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41

Author: Wednesday Adaire
last update Last Updated: 2025-12-03 23:20:13

GRAYSON’S POV

Ashen slept like someone whose body had finally given up its last reserves. Not peacefully. Not deeply. His fingers twitched sometimes, his breath catching every few minutes as if the fire Ateron left behind still curled through his lungs. I stayed beside him the entire night, sitting against the headboard, one hand holding his wrist while the bond thrummed in slow, heavy beats.

And unlike Solven and Ateron, this one wasn’t a fragment.

It was everything.

When the first sliver of dawn cut across the room, Ashen stirred. His eyelids fluttered open slowly, revealing exhaustion sitting beneath the surface.

“Grayson,” he whispered, voice hoarse.

I squeezed his wrist. “I’m here.”

He blinked a few times as if returning fully to himself. “Did I sleep long?”

“Long enough,” I said. “Your body needed it.”

He sat up slowly, rubbing his face with both hands. “I feel heavy.”

“Not surprising,” I said. “You’ve anchored two ancient forces in forty-eight hours.”

He let out a weak laugh. “
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  • CLAIMED BY THE COLD-HEARTED ALPHA   50

    ASHEN’S POVThe moment I stepped out of the room, the pull sharpened— clearer, heavier, more insistent than before.It tugged at the center of my chest, right beneath the sigil glowing faintly under my shirt. Each pulse was a direction. Each direction was a warning. And every warning carried one truth: something hostile was moving toward Grayson.Grayson walked beside me, matching my pace without hesitation. His shoulder brushed mine, silent reassurance wrapped in every step he took. He didn’t touch me, didn’t pull me close, didn’t try to shield me. He simply stayed at my side with unwavering certainty.“Ashen,” he murmured, “is the pull getting stronger?”“Yes,” I said, voice low but steady. “It’s shifting. Narrowing. Directing.”“Meaning the threat is moving,” he said.“Yes,” I whispered. “Toward us.”He inhaled slowly. “Then let it come.”“No,” I said immediately. “You don’t let anything come. Not this one.”His jaw tightened. “Ashen—”“You said you'd follow,” I cut in. “So follow.

  • CLAIMED BY THE COLD-HEARTED ALPHA   49

    ASHEN’S POVThe room felt different—warmer, clearer, sharper in a way that wasn’t physical but perceptual.It was like every corner, every shift of air, every sound existed within a new clarity I hadn’t possessed before.The eclipse inside me had settled enough that the world no longer fought me.And for the first time since the awakening began, I felt like I could breathe without bracing for impact.Grayson was still sitting close, one hand resting on my lower back, the other loosely holding my wrist. Even after everything—the unification, the sigil, the forming instincts—he didn’t move away. If anything, he watched me even more intently, as if trying to understand the new rhythm of my aura the same way he learned to read every expression on my face.“Ashen,” he murmured, voice steady, “tell me again. How does it feel now?”I rested my hand over the mark on my chest, feeling its faint hum. “Settled,” I said. “But not static.”His brows lowered slightly. “Meaning?”“Meaning the power

  • CLAIMED BY THE COLD-HEARTED ALPHA   48

    ASHEN’S POVFor a long moment, neither of us moved.Grayson’s hand rested over the new sigil glowing faintly on my chest, his palm warm, his fingers steady despite the tremor hiding beneath his skin. The mark pulsed softly beneath his touch—once, twice, three times—each pulse syncing with the rhythm of the bond. It felt intimate, ancient, and impossibly personal all at once.My breath shuddered. “Grayson… it reacts to you more than anything else.”His eyes flickered to mine, dark and intense. “Because you shaped it with your choice. That makes it dangerous.”“For who?” I whispered.“Anyone who ever tries to touch you with a single wrong intention,” he answered quietly.The warmth in his voice wasn’t gentle.It was possessive.Fierce.Protective in a way that resonated with the eclipse inside me.My heart thudded once beneath his palm, the mark glowing brighter for a split second.“See?” he murmured. “It answers to you.”“It answers to us,” I corrected.He swallowed once, unable to dis

  • CLAIMED BY THE COLD-HEARTED ALPHA   47

    ASHEN’S POVWhen the words left my mouth—I choose to protect you—the core inside my chest reacted faster than any awakening, any resonance, any forced alignment ever had. A pulse shot through my ribs, sharp but not painful, bright but not blinding. It felt like something ancient and formless suddenly recognized a purpose clear enough to settle into.Grayson froze..“Ashen,” he said quietly. “Repeat that.”I swallowed. “I said I choose to protect you.”His jaw clenched, breath tightening. “You shouldn’t choose for my sake.”“I’m not choosing for your sake,” I said firmly. “I’m choosing for mine.”His eyes darkened, emotion flickering in the shadows of his expression. “Explain it. Say it out loud.”I pressed a hand to my sternum, fingers trembling slightly from the warmth building beneath the surface. “Because my power was born fractured. Because my identity was shaped by running from forces inside me I couldn’t control. And because you were the only constant that never fractured with

  • CLAIMED BY THE COLD-HEARTED ALPHA   46

    ASHEN’S POVThe moment the core clicked into place, a wave of warmth rolled through my entire body—slow, steady, deliberate. Not a surge. Not an attack. Not an explosion of uncontrolled force. It felt like a deep breath taken by the power inside me, followed by a gentle exhale that settled every lingering fracture. My fingers twitched against the sheets, and Grayson’s hand tightened around mine instantly.“Ashen,” he murmured, leaning closer, “what changed?”I inhaled carefully, letting the new rhythm in my chest guide me. “Everything. But also… nothing. I’m still me. Just… clearer.”Grayson cupped the back of my head, guiding my forehead against his shoulder. “Clear how?”I searched for words while the warmth continued to spread. “Like the world inside me had been broken into pieces for so long that I forgot what it sounded like when everything moved together. Now it’s all aligned. No conflict. No echoing layers. Just one steady presence.”Grayson brushed his fingers through my hair.

  • CLAIMED BY THE COLD-HEARTED ALPHA   45

    ASHEN’S POVThe unification settled into me like a second heartbeat—quiet but impossibly present, as if the core itself was waiting for my next breath to decide its shape. I could feel the weight of it resting in my sternum, warm and steady, nothing like the chaos it used to be. For the first time in my life, there was no conflict inside me, no cold trying to destabilize warmth, no flame trying to consume stillness. Everything moved in a single direction, following a center that was undeniably mine.Grayson sat beside me on the bed, one hand still cradling the back of my head, his thumb sweeping slow lines along my neck. He wasn’t trying to comfort me—he was grounding me, reminding me where I was, reminding me who I was. The bond thrummed faintly between us, steady but cautious, as if even it sensed the magnitude of what had just happened.“What do you mean it’s not over?” he asked quietly. “You said the unification is complete.”I licked my lips slowly, trying to find the right words

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