All Chapters of The Alpha’s Reluctant Mate: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

AUTHOR’S POVThe council chamber was quieter than it had ever been, yet the silence felt heavier than war drums. Kane stood at the center of the room, his hands braced against the old oak table where maps and scouting reports lay scattered. His dark eyes traced the inked lines of Nightfall’s territory, though his mind was far from the parchment.Too many things had gone wrong, too many mistakes that didn’t feel like mistakes. In the past week alone, border signals had failed, training drills had collapsed due to miscommunication, and now three wolves lay buried after the skirmish with Lawrence’s scouts. It wasn’t the chaos of battle that haunted him, it was the whispers of sabotage, a silent hand steering disaster from within.Kane’s jaw tightened as he straightened, his gaze sweeping across the room. Ivy stood on the far side, leaning against a pillar, her arms folded across her chest. Her usually bright, defiant eyes were shadowed with suspicion.“Something is wrong inside Nightfall

AUTHOR’S POVThe forest surrounding Nightfall had grown colder, though no winter clouds grayed the skies. It wasn’t the wind that chilled the bones of the warriors patrolling the perimeter, it was the quiet. A stillness that seemed to breathe, like the forest itself was holding its breath. Even the birds had gone silent.In the heart of Nightfall, war preparations consumed every waking hour. Blades clashed in endless drills, sentries rotated with increasing urgency, and smoke from forge fires filled the mountain air. Yet beneath the frenzy, something more insidious slithered in the shadows.And no one suspected Derick.Two nights before the blood moon, Derick had summoned General Marek alone.General Marek had served Nightfall for nearly two decades. A stoic, broad-shouldered warrior with scars mapping the history of every battle he’d survived. Loyal to Kane without question, he was the kind of soldier who would follow his Alpha into fire without blinking.But tonight, he rode alone.

The war hall was quieter now. Not silent because no place had been truly silent since Derick’s betrayal. But the wild frenzy that had once pulsed through Nightfall’s heart had begun to settle into something steadier. Still bruised, still uncertain but steadier.The heavy doors creaked every so often as warriors filtered in and out, their movements less frantic now, more deliberate. Maps were still unfurled. Swords still lay sharpened across stone tables. But the madness of panic had begun to give way to the somber rhythm of preparation. The kind of rhythm born only in the shadow of something too large to run from.Outside, Ivy stood at the edge of the barracks courtyard, arms folded across her chest, watching the warriors train beneath the pale silver sun. A thin sheen of mist clung to the air, casting a ghostly glow over the yard. The clashing of steel rang out sharp and brutal. Feet pounded into the dirt with mechanical precision. Grunts echoed in unison with the sound of impact of

The scream pierced the early dawn like a blade.I felt it before I heard it. It was terror, sharp and raw, crashing into my chest like a blow. I was already moving, the threads of starlight still weaving through my limbs from the sleepless night. Kane burst through the war hall doors ahead of me, every step sharp with purpose. My feet barely touched the ground as I followed, the remnants of the Moon Goddess’s gift simmering in my veins.Inside the chamber, the atmosphere thickened. My presence stirred something silent, something wary the warriors gathered around the stone table. I didn’t blame them. I hardly recognized myself now.A scout stumbled in, blood running freely down the side of his face. “They’ve broken through the southern ridge…”Kane’s voice was a whip. “How many?”“Hundreds,” the scout rasped. “More. Alpha… they’ve brought beasts, constructs, war things. I’ve never…”“Alert Captain Rurik now. Blackfangs to the ridge.” Kane cut inThe scout vanished. I stepped closer to

IVY‘S POVThe war didn’t pause to grieve.We buried our dead at dawn, and by dusk, the earth shook again beneath the boots of Lawrence’s advancing armies.They came like a swarm— faster, more coordinated, more vicious. The traitor’s knowledge had cut deep, and it showed. Every strike of theirs found a weak point. Every defense we’d rebuilt, they tore down with precision. Lawrence wasn’t just trying to win. He wanted to erase us.We held the line for days, maybe longer. Time blurred into smoke and steel, into the screams of wounded wolves and the scent of burnt magic in the air. My power held, but only just. Kane fought without rest, a fury behind every movement, as if trying to forget Derick’s face with each enemy he brought down.But it wasn’t enough.And then Derick returned.We’d thought he had fled, retreated into the shadows where his betrayal could fester in silence. But he came back wearing war paint, his eyes glowing with unnatural fire, and something darker pulsing through hi