Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Alpha’s Reluctant Mate: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

KANE’S POVIt was a quiet touch, but it said everything we couldn’t.Ivy was still scared. But she wasn’t running anymore, she was choosing to stay with me.Down here, beneath stone and history, I felt the weight of something ancient stir, something inevitable.“You need rest,” I said finally, my voice lower than before. “More than you need answers right now.”She didn’t argue, though her eyes lingered on the tapestry, the silver wolf beneath the broken moon.But just as I turned to lead her away, her body swayed.“Ivy….”“I’m fine,” she breathed, gripping the edge of the stone wall but her knuckles were white.She wasn’t fine.Her strength was still fragile, and pushing it wouldn’t help. Whatever was happening inside her, it was burning through energy faster than her body could restore it.I caught her before she could fall and scooped her into my arms. She stiffened, out of pride or surprise, I couldn’t tell but she didn’t protest.“I can walk,” she muttered weakly.“I know,” I said

IVY’S POVThe sky was a bruised shade of gray when I stepped into the training ring. The training ring was quiet again. Just stone wall, steel racks and silence.I hadn’t returned since the last time he brought me here.I stood in the center, arms crossed.Kane was already there, his back to me, shirt off and hands wrapped.“You’re late,” he said without turning.“You didn’t give me a time.”“You’re lucky I gave you the choice.”“I didn’t choose.”He finally faced me, eyes scanning me like I was both threat and test. He smirked faintly. “Then let’s call it instinct.”He tossed me a staff.I barely caught it“You’re holding it wrong.”“Good morning to you too,” I muttered.He stepped forward, correcting my grip roughly. “Again.”We moved, circling, striking, and faling. Again and again“You hesitate.” He said“Because I don’t want to hurt you.”“You won’t.” He replied “What if I do?”“Then I’ll heal.” He assured meThe bond tugged at me every time our hands touched, every time his

KANE’S POVThe air still buzzed with static, the aftershock of her power clinging to the wind like ash after wildfire.I stood, breath heavy, blood drying on my ribs where the blade had torn through, though I barely felt the pain anymore. I couldn’t. Not when every pair of eyes in the courtyard had locked on her.She wasn’t trembling, she wasn’t hiding. She stood at the center of the wreckage, the ground scorched beneath her feet, enemies twisted in arcs of shadow and flame around her. Her hair fluttered wildly around her face, her irises flickering silver like starlight caught in a storm.She hadn’t just fought back, she’d decimated them all. And then, she had also healed me.Unconsciously and instinctively, her hand had barely grazed my chest, and light— pure, searing light had stitched my wound shut from the inside. Power radiated from her skin like heat from a forge, and still she stood firm, unflinching.I stepped toward her, but the murmurs were already rising.“She’s not just o

IVY’S POVThe night wind followed me like a second skin, cool against the heat still smoldering beneath mine. I didn’t look back.Not because I didn’t want to, but because I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to leave him standing there.And tonight, I needed space.Not from Kane alone but from everything entirely— from the fire still etched in my veins, from the way the world looked at me now with reverence or fear, I wasn’t sure which was worse. From the weight of a power I hadn’t asked for but couldn’t seem to shut off.The grass was damp beneath my feet as I moved toward the grove behind the ridge. The trees here were older than the war, older than Nightfall itself. Their branches arched overhead like the ribs of something ancient and sleeping. The moon bled through their canopy in broken light.I didn’t know where I was going, not exactly. But my body did. And when I reached the hollow just beyond the stone altar, I stopped. The earth felt different here— grounded and still. A hea

IVY’S POVI was still shaking when Kane pulled me into his chest.“Breathe, Ivy,” he murmured, arms locking around me like a fortress. “It’s over.”But it wasn’t. The fire, the voice, it lingered like smoke in my throat.He brushed my hair back, eyes scanning my face. “You’re exhausted.”“I can’t go back to sleep,” I whispered.“Yes, you can. Not alone.” He tightened his hold. “Not while I’m here.”I started to protest again, but he was already shifting us down, pulling the blanket over me. His body pressed close, his hand splayed protectively over my ribs.“I’ll watch your dreams,” he said.That made me pause.“You can’t…”“Try me.”And just like that, I drifted again, heartbeat slowing against his.And this time, there were no flames.Just his warmth.Just his breath steady in the quiet.When I woke again, it was to sunlight streaming through the curtains and the low hum of voices outside the window. Kane was still beside me, his shirt off, arm slung over my waist, his breathing dee