Mag-log inCHAPTER FOUR: The Secret He Forced Me to Keep
Kiara’s POv I woke up a little bit exhausted. I was alone on the bed . The forest was quiet. I could hear the birds singing . My body hurts in a way I didn’t fully understand, and my wolf was restless inside me. It hadn’t been a dream. The bond was still there.Alpha Liam is my mate and my stepfather. The memories rushed back. The way he had held me like letting go was impossible, even while his eyes were full of denial. I sat up quickly, looking around.He was gone. For one wild moment, my hope failed . Maybe he had rejected the bond. Maybe he doesn’t want me . Then I felt his presence in the room . He was close. “Get dressed.” His voice came from behind me, cold and controlled. I turned around. He stood a few steps away, fully dressed now, Alpha mask firmly back in place. No trace of weakness. No sign of what had happened between us. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said those words hurt me . “Then reject me,” I said.His eyes darkened instantly. “No.” The word was final. I stared at him. “Why?” “Because rejection would break you,” he said flatly. “And I will not weaken the pack further.” My chest tightened. “So what am I to you then?” He stepped closer, his presence crushing. “You are my mate,” he said quietly. “And that is exactly why this must stay a secret.” The word hit harder than rejection. “A secret?” I whispered. “If the pack finds out,” he continued, “they will destroy you. They will call you a curse. A manipulation. A threat to my rule.” “You’re the Alpha,” I said. “You could protect me.” His jaw tightened. “You don’t understand this pack.” “I understand you hate me,” I shot back. Something dangerous flashed in his eyes. “This is not about hate,” he said. “This is about survival.” “You will say nothing,” he ordered. “To anyone. Not your mother. Not the elders. Not a single wolf.” My heart sank. “And if I don’t?” His voice dropped. “Then I will be forced to choose the pack over you.” The bond pulsed painfully at his words. Tears burned my eyes. “So I stay trapped.” “You stay alive,” he corrected. I laughed softly, broken. “You said turning eighteen would free me.” He didn’t answer. That silence told me everything. “You will return to the pack house,” he said. “Nothing changes. You follow the rules. You stay invisible.” “And you?” I asked. His gaze locked onto mine, intense and unreadable. “I will fight this bond every day,” he said. “Dont make any mistake, Kiara “ He stepped back, putting distance between us like a wall. “This should have never happened,” he said. The bond screamed in protest. I nodded slowly, even though my chest felt like it was caving in. “Yes, Alpha.”He flinched at the title. Then he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there with a bond I wasn’t allowed to claim, a mate who refused to let me go, and a secret that could destroy us both. My eighteenth birthday was supposed to bring freedom.CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: The Edge of DarknessKaira’s POVI closed my eyes, bracing for the tearing pain of fangs sinking into my throat. But the impact never came.A deafening, savage roar tore through the clearing, followed by the wet, heavy sound of two massive bodies colliding in mid-air. I opened my eyes to see a flash of silver-gray fur slam into the scarred rogue, throwing him off his trajectory and sending both wolves crashing into the dirt in a chaotic, snarling tangle.It was Ava.She had shifted into her lean, silver-gray beta wolf, her jaws clamped tightly around the rogue's throat as she fought with a desperate, frantic ferocity. She must have followed my scent trail when I fled the pack house.But Ava was a healer, not an elite warrior, and she was outnumbered.The other two feral rogues recovered from their shock instantly. With vicious, coordinated snaps, they descended upon her. The largest brute tore at her hind leg, while the third clamped his yellow fangs into her shou
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: The Boundary of ShadowsKaira’s POVThe cold wind of the deep woods cut through my thin clothes like a thousand tiny scalpels, but I welcome the pain. It was a distraction from the agonizing, tearing sensation in my chest. The mate bond was screaming, a high-pitched spiritual alarm that vibrated through my soul as the physical distance between Liam and me widened. Every mile I ran felt like a physical thread of my heart being pulled taut, fraying, and snapping.How could he?The question circled my mind in a relentless, punishing loop. He had held me. He had looked into my eyes while buried deep inside me and sworn he would protect what was his. And then, at the very first sign of a storm, he had signed my exile to protect his precious throne. He was a coward. A king of dirt.My vision blurred with hot, angry tears as I sprinted blindly through the dense undergrowth, bypassing the familiar paths of the Golden Pack. I didn't care where I went. I only knew I had to cr
