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CHAPTER 141: A GAME OF BETRAYALS

Author: Lizzy Fash
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-04-10 23:58:03

ATHENA

The candles threw dancing shadows on the stone walls, their stretched darkness writhing like ghosts. The scent of burnt herbs was thick in the air, an old custom meant to cloak our words from inquisitive magic. Connor, the so-called King of Bears, sat across from me, his huge form tense, his yellow eyes shining with calculation.

"You expect me to trust you?" His voice was a low growl, as coarse as the forest he ruled. "You, out of everyone?"

I grinned, dragging a painted nail across the wooden table that stood between them. "I want you to be smart enough to see the opportunity in front of you, Connor. Flora thinks she can control us, but we both know she's a dead woman walking with borrowed power."

His fists clenched. "And David?"

"David is nothing more than a desperate fool playing with something far greater than himself," I answered, leaning in. "His obsession with Hailey clouds his judgment. He will fail, just like his mother."

Connor studied me, his expression unreadable. I
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  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 212: THORNS OF COMPLIANCE

    AKAEL The second we crossed the threshold of the dark forest, I felt it. A thrum. A summons. Not in words, but in the binding seal that encircles my soul like a chain soaked in fire. Father was calling us. "He knows," I whispered. Akasha tensed at my side. "Of course, he does." We did not speak again as we walked. Our boots crunched through dry sticks, leaves whispering in fear overhead. The silence between us was heavy, not with guilt, but with inevitability. There has never been a time when Father wasn't aware of what we were up to. There has never been a time when his punishments were lenient. The garden gates loomed as a cage of bone and sorrow. When I went to touch the obsidian iron, they groaned open of their own accord. The garden inside was too perfect. Never-wilting flowers, blood-red roses with crystal thorns, vines that shone silver in the moonlight. The one place Father smiled. A sanctuary of control. He was already there. Audacus stood between, in midnight. Wings

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 211: THE DRAGON'S DAUGHTER

    AKASHAIt was supposed to be an ordinary day.I was supposed to blend in—keep my head down, pretend I was normal, whatever that meant.But of course, fate never wanted to keep quiet when I politely asked it to and my curiosity landed me in this situation. I was walking across the cafeteria on campus when it started. The usual. The gawking. The whispers. I'm used to it by now. People gawk—maybe because I don't talk much, maybe because I don't laugh boisterously, maybe because in their gut, they know I'm different whatever it is, anytime I'm in the open I get easily singled out then they assume I'm utterly helpless.Or maybe it's the eyes. My dad says I have Hailey's eyes. The Queen. The woman I've never met but think about way too much and her pictures are everywhere, the entire world practically worships her as a human and as a wolf Queen.They trapped me by the fountain—three girls, one boy. All bark, no bite."Hey freak," the blonde girl snapped, making my books spill out of my han

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 210: FOREWARNING

    MARISSA "So this is what we're doing now?" I complained, crossing my arms and storming down the hallway outside the infirmary with as much grace as a raging tornado. Lilith and Isaiah were crouched, whispering like two teenagers sharing secrets in a secret affair. "Whispering behind Queen Hailey's back like two aunties with a scandal to share at a wedding spread?"Lilith blinked, her lips forming a soft "Oh." Isaiah, ever the stoic Seer with the lines of one who's seen too much and answered too little, bristled like a reed in a storm."Marissa," he said in the voice of a monk trying to soothe a lioness in full fury."This is not what it seems."I rolled my eyes so hard, I thought they would fall off. "Isaiah, darling, unless what it looks like is two grown-ups chattering about something they don't intend to discuss with the woman who sacrificed everything for this kingdom, then yes—it looks like what it looks like."Lilith stepped forward, speaking in a tranquil tone. "Marissa, pleas

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 209: HE'S NOT YOURS

    MARISSAI should have simply walked away.I should have closed my mouth and remained quiet like all the other persons in that gilded hallway pretending not to notice the way Serenia was all but glued to Ryan's side like a designer handbag with too much perfume and far too many opinions.But I didn't.Because I'm Marissa—Hailey's best friend, her war sister, her ride-or-die since the ancient times when all we had was fire, fury, and matching daggers strapped to our thighs.And no, I wasn't about to let this bubble-lipped serpent slither her way any closer to Ryan like she wasn't three inches from drooling on his neck."Are you all right, Serenia?" I asked with saccharine sweetness, smiled so hard my cheekbones ached. "Or do you need a chair since Ryan's arm seems to be the only thing keeping you upright?"She blinked at me, wide-eyed innocence. "Excuse me?"Oh, she was going to play innocent. Cute.Ryan shifted uncomfortably, the tension between us palpable, but I wasn't even looking a

