Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Three: The Debt of BloodRafeThe scent of aged parchment hung heavy in the war room — sharp, metallic, like the memory of blood.But the message lying on the stone table in front of me reeked of it.I read the letter again, slower this time, letting each word settle in my bones like ash:I read it again.To Alpha Rafe Blackthorn,Word has reached Ashmoor.You harbor the daughter of Dorian Vale.Your silence is an insult.There is still blood unpaid.We will meet you at dawn.—Alpha Kael of AshmoorMy wolf stirred, pacing beneath my skin, lips curled back in silent rage. The urge to shred the parchment into a thousand pieces tugged at me, but I forced my hands to stay still.“They’re baiting you,” Cassian said from across the room, arms folded, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “They want to see how far they can push before you snap.”“They think I’ve gone soft,” I muttered. “Because of her.”“Because of who she is,” he corrected, voice hardening. “Not what she’s done. She wasn’t there, Rafe. She didn’t draw blood
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-07-25
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Two: Draped in BelongingEvelynBrinla’s shop looked like something out of an old storybook — the kind filled with enchanted threads and whispered secrets.The small stone cottage was nestled between two towering elms at the edge of the village, its front door hanging slightly crooked on rusted hinges and wind chimes made of bones and glass clinking softly above the threshold. Vines crept up the sides, flowering in odd hues I didn’t recognize, and above the windows, delicate runes had been etched into the wood — protective symbols, I guessed.Inside, it smelled of lavender and leather, wool and woodsmoke. Warmth from a hearth tucked in the corner seeped through the wooden floorboards. Fabrics in every shade and texture spilled from shelves, bolts of velvet and linen and fur tumbling over one another like living things. Metal threads glinted like starlight in the corners.I stood in the center of it all, boots sinking into the thic
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-07-24
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-One: Among the PackEvelynThe village was unlike anything I had imagined.Talia led me down winding dirt paths framed by ancient trees and lanterns that hung from thick branches like glowing fruit. The smell of smoked meat, fresh bread, and damp earth clung to the breeze. Homes were nestled into the forest like they had grown there, built with timber and stone, rooftops covered in moss and wildflowers.It didn’t feel like a war camp. It didn’t feel like a prison.It felt… lived in.“This way,” Talia said, waving me past a wooden cart stacked with baskets of dried mushrooms. “We’ll hit the market square first.”I kept my hood low at first, unsure how the pack would react. Not everyone in the keep had been warm — some still looked at me like I carried a dagger behind my back. But the villagers here didn’t stare. They looked. A few lingered, curious. But it wasn’t hostili
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-07-23
Chapter: Chapter Thirty: A Pack DividedEvelynThe morning felt heavier than any before, pressing against my skin like an omen. Word of the fight had torn through the keep like wildfire, leaving only smoldering whispers and half-hidden stares in its wake.I sat on the edge of the bed, letting the echoes settle in my chest. Out there, somewhere, the pack was talking — about me, about Rafe, about whether he was still fit to lead because of me.No. I wouldn’t hide from this.I stood, braided my hair quickly, and stepped into the corridor. Mara was already waiting, arms crossed.“You’re up early,” she noted.“Couldn’t sleep.”“Yeah.” She sighed. “You should know… Calder’s supporters are still stirring shit. Some think the Alpha has lost his edge.”My stomach twisted. “Because of me.”Mara hesitated, then nodded. “You know how wolves are,
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-07-22
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Nine: AftermathEvelynI couldn’t stop shaking.Even hours after the challenge, my hands still trembled, my stomach a tight knot. I kept replaying the scene in the ring — Rafe, monstrous and magnificent in his wolf form, black as night, eyes burning like a fallen god’s. And Calder, beaten into the ground, whining his surrender as the pack roared its approval.The moment I’d seen Rafe shift back — bloody, breathing hard, and completely naked — I’d felt something hot coil low in my belly before guilt punched the air out of me. It was wrong, I’d thought frantically, to notice him that way after so much violence. I’d shaken the thought off, ashamed, but it still lingered at the edge of my mind.When Mara and Talia finally stopped hovering, I found my way to his rooms.The door was cracked, candlelight spilling across stone. He sat shirtless on a low bench, his broad back turned towar
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-07-21
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Eight: The FightRafeThe hours between morning and dusk crawled like wounded prey, every minute weighted with the waiting.I went through the rituals in silence — plunging my hands into a barrel of freezing water, scrubbing until my skin went numb, tracing protective runes on my forearms with a ragged piece of chalk. The war paint felt heavy on my face as it dried, a mask to hide the fear I could never show.Nothing stilled the storm.Calder had challenged me.And he had done it over her.The pack was gathering before the sun had even begun to sink, eager, tense, hungry for blood. I could taste their excitement on the air, sharp and metallic.I stepped into the ring as the sun bled its final colors across the courtyard. Cassian stood off to one side, arms crossed, his face carved from granite, but there was worry behind his eyes.Don’t let this break you, he thought, and I felt the echo in our bond.
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-07-20
Masuk
