost control. But what choice did I have? Rylan had crossed every line, and I was tired of pretending I wasn’t afraid.

• Six-Times Rejected Freak: Claimed By The Alpha Prince   Chapter eighty seven: The Smile of a Snake

  DamienThe Alpha’s expression was still stunned when I left. His mouth hung slightly open, like he hadn’t fully processed what I’d just said. Good. Let it sink in. Let it burn. He needed to understand that I wasn’t playing around anymore. Not with Rylan. Not with anyone.I barely made it past the last stair when I caught movement in the corner of my eye.Darius.He was perched on the stone wall just outside the corridor like some kind of damn gargoyle, one leg swinging, munching lazily on an apple like he didn’t have a care in the world. His presence alone made my muscles tighten.I hadn’t seen him since the night Alina was nearly attacked.And that… that left a bitter taste crawling down my throat.He was too calm. Too distant. Too quiet. And if there was one thing Darius never did, it was stay out of the way when chaos struck.He looked up, meeting my gaze.We stared at each other.Not a word. Just silence stretching between us like a drawn blade.He was the first to break it.“You

• Six-Times Rejected Freak: Claimed By The Alpha Prince   Chapter eighty six: Mine to Protect

  DamianI heard the sound before I saw her.It was sharp—either a slap or a stumble—and it tore through the quiet like thunder cracking through silence. My body moved before my mind did, my hand already on the doorknob of the office as I stepped out into the hallway.Rylan.His figure was retreating fast, his coat whipping around his legs as he disappeared around the corner like the damn coward he was.My gaze shifted immediately.Alina.She was standing in the middle of the hall, pale and shaking, her arms wrapped tightly around herself like she was trying to hold herself together.“Alina,” I said, my voice dropping to something soft, something I hadn’t even planned. I moved toward her slowly, trying not to startle her.She didn’t look at me. Didn’t blink. Didn’t speak.Her eyes were wide, distant—like she wasn’t fully here. Her breath came in shallow bursts, and I could see the effort it took for her to stay upright. My gut twisted.Something had happened. Something bad.“Talk to me,