LOGINShare
Chapter 65 – The Awakening of the Marked One
Last Updated:
2025-04-02 00:17:59
Related chapters
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 66 – Thrones Carved in Ashes
The scent of burning incense clung to the velvet drapes, mixing with the cool bite of morning as golden light spilled into the hall of whispers.Sebastian stood alone.The council chamber—once echoing with arrogance and flattery—was now silent, save for the rhythmic ticking of the ancient timepiece mounted above the obsidian throne. Every second dragged with weighted consequence.He didn’t sit. He couldn’t. Not with the First Alpha’s return now a truth rather than a myth. Not with Selene awakening… not just as a marked one, but as something more.Something meant to rule.His hands curled at his sides, sharp rings biting into his palm.Sebastian Vaughn was many things—ruthless, feared, strategic. But right now, he was a man caught in a quiet war with his own past, haunted by a prophecy that refused to stay buried.A rustle of movement behind him.“Tell me,” he said without turning, “how much longer until the bloodline ritual is complete?”A voice—smooth, feminine, laced with venom—answ
Last Updated : 2025-04-05Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 67 – The Echo of Betrayal
The flames in the crystal torches flickered unnaturally as the council chamber descended into tension-soaked silence.Sebastian’s words hung in the air like a blade suspended over a battlefield.He’d just staked his loyalty—for everyone to see. Declared himself tied to Selene by bond and blood.But it was the silence that followed that chilled her. Not fury. Not outrage. Silence.Because silence meant planning.Selene’s fingertips brushed against the carved obsidian edge of the high table. Her mind, sharpened by instinct and years of surviving under veiled threats, screamed at her to stay still—to watch.And then it happened.A crack—subtle, almost imperceptible—rippled through the floor beneath the Seal of Vow. The carved crest shimmered, then split, bleeding black mist.Gasps echoed. A guard shouted.The chamber plunged into chaos.Arcanists chanted protective wards. Nobles backed away. The ground pulsed with tainted magic. Something was wrong. Something had been planted beneath the
Last Updated : 2025-04-05Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 68 – Thorns Beneath the Crown
The silence that followed Elias’s disappearance was a heavy, suffocating thing. It wasn’t just the betrayal—it was the knowledge that it had been growing beneath their feet all along, woven into the very halls they ruled from.Selene paced the dimly lit war chamber, her cloak sweeping behind her like spilled ink. The flames in the hearth danced wildly, reflecting the storm in her chest. Her crown, once a symbol of power, now felt like a weight pressing against her temples.Sebastian leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, watching her. “You haven’t said a word.”“I’m thinking.”He arched a brow. “That’s never been the problem. The problem is you don’t trust anyone enough to speak your thoughts aloud.”Selene stopped. “Would you, if every time you looked over your shoulder, there was someone holding a blade meant for your back?”Cassian entered the chamber then, bruised but unbowed, tossing a bloodstained scroll onto the table. “Intercepted at the border. Smuggled correspondence bea
Last Updated : 2025-04-07Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 69 – The Garden of Ashes
The moonlight was thin—filtered through skeletal branches of the overgrown ruins once known as the Queen’s Garden. Once, it had been a sanctuary. Now, it was silent. Forsaken.Selene stood at the edge of the stone archway, cloaked in midnight blue, a hood drawn low over her face. The old garden had burned during the last rebellion, and nothing had truly grown here since. Not even the roses.“They’ll come,” Damien murmured beside her, his hand hovering near the dagger at his hip. “Cowards always do when they think their victim is alone.”Selene didn’t respond. She was listening.The wind shifted.Soft footsteps.Then—a whisper.“Princess,” a voice said, smooth and unfamiliar. “Or should I say… Queen?”A man emerged from the shadows beyond the ruins, clad in muted silver armor. His crest bore the twin serpents of House Valemont.Behind him, two figures followed—hooded, masked.Selene stepped forward, pulling her hood back.“You sent an assassin,” she said coldly.“An unfortunate misunde
Last Updated : 2025-04-09Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 70 – The Shattered Lands Beckon
