Novel-novel oleh SheedahVerse

I stayed flat behind the boulder and held my breath.The radio crackled. Even from thirty paces, my wolf ears caught Blake’s voice, flat and tight.“Describe it.”“A crescent, Alpha, cut into the rock. It is glowing. It looks like the Silvermere seal.”“Touch it.”The scout pressed his palm to the stone, leaned his weight into it, then struck it with the heel of his hand. “Nothing, Alpha. It is solid.”The radio hissed. When Blake spoke again, he was quieter.“Go down to the foot of the path and watch the cliff. Tell no one. I am sending a rock crew.”The scout walked away, and the crescent faded behind him. I still did not know why it had glowed while I stood thirty paces off. Blake had found the door. He could not open it. That was the only good news, and it would not last.I called Magistrate Thorne from the forest road.“What can Blake do on those ridges?”“He may survey and assess hazards,” Thorne said. “He may not drill or blast without a court permit, and I will refuse one. A h

Blake’s SUVs were still pulling out of the parking lot when Magistrate Thorne closed his case and turned to me.“Your inheritance is confirmed, Lady Silvermere. The trust’s money and assets are yours as of today. But the court needs seven days to register the valley’s stewardship in your name.”“And until then?”“Alpha Westwood can still manage the valley’s roads, boundary markers, and surveys.” He handed me a stamped page. “He filed a survey order for the northern ridges before he left. It is legal. But it does not give him one coin, one deed, or one dollar of yours.”Seven days. For a week, Blake’s scouts could walk any ridge they wanted, and Blake did not like losing things. He would not stop at one search.“Alder, what else does the trust hold besides coins?”He had the list ready. Rental houses in Oakhaven, shares in the Harlow mill and a grain freight line, deposits in three banks, and a quarry lease.“Liquidate everything by the end of the week. Sell the properties and shares,

I capped my pen and set it beside the manifest. I did not stand.Blake held out his palm like a man collecting a debt. Behind him, six enforcers fanned across the trust’s marble lobby. Catherine and Evelyn stepped in from the third SUV, Catherine in her pearls and Evelyn in a white coat, one hand pressed to her chest as if every breath hurt.Alder stood frozen behind the desk. The other clerks had gone very quiet.I did not reach for my power. I knew what this marble floor meant.“This is Ashford and Sterling,” I said. “Neutral ground under the Treaty of Oakhaven. No Alpha may draw claws here.” I glanced at the nearest enforcer, whose fingers were already curling. “Not even yours.”The man stopped. Blake’s jaw tightened.“I am not here to fight,” Blake said smoothly. “I am here to collect what is owed. Under mate law, any wealth a she-wolf gains within thirty days of a rejection is held for her Alpha. Forty-two million dollars, Iris. You have been doing well without me.”“Have I?”“Do

The golden bond snapped with a sharp sound like iron tearing through silk.Blake dropped to both knees. The breath left his lungs in a violent heave, and the golden fire in his eyes drained away, leaving them a dull, lifeless blue. Sweat broke across his forehead, dripping down the hard line of his jaw. The heavy Alpha aura that had weighed on my chest for five years collapsed into dust.A thin silver crescent bloomed on the inside of my wrist, right where his mark had been.Beside him, Evelyn screamed as the shockwave threw her against the bedside table. Hairpins scattered across the carpet. She clutched her head, sobbing, her face pale.Catherine stumbled backward, clutching her pearls. “Iris! What did you say? Royal Wolf? You are an ungrateful orphan we pulled from the dirt!”“Quiet, Mother!” Blake snarled. He hauled himself up, leaning against the bedpost as his claws tore deep into the wood. “Iris, you dare reject an Alpha?”“I did,” I answered, my voice steady. “I reject your bo

I woke up screaming for a core I thought was no longer there.My hands flew to my chest. I expected a hole, torn flesh, warm blood pouring between my fingers. Instead I felt smooth skin, and under it, a soft golden pulse that matched the frantic beat of my heart.It was still inside me.For a long moment I could not breathe. I could still feel the silver knife sliding between my ribs. I could still see Blake kneeling over me, the same hands that used to tuck my hair behind my ear, now holding my life like it was something he had borrowed and was finally taking back.I remembered the night before the wall fell. I had held the barrier alone for more than eleven hours, my nose bleeding, my vision going black at the edges, while Catherine Westwood complained from her warm chair that her tea had gone cold. Nobody offered me water. Nobody asked if I was tired. I was the Luna. Lunas don’t get tired.I remembered the last sanctuary door opening with room for one more person. Only one. I did n