All Chapters of The Mate Games: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

ALTHEAThe garden is quiet tonight.The kind of quiet that makes you feel like the world is holding its breath. Maybe waiting for something. Or maybe just watching. I sit on the stone bench near the hedge of blood-red roses, my legs curled under me, my arms wrapped around my knees. The stars above are scattered like little glass pieces on a black canvas. They’re pretty, but I can’t enjoy them. Not really. My mind is full. My chest even more.It’s strange, how much can change in just a few weeks.I went from planning a future with someone I thought I knew, to standing in a palace filled with strangers, competing for the attention of a cold, sharp-eyed prince who looks at all of us like we’re problems to be solved. Not hearts to be held.If someone had told me this would be my life a month ago, I would’ve laughed. Maybe even gotten angry. But now it’s real. All of it. The challenges, the cameras, the fake smiles, the constant fear of elimination. The weight of being watched. Judged. Pic

ALTHEAI yank at the vines choking my legs, the flower still clutched in my fist. My heart pounds so loud I can barely hear anything else, but the forest won’t let me go. It wants me to suffer.The roots tighten. Thorns prick my skin. I scream—raw, frustrated. Then I grab my knife and hack at the vines until they loosen. My arms shake. My lungs burn.Finally, I’m free.I scramble to my feet and run again, holding the Bloodlight Flower like it’s my last breath.The forest is a nightmare. Trees twist into wrong shapes. The path keeps shifting. The whispers are louder now—screaming instead of speaking. I don’t know what’s real anymore. My thoughts feel slippery, like I can’t hold onto them for more than a second.Then I see someone up ahead.Another girl.She stumbles out from between two trees—her cloak torn, blood on her hands. It’s Maria. One of the quiet ones. The smart ones.Her eyes go wide when she sees what I’m holding.“The flower,” she says, voice hoarse. “You found it.”I take

ALTHEAI wake up slower than usual. My eyes feel heavy, my body heavier. Every inch of me aches from yesterday—from the hunt, the fear, the cruel discovery in the garden, and the dream that refused to let me go.The memory of it still clings to my skin like frost.Asher. The white wolf.I sit up slowly, pressing my palm against my side where the black wolf bit me in the dream. There’s no wound there, but it still feels sore.I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. The entire idea of the mate games—it’s based on the legend of the white wolf. The perfect mate. The protector. The rare and destined bond. Everyone talks about it like it’s some beautiful fairytale.But I’ve been dreaming about him.And now that I know Asher is the white wolf… I have more questions than answers.Because there were two wolves in the dream.The black one—the one that always attacks. The one I always run from.If Asher is the white wolf, then who’s the other? What does it mean that they always fight? And why do

ALTHEA “Who was the founding werewolf of the Silver Crescent pack?” Lady Ivanna quizzes. I freeze, eyes flicking to the ornate gold trim on the floor-length curtains. I don’t know this one. I try not to look guilty, but my shoulders tense and my gaze drops, praying she doesn’t call on me. A soft shuffle to my left. Elise’s hand shoots up, confident as ever. “Alaric Stormclaw,” she answers. Lady Ivanna nods approvingly. “Correct. Alaric Stormclaw was the first werewolf to invade these lands and fight against the humans.” We’re seated in the Great Room again. The long polished table gleams beneath the morning light that filters in from the high arched windows. Paintings of past rulers line the walls. Most of them are men with cold eyes and stiff posture. All of us girls—contestants, as the kingdom so kindly calls us—are gathered here at the start of the week for another lesson. Lady Ivanna’s lessons aren’t the worst part of being here, but they are a reminder. A reminder that

ALTHEAIt’s been hours since the photoshoot ended.I’ve been pacing my room ever since, the soft rug muffling my footsteps. The dress is long gone—stuffed into the corner like it wronged me personally. My hair’s a mess, my hands won’t stop shaking, and my stomach’s been in knots the entire time.Asher didn’t come back.He left with the soldier, heading straight to wherever they were keeping the captured revolutionary. And now he’s either still with him… interrogating him. Or worse. Torturing him.Or maybe, maybe it’s already over. Maybe the interrogation happened quickly, and now they know everything. Maybe Asher already knows that I used to run messages for Aaron. That I knew about the safehouses. That I knew this attack was part of the plan. That I was one of them.Maybe they’re just waiting for the right moment to barge in. Drag me out in chains. Or worse.I sit on the edge of the bed, gripping the bedsheets tight enough that my knuckles go white. The sun outside fades slowly into