บททั้งหมดของ The cursed mate's return : บทที่ 211 - บทที่ 220

Kael's pov“Don’t run from me.”The words slipped out before I could stop them, completely useless as Maia’s scent vanished into the night like a door slamming shut.Silence followed.Behind me, the alley slowly exhaled: the settling of dust, the last tremble of metal from our fight, the steady drip of a broken gutter.But I wasn’t looking at the alley. I was staring at the place she’d stood.Maia.My wolf paced under my ribs, restless, confused, hopeful in a way that made my chest ache.“You’re still staring after her?” Lio’s voice finally broke the silence. “I’m hurt. Truly.”I didn’t turn.“Shut up.”“Oh, that’s new,” he said brightly. “Six years and you still can’t handle—”I spun on him, the movement sharp enough to make him stop mid-word.He grinned anyway but it didn’t reach his eyes.Lio used to smile with his whole face like he found jokes in sunlight, like the world was lighter for him than the rest of us. I saw the fake smile.Like someone had drawn it on with a blade inste

Kael's pov“Don’t come any closer,” Maia said, her voice low. She didn’t raise her hands, didn’t bare her teeth, didn’t reach for a stance. But the way she positioned herself—shoulders angled slightly, weight ready to move, told Lio everything he needed to know.He stopped. Not because she threatened him, but because he understood her in a way only someone from the old pack could. He looked at her with a flicker of something I hadn’t seen in years: recognition of her rank, her history, her power. It wasn’t fear. It was memory.“Maia,” Lio said quietly, “you’re still guarding him. Even after everything.”Her voice sharpened. “I’m not letting Rydan take him.”His eyes shifted to me slowly, and the moment his gaze landed, the world tightened. This was my brother—no, the body of my brother, wearing a calm he never had in life. Lio used to move with laughter at the edges of his eyes, warmth woven into every word, restlessness pulsing under his skin. Now he stood with the stillness of somet

Kael's povMaia stiffened beside me. Kieran’s expression sharpened. I felt it under my skin—the old bond to the pack pulling like a rusted chain, the instinct to answer gnawing deep in the ribs.Rydan had crossed into our territory and not a single part of him cared.Kieran stepped closer, his voice dropping. “He brought others. I can hear two scouts. They’re spread out. They’re looking for the two of you.”Maia’s grip on my hand tightened. She didn’t look at me, but her wolf pushed softly against mine in a way that told me everything she wasn’t saying out loud. She was scared. She was ready to run. She was ready to fight. All at once.“We need higher ground,” Kieran said, scanning the rooftops. “Away from alleys. Away from the places he can trap us.”“No,” I said. “We’re not scattering again.”Kieran gave me a sharp look. “Kael. You might be stronger than both of them, but you can’t take Rydan alone. You know that.”“He isn’t fighting alone,” Maia said quietly.She looked at me then,

Kael's pov “Move behind me,” I murmured to Maia, not taking my eyes off Veyra.She didn’t move. Stubborn, fierce, and steady. Exactly the way she had always been. But this wasn’t the time to argue.Veyra stepped onto the rooftop with the easy grace of someone who didn’t fear gravity or consequences. Rain clung to her hair and lashes, catching the city lights and turning her into something both beautiful and unnervingly wrong.“Still protecting her,” she said, her tone soft, almost thoughtful. “Even after everything.”Maia’s breath hitched, but she didn’t step back.Kieran shifted slightly to the left, blocking Veyra’s angle of approach. His eyes were pure calculation. Mine were pure threat.“You’re outnumbered,” I said calmly.Veyra tilted her head. “You think that matters to me now?”Her voice held something hollow. Something stretched thin. Something that used to be human and was now stripped of softness, warmth, or hesitation.Rydan had done more than bind her.He had rebuilt her.

Maia's povThe old rail bridge looked like a skeleton stretched across the river, all rusted beams and broken tracks.The place felt forgotten, tucked at the edge of everything, where people stopped coming long before wolves learned to avoid it.Kieran led us along the narrow walkway, checking every corner twice. Kael stayed close enough that I could feel the warmth of him behind me. The rain had eased, but the air held the sharp smell of wet iron.“This way,” Kieran said, lowering his voice as he ducked beneath a set of warped support beams. “There’s a spot under the bridge where the sounds don’t carry. We can stay there for a while.”We followed him down a narrow flight of crumbling concrete steps. The space beneath the bridge was dim, shielded from the streetlights. Water dripped steadily from the beams above, echoing like a slow heartbeat.Kieran stopped first. “Here.”I leaned against the cold metal railing, catching my breath. My clothes were damp, hair plastered to my cheeks. K