All Chapters of The Mate Games: Chapter 191 - Chapter 198

ALTHEAThe silence is unbearable. Every tick of time feels louder, sharper, cutting through the air like a blade. Theo’s pacing is the only sound in the room, his boots striking against the kitchen floor, back and forth, back and forth, until the rhythm drills into my skull.“Where the hell is the prince?” he mutters, his voice low but sharp as a whip. His jaw clenches, the tendons in his neck taut as steel. “I told him clearly what was at stake. If we’re caught, we’re all dead.”His words make my stomach twist even tighter. I don’t know what to say. Maybe I was foolish to believe this plan would ever work. Maybe I let myself hope too much, as if fate would suddenly bend in our favor just because I wanted it badly enough. That was my mistake. Nothing has ever come without blood in this kingdom. Why would now be different?Theo stops long enough to glance out the narrow window, shadows sliding across his face. “We have less than five minutes now,” he says, his voice clipped and final.

ALTHEAThe air inside the van is filled with tension. No one moves. No one even dares to blink. Theo’s words hang between us like smoke, soldiers checking every vehicle.My stomach twists, cold and heavy. I can almost hear the echo of boots crunching against gravel, the low rumble of voices drawing closer.“We can’t stay here,” Asher says quietly, already pushing himself up. His voice is steady, but I can see the tension in his jaw, the flicker of panic in his eyes.Theo shakes his head. “If we run now, they’ll see us. We’re trapped in here.”For a moment, everyone just looks at one another, waiting for someone, anyone, to come up with a plan. The silence stretches, broken only by the faint hum of the engine still idling.Then Theo speaks again, his voice rough and low. “There’s one way.”Mara turns toward him, frowning. “Theo—”He cuts her off with a shake of his head. “Listen. If the guards are checking each van, they’ll open the back doors soon. We can’t have all of us here when th

ALTHEAMorning comes softly, pale light spilling through the cracks in the temple walls. The air is cold enough to sting, and for a moment, I stay still, my head resting against Asher’s shoulder, his arm draped over me like a shield. His warmth seeps through the thin fabric of his shirt, steady and grounding, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I let myself breathe.The memory of last night lingers, the hum that filled the air when he pulled the sword from the earth, the faint glow that spread through the cracks in the floor like veins of light. It wasn’t just power that I felt then. It was something alive. Watching. Waiting. Even now, as the dawn creeps across the stone, I can still sense it, pulsing faintly in the air, like the temple itself hasn’t gone back to sleep.Asher stirs beside me, his breath catching as he opens his eyes. For a brief moment, he looks peaceful, younger somehow. But then he sits up, and that calm slips away, replaced by the quiet focus I’ve co

ALTHEAMadeline’s scream pierces through the courtyard, sharp enough to make the soldiers freeze.It echoes against the palace walls, a sound of loss and fury all at once. She falls to her knees beside Aaron’s lifeless body, clutching at his fur, sobbing until her voice breaks.I can’t look away. My hands are shaking, still wrapped around the sword that ended it all.Asher shifts back, his body covered in blood and dirt, his chest rising and falling with each heavy breath. He walks slowly toward her, his voice calm but firm.“Take her,” he orders, his tone leaving no room for question. “She’s to be sent to the royal prisons. She’ll face judgment for her crimes.”Two guards step forward, gently pulling Madeline away as she screams his name again and again. She doesn’t fight. She just keeps staring at her son’s body, eyes empty.Asher turns to the rest of the soldiers. “Find the council members who were imprisoned,” he says. “Release them. Every single one of them.”They nod and hurry o