All Chapters of THE CURSE OF THE FIFTH MATE: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The night was thick with silence. The kind that pressed down on the skin like a too-warm blanket, suffocating and unmoving. Veyra lay curled beneath the furs in Zarek's bed, the cool air from the Nightveil mountains drifting through the open window. She should have felt safe here—far from the Order's reach, protected within the stone walls of Zarek's keep—but something tugged at her from deep within. A cold, crawling feeling under her skin. It whispered of danger. Of betrayal. Of blood.Sleep found her, but it was not a restful kind. It came like a trapdoor opening beneath her, dragging her into a void laced with crimson and shadow.In the dream, she was standing alone in the forest. Not the woods she knew—this one was distorted, warped. The trees were too tall, their trunks twisting into the clouds like spires of bone. The leaves bled a dull, copper hue, and the wind carried no sound. Not even her heartbeat. Not even her breath.She was barefoot. The moss beneath her feet was soft, b

The search for Kael stretched into its third day. Every rising sun brought with it a heavier ache in Veyra's chest, a cold that settled in her bones and refused to be thawed, even by the heat of her magic. Nightveil's forest, once thick with mist and mystery, now pulsed with tension, every leaf rustling with unspoken questions. Where was Kael?She hadn't seen him since the fight. Since Zarek's voice had cracked like thunder in the clearing, and Kael, all muscle and fury, had shoved back against the Alpha with words laced in venom. "You act like you own her," Kael had spat. "But you only see your bond, not the girl beneath it."Zarek hadn't struck him—but something in his eyes had broken. And Kael... Kael had turned and walked into the trees without a backward glance.Now, Veyra sat at the edge of Nightveil's main camp, arms wrapped around her knees, her wolf pacing anxiously inside her. She could feel the tension in the pack like static. Search parties had been sent—Jon and Elias amon

The morning sun filtered through the high windows of Nightveil, casting long golden rays across Veyra's chamber. Her eyes fluttered open, the warmth of Zevi's body still lingering on her skin, though the space beside her in the bed was now empty. Zevi had left quietly sometime before dawn, careful not to wake her, yet his scent clung to the linens like a fading memory.But it wasn't the scent of Zevi or the soft hush of wind beyond the stone that consumed her thoughts. It was Kael.The ache of his absence had grown heavier each day. The bond still pulsed faintly in the back of her mind, proof he was alive, but it felt... muted. Like something had shifted, curled into itself and gone dormant. She tried to tell herself it was only distance—physical, emotional—but her wolf stirred restlessly in her chest, uneasy.She rose from the bed slowly, wrapping a thick shawl around her shoulders. The corridors of Zarek's fortress were quiet, save for the muffled shuffle of servants beginning their

The wind howled around the high ridges of Moonfang Valley as a crow let out a lonely cry above the treetops. Veyra stood at the edge of Nightveil's stone courtyard, watching storm clouds thicken in the sky, a heaviness pressing down on her chest that she couldn't shake. She'd just returned from the forest with Zevi the night before—still caught in a blur of tangled emotions and uncertain comfort—when Jon came crashing through the courtyard gates, breathless, wild-eyed."Veyra," he gasped, clutching her arm. "It's Mother."The name hit like a dagger. Her mother."She's been poisoned," he said. "She collapsed in the ritual chamber this morning and hasn't woken up."Everything inside Veyra stopped.She didn't remember shifting. One moment she was in the courtyard, and the next, the world had turned to wind and claws, her white wolf tearing through trees, past the borders of Nightveil, north toward her true home. Her paws slammed into the dirt with a fury, her breath ragged, vision red. J

Later, in the privacy of her mother's chamber, the firelight danced across the pale stillness of Maelin's face. She hadn't stirred in days.Veyra sat beside her, brushing strands of silver hair back from her forehead. Her mother's skin was cold. Too cold."Please," Veyra whispered, curling her fingers around Maelin's limp hand. "Please wake up. I need you. I don't know what to do."The only answer was the slow drip of water from the stone ceiling.Power curled inside her—wild, raw, aching. Her breath shuddered as magic rippled across her skin like a tide. The fire in the hearth flickered blue. The water bowl by the bedside began to boil. The stones beneath her feet groaned, cracks spidering beneath them.Then—arms around her. Strong. Unmoving.Zarek's scent hit her like the memory of safety."Let me go," she gasped, struggling."No," he said, holding her tighter. "Not until you come back to yourself.""I am myself!""You're not. Not like this."She sagged into him, chest heaving, magi