Share

Chapter 410 Hearthfire

Author: Judith GW
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-15 18:13:17

Soren

It was supposed to be a nice surprise.

A warm, heartfelt, romantic gesture to say, “Hey, we see you, we love you, we know you’re under a lot of stress, thanks for not blowing us up.” Instead, the kitchen is an actual war zone.

Arlo stands at the stove, swearing under his breath, turning something unidentifiable in a pan. It smells like garlic, cinnamon, and remorse.

Erik is holding a cutting board like a shield. Chris is slicing carrots with the delicate focus of someone disarming a bomb.

I stir a pot of what was meant to be soup, but it more closely resembles molten clay. “Why is that not soup?” Erik asks, frowning over my shoulder.

“I followed the recipe exactly,” I say in self-defense. “You’re reading an upside-down page from a book called Spices of the Southern Wastes,” he points out. “…Ah.” That may explain some things.

Chris adds, “Are carrots supposed to be purple?” Arlo growls. “These were the only ones at the market. They’re heirloom. It means fancy.”

“They look like th
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Rejected by My Mate, Fated to the Lycan King   Chapter 600 We Are the Ones Who Came Back

    OmniscientWe emerge from the forest's embrace in reverent silence, our shoulders brushing with each step, boots crushing frost-laced leaves that crackle like whispered secrets beneath our feet.Chris is the first to break the spell of quiet contemplation.Laughter bursts from his chest like something wild startled into freedom.A sound so pure and unexpected that it catches in all our throats.Elliott responds immediately, a crooked grin spreading across his face.Ilsa carries herself differently now, her spine straighter than it's ever been. Proudly holding on to Aureith’s hand.We break through the final line of trees, blinking against the sudden brightness of open sky.After so long in the forest's filtered light, the world feels overwhelming.The absence of watching eyes and whispering shadows is almost disorienting in its completeness."Mom!" Chris suddenly shouts, his voice cracking with joy and relief.She's already running toward us, hair wild and streaming behind her, arms o

  • Rejected by My Mate, Fated to the Lycan King   Chapter 599 The Wolf, the Mage, the Trickster, the Fire

    ScarlettThe stars burn with a different light now, as if the veil between sky and earth has grown thin enough to let their true radiance bleed through.Or perhaps it's me who's changed, my perception altered by magic and trauma and the strange alchemy of surviving the impossible.Chris moves ahead of our small procession, his stride carrying the easy confidence of someone who's faced his demons and found them smaller than expected.Yet there's a hyper-awareness in the way he moves, a subtle tension that speaks of hard-won wisdom.His shoulder finds Elliott's every few steps, casual contact that looks accidental but isn't.As if he needs the physical confirmation that Elliott is still here, still breathing, still real.I understand that compulsion intimately.After what we've been through, the urge to constantly verify that our people are whole and present feels less like paranoia and more like prayer.Erik walks beside me, his fingers interlaced with mine. His palm radiates warmth ag

  • Rejected by My Mate, Fated to the Lycan King   Chapter 598 The Moon Remembers Us Now

    OmniscientThe forest breathes again.Not with the ragged gasps of something wounded, or the predatory rhythm we've grown accustomed to.More like the first breath after surfacing from deep water.Beneath our feet, moss spreads in luminous patches, no longer throbbing with the agony of corrupted magic but glowing with something ancient and benevolent.The trees above us release their burden in slow cascades. Petals of white and silver that drift down like inverse snow, each one a small absolution.Where once the bark bore the angry welts of carved runes, now only wood remains, scarred but healing.The Veil has been sealed.We feel its’ completion in our marrow.Scarlett moves ahead of our small procession, her posture finally free of the rigid tension that's defined her for weeks.For the first time since this nightmare began, her shoulders curve naturally, unburdened by the weight of impossible choices.Erik maintains his position at her side, one hand resting with careful tenderness

  • Rejected by My Mate, Fated to the Lycan King   Chapter 597 The Hollow King Has No Teeth Left

    CaelanThe Hollow King waits.He stands beneath the twisted canopy of the oldest trees, a crown of bleached antlers shadowing his skeletal face.Each antler is carved with symbols that hurt to look at directly, and bones hang from them like macabre ornaments.Finger bones, rib bones, small skulls that might once have been birds or rabbits or children.His eyes are hollow sockets, darkness so complete it seems to swallow light, but they see me.Every secret, every buried truth, every fragment of who I used to be."You came," he rasps, his voice like stone cracking under pressure, like the earth splitting open to reveal its secrets.I take a step forward, my boots silent on the moss-covered ground."You called me," I say, my voice steadier than I feel.He inclines his head, the movement slow and deliberate."Not I. The part of you, you left behind."I feel it then. A tug in my chest, a pulse just beneath my sternum.A second heartbeat that's been there all along, waiting.“You were thei

  • Rejected by My Mate, Fated to the Lycan King   Chapter 596 Through the Rift, Through the Fire

    ElliottThe flames crackle in unnatural silence.Not the warm kind of silence that comes after a long day or a good meal.Not the peace of a forest settling into evening.This is breathless, stretched-thin quiet. The kind that waits with its’ claws curled, muscles coiled, ready to spring.Scarlett and Erik stand at the edge of the clearing, hands clasped so tightly their knuckles are white. Their magic burns low but steady between them, a connection I can actually see shimmering in the air like heat waves.Chris keeps watch with his back pressed against mine, the tip of his sword just barely twitching like it's sensing a heartbeat we can't hear.Caelan and Ilsa kneel across from me. The forest reflects in their eyes like the world is a dream they half-remember, and maybe it is.And I’m the idiot with the book that doesn't have any names in it.The fire in the center of the ritual ring burns blue-gold, licking higher than any natural flame should.That's the passage. The tear between h

  • Rejected by My Mate, Fated to the Lycan King   Chapter 595 You're Not Going Without Me

    ScarlettI feel it in my chest first. That familiar tug of wrongness that's become as recognizable as my own heartbeat.The forest has taught me to read its’ moods.Only it's not the forest this time. It's Erik.He stands at the edge of the ritual clearing like a man condemned, chalk lines already drawn in precise geometric patterns around his feet.He's layered wards around himself. I can see them shimmering in the periphery of my vision.Every single one of them screams of desperation. Of finality.He doesn't know I'm watching from the shadow of the treeline.He means to do this alone. The stubborn, noble fool.I step forward, branches cracking under my boots. "Don't you fucking dare."He flinches, just barely. A tell I've learned to read after months of watching him try to hide his pain. Then he turns, slow and guilty, shoulders sagging like he's carrying the weight of the world. "Scarlett-""No," I snap, closing the distance between us with predatory grace.My fire responds to my

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status