Semua Bab The Alpha’s Moonbreather : Bab 171 - Bab 180

The village should not have been silent.That was the first thing Kai noticed as his horse slowed near the shoreline.Coastal villages were never quiet—not truly. Even at dawn, there were always sounds: gulls fighting over scraps, fishermen arguing as they hauled nets, children running barefoot through wet sand. Life clung stubbornly to places like this.But here, there was nothing.No voices.No smoke from hearths.No boats pulled in from the tide.Kai dismounted slowly, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword as his boots sank slightly into damp sand. A thin mist rolled in from the sea, low and heavy, curling around abandoned huts like fingers searching for warmth.“Clear the perimeter,” he said quietly.The warriors behind him obeyed without question, spreading out in practiced formation. Their armor made no noise. Even the wolves felt it—the wrongness—ears flattened, movements tense.Kai walked forward alone.The first hut had its door hanging open, swaying gently with the breez

Elise arrived at the lakeside village just before dusk, when the sky was bruised purple and the water reflected the clouds like a broken mirror. She had not meant to stop.She rarely did.Since leaving the coast, she had learned that stopping was dangerous. Every place she lingered too long gathered stories around her like flies—whispers, stares, questions she could not answer. People noticed things. The way the wind bent when she walked. The way water leaned toward her hands as if listening. The way wounds closed too quickly beneath her touch.But this village did not give her the chance to keep moving.The smell of sickness reached her before the first houses did—rot and iron and something sharper beneath it, something wrong. Moon-poison.She knew it the moment she felt it prickle along her skin.Elise slowed, fingers curling at her side. The lake before the village was wide and unnaturally still, its surface faintly luminous even without moonlight. The water carried the same wrongn

Elise woke before dawn with the taste of salt in her mouth and a pressure in her chest that made it hard to breathe.She lay still for a long moment, listening to the quiet around her. The fishing village was asleep, wrapped in the low hum of night insects and the distant, steady rhythm of the sea. It should have been comforting. Instead, it felt like waiting. Like the world was holding its breath.She pushed herself upright, rubbing her palms together slowly. They felt warm. Warmer than they should have been.“That again,” she murmured.Since the storm, her body had stopped behaving like it used to. Heat pooled under her skin when her emotions spiked. Water responded when she touched it. Dreams lingered too long after she woke, leaving her shaken and restless.And lately, there had been a pull.Not hunger. Not fear.Direction.Elise stood, pulling on a cloak and stepping outside before she could second-guess herself. The air was cool, the sky still dark, moonlight thinning as morning

By the time Kai returned to Archview, the sun was already sinking behind the western hills, and the sky had taken on a color that made even seasoned warriors uneasy. It wasn’t the usual orange or gold of evening. It was darker. Thicker. A deep, bruised red that bled across the clouds like a wound refusing to close.The guards at the gate straightened when they saw him approach, but none of them spoke.They all saw what he carried.The young warrior’s body was draped over Kai’s shoulder, blood dried stiff against torn armor. One arm hung loose, fingers curled unnaturally. His face—what was left of it—was slack, eyes empty, throat ripped open so badly it barely looked like a wolf’s work.Kai didn’t slow.He walked through the gates in silence, boots leaving dark prints on the stone. The courtyard gradually fell quiet as soldiers noticed him, one by one. Conversations died. Laughter vanished. Someone swore softly under their breath.“That’s Rethan,” a soldier murmured. “He was barely twe

The war room was already loud when Becky Everglade entered it.Maps were spread across the long stone table, weighted down with blades and goblets. Red ink marked borders. Black pins marked losses. Messengers stood along the walls, waiting to be dismissed, their faces tight with exhaustion. The air smelled of sweat, iron, and old arguments.The moment Becky stepped inside, the room went quiet.She didn’t slow her stride. Her boots struck the floor hard as she crossed straight toward the table, eyes blazing.“Explain this,” she snapped, slamming a parchment down in front of Kai.The paper slid across the stone. Kai glanced at it without touching it.“Human settlements along the southern and western routes are evacuating,” Becky continued sharply. “Entire villages abandoning their homes. Supplies cut. Trade frozen. Fear spreading like rot.”Kai lifted his eyes to her at last. His expression was calm—too calm. “Yes.”“Yes?” Becky repeated incredulously. “That’s all you have to say?”“The