The map Damien unrolled crackled with age, its edges frayed like something clawed at them long ago. The faded ink revealed a region blanketed in darkness—no names, no landmarks, just a jagged shape surrounded by thorn-like symbols.“The Shattered Lands,” he said grimly, running a gloved hand across the parchment. “No one returns from there untouched.”Selene stared at the mark pulsing on her palm—the bond magic that had begun to shimmer black along its edges. The same darkness she’d seen in her vision… in them.The twin heir.The echo of her soul that shouldn’t exist.“I don’t want to be untouched,” she whispered. “I want the truth. All of it.”Damien’s gaze lingered on her, his usual smirk replaced with something unguarded. “Then you’re going to need more than truth. You’ll need power—more than either of us has ever touched.”Selene’s expression turned sharp. “Then we take it.”⸻The journey toward the Shattered Lands was a test of endurance, not just through terrain but through will
Last Updated : 2025-04-09Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 71 – Veins of Crimson Light
The sky shattered.Or at least, that’s what it felt like when the creature descended.The air fractured with soundless force, the ground cracked beneath its weightless form, and darkness poured from its wings like poisoned rain. Damien lunged forward, but the thing slammed him aside with a gust of wind, sending him sprawling across the ruined courtyard.Selene didn’t move. Couldn’t.The creature hovered inches above the ground, its massive wings folding inward like a cloak. Smoke coiled around it, shaping horns, claws, and a maw that pulsed with lightless hunger. It had no name—only instinct. And that instinct wanted her.“Selene,” Damien’s voice rasped through bloodied lips. “You have to run.”She didn’t.Instead, she walked forward.Every step ignited something dormant inside her. Not magic like she had known it. Not the inherited gift of the royal line. This was older. Wilder. Buried so deeply it burned through her skin as it rose—like light trying to force its way through a vessel
Last Updated : 2025-04-11Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 72 – The Door of Sacrifice
The moment Selene stepped through the crimson-lit door, the world around her shifted with a jolt that sucked the breath from her lungs. It wasn’t a fall, nor a walk—it was like being unmade and sewn back together in the same heartbeat.The glow vanished behind her as the door disappeared into the void, leaving only the sound of her own heartbeat echoing in her ears.She stood in a place that wasn’t a room, but not a dream either. The sky above her was a sweeping veil of black silk embroidered with crimson threads that pulsed like veins. Below her feet, the ground shimmered with fragments of memories—hers and others—shattered and scattered like broken glass.In the distance, a single obsidian pillar rose from the ground, crowned by a glowing, heart-shaped crystal suspended mid-air.And chained beneath it… was Damien.Her heart clenched.He was on his knees, shirtless, bloodied, the mark of their bond dimly glowing across his collarbone. Thick silver chains bound him—wrapped around his
Last Updated : 2025-04-12Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 73 – Veins of Fire and Frost
The ground trembled beneath their feet.Cracks webbed across the stone floor like veins, glowing faintly with molten light. Selene stood frozen—not from fear, but from the weight of what was coming. A sister once loved. A future once imagined. All of it shattered in one whispered threat.Aurelia raised her hand again, this time drawing a blade of blackened crystal from the air. It pulsed with corrupted magic—magic that had clearly fed on something dark and ancient. Her eyes, once soft like moonlight, now held the chill of the abyss.“Do you remember,” she whispered, “when we used to hide in the Winter Garden, pretending we were the last queens of the world?”Selene didn’t answer. Her pulse roared in her ears.“You were always the dreamer,” Aurelia continued, stepping closer, the tip of her blade trailing sparks across the marble. “I was the one who saw the world for what it was. And still, you became the one they adored. The one he chose.”Damien’s hand tightened around Selene’s wrist
Last Updated : 2025-04-15
Latest chapter
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 109: The Return of the Kingmaker
