All Chapters of Surrogate Bride To The Alpha Stand-in: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

"Many casualties," Alpha Ethan said quietly. "From my pack, I believe thirty. No family should bear such loss. No family."There was a heaviness in his voice, his composure on the brink of collapse."Your Majesty, what shall we do when the food is gone?" Alpha Solen asked, his voice steady but grave. "We all know that where there is disease, famine soon follows.""I do not know about the rest of you," the king replied, "but when I served as Alpha in the southern packs, I prepared for such a time. I saw to it that crops were planted and tended long before war ever reached our borders."There were several soft coughs in the room. Alpha Ethan may have known of this practice and followed it, but clearly, the other two had not.Alpha Valren then spoke. "My pack has the stored produce of the last year. Grains, salted meat, dried fruits. I opened the granaries for my people once the sickness began. Solen, will you share in it with me? Your numbers are fewer and may not withstand the weeks to

Scarlet pressed her fingers to her lips, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. She scarcely knew how to comprehend what she had done. What words could possibly explain it to Alpha Darius? What would she say to him?“Where is your mistress?”The voice outside the door startled her from her thoughts.It was him.Her breath caught in her throat. She was not ready to face him. Not yet.She turned towards the window, wild thoughts rushing through her mind. Could she leap? But even as a wolf, such a fall might harm the child she carried. She could not take that risk.“She is within, my prince,” came the maid’s gentle reply.The door opened.He entered.Silence settled thickly between them.“Heart… beat. You have returned,” she said softly, hastening to him. “I could scarce believe the maids when they brought the news.” She wrapped her arms around him, though he stood still as an oak, unmoving.“How are you? Are you well?” she asked, her voice trembling with hope.“Scarlet. Have you taken l

"Shall it be less slow now, soulbound?" the queen inquired softly.They stood at the edge of the forest, where its ancient trees met the quiet stone of the palace grounds. The air was still, thick with anticipation. Today would mark her first shift."We must try," the king replied, his voice steady with quiet encouragement. "Close thine eyes, breathe deep, and reach within. Seek the presence of thy beast."Silence fell between them.She obeyed, shutting her eyes, and drew in a slow breath. Her hair began to redden, as if touched by fire, the transformation beginning within the hidden recesses of her soul.In the stillness of her mind, Lena found herself descending into a deeper realm. She walked forward, and the sound of her step rang out like a droplet falling into a vast and unseen sea.She glanced around and realized she stood not upon stone or soil, but upon water, dark and boundless. The world around her was shrouded in shadow."Is anyone here?" she called, gazing into the void.

Ravena was, in truth, nothing like the woman she had once been. Once proud and wild in her spirit as a she-wolf, she now resembled a hollowed shadow of herself.They had laced her veins with wolfsbane, not once, but repeatedly, until her limbs trembled and her senses dulled to little more than instinct and pain.Her back bore the cruel marks of a flogging whip, deep welts crossing one another in a pattern only torment could design. The scent of silver was still faint upon her skin — a poison to her kind, used to weaken and silence her defiance.They had chained her in cursed iron shackles, ones forged with old magic, which burned her flesh with every motion.She had been denied the moonlight for days on end, her connection to the wolf within slowly eroding.Her voice, once fierce and commanding, had grown hoarse from screaming — and then from silence. They broke not only her body, but her pride.She had not shifted in moons. Her wolf, suppressed and subdued, slumbered beneath the weig

"Your womb is weak, Your Highness. I cannot promise you a child at this time. Yet I shall prepare a draught to stir the seeds of fertility and observe whether it brings fruit."The healer’s words echoed within Lena’s thoughts as she shifted into her beast and vanished into the forest, her limbs moving with urgency, her heart heavy with unrest.She ran with great swiftness, the wind slicing past her ears, yet her mind was far from quiet. She sought to release the storm within her, to run until thought ceased and breath alone remained.Soon, the king would require an heir. She had taken longer than expected to recover from her most recent miscarriage, and though none had spoken it aloud, the weight of expectation was beginning to crush her.“Do not trouble yourself so, Lena,” spoke Nymeria, the beast within. “You know how deeply the king cherishes you. He has not asked for an heir.”“He need not ask,” Lena replied bitterly. "The people will speak for him. Already their eyes search for f