جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 80

KolIt should’ve been an easy choice to send someone else. Agatha was finally being discharged from the hospital after weeks of recovery, and protocol said the Alpha delegated those errands to his most trusted soldier. But protocol didn’t understand what loyalty looked like, what it felt like to almost lose one of the only people in your life who’d never questioned your place at the top.So I ignored protocol and went myself.The drive was quiet for a while. Agatha sat beside me, still a little weak, but her eyes, those eyes were the same: sharp and observant.“You drive like a man with too much on his mind,” she murmured.I sighed. “You have no idea.”“I intend to.” She turned to face me fully. “Start talking.”So I did.I told her everything. From the second we found Jeremy’s head to the lies Lira had spun, the Elders heads she’d claimed in vengeance, the war she had incited. Agatha listened without interrupting. Not once.When I mentioned Elder Sorah calling for a vote, an open vot

KolI woke up with a stubborn headache and Aria still curled up beside me, with her hand half-tangled in the sheet between us, sleeping. She didn’t move when I stood up. With all the drama going on, she still seemed peaceful as she slept. I didn’t want to disturb that, not yet. Not with everything ahead of us today.I sat at the edge of the bed, allowing the silence to sink in. I didn’t have a title anymore, I couldn’t give out commands like I could anymore. I was just a man trying to find his place in the house he once ruled.I left Aria sleeping and dressed in silence.The estate was a different place now. As I walked through the corridors, I could feel the eyes on me, pack members, pausing mid-conversation, kitchen staff stiffening as I passed, even a few young warriors lowered their gazes awkwardly.They were wondering. “What does a dethroned alpha look like?”Apparently, he looks like a man who still walks like he owned the place, even when he knew he didn’t.I made my way to the

AriaI opened the door slowly, unsure of what I’d find on the other side. My mind was heavy and my heart was even heavier. Kol was on the edge of the bed with his shirt half-buttoned and his shoulders hunched and weary.Then he looked up at me softly. “Where were you?”I hesitated. “Just… outside. I needed some air.”He didn’t press. Instead, he stood and walked to meet me. Then he pulled me in for a warm hug. I felt safer. And even more safe when he kissed my forehead.“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “We’ll figure it out. All of it.”I wanted to believe that. But all I could think about was the life quietly growing inside me. A secret I hadn’t yet found the courage to say out loud.We stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, then he leaned in and kissed me gently. I kissed him back, but my mind was spiralling towards what this meant, what it could become, and how little room there was for peace in our world.When we broke apart, he led me to the bed, and began taking off hi

KolLiam’s eyes were opened wide, staring at nothing. I reached out with my trembling hands, and gently closed them. The warmth was already fading from his skin.I don’t know how long I knelt there, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t comprehend that I had just lost him. For good.Then I looked up. Around me, my pack was dying, bleeding, screaming. What was the point of all this? Liam was gone. And for what?I curled my hands into fists. They were slick with his blood. I felt the fire in me rising again, rage, grief, vengeance. But then it cracked, giving way to tiredness.I didn’t want to do this anymore. I didn’t want to watch another soldier die, another child cry for their mother, another fire scorch the soil I’d sworn to protect.This war, it had to end. So I tore a piece from the hem of my bloodied white shirt, lifted it high into the air, and stood.It was a truce. A surrender. Not of pride, but of bloodshed.I walked slowly to the centre of the field. Raising my arms, I raised the

AriaOn returning home, no one really said much. The loss of Liam hung heavy in the air and in everybody’s chest. His sacrifice was very much to deal with but something came out with it, and that was change.We were back at the estate and in the council hall. It was full. Bodies pressed shoulder to shoulder, quiet as they waited for the next shift in power. No guards stood by the door like they usually would. No warriors in armour posturing at the corners. It was just the pack. Unified in mourning. Waiting for something to hold onto.Elder Sorah stood at the centre of the hall. Her face was pale and as wrinkled as her dress. For once, she didn’t look composed. She looked… tired. She stepped forward and cleared her throat.“I have served this pack for longer than many of you have been alive. First as an elder, then as temporary Alpha. When I took that title, it was not out of pride or ambition. It was because I thought our people needed caution. Structure. A steady hand in uncertain ti