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One final chance

Penulis: Author Calypso
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-03-24 21:21:35

ALTHEA

I shift slightly on the branch, trying to get a better look at where the bear went. The forest below is dark, shadows stretching between the trees, making it impossible to see anything clearly. But I can still hear the screams in the distance. Someone else is in trouble.

I lean forward just a little—

The branch beneath me cracks.

My stomach drops. Before I can react, the bark snaps, and suddenly I’m falling.

The world tilts. Air rushes past me. My arms flail, trying to grab something, anything, but my fingers only scrape against rough bark.

Then I hit the ground.

A sharp pain explodes up my leg. I gasp, curling forward as agony flares through my ankle. My vision blurs for a second. It feels like my bones are on fire.

“Althea!” Asher’s voice is sharp, alarmed.

I hear him moving, branches rustling above me. A few seconds later, he drops down beside me, landing with a rough thud. His face is pale, his injured arm hanging stiffly at his side.

“You good?” he asks
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  • The Mate Games   A loss

    ASHERPain in the ass doesn’t even begin to describe that girl.She’s reckless. Impossible. Infuriating in a way that burrows under my skin and refuses to leave. One minute she’s biting my lip hard enough to draw blood, the next she’s flipping a coin to decide her fate like it’s all just a game. And somehow, even when I have her in my hands, when I’m supposed to be the one holding power, it never feels like I do.She had the chance to kill me. More than once. The blade was at my throat. Her fingers trembled, but not enough to stop her if she’d really wanted it. And yet, I’m still here. Breathing. Bleeding, but breathing.For all her talk of slitting my throat, she’s failed to do it every damn time.Then again, I’ve failed just as much. I swore I’d drive her own dagger into her back. Promised it. Dreamed it.But here we are.The steel stays sheathed, and I tell myself it’s strategy. That I need her alive to pry the rest of their plans from her lips. I need her to lead me to the others.

  • The Mate Games   Dead feelings

    ALTHEAI stand there for a few seconds after he’s gone, staring at the empty space where Asher was. My heart still beats too hard, almost like it’s trying to tear itself out of my chest. The cold air wraps around me, but it’s not enough to cool the heat that lingers under my skin. I press my fingers to my lips. They’re still swollen from his mouth, still taste like iron and something I don’t want to name.Gods. Out of all the ways I imagined that going, daggers drawn, threats hissed between clenched teeth, maybe even blood on our hands again, this was not one of them. Never did I think we’d end up pressed together like that, kissing each other like the world wasn’t burning down around us. Like we weren’t enemies standing on opposite sides of a war.For a second, I’d let myself forget. And worse, it had felt good to forget.I force my hands down, shove the thoughts deep where they can’t touch me. Then I pull my hood back up and pick my way across the roof. My legs feel strange, too loo

  • The Mate Games   Heads or Tails

    ASHERShe jerks away so fast it almost feels like she’s been burned. The dagger that was pressed to my throat falls from her hand, clattering on the stone. Her palms shove hard at my chest. I let her. My back hits the low wall behind me.She stumbles back, breathing heavy. Her eyes are wide, almost wild in the dim light. I swallow, ignoring the sharp sting on my lip where she bit me. Blood slips over my tongue, metallic and warm.“Don’t…” Her voice cracks. She pants, eyes locked on mine. “Never again.”I don’t move. Can’t. My chest heaves, trying to keep up with my heart. The weight of what just happened presses down on me, heavier than any blade. I lick my lips, tasting her there. My hands still tremble from holding her. From wanting her.She sways on shaky legs, then tears her eyes from me, fixing them on the ground between us. The blades lie there, glinting under thin streaks of moonlight. Silent reminders. Her face hardens.She lunges.I snap out of it, diving for the same spot. M

  • The Mate Games   It’s ruin

    ASHERThe seconds slow.As our eyes lock across the dimly lit, crowded room, it feels like time has stopped just for us. It’s impossible, but somehow, it’s really her.Althea.I see it the moment panic flashes through her silver gaze. She spins on her heel, pushing her way through the mob before I can even take a full breath.I move.I shove bodies aside, ignoring the curses that follow. I spot the ripple of her hair disappearing deeper into the crowd and curse under my breath, sliding through gaps, elbowing past drunk fools too slow to move. Heads turn as I mutter another colorful oath.Then she’s gone. The crowd swallows her whole.My heart slams. I keep moving, forcing my way toward the far side of the room. I know where she’ll go. The cellar. It’s the only easy exit out of this filthy tavern that leads anywhere worth hiding.Steel screeches ahead. That old door. She’s slipping through.Murmurs rise behind me as I reach it, the wood only cracked wide enough for her slim body to van

  • The Mate Games   He’s coming

    ALTHEAHe’s here.In the middle of a damn fight, of all things. But somehow, it doesn’t surprise me. If there’s one constant in this twisted world of ours, it’s that Asher finds trouble, or maybe it finds him.I stand frozen, breath shallow, eyes locked on the crude fighting ring set up in the middle of the bar’s wide back room. The air is heavy with sweat, smoke, and the sharp tang of spilled ale. People press close to the wooden rails, shouting, placing bets, eager for blood.And there, right in the center, is him.The man moving with lethal grace, stalking slow circles around his opponent like a predator toying with prey. He’s so much bigger than the other man, muscles straining beneath a dark tunic, body coiled tight with energy. But it’s the way he moves that twists something deep inside me. Not just fluid—calculated. Like he’s already three steps ahead, mapping every dodge, every strike, every final blow.A cloth wraps around the lower half of his face, hiding his mouth, nose, e

  • The Mate Games   He’s here

    ALTHEAWe’ve finally made it.It feels almost unreal to stand here, just outside the kingdom’s walls. For days, this place lived only in my mind, twisted and tangled with memories I tried hard to bury. But now it’s right in front of me, familiar towers cutting into the sky, the faint outline of the palace beyond them.We have a plan. A fragile, dangerous plan.Theo gathers us all close under the shade of thick pines. His face is tense, eyes darting over each of us as if to make sure we’re all still here, still whole.“We split up,” he says. His voice is low but firm. “Jarek, Liza, you’re with me. We’ll head north to dig up the weapons we buried when we fled last time.”Then he turns to me. I already feel my stomach knot.“Althea, you go with Aaron and the two newest recruits—Kye and Rowen. You’ll stake out the palace. Watch for patrols, guards, shifts. Anything unusual.”I open my mouth to protest. “Theo, that’s—”But he shakes his head. “Out of everyone, you know your way around ther

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