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CHAPTER EIGHT: Whispers in the Garden
publish date:
2026-04-22 02:27:03Seraphine Vael sat like she had won half the battle before it began.
She watched Celeste approach the stone fountain with sharp, assessing eyes, not cruel, but unnervingly perceptive. The late afternoon light caught the mole beneath her right eye and made her dark skin glow against the muted tones of Ravencrest’s garden. She looked completely at ease in enemy territory.
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Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha CHAPTER EIGHT: Whispers in the Garden
Seraphine Vael sat like she had won half the battle before it began.She watched Celeste approach the stone fountain with sharp, assessing eyes, not cruel, but unnervingly perceptive. The late afternoon light caught the mole beneath her right eye and made her dark skin glow against the muted tones of Ravencrest’s garden. She looked completely at ease in enemy territory.Celeste stopped a few feet away, arms crossed tightly over her chest. The smoke-stained dress felt even more out of place here, surrounded by trimmed hedges and pale winter roses.“You wanted to speak with me,” Celeste said, voice flat.Seraphine smiled, small and genuine. “I wanted to speak with the woman who publicly r
Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha CHAPTER SEVEN: The Shadow That Follows
The first three days in Ravencrest felt like drowning in slow motion.Celeste refused to wear any of the fine clothes brought to her room. She stayed in the same smoke-stained grey dress she had worn the day Silvermere burned. The faint smell of ash and pine still clung to the fabric, grounding her in her pain. She spoke only when necessary, ate very little, and treated every knock at her door like an intrusion.Kaelan made sure there were many knocks.He never forced his way inside or raised his voice. He simply refused to stay away. The man moved through the packhouse like a shadow that had learned her schedule. If she stood by the window overlooking the dark mountains, he would appear in the doorway minutes later. If she walked the small walled garden at dusk, he would be
Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha CHAPTER SIX: The Alpha's laugh
The sound of Kaelan Draven’s laugh sliced through the great hall like a blade dragged slowly across stone.It wasn’t loud or mocking. It was low, rough, and genuinely surprising. The sound of a man who had spent every day of his twenty-six years hearing only obedience suddenly tasting the unfamiliar sting of rejection.The entire court froze.Celeste stood motionless on the cold marble floor, her small frame trembling with barely contained fury and heartbreak. Her wide grey eyes remained locked on the ruthless Alpha standing above her. Silver-tipped black curls framed her pale face, a few strands sticking to her damp skin from the tension rolling through her body. Inside her chest, the mate bond roared like a living flame, twisting and pulling violently, demanding she move closer to the man she wanted nothing more than to destroy.Kaelan’s laugh slowly faded into a dark, predatory smile that sent a shiver racing down her spine. The jagged scar across his left eye tightened as his expr
Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha CHAPTER FIVE: Seraphine.
Ravencrest was built from dark stone.That was the first thing she noticed as they came through the mountain pass, not the size of it, though it was enormous, not the iron gates that groaned open as they approached but the colour. Everything was dark. The walls, the towers, the road beneath the horses' hooves. Like the whole territory had been carved out of the mountain itself and never quite separated from it.It felt nothing like Silvermere.Silvermere had been warm. Timber and healer's herbs and the smell of pine coming down from the ridge. Children running between the buildings in the evening. Windows lit amber from inside.Celeste pressed that image down before it could hollow her out completely.She rode with her wrists bound in front of her, seated behind one of Kaelan's guards on a horse she had not been given permission to decline. Her mother rode separately, three horses back. Celeste had twisted to check on her so many times that the guard in front of her had told her flat
Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha CHAPTER FOUR: Where Betrayal Burns.
Celeste woke to the smell of smoke.The smoke was not the soft one that circulated the cottage hearth. This was thick, black, and acrid, like metal burning. Celeste shot up, her instincts kicking in before her brain did. She crossed to the window.The sky was red.It wasn't dawn. This was a fierce red glow from the pack's gate, like something was burning and the sound she had mistaken in her sleep for wind was not wind at all."Celeste."Her mother was already in the doorway, fully dressed, a bag strapped across her chest. Her mom stood in the doorway, bag ready, face tight. Her eyes darted around, checking everything, including Celeste."We have to go," Maera said. "Right now. Don't take anything.""What's happening!""Ravencrest. They're at the gate. They're already through the gate." Her mother crossed the room in three steps and grabbed her hand. "We have to go now Celeste."The village was chaos.Maera yanked her hand, pulling Celeste through the chaos, weaving between wolves r
Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha CHAPTER THREE: The Boy With Amber Eyes.
Moonfall was nothing like she expected.Celeste had imagined something small. A quiet gathering of wolves who didn’t belong anywhere, standing around scattered fires and pretending not to notice each other.Something easy to disappear into. She was wrong.The valley was enormous. Torches lined every path, burning gold and amber against the dark, stretching further than she could see from the entrance. Music came from somewhere deep inside the crowd. Low drums and a melody she didn't recognize but felt. There were hundreds of wolves here. Maybe more dancing around the light, every one of them masked. All dangerous in ways no one bothered to hide.She stood at the entrance.For a moment she considered turning around. Going home. Pretending tonight never happened.But then she remembered the humiliation when Thorne announced his new Luna.She walked in.Her mask was silver, thin across the bridge of her nose and cheekbones, with small details carved into the edges that she had never lo
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