All Chapters of The Mate Games: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

ASHERThe light fades again.Not all at once, but slowly, like someone pulling a curtain over my mind, dragging me back under. I fight it. I try to hold on to the sound of her voice, to the warmth of her hand on my skin, but it slips through my fingers like smoke, and I fall. And suddenly, I’m not in that room anymore.I’m back in the woods.Again. It’s the same dream.The cold is sharp in the air, and the trees tower over me, unmoving and ancient. My paws press into the earth, the forest floor soft beneath me. I hear footsteps—no, pawsteps, beside mine. Cale. He’s running next to me, just like before, his black fur a blur in the corner of my vision. He barks once, that same wild, laughing sound, and I want to bark back. I want to believe in this moment again.But I know what’s coming.I always do.The woods give way to the clearing, and just like before, we hear her. The song. That voice. The girl.And just like last time, we follow it.I don’t want to.I don’t want to see it again.

ALTHEAI don’t turn as I leave Aaron’s room.Even though the mark is burned into my memory now, dark and unmistakable, I still find myself walking down a different corridor, slower this time, thinking maybe I imagined it all. Maybe I didn’t see what I think I saw.But I know that’s not true.And instead of turning back, I keep going. Past the servants carrying trays, past the guards at the corners who don’t meet my eyes. My legs carry me, almost on their own, until I find myself outside Asher’s room.I slip inside, and sit beside him. My mind a maze of thoughts. But I snap back into reality when his voice comes through, tired. “Gray.”His eyes lift slowly to meet mine, and the expression on my face must be worrisome, because for a second, something flickers there, surprise, maybe, or worry, but he masks it quickly.“I just wanted to check on you,” I say.He raises an eyebrow. “Did you find out anything?”“No.” I shake my head. “This is… personal.”He leans back in his bed, watching me

ALTHEAI’m shaking as I leave Madeline in Aaron’s room.Even though the truth is burned into my memory now, sharp, cold, unmistakable, I keep walking. Down the corridor, slower this time, like maybe if I give myself enough time, I’ll make sense of it all. But no matter how many steps I take, it still feels like the floor could give way beneath me.Amelia.Not Madeline.She’s the shadow behind everything, the whispers, the rebellion, the lies. And Aaron… he’s her weapon. Her son. Her legacy.But not the only one.My fists curl at my sides as I take the next turn. I know where I need to go, even if my heart is still racing and my mind’s caught somewhere between disbelief and fury. There’s one more person tied to all this. Someone I should’ve seen through from the very beginning.Elise.Her name settles bitter on my tongue.She’s always been there. Always circling the edges of everything, too quiet, too polished, too knowing. At first I thought she was just another ambitious beta, drawn

ALTHEAI sit on the edge of my bed, the covers untouched, one of the lights is still on, flickering in the far corner casting restless shadows across the walls. The night has swallowed the palace in silence, but my thoughts are loud, tumbling over each other in sharp, relentless waves. Everyone else has retired. I should be sleeping too. But I can’t. Not with everything I know now.Madeline isn’t just behind the rebellion. She is the rebellion. She’s the thread tying everything together, the voice in the dark, the hand guiding the knife. And Elise… Elise had been beside me this entire time, smiling, nodding, watching. Waiting.I stare at the door, still half-expecting someone to burst through it. After everything I said to Elise, after what I know, it wouldn’t be out of character for them to try to silence me. But that’s the thing, I don’t think they will. Because Madeline hadn’t looked scared when I said her real name. She hadn’t begged, denied, threatened. She’d simply watched me. L

ALTHEAElena’s eyes are too wide. Her whole body shakes like she’s trying to hold herself together with sheer will. The dagger in her hand glints faintly in the moonlight, but she isn’t holding it to threaten, she’s holding it like it’s the only thing keeping her upright.“I ran,” she says, voice rasping. “Mira stayed behind to distract them. There were guards, two, maybe three. She said I needed to find you.”“Where?” I whisper, grabbing her arms. “Where is she?”“She’s near the east corridor, locked in. But not for long.” Elena’s voice breaks slightly. “They’re moving people. Separating them. I think something worse is coming.”Before I can speak again, more footsteps echo from deeper in the hall, and I know we don’t have time. I pull her with me, deeper into the shadows, whispering that we’ll come back for Mira, that I’ll figure it out, that she has to stay hidden until I do.But even as I say it, a knot forms in my chest. One that doesn’t go away, not even after Elena is safely hi