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE: The Ash of PromisesKaira’s POVThe warmth of the moonstone grove had faded into a damp, clinging chill by the time we returned to the pack house. I had walked back with my head held high, my hand locked in Liam’s, believing the fierce promises he had whispered against my skin. I believed that with the Mark of the First Ancestor on my collarbone and the Alpha of the Golden Pack at my side, we were untouchable.I was a fool.The betrayal didn't come with a physical blow or a battlefield challenge. It came in the quiet, drafty confines of the Alpha’s private study, just hours before the rescheduled emergency council meeting.I had gone to find him, wanting to discuss how we would face the elders together. The heavy oak door to his study was slightly ajar, a sliver of warm light cutting across the dark hallway. I was about to push it open when I heard my mother’s voice—low, sharp, and dripping with that familiar, manipulative poison."If you don't sign the exile decre
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: Shield and SurrenderKaira’s POVPower thrummed through my veins like a second heartbeat, heavy and ancient, vibrating with a frequency that made the very air around me crackle. The silver Mark of the First Ancestor burned cool and sharp against my collarbone—a stark, iridescent brand that had altered the trajectory of my entire life in a single, blinding fraction of a second. The very pack that had been baying for my blood just moments ago, the wolves who had eagerly gathered to watch my public execution or humiliation, now knelt in the damp dirt. Their foreheads were pressed hard against the stone and soil, their bodies trembling in a state of terrified, instinctual reverence that they couldn't control even if they wanted to.But the silence of a subjugated pack was a fragile thing, and not everyone in the clearing was willing to surrender their lifetime of prejudice to a sudden miracle.A furious, wet snarl ripped through the stunned quiet of the amphitheater, s
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: The Mark of the AncestorsKaira’s POVThe morning of the summit arrived not with a sunrise, but with a oppressive, heavy gray sky that seemed to trap the humidity against the forest floor. The summit bells began to toll at dawn, their deep, rhythmic iron clangs vibrating through the floorboards of my bedroom and echoing inside my skull.Clang. Clang. Clang.It was the sound of a gathering storm.I dressed with deliberate, mechanical care. No hoodies today. No hiding. I chose a simple, form-fitting black tunic and dark trousers, pulling my long hair back into a tight, warrior’s braid. When I looked in the mirror, the girl who had sobbed on the floor yesterday was completely gone. In her place stood someone hollowed out by grief but reinforced with steel.The walk to the sacred amphitheater at the center of the pack lands was a gauntlet. The fog had lifted just enough to expose the hundreds of wolves lining the path. Whispers followed me like dry leaves scraping acr
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: A Single Ally Kaira’s POVThe suffocating weight of my mother’s words still lingered in the air, but the tears had completely dried. My heart felt like a frozen lake—solid, cold, and numb. I couldn't stay in that room a second longer. If I had to sit there staring at the four walls that had witnessed my humiliation, I would lose my mind. Every corner of my bedroom seemed to echo with her screams, labeling me a thief, a home-wrecker, and a whore. The heavy wooden door she had slammed felt less like protection and more like a prison cell waiting to lock me away for a crime I hadn't asked to commit.I threw on a heavy oversized hoodie, pulling the hood low over my face to hide the puffiness around my eyes, and slipped out of the back door before the rest of the house could wake up. The early morning air was biting, a thick fog rolling off the hills of the Golden Pack territory and wrapping around the tall pines like a shroud. The damp ground crunched beneath my sneak
CHAPTER FIVE: The Line He Drew Kaira’s Pov The next morning,I couldn’t help but feel a change in the pack house.It looked like the air itself had turned against me. Every time I walked down a corridor, conversations died instantly.Wolves turned their heads too fast or stared a little too
Chapter Three: The Scent That Broke Me Kiara’s POV I woke up before sunrise on my eighteenth birthday. The air felt different, it was full of tension but I felt alive and hopeful .Today is the day I get to meet my mate. My skin is glowing , all my senses are alert and my heart is pounding
CHAPTER TWO: Rules of the Pack House Kiara’s POV The pack house was not a place I can call home. It was a place where I learned to stay quiet, keep my head down, and disappear whenever possible. I learnt to be invisible . On my first morning there, I woke up before dawn to the sound of b
CHAPTER ONE: My Mother Married the Alpha Who Hated Me Kiara’s POV I was seventeen when my mother married a man who hated me . Alpha Liam could barely stand the sight of me. The wedding was held in the pack’s largest hall . It was big enough to contain the whole pack members and a few oth







