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CHAPTER 51: MOTHER OF WAR.
Dernière mise à jour:
2025-04-24 21:03:04
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Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 52: The Waiting.
ASHER’S POV*Flashback*There was blood everywhere—on Julian’s shirt, on my hands, smeared across the cold stone floor. He was still breathing, barely. Short, ragged gasps. His eyes kept fluttering, like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay awake or not.“He’s burning up,” I said, pressing harder against the wound.“I know,” Vivianne snapped. “Move.”I stepped aside, letting her fall to her knees beside him. Her hands were already glowing with that quiet, old magic she never flaunted, just used. Her fingers went straight to his chest, her face a mask of control even as her lip trembled.“It was Aiden,” I said. “The dagger was poisoned. He knew what he was doing.”Vivianne didn’t respond.She just leaned over Julian, whispering under her breath—not spells, just… words. A mother talking to her son like she could keep him here with the sound of her voice alone.“You’re not done yet, Julian,” she murmured. “Don’t you dare be done.”He groaned faintly. Barely there.I looked down at him—thi
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-04-25Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 53: THE CALM BEFORE THE HUNT.
NEUTRAL POV.The courtyard of the Big House buzzed with low murmurs and shifting feet. The air was thick with smoke and dust from the fires still smoldering beyond the walls. Asher stood at the center, arms crossed over his chest, feeling the weight of a pack trying to heal — and the cracks left behind by betrayal.Humans and wolves alike had gathered: warriors with bandaged arms, healers with tired eyes, even some of the townspeople who had refused to flee when the blood moon rose.Akira was the first to step forward, wiping her soot-streaked hands on her trousers."We've cleared the eastern fields," she reported, voice steady. "The livestock's been accounted for. No major losses there.""And the wounded?" Asher asked, his voice carrying over the crowd."Recovering," she said. "Some might not shift for a while. The magic in the blood moon... it lingers."He nodded grimly. "And the repairs?""We're working on it," another called from the crowd — a human man Asher recognized as Luck, o
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-04-27Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 54: ASHES AND DEBTS.
Asher’s POV.The sky was barely starting to gray with morning when I saddled the black mare. My hands moved automatically — tightening straps, checking the blade strapped to my belt, the satchel of supplies slung over my shoulder.I didn’t want a crowd. No goodbyes. No speeches.Just the road and the promise I'd made.Footsteps crunched behind me, deliberate. I didn’t have to turn to know it was Akira.“You really thought you could leave without me?” she said, voice cool.I tightened the last strap before answering. "This isn’t a hunt," I said. "It’s a death march.""And?"I finally turned. She stood there, arms crossed, her jacket half-buttoned, sword slung over her back. She looked fierce. Determined. Tired."Akira," I said low, "this isn’t your burden.""You’re wrong," she snapped. "It’s all of ours."Her gaze softened a fraction. "You think saving Julian means saving Raven’s Peak. It does. But saving you... means saving it too."The words hit deeper than I wanted them to.I looked
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-04-27Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 55: HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN.
*POV: Asher Nightshade* The tunnel narrowed until we had to move single file, shoulders brushing damp, living stone. The air grew colder with each step — thin, sharp, unnatural. I caught the shift before I saw it: the faint shimmer, like heat waves, stretching across the passage ahead. Akira grabbed my arm without warning. "Stop." Her voice was low but commanding. I froze. A few steps ahead, figures were forming out of the mist — familiar faces. Dead faces. Wolves I had failed. Friends who had bled out on battlefields long since claimed by dust. They weren’t real. But gods, they looked it. One of them, a boy with silver hair and sunken eyes, stepped forward. His mouth moved, but the voice that came out was wrong — hollow, rasping. "You left us behind, Asher." Another figure, a woman with a crushed throat, pointed at Akira. "And you, little witch—you abandoned the old ways." I flexed my hands, trying to ground myself. The dagger at my hip felt heavier, almost pulling m
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-04-28Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 56: RESOLVE.
