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CHAPTER 11

Author: CagalieYula
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-08-29 08:43:09

I recoiled from his touch as if scalded, stumbling back until the cold stone railing dug into my spine. The sudden movement, the sheer audacity of his presence here, shocked my tears into a temporary halt.

"Get away from me," I rasped, my voice hoarse from crying. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat of fear and confusion. This was the monster Kairi had just thrown out. The one who had threatened Bianca. And now he was offering me… what? Sanctuary?

He didn't advance, merely tilting his head, studying me like I was a fascinating, wounded bird. A faint, not unkind smile touched his lips. "Such fear. I just wiped your tears. Does that feel like the act of a monster?"

"It feels like the act of a stranger who just stormed into my Alpha's ballroom and made threats," I shot back, finding a sliver of my frayed courage. "Why are you here? Did you get lost on your way out?"

He chuckled, a deep, rich sound that seemed to vibrate through the night air. "Direct. I like that. Most
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  • THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING   CHAPTER 77

    The silence in the great hall was thicker than the mountain itself, broken only by the ragged breaths of the wounded and the drip of blood on stone. Gideon’s smile did not falter at my words; it widened, a predator amused by the squeak of its prey.“My curse?” he chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. “You are a cornered rabbit, spitting at a wolf. Your defiance is the last flicker of a snuffed-out flame.”He took another step, his armored boots crashing against the flagstones. The few remaining Citadel guards tightened their grip on their weapons, a futile, brave gesture.“But you are correct about one thing,” he mused, his cold eyes sweeping over me. “This is a beginning. The beginning of a new era, unified under my banner. And every new era requires a foundation.” He raised his mace, pointing the bloodied head directly at my heart. “A foundation built on the crushed bones of the old.”This was it. There was no miracle coming. No Vaelen, no bear, no army. There was only the cold, final rea

  • THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING   CHAPTER 76

    The news of Valerius’s retreat spread through the Citadel like a plague, turning the orderly fortress into a hive of panicked whispers and grim preparations. The invincible stone walls now felt like a trap, a cage awaiting its hunter. I stood frozen in the courtyard, Finn’s devastating report echoing in the sudden void where my hope had been. Kairi, so close yet utterly lost. Kelra, captured. Our last hope, the Ironpeak army, was shattered.A firm hand gripped my elbow. It was Lieutenant Dax, Valerius’s second-in-command, his face ashen but his eyes holding a desperate resolve. “My lady, you must come. Now.”He led me, half-dragging a terrified Elisse, away from the main keep, deep into the mountain’s bowels, through passages so narrow and ancient they felt forgotten by time itself. We descended until the air grew cold and damp, finally emerging into a vast, natural cavern hidden behind a waterfall that roared somewhere in the darkness. This was the Citadel’s ultimate secret: a subter

  • THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING   CHAPTER 75

    The Citadel, once a place of oppressive silence, now thrummed with the grim energy of impending war. The unified roar of the assembled lords after my speech still echoed in the stones, but for me, the air was thick with a different, more private tension. I had become the heart of a lie. Every time a soldier looked at me with respectful pity, every time a lord bowed his head in condolence, a fresh wave of guilt and fear washed over me. I was the grieving widow, the symbol of their cause, and the knowledge of the truth was a corrosive secret in my chest.The official departure of the Ironpeak army was a spectacle of chilling precision. Rank upon rank of soldiers in grey and silver marched out through the gates, their banners flying, their faces set with determination. Commander Valerius rode at their head, a figure of unyielding stone. He did not look back at me. Our agreement was sealed, and we were both bound to our roles.But as the last of the army vanished down the mountain pass, a

  • THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING   CHAPTER 74

    The world tilted, the solid stone of the Citadel floor feeling suddenly insubstantial. The air vanished from my lungs. Alive. The word was a thunderclap in the silent chamber, so immense it was soundless. It wasn't a hope; it was a fact, delivered in elegant script, and it was the most terrifying thing I had ever read.Kelra caught my arm as my legs buckled, guiding me to the edge of the bed before I collapsed. "Sze? What is it?"I couldn't speak. I could only point a trembling finger at the parchment on the floor. He snatched it up, his eyes scanning the words. I watched his face pale, his jaw tightening into a knot of stone."By the gods," he breathed, the paper crumpling in his fist. "Alive."Alive. But in the hands of Renejay and Gideon. The image that seared my mind was not one of rescue, but of a cage. They hadn't saved him out of mercy. A living son, broken and captive, was a far more potent tool than a dead martyr. He would be a puppet, a symbol of their "victory," used to dem

  • THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING   CHAPTER 73

    The days that followed were a strange, suspended reality. The Citadel was a world of regimented order and echoing stone, a stark contrast to the chaotic wilderness we had escaped. Elisse, slowly emerging from her shell of shock, found a fragile sense of wonder in the towering, torch-lit halls and the kind, if reserved, attentions of the Citadel’s women. They brought her warm clothes and simple toys carved from mountain wood. They were careful, respectful, but their eyes held a knowing pity that made my skin crawl. They knew our story. They knew the role we were to play.I was given a new, dark grey dress of simple but sturdy wool, the color of the Citadel’s walls. It felt like a uniform. My recovery was supervised with detached efficiency by the Citadel’s healers, who tended to my scrapes and the deep, invisible bruises on my spirit with the same clinical precision. I ate, I slept, I walked the prescribed routes through the inner courtyards, all under the watchful eyes of Valerius’s g

  • THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING   CHAPTER 72

    The gate commander’s jaw went slack. “Commander Valerius? You… you were expecting them, sir?”Commander Valerius did not take his eyes off me. They were ancient eyes, eyes that had seen centuries of mountain winters and the fleeting lives of those who tried to conquer them. They held no warmth, but a deep, unsettling knowledge.“The stones have been restless for days,” he said, his voice low, as if sharing a secret the wind might steal. “The mountain dreams, and in its dreams, it sees what approaches. A shattered Alpha. A mother’s grief. A child of two worlds.” His gaze flickered over my worn clothes, the bloodstain on my sleeve that was Kairi’s, the utter exhaustion in Kelra’s stance. “And the shadow of a great bear’s judgment. You have passed a test few survive.”He gestured, a sharp, fluid motion. “Open the gate. They are under the Citadel’s protection.”The massive, iron-banded gates, which looked as if they hadn’t moved in a generation, groaned inward on hinges that screamed in p

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