FAZER LOGINChapter 38 Eleanor's POV Something felt wrong. I couldn't explain it. Nothing had actually happened, yet I could feel a strange heaviness sitting in my chest. I stared at my phone again. Still nothing from Ethan. I had texted him earlier. No response. I called him. No answer. I tried again. Straight to voicemail. I lowered the phone slowly. "Okay…" Something wasn't right. Ethan wasn't the type to disappear without saying anything. At least, not with me. After everything we'd shared, especially after last night's date, I couldn't understand why he suddenly wasn't responding. I looked at the message I'd sent. Hey, are you okay? Delivered. No reply. I waited another few minutes. Nothing. My stomach tightened. Nyla? She was unusually quiet. Normally, she always had something to say. Especially when Ethan was involved. But this time, she didn't immediately answer. Nyla? I'm here. Her voice sounded different. Tense. "Do you feel it too?" A pause. Yes. I sat up on my bed. "What is it?"
Chapter 37 Ethan's POV I couldn't sleep. I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, replaying my father's words over and over again. Stay away from her. I closed my eyes. It didn't work. The moment I did, Eleanor appeared in my mind. Her smile. Her laugh. The way she had looked at me when I picked her up for our date. The way we had sat in the car afterward, singing along to music and laughing at ourselves. My wolf stirred. Mate. "I know." She needs us. I sighed. "I know that too." But knowing didn't make the situation easier. If anything, it made it worse. I sat up and rubbed my hands over my face. How was I supposed to convince my father? How could I make him understand that Eleanor wasn't her family? That she hadn't chosen the Bale name? That she hadn't chosen the feud? She hadn't even known what she was when I met her. She was just Eleanor. The girl who walked into my life without warning and somehow made everything feel different. I grabbed my phone. Her name was still near
Chapter 36 Alexander Varde POV I didn't sleep that night. The message remained on my phone long after the screen went dark. She is his mate. Eleanor Bale. My son's mate. The words were impossible to ignore. I had spent years preparing Ethan to become Alpha, teaching him about loyalty, bloodlines, alliances, enemies, and the responsibilities that came with carrying the Varde name. And now fate had connected him to the one family I never wanted anywhere near him. The Bales. I stared out through the window of my study as the first light of morning appeared. My anger had settled into something colder. I needed confirmation. I wasn't going to destroy everything based on an anonymous message. I picked up my phone and called Marcus. He answered almost immediately. "Alexander?" "Come to my study." There was a pause. "Now?" "Now." Twenty minutes later, Marcus entered. He took one look at my expression and stopped. "What happened?" I turned my phone toward him. He read the message. His face
Chapter 35 Alexander Varde POV The room was silent when I entered. Not the comfortable kind of silence. This was the kind that made every person sitting around the table watch the door a little too carefully. The meeting room was buried deep inside the Varde estate, away from the main house and the ordinary activities of the pack. Thick wooden walls surrounded us, old enough to have witnessed generations of decisions that had shaped our family. Six elders were already seated around the long table. I took my place at the head. "Let's begin." Nobody spoke. I looked around the room. These were men and women who had served the pack for decades. Some had advised my father before me. Others had watched me grow from a young wolf into the Alpha I eventually became. They knew what power looked like. They also knew what happened when power was ignored. "The succession issue remains unresolved," I said. An older man named Marcus leaned forward. "Your son has been preparing for this his entire
Chapter 34 Eleanor’s POV My mind was a storm I couldn’t outrun. Thoughts crashed into one another half formed questions about my wolf, about the strange new instincts clawing under my skin, about who I even was anymore. Everything felt too loud, too sharp, too much. The bond sat heavy in my chest, a constant pulse that refused to be ignored. And right in the middle of all that chaos, one name kept rising to the surface. Ethan. My mate. The boy I might already be in love with. I was still staring at the ceiling of my apartment when my phone buzzed. I grabbed it like it was a lifeline. **Ethan:** What are you doing? **Me:** Nothing much. How about you? **Ethan:** Going for an evening run. Wanna join? My heart did something stupid and hopeful. **Me:** Yes. I didn’t even hesitate. I threw on black running shorts that sat high on my hips and a sports bra that left almost nothing to the imagination, yanked my hair into a messy ponytail, and was out the door before I could ov
Chapter 33 Unknown POV The night was unusually quiet. Too quiet. The narrow alley sat between two abandoned buildings, hidden from the busy streets beyond it. A single flickering light hung above the entrance, casting weak shadows across the cracked pavement. One by one, figures appeared. They didn't arrive together. They came separately, keeping their distance until they reached the center of the alley. There were six of them. Six people who had no reason to trust one another, yet had gathered for the same reason. Eleanor Bale. The last person arrived several minutes late. He walked into the alley wearing a dark coat, his face partially hidden beneath the hood. Everyone turned toward him. "You're late." "I had to make sure I wasn't followed." The tallest figure stepped forward. "Are you sure?" The man nodded. "No one followed me." Silence settled over them again. For several seconds, nobody spoke. Then a woman standing near the wall finally broke the silence. "She's awakening." T