**Aiden’s Pov**The fire is low, just embers in the grate. AIDEN sits at his desk, hunched forward, staring into the dark rim of his wine glass. The dagger lies on the table, untouched but present—like a word unsaid.The door opens hard.**MYRRA (O.S.)** “She’s gone.”Aiden looks up slowly. **MYRRA** stands in the doorway, soaked from rain, hair plastered to her forehead, breath short.**AIDEN** “Who?”**MYRRA** “Ember.”Silence hangs in the room. Aiden doesn’t move.**MYRRA** “She escaped an hour before the shift change. Two guards dead. One missing. No sign of struggle in the cell. Just… empty.”Aiden finally rises, smooth and quiet. He walks to the window, pulling aside the curtain. Rain streaks down the glass. He speaks without turning.**AIDEN** “Did she say anything?”**MYRRA** “Left a mark on the wall. Her name. That’s all.”Aiden closes his eyes. A long breath in. Then out.**MYRRA (softly)** “This will reach Asher and Julian.”**AIDEN** “Good.”Myrra blinks, a
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-04-29Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 57: THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US.
POV: Asher Nightshade.The mountain swallowed us whole.The moment Akira and I stepped toward the paths, the ground trembled and split us apart—not with violence, but inevitability. One blink, and she was gone. No scream. No flash of light. Just... gone.The path before me shimmered, a corridor of jagged stone and whispering dark. I stepped forward.THE TRIAL.The world bent around me. I walked through memory, not earth—rooms from my childhood flickered past, voices echoing. I think the face that flickered belonged to my mother. She sat on my bed singing me soft lullaby. My father’s command. Blood on snow. Flames rising from a burning village.I walked through all of it.Through the faces I failed.Through the moment I turned away when I should’ve stood tall.Through the weight of every name etched into my bones.I thought I was ready.I wasn’t.But I didn’t stop.Because Akira wouldn’t stop either.THE RETURN.I don’t remember leaving the mountain.One moment I was stepping through a
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-04-30Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 58: THE ANTIDOTE.
POV: Akira.The darkness chased her.**AKIRA** ran, not with fear—but with fury.The forest trembled beneath her feet. The talisman at her throat blazed like moonfire, silver light spilling across bark and root. Behind her, the pack thundered after her—snarls, claws, muscle, death.But she didn’t stop.Couldn’t.She skidded to a halt in a clearing, chest heaving, palms burning with magic.She turned.Waited.They came—seven werewolves, eyes glowing, teeth bared.And behind them—**AIDEN.**Calm. Always calm. Watching.Akira raised both hands. Her eyes, once soft and quiet, now glowed like stormlight. Ancient words left her lips—old and sharp and full of memory.The earth trembled.The trees shivered.**FLAMES ERUPTED.**Blue fire—cold and furious—shot from her fingertips, circling her like a storm. Two wolves lunged. She dropped low, slammed her hand into the ground.**The forest *answered*.**Roots burst upward, impaling one clean through the chest. The second was consumed by fire, i
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-05-01Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 59: THE COST OF BLOOD.
POV: EMBER WELLESLEY.The lights were too bright. The kind that made you feel like you were being seen down to the bone.**Ember** sat on the edge of the lab bed, her sleeves rolled up, arm bare. **Augustus** moved efficiently, attaching a pressure cuff to her bicep while a nurse prepped the equipment.The needle glinted under the lights.**EMBER (quietly)** “Tell me again this will help him.”Augustus paused. His voice softened just enough.**AUGUSTUS** “We don’t know everything. But your blood reacted with Julian’s markers when we tested the first vial. Not just stabilized—*reversed* damage. Whatever’s in your system… it’s fighting the poison.”**EMBER** swallowed. Her other hand rested over the slight swell of her stomach.**EMBER** “It’s not just me, is it?”Augustus met her eyes.**AUGUSTUS** “It’s your child. The bond of blood. Wellesley and Nightshade—united.”She looked away, blinking fast. The nurse nodded, inserting the needle into her arm. Blood flowed through the t
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-05-01
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Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 75: MOON KILLER.