The air cracked like thunder as Elara stepped into the ancient ruins—the site the prophecy had led her to. Dain’s warning still echoed in her ears, but Kael’s hand was firm on her arm, his presence grounding her in the moment.She thought she’d felt everything a heart could endure. She thought she’d buried Vesper Moretti with the ruins of their forbidden love.But then came the shadow.Not magic. Not monster.Him.Clad in black, eyes like dark steel, Vesper Moretti emerged from the archway as though the kingdom itself had carved him from vengeance. His face was sharper, more dangerous—but the hunger in his eyes when they found hers was unmistakable.“Elara,” he said, voice low and lethal. “I told you once—nothing keeps me from what’s mine.”Her breath caught. The world tilted.Kael stepped in front of her. “You were dead.”Vesper didn’t blink. “You only kill what you understand. And you never understood me.”Then his eyes cut to Dain, who stood frozen with guilt carved into his expres
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 108: The Bargain Beneath the Ashes
Kael carried Elara through the crumbling halls of the ruined citadel, her body limp in his arms. Ash rained from the vaulted ceiling like gray snow. The vault behind them had collapsed entirely, burying Dain—and the Ardent Mirror—beneath ancient stone and cursed light.Her skin was cold.Too cold.“Elara,” he whispered, brushing her hair back, smudged with soot and blood. “Don’t do this to me.”But her eyes remained shut. Her pulse fluttered weakly at her neck, like a thread unraveling.They had no time. He had no options.Except one.Kael turned toward the east chamber—the forbidden crypt beneath the old sanctum. No one went there. Not even Elara.Not even Dain.But Kael wasn’t just a warrior. He was raised by men who trafficked in blood oaths, trained by shadows who knew how to barter with things older than gods.He descended the narrow staircase two steps at a time, breath ragged, Elara cradled tightly in his arms.At the bottom stood a rusted iron gate carved with sigils no human
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 107: Velvet Blades and Vows
Kael’s hand was still wrapped around Elara’s wrist as he pulled her through the dim corridor of the fortress, every stride radiating tension. The weight of silence between them was louder than screams.“Let go of me,” Elara hissed, twisting her arm in vain. Her pulse was pounding—equal parts fury and something far more dangerous.Kael turned, his face shadowed in the torchlight, eyes burning gold. “You walked into the lion’s den alone. Again. You think Dain would have spared you this time?”She yanked her hand free. “I didn’t need you to save me.”He laughed coldly. “No, you needed someone to die for you, apparently.”The air thinned between them. Elara stepped back, but he followed—always one step closer than she wanted, or maybe exactly where she needed him.“Why do you always do this?” she whispered, voice trembling.“Do what?” His voice dipped low, rough, intimate. “Follow you into danger? Break rules for you? Want you so badly it makes me lose my mind?”“You don’t want me,” she s
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 106 – The darkness between us
Kael’s grip tightened painfully around Elara’s wrist, forcing her to wince.“Kael,” she said softly, “it’s me. It’s Elara. Let go.”But his eyes — gods, his eyes — they weren’t just wounded anymore.There was a storm swirling inside them, a violent force pressing against his soul, clawing to the surface.“I can feel them,” he rasped, voice cracking. “Inside me. Twisting.”Dain stepped forward cautiously, blade drawn but low.“He’s been tainted. The ritual—you weren’t the only one marked, Elara.”Elara knelt closer, ignoring the way Kael’s body shuddered under her touch.“Fight it,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”Kael’s fingers spasmed, finally releasing her wrist.He sagged against the wall, breathing in shallow, broken gasps.“I tried,” he muttered. “Tried to keep them out. But they promised me…” His voice broke. “They promised they’d spare you.”Elara’s stomach twisted violently.“Who?” she demanded. “Who promised?”But Kael’s head slumped forward, and for a terrifying moment, she t
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 105: The Blood Price
The first rays of dawn barely kissed the horizon when Elara stood at the ancient altar hidden deep within the cliffs.The place reeked of old magic, of broken promises and shattered souls. Dark vines twisted through the stone, pulsing faintly as if remembering every curse ever whispered here.Dain arrived silently, his cloak trailing ash behind him. He carried a small obsidian blade — the kind crafted not for battle, but for sacrifice.“This is your last chance to turn back,” he said, voice low.Elara shook her head, her fingers curling into fists. “Kael wouldn’t give up on me. I won’t give up on him.”A brief flicker of emotion crossed Dain’s face — admiration, maybe grief. Then he drew a circle of salt around the altar and motioned for her to kneel.The ritual began with a chant — low, guttural words that made the very air vibrate. Shadows lengthened unnaturally, coiling around them like curious serpents.Elara pressed the blade to her palm without hesitation. Her blood spilled onto
