登入分享
14: Thirty Two
publish date:
2026-10-30 00:00:17
最新章節
Reborn at the Last Howl 21: Maren's Debt
LYANNA I stand in the kitchen that night.The scout's words still ring in my head, louder with each passing minute. *Someone who works in the kitchen.* Seraphina heard it from here. The accusation claws at my chest, and I can't tear it free.My hands shake as I put away the clean cloths. A spare bandage sits in every pocket I own—habit, drilled into me by Healer Maren. "Always be ready. The moment you hesitate is the moment someone dies," she used to say, her voice sharp as a blade, and I obeyed without question, the way I always did.Healer Maren took me in after the orphanage. She fed me when no one else would. She taught me medicine—how to set a bone, how to break a fever—and in return, she bought my silence one debt payment at a time. Month after month, the chain tightens around me, link by invisible link. I can almost feel it now, cold against my wrist, biting deeper than it ever has.She asked me to send reports about Cryssara, claiming it was for the pack's safety, though even
Reborn at the Last Howl 20: Wolves in Ashfang colour
CRYSSARA "Who sent them?"Caelus folds the map"We find out tonight."We climb the ridge at dusk. Snow falls thin and quiet. Our breath shows white. The trees stand black against the last light.Caelus points to a low hollow, his voice clipped with urgency."Here. Simple trap. Rope under the snow. When they step, it holds the ankle."I help set it, my hands steady despite the biting cold. We wait in the trees, breaths shallow, nerves stretched to breaking. No one speaks.Two shapes move along the ridge path. Ashfang colors mark their coats. One stands tall, broad-shouldered. The other looks smaller, barely older than a pup.They step into the hollow. The rope snaps tight. Both crash down hard, snow exploding around them.We move fast. Caelus slams the taller one against the ground, pinning him with a knee to the chest, teeth bared like he's one word away from tearing out a throat. I grab the younger one by the collar and yank him upright, my grip rougher than it needs to be.The tall
Reborn at the Last Howl 19: The ridge
CRYSSARA Dorian's eyes lock on mine, and he starts toward me, purpose hardening every stride into a threat. The trading post falls silent. Vaelor leans back in his chair, watching with open interest. Caelus presses closer to my shoulder, every muscle coiled and ready. Dorian stops inches from me, his breath hot against my face, fury radiating off him like heat from a forge. "Where is all this money coming from?" His voice cuts like ice, each word a blade testing for weakness. I hold his gaze, refusing to flinch, my tone level despite the hammering in my chest. "From a mother I never knew." I let the silence stretch a beat before adding, "You never asked, and you never cared to." Seraphina's fingers dig into his arm, desperate, her nails whitening against his sleeve. "Dorian. Not here. Please." He ignores her completely, shrugging her off without even a glance, his eyes burning into mine, something feral surfacing beneath the fury. "You think you can buy salt and stores and
Reborn at the Last Howl 18: The Alpha who sells salt
CRYSSARA I realize Dorian knows something too.Ashfang has bought out every salt seller in the valley. He is not only after the land, he is strangling our supplies, tightening his grip barrel by barrel until we have no choice but to kneel.Caelus and I leave at first light. The trading post sits at the edge of the valley road, smoke curling from its chimney like a warning written in the sky.Inside, Vaelor Frostbane lounges with his boots propped on the table, utterly at ease, as though he owns the very air we breathe. Silver-black hair. Cold blue-grey eyes that miss nothing. Proud. Blunt. An independent Alpha who believes strength alone decides everything—and who clearly relishes watching others scramble to prove him wrong.Barrels of salt line the wall behind him. The last ones left in the valley, and he knows it. He wears that knowledge like armor, and he wields it like a blade pressed to our throats.I speak first, letting no hesitation creep into my voice, though my pulse hammer
Reborn at the Last Howl 17: The cold store
CRYSSARA I close the book and lock the door again.The writer is inside the Hold. Only I have the key, yet the page is new. Someone walks these halls who knows the sealed room.I shove the thought down and stalk to the kitchens.Granny Tilda is already there. Old cook from Caelus's pack. Thin arms. Sharp eyes. She treats food like gold, and guards it like a dragon guards its hoard."Come here, girl. Hands over the table." Her voice cracks like a whip, and her eyes dare me to flinch.She shows me how to dry the meat. Thin strips. Salted. Hung in the smoke."Too thick and it spoils. Too thin and it turns to dust." Her glare pins me in place, sharp as a blade at my throat. "Watch, and don't waste my time. I haven't got patience to spare, least of all for you."I watch. I copy. My fingers grow sticky with salt and fat, and still her eyes find fault, hunting for the next mistake before I have even made it.She moves to the fish next, her patience already gone, her voice fraying at the edg
Reborn at the Last Howl 16: Supplies are not strength
CRYSSARA I pull my arm free and refuse to look back.The elder's words chase me all the way home. Not the land. Your name. I push them down, burying them deep. There is no time for names when the cold is already climbing, already baring its teeth at the door.I walk the stores that night. Grain. Stoves. Sealed blankets. Medicine. Enough for thirty-two wolves, if I ration it right. If I don't fail them.Having food does not make me safe. In my first life I was weak, and weak wolves were thrown out like scraps no one wanted. I still remember the ice on my legs at the shelter gate, the way it burned worse than fire. I will not be weak again. I would rather die trying.Dawn comes gray and merciless. Caelus waits in the yard with two wooden staffs and a set of practice knives, his face carved from stone, his eyes stripped of anything resembling mercy. Snow covers the stones like a shroud."On your feet," he barks, and there is no gentleness in it—only contempt, as if my exhaustion offends
你可能也喜歡
Seducing My Ex's Father In Law
Caroline Above Story4.4M 閱讀量The Beast And The Blessed
Ashley Breanne762.0K 閱讀量The Lycan's Rejected Mate
Sunshine Princess814.1K 閱讀量Contract Luna
Raelyn Karson544.9K 閱讀量She tamed the untouchable alpha
Fiction writer 118 閱讀量The Sovereign Wolf's Rejection
Subomi Writes 55 閱讀量The Rival Alpha Forbidden Luna
Choco .B .158 閱讀量Be My Mate? Too Late
Chelsea TW187 閱讀量
