Chapter 61

No one told me how brutal pack training could be.Not the kind I used to do, the one I foolishly thought was enough.This, this was different.After hours under the watchful eyes of Ashvin, Maliah, and Kai, I could barely feel my body anymore.They didn’t go easy on me.There was no pity. No hesitation.Every movement demanded more.Every command pushed me harder than the last.My muscles burned, my lungs clawed for air, and even Eira felt stretched thin beneath my skin.The moment Maliah announced the end of training, my legs gave out.I collapsed onto the grass, the cool earth pressing against my overheated skin as I struggled to breathe.“Are you alright?”Ashvin’s voice came low and steady as he crouched beside me, his Alpha presence wrapping around me like a shield.I nodded weakly. Words felt too heavy.Turning my head, I caught the faint curve of amusement tugging at his lips. My eyes narrowed slightly at him.He twisted a bottle of water and handed it to me “You need this.”I

Chapter 62

Being stuck in the same car with Luna Verena and her daughter this early morning wasn’t on my radar, but here I am, trapped between the two most insufferable people I know. I never thought, in all my years of knowing her, that I would ever consider her an awful person. Yet somehow, she had become exactly that, the kind of Luna I never imagined she would be. ‘I told you I didn’t like her from the moment we met,’ Eira snapped through the mind link, her irritation brushing sharply against my thoughts. ‘And I still don’t understand why we are here.’ Her distaste settled deep in my chest. Eira didn’t dislike easily, she rejected. Only Luna Verena knew the real reason her daughter was here. She had told me this trip was meant for me, for my preparation as the next Luna of the pack. “I am preparing my daughter for a Luna role. That is why she is here,” Luna Verena said calmly. I nodded, even though unease twisted in my gut. Could she hear my thoughts? No. I highly doubted it. I had s

Chapter 63

ASHVIN’S POVStanding there, watching the car pull away with my mother and Zahra-Rose inside, didn’t sit right with me.It felt wrong.Every instinct in me screamed it.I turned to her sister, my jaw tightening slightly.“You need to follow them,” I said, my voice firm but controlled. “Keep your distance. Let me know where they go, and everything that happens.”It was a lot to ask.But I wouldn’t rest easy if I didn’t know Zahra-Rose was safe.“You don’t have to ask me twice,” she replied immediately, squeezing my shoulder in reassurance. “I’ll stay on them.”I nodded once as she walked away.Zahra-Rose has been through too much.Far too much.And watching her walk into more… it does something to me.Something I don’t like.‘She deserves better,’ Zen muttered within me, his voice low and certain.I exhaled slowly.“I know.”Sometimes, I wish I could be that better for her.But even I don’t know how.Not fully. Not in the way she needs.Sometimes, I wish we were normal, just a mated pa

Chapter 64

As I approached the outskirts of the pack where Alyaanah said she was the first thing I noticed was her.She stood beside her car.From a distance, I could already see it,The way her body trembled.Whatever happened here… it shook her badly.“Alyaanah,” I called, closing the distance quickly. I placed a steady hand on her shoulder before she even realized I was there.She turned to me.And the panic in her eyes,It hit hard.“I… I…” Her voice broke, words tangling as tears streamed down her face. “I sat in the car and….”She couldn’t finish.I tightened my grip on her shoulder slightly, grounding her.“I’m here,” I said firmly. “Breathe.”Her body continued to shake, so I gently took her hand and guided her back into the car, settling her into the seat.She slumped back, still trembling.I gave her space.For now.Stepping away from the car, I turned toward the open land surrounding us.Nothing.Just grass stretching endlessly in every direction.No structure.No trace.“Can you pick

Chapter 65

ZAHRA-ROSEI don’t know how long I’ve been running. Or if I’ve even been moving at all.The space around me doesn’t change.No matter how far I go… it stays the same.Empty and silent.Too silent.My breathing comes out uneven as I slow to a stop, my chest rising and falling rapidly. The air here is thick, heavy with incense and something older… something that clings to my skin like it’s trying to seep into me.“Eira?” I call again.Nothing.Not even an echo of her presence.The absence of my wolf feels wrong,unnatural. Like a part of me has been ripped away and sealed somewhere I can’t reach.I know I have lived the majority of my life without her but having her and losing her is something I know I can't love without, I can't live with my wolf. My fingers curl slightly.This isn’t just separation.This is suppression and it is a very deliberate one. My heart pounds harder.No. No, no, no....I forced myself to breathe, to think of the moment I stepped out of my room today, what tra

Chapter 66

“You were given to me?” The words echo around the empty space and I didn’t need to ask by whom, that answer was glaring right at me.The words didn’t just echo, they settled so deep and heavy, they felt like chains wrapping around my bones.My fist clenched at my sides, nails biting into my palms as I forced myself to stay standing.“I’m not yours,” I snap my voice sharper than I feel. “I don’t belong to anyone.” There was an exception to that, someone I was bonded with, someone I knew was out there right now searching desperately and frantically for me.Silence answers back at me until I thought the echoing voice will never speak again.“You speak with defiance,” the voice murmurs. “Good.”A sudden pressure builds beneath my feet.“What are you….”The ground beneath me glows, faint at first but then it gets brighter, lines begin to form spreading outward in intricate patterns, circling me, locking me in place before I can even move.Looking down, a symbol forms beneath me, a ritual