POV: Ember Wellesley Nightshade.The sun had barely begun to set behind the hills, casting long golden shadows over the backyard of their modest cottage. Ember sat cross-legged on the grass, her hands stained green from plucking wild herbs her father had taught her to find. She was maybe eight — wild-haired, stubborn, sharp-eyed.Her father knelt beside the little garden box, dirt under his nails, sleeves rolled up. He was a quiet man, the kind who didn’t speak unless he had something worth saying. Tonight, he did.“Papa,” Ember said, threading a stem of lavender into the braid she’d tangled in her hair. “Why do we always eat dinner together? Even when you’re tired, even when Mama’s busy?”He looked over at her, one eyebrow raised. “Because that’s what families do.”“But not everyone does.”“No,” he admitted. “But Wellesleys do.”She frowned, thinking. “Why?”He sat back on his heels, wiping his hands on a cloth. “Because we don’t run from each other when things get hard. Family is wh
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 74: SILENCE BETWEEN HOWLS.
Raven’s Peak — Wedding NightThe celebration had died down to a hum. Music faded into the rustle of leaves and low murmurs as the pack dispersed, retreating to their homes, their dens, their mates. The land seemed to hold its breath around the big house — wrapped in soft laughter and clinking glasses left on tables covered in flower petals.Inside, Asher and Ember stood alone in the quiet warmth of their shared room.Candles flickered low on the windowsills, bathing the wood-paneled walls in golden light. A fire crackled in the hearth, its scent mingling with pine and lavender. Their joined hands hadn’t let go since the vows.Ember stood in front of the mirror, pulling the last pins from her hair. It fell in waves down her back, wild and loose like the woman she’d always been beneath the fear.Behind her, Asher leaned against the wall, still wearing half his suit, the other half rumpled from the dancing and hugging and clumsy kisses from pack elders who were trying not to cry.“You’re
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 73: MY MATE.
THE WEDDING DAYPOV: Asher Nightshade.The sun sat high above Raven’s Peak. The lawn glowed with flowers and string lights. Laughter drifted like music through the crowd as guests found their seats.Inside, Asher stood near the back porch, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt. Marisol handed him a boutonnière and nudged his arm.“You nervous?”He gave a crooked grin. “Only about the rest of my life.”Just then, Delia stepped up. She was in a slate-blue dress, hair pinned simply, but her face was unreadable.“Asher,” she said, a bit breathless. “There’s something I need to tell you before this starts.”He frowned. “What’s wrong?”Delia hesitated. “There’s someone here. Someone from Ember’s past. Jayke. Her ex.”Asher’s shoulders tensed. “What?”“He showed up just now. Said he only wanted to see her from afar. Swears he won’t cause trouble.”Asher’s jaw tightened, eyes scanning the edge of the forest where the crowd thinned. A man stood alone in a grey suit — too polished, too late.“I shou
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 72: OLD BELLS.
POV: Ember Wellesley.**EMBER**The night was warm for spring, the kind that smelled of moss and rain-soaked bark. Ember stood by the open window, her newborn son cradled against her chest. His breath was soft, slow, like he trusted the world completely.She rocked gently, humming something her mother used to sing—a lullaby without words, just a tune carried by the breeze and the beat of her heart.Behind her, Asher stirred in bed, his voice groggy. “You okay?”She turned with a tired smile. “He needed air. So did I.”Asher rose, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as he came to stand beside her. Together they looked out at Raven’s Peak, the lights of scattered cabins glowing like quiet stars through the trees.“You think he’ll love this place?” Ember asked softly.“He already does,” Asher murmured, brushing a thumb along their son’s tiny hand. “It’s in his blood.”Ember nodded, then rested her head on his shoulder. “I think he’ll grow strong here. Loved. Free.”They stood like th
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 71: NEW BEGINNING.
POV: Asher Nightshade.The storm hadn’t broken yet, but the air carried that heaviness—like the world was holding its breath.Asher stood by the window of their small cabin, watching the treetops bend slightly in the wind. His coffee had gone cold in his hand. Behind him, Ember was still asleep on the couch, a blanket wrapped loosely around her shoulders, her hand resting over the swell of her belly.The sight of her, peaceful for once, tightened something in his chest.She shifted slightly, brow furrowing, then relaxed again. Asher stepped away from the window, set down the mug, and knelt beside her quietly.Her hair had fallen across her cheek. He brushed it back gently.The child was due soon. Any day now. And somehow, despite all the chaos and pressure from the outside world, their little world here had held steady.“Marry me,” he whispered softly, the words slipping out before he even realized he was saying them.He laughed under his breath. She hadn’t heard—still deep in sleep.
