All Chapters of THE WOLF BRIDE’S ESCAPE : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of rain and blood. My heart pounded in my chest as I crouched behind the large oak, my breath coming in short, ragged bursts. The clearing before me was bathed in the eerie glow of the Blood Moon, its crimson light turning the world into something out of a nightmare.I had come here expecting war. Instead, I found betrayal.Lucien stood in the middle of the clearing, his posture rigid, his expression unreadable. He wasn’t alone. My stepmother stood beside him, her presence like a dark shadow against the moonlit night. The two of them were speaking in hushed tones, but I caught every word.“I gave you what you asked for, Lucien,” my stepmother said, her voice smooth and dripping with satisfaction. “Now, it’s time for you to uphold your end of the bargain.”Lucien’s fists clenched. “She’s not to be harmed.”My blood turned to ice.She?They were talking about me.I gripped the rough bark of the tree to steady myself, forcing my breat

“You have no idea what you’re playing with, Cassia,” the rogue’s voice was a low growl in my ear as he pulled me deeper into the shadows of the dense forest. “You think Lucien wants to own you? He’s trying to save you.”I wrenched my arm from his grip, my heart pounding in my chest. The words rattled in my mind, but they made no sense. “Save me?” I spat, my voice laced with disbelief. “From what? Himself? His own cruelty? I don’t need his protection.”The rogue—Kier—stared at me, frustration burning in his dark eyes. He had been the only one within Lucien’s pack who had dared to help me escape in the past. But after what I had discovered in my father’s old journals, after the prophecy, I wasn’t sure who to trust anymore.Kier let out a sharp breath, shaking his head. “It’s not just about you, Cassia. You don’t understand what you are—what’s inside you. If Lucien completes the bond, you won’t just be his mate. You’ll be bound to him in a way that no one—not even the goddess herself—can

"Love is a dangerous illusion."The rogue's words echoed in my mind as I stood in the clearing, my heart pounding. The night was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine, and the full moon cast long shadows across the forest floor. I clenched my fists, staring at the man who had guided me, who had whispered secrets in the dark, who had sworn to help me escape Lucien’s grasp.The rogue—Joren.His emerald eyes glowed under the moonlight, and the smirk he wore sent a chill down my spine."You…" My voice came out as a whisper, thick with betrayal. "It was you all along."Joren tilted his head, watching me like a predator sizing up its prey. "What did you expect, Cassia? That I would be your savior?"I took a step back, my body tense. My instincts screamed at me to run, but something told me it was too late."You helped me," I said, trying to make sense of the twisting knife of betrayal in my chest. "You warned me about Lucien, you gave me information—""I gave you just enough," he inte

Lucien’s body slumped forward, collapsing onto the cold, blood-streaked ground. His breathing was shallow, his once-unbreakable strength slipping away with every second. I barely had time to think before I was on my knees beside him, pressing my hands against his chest, feeling the warmth fade beneath my fingertips.“Lucien,” I whispered, shaking him. “Lucien, open your eyes!”He didn’t respond. His face, usually hard and unreadable, was disturbingly still. A streak of crimson ran down his temple, mixing with the dirt. My heart pounded in my ears.Behind me, my stepmother let out a sharp, wheezing laugh. “Foolish girl,” she spat. “Did you really think this would end with your happiness? You were never meant for anything but pain.”I turned to face her, rage and desperation colliding inside me. She was weak, barely holding herself upright after the battle, but she still dared to smirk. The woman who had stolen my mother’s life tormented me since childhood, and now—now she had cost me t

The moment Lucien gasped, my body turned cold. His chest rose in a jagged, unnatural breath, and the room trembled. Power crackled in the air like lightning trapped inside a storm, suffocating and thick. My knees buckled beneath me, and I barely caught myself before falling.I had done it. I had brought him back.But something was wrong.Lucien’s body convulsed as if rejecting the very life I had forced into him. His fingers clawed at the ground, his sharp nails scraping deep into the wooden floor, leaving jagged marks in their wake. His skin, once warm and golden, had turned deathly pale. His muscles twitched beneath his skin, a slow, eerie movement as if something was shifting within him.I crawled toward him, my hands shaking. "Lucien?" My voice was barely a whisper.His head snapped up, and I recoiled. His eyes—once a piercing, stormy blue—now glowed with an eerie silver light, like the reflection of the moon against still water. They weren’t his eyes anymore. They were something