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 208: CHAOS AND CAMERA

    JADENIf there is one thing I hate worse than public appearances, it is public appearances in the human world. They all stare like we are made of unicorn tears and glitter. I mean, we are beautiful—thanks to my mate and my genes—but really, have they never seen models before?Today, we’re at Jadakiss’s college matriculation. Yes. Our daughter. Our fourth child. Our only daughter. And frankly, I’m shocked she’s even choosing college. With her power, she could’ve ruled a kingdom or two. But no, she wanted to study psychology.“Because people are so strange,” she had said. That’s my girl.I walk with Alexia, my hand fitting comfortably in hers. We're low-key by supernatural standards—a simple black-on-black suit for me and a sleek evening gown for her. Still, humans around us gasp and whisper, camera flashes erupting like we're Brangelina 2.0. Even though we haven't aged in more than two decades, so really we're more like immortal enigmas."Did you see that?" Alexia leans in, low-voiced

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 207: NO HIDDEN KIDS

    HAILEYThe very moment my boots touched the stone floor of the Council Hall, silence fell like snow.It had been eighteen years since the attack and eight years finally free from depression. Seven days of whispers, sidelong glances, and cautious steps around me—as if I were made of porcelain dipped in fire. And maybe I was.I hadn’t aged a day in eighteen years. Not a wrinkle, not a grey strand, not even a single line near my eyes. The flames that had engulfed me hadn’t burned—they’d refined. Whatever Audacus had tried to break in me had only made me harder.And now, as I stood before the full council, dressed in black fitted robes with silver threading that shimmered like starlight, I wore my power like a second skin.Ryan stood tall at my right. Quiet, unreadable. But I could feel the tension in him. Serenia was to my left, eyes gleaming with something venomous and desperate.And then she made the annoying remark.“There is one matter still left unspoken,” Serenia said smoothly, ste

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 206: THE WARNING

    LOGANSerenia is nothing but trouble. There's nothing she's not willing to do to have Ryan but unfortunately she's betting on the wrong tree. Yes, Hailey did hit depression for more than ten years but she's better now and the queen I bow to is no spineless coward like Serenia whom she was kind to is boiling a whole nest of trouble she would not survive because Hailey hates ingrates and trouble makers.The peace we've enjoyed for years now is going to be blown away, I could feel that as I made my way down the lower corridors to the war room. The guards did not look me in the eye. The staff ran around but whispered. Whispers spread faster than truth in this castle.I did not need to ask what had happened.I knew exactly who had opened her mouth.Serenia.I found Ryan alone in the war room, arms crossed over his chest, jaw set, eyes storm-dark as he scowled at the huge map on the wall. Not even looking at it. Just beyond it."She told you," I said, shutting the door behind me.He didn't

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 205: JEALOUSY

    SERENIAThe candles filters and glows dully, they cast shaking shadows on the old stone walls. I crouched in the side passageway of the infirmary, frozen as a sigh, holding my breath. My shoulder rested against the chill wall, I listened to their soft voices—My mother and Isaiah—whispering what nobody else knew. Two children. Born of Hailey. Living.My heart jumped. Not so much at the gravity of what they said, but at the name… Hailey. Her name always wrapped in my chest like a snake, constricting with each pulse. All those years of pretending, smiling when I want to yell, being friendly to Ryan when I wanted more.I hadn't meant to eavesdrop.But fate had a sense of timing, didn't she?I had come looking for Ryan. I could always find myself searching for him these days. Even when I didn't want to admit it. Even when I told myself it was respect. Or concern. Or loyalty. Lies. All of it. The thing was, I loved a man who would never be mine.Ryan.Even now, thinking about him ripped me

  • CLAIMING HAILEY    CHAPTER 204: DOOM

    ISAIAH The scent of smoke and lilies fragranced the air as I stepped into the chant room—my solemn santuary now. What had been a sanctuary of solitude and bitter truths was now my haven, my fulcrum, my anchor. The candles flickered with fierce flames though there was no breeze. Something was stirring.Lilith's scent still lingered on me, her warmth remaining near my skin like a memory that I never wanted to forget. We had peace, for all that. After centuries of wars and visions that wrought havoc, the Moon Goddess had seen fit to give me a mate. Her. Feral. Damned. Beautiful. Mine.But peace, for men like me, does not last long.My hands trembled as I cut the knife across my palm. Blood welled up at once, pooling in my palm. I let it drip into the obsidian basin, heart racing as the shadows in the room hissed and writhed.The fires died.My knees buckled.Darkness took me whole.The world reset.I stood upon a soil that I did not know. The heavens were a thick, unhealthy green, boili

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