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 71: NEW BEGINNING.
POV: Asher Nightshade.The storm hadn’t broken yet, but the air carried that heaviness—like the world was holding its breath.Asher stood by the window of their small cabin, watching the treetops bend slightly in the wind. His coffee had gone cold in his hand. Behind him, Ember was still asleep on the couch, a blanket wrapped loosely around her shoulders, her hand resting over the swell of her belly.The sight of her, peaceful for once, tightened something in his chest.She shifted slightly, brow furrowing, then relaxed again. Asher stepped away from the window, set down the mug, and knelt beside her quietly.Her hair had fallen across her cheek. He brushed it back gently.The child was due soon. Any day now. And somehow, despite all the chaos and pressure from the outside world, their little world here had held steady.“Marry me,” he whispered softly, the words slipping out before he even realized he was saying them.He laughed under his breath. She hadn’t heard—still deep in sleep.
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 70: RITES AND ROOTS.
POV: Ember Wellesley.The trail behind the cabin wasn’t marked on any map. It curved like instinct, winding through moss-covered roots and cold streams until it opened into a quiet glade — one Ember hadn’t seen since she came to Raven’s Peak.The trees there stood older, taller, closer together. Their branches knotted like clasped hands. The air shimmered with the hush of something ancient and watchful.Ember stepped into the center, barefoot, the hem of her dress soaked from dew.She could feel the pull. Not just in her blood—but in her bones. Like the very earth was reaching up to cradle her.She knelt.Laid both palms to the ground.Closed her eyes.And listened.No incantation. No ceremony. Just stillness.At first, there was nothing but the wind.Then, a low hum beneath it.Like a breath. Like a heart.Images bloomed behind her eyelids: wolves circling under starlight. Akira’s silver talisman. A great white tree in the distance, hollowed with age and memory. The mountain—cracked
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 69: I DREAM IN MOON.
**FLASHBACK – YEARS AGO – THE DEEPWOOD OUTSKIRTS**Before she became a ghost in Ember’s mirror, her name was **Eira**.Born under the same moon cycle as Ember Wellesley, just hours apart, on opposite ends of the forest. The healers whispered it was a blessing—that the Goddess had blessed the Peak with twins of power.But only one was claimed.Ember was marked.Eira was not.She watched from the trees that first night, barely five years old, as the villagers gathered for Ember’s moon-naming ceremony. Lanterns floated into the air. Wolves howled. Magic surged.No one noticed the other child watching—her small hands clenched, her face streaked with tears.Her mother died giving birth. Her father drank himself into a whisper. The Elders never came for her. Never tested her blood.She wasn’t chosen.And the land, sensing the fracture, grew *quiet* around her.---**INT. CAVE BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN – ADOLESCENCE**Years passed. Eira wandered deeper into the old woods, where the paths forgot n
Alpha’s Claimed Mate CHAPTER 68: FALSE EMBER.
POV: Vivianne St. Clair.The air inside the abandoned greenhouse was heavy with damp soil and broken glass. Moonlight streamed in through the jagged roof, catching the dust in silvery halos. Vivianne stood alone near the rusted potting bench, phone in hand, voice low.**VIVIANNE (on phone)**We’ve been quiet long enough. They’re rebuilding, yes—but slowly. If we move soon, we can—She froze.A footstep. Soft, but not hidden.She turned quickly, phone still in her hand.**JULIAN**Who were you calling?He stepped out from the shadows near the old fig tree, arms crossed, eyes unreadable.Vivianne straightened, mask slipping quickly back into place.**VIVIANNE**Just tying up loose ends.**JULIAN**Don’t lie to me, not anymore.A beat.**JULIAN**You were reaching out to the Hollowborn, weren’t you?She didn’t answer.The silence was enough.**JULIAN**Mother. You *can’t* do this again.She held his gaze. Proud. Unyielding.**VIVIANNE**You think Asher and Ember will hold this place toge
