Semua Bab The Alpha’s Moonbreather : Bab 51 - Bab 60

The eastern wind howled through the valleys that night, dragging with it the scent of brine and burnt lavender. Not many knew the meaning of that scent anymore, but the old ones did. The Hollow was moving.Far from the southern cliffs of the Everglade estate, in the heart of the lower territories, a figure emerged from a covered caravan, boots pressing into the ash-dusted ground of what once was a thriving village. Now it was hollowed, too—walls scorched, windows empty, and silence blooming like rot in a field.The figure adjusted her cloak.No one greeted her. No one had survived.But that wasn’t why she came.Saelin stepped forward, her limbs aching but her eyes sharp. The healer’s daughter—once dismissed, once spared—had followed the pull she’d felt for weeks. The Between wasn’t just stirring. It was bleeding into the world again, leaking through old cracks. Someone had begun calling it.And not someone kind.She pressed her fingers to the ground, whispering a protection rite. But

A distant rumble shivered across the Horizon Flats, a low vibration that reached even the bones. Elise paused on the threshold of the Oldwatch Cleft. Silver moonlight pooled behind her, illuminating the way she and Saelin had come. It lay ahead now, gaping like a wound in the earth—a passage between worlds, carved over centuries out of sorrow and stone.Saelin steadied herself on the edge. “Once we step through, it isn’t just paths and corridors…” Her voice trailed off. She rubbed her forearms. “It’s echoes. Things you feel before you see them.”Elise met her gaze steadily. “Then we’ll hold our breath till the echoes pass. Together.”Saelin nodded, lips pressed thin. She placed her hand on the rough stone of the archway. Elise did the same across from her, cold on callused sandalwood. They counted in their minds, shoulders squared, hearts beating the same rhythm—once, twice, their own private code.The air shimmered between them, rising and quivering like heat on desert rock. They

It had been seven days since Thea vanished.No one spoke of it. Not directly. Not in council halls or in whispers between guards. No formal notice. No search. Just silence—like the Hollow had devoured her, and the world moved on to smoother lies.But Nessa hadn’t forgotten.The healer walked alone that morning, boots crunching lightly across the dew-soaked forest. Her basket was empty. No herbs. No ointments. Just a blade tucked into her belt and a name circling her mind like a storm.Find the man beyond the ruins. He knows what the council won’t say.Thea had whispered that days ago, her hand tight on Nessa’s wrist. It had sounded like a final instruction. Now it felt like a warning.Nessa passed beyond the forest’s southern border, beyond the marked lands of Everglade, where the soil turned black with forgotten magic and the trees leaned too closely together. The ruins came into view—a crumbling old estate with spires snapped in half, moss clinging to what had once been marble.This

“The truth doesn’t burn. It reveals who set the fire.”The ceremonial hall of Whitemoon was full of smiling masks. They tilted their heads in approval, clapped at the proper moments, raised crystal glasses to toasts they didn’t mean. Elise stood before them draped in moon-silver, wrists still bound in the “honor cuffs” that sparkled beneath her sleeves like decorative chains. She didn’t blink as Chancellor Ren praised her loyalty.“…a symbol of unity between the old ways and the new, our bridge to peace in uncertain times.”Unity.Peace.Symbols.They liked to use those words like balm.She used to believe in them. Now, they felt like ash on her tongue.She looked around the hall and saw none of her allies. No Mira. No Saelin. No Nessa. Even Kai had disappeared, swallowed by whatever guilt weighed down his feet.Her throat felt dry. But she stood straighter, her voice cool and even when she spoke: “I am honored to serve.”A lie. One more mask in the hall of many.Hours Earlier – T

The scream from the tree wasn’t just sound.It was memory.It howled through every layer of the Hollow, splintering the silence like glass beneath a hammer. The water that had erupted now hung mid-air, frozen in white fire. Light spiraled from the roots upward like veins in convulsion. For a heartbeat, everything—even time—stood still.And then it began to fall.The light crashed back into the pool in a roar that shook the chamber. Elise stumbled, her boots skidding over the now-wet stone floor. Behind her, Kai caught her arm, steadying her as the Hollow twisted in response.“Elise,” he breathed, eyes scanning the violently shifting chamber. “What is this place?”She didn’t answer.Because she wasn’t sure anymore.In front of them, the tree still stood—white as death, its bark pulsing like a heartbeat. The leaves had stopped glowing. They shimmered now with a dull sheen, like silver mourning cloth. And at the foot of the tree… something was moving.Elise tensed.From the boiling pool,