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 104: Ashes of Trust
The world was not the same.Elara staggered to her feet, coughing through the settling dust. Dain pulled her up roughly, his face bleeding from a cut above his brow, eyes burning with rage—and something worse. Fear.The ruins around them groaned and cracked. Whatever Kael had awakened, it was spreading like a sickness, bleeding through stone and earth alike. The once-familiar walls now felt hostile, every breath of air tasting of metal and ruin.“We have to move,” Dain barked, dragging her forward.“But Kael—” Elara tried to turn back toward the shattered altar, the spot where he had disappeared.Dain shook her hard enough to rattle her teeth. “He made his choice. Now we have to survive it.”Behind them, the ground caved in completely, swallowing the last remnants of the altar in a deafening roar. Dark vines slithered from the abyss, twisting and coiling like living nightmares.Elara didn’t realize she was crying until she tasted the salt on her lips.Kael.She had seen him—truly seen
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 103: When Silence Breaks
Elara stood on the edge of the old courtyard, its stone floor cracked with time and betrayal. Her fingers twitched at her sides, heart drumming louder than the shifting wind. Dain hadn’t said a word since they left Kael behind.The silence between them was a tensioned wire. Too tight. Too brittle.“You shouldn’t have stopped him,” she finally said.Dain’s gaze stayed ahead, cold and unreadable. “He would’ve burned everything down.”“And maybe that’s what it needs,” she snapped. “Everything has already been burning. We just keep pretending it’s not.”He turned then, slow and dangerous. “Don’t confuse chaos with justice, Elara. We’re not saviors. We’re survivors.”She stepped closer, her voice low. “I’m tired of surviving.”Dain’s expression cracked just enough to show something raw beneath. “Then what are you willing to lose to start fighting?”Before she could answer, a low rumble split the air. The ground trembled underfoot, the scent of scorched air curling around them like a warnin
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 102: The Fire Crowned
The world screamed as flame devoured the air.Elara stumbled forward, Kael’s hand ripping away from hers as the inferno swallowed the frost-bound path behind them. The shrine collapsed into cinders and ash, sealing their choice with finality. The vision of peace, of quiet love—gone, like a mirage scorched under a merciless sun.She barely had time to process it before the ground shifted beneath her feet.They were no longer in the ruins.They stood at the edge of a battlefield.Above them, the sky churned a deep red, clouds forming strange sigils—magic twisting like serpents in the atmosphere. The old capital loomed in the distance, no longer crumbling, but fortified, alive, and bristling with war. Banners she didn’t recognize fluttered from towers. Symbols of her House merged with marks of ancient fire gods.“What… what is this?” she whispered.Kael turned toward her, his expression unreadable. “This is your reign.”Soldiers in obsidian armor knelt as she passed. Flames crowned her h
Sacrifice Of The Heart Chapter 101: Beneath the Black Veil
The darkness wasn’t empty.It was alive—breathing, whispering, pulsing with a sentience that clawed at Elara’s mind the moment the light vanished. Shadows didn’t just fall around them—they devoured, unraveling the very fabric of the chamber until the three of them stood in a void that didn’t exist moments ago.Dain’s sword pulsed faintly, barely illuminating his sharp features as he stepped closer to Elara, his voice low. “This isn’t the creature. This is older. This is him.”Kael didn’t need an introduction. His hand gripped Elara’s wrist, grounding her. “We broke the seal. That voice—it wasn’t lying. This was buried beneath the seals themselves. Something worse than all of them combined.”Elara nodded, the echo of that last voice still lingering in her skull like a bruise.A slow, guttural sound rolled through the black—neither growl nor whisper but something ancient, a vibration of dread. Then, in the distance, a single light blinked to life. Faint. Crimson. Like the last heartbeat
