All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S LAST CHOICE : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The ground still smoldered where the glyphs had shattered, the air thick with the acrid scent of burning ash. Selena’s breath came in shallow bursts, her flames flickering low, almost unsteady. The force of Mira’s scream still echoed in her ears, reverberating through her bones, but beneath that, a deeper, unsettling silence had settled over the Hollow. The wind had stilled. The earth had stilled. Even the Scorchbound, kneeling in reverence, seemed to hold their breath.Selena’s gaze never left the thing that wore Mira’s skin. Her heart clenched painfully. It had her face, her voice, her eyes. But there was nothing of Mira left in it. The creature moved with an unsettling grace, as if the world itself bent to its will, the very air warping around its presence.“What have you done?” Selena’s voice cracked, low and harsh, a flicker of fire curling up her arm in response to her rage. She stepped forward, but Kael’s hand shot out, gripping her shoulder. He didn’t have to say anything. She

The deeper they ventured into the Hollow, the more the air grew thick with an oppressive weight. The stones beneath their boots were slick with the remnants of ancient rituals, their surfaces marred by time and the corruption that had seeped through the ages. The once vibrant air was now a fetid, suffocating miasma, heavy with the scent of decay and the faint pulse of dark magic. It felt as though the Hollow itself was alive, breathing in time with them.Selena could feel it—the tug of the magic, threading through her very veins, pulling at her fire. Her flames, once so hot and sure, flickered weakly, as if the Hollow itself was dampening her power. It made her chest tighten with frustration. She was the Flameborn. She should have control. But here, in this forsaken place, that control was slipping.Kael’s eyes were sharp, his every motion deliberate. He didn’t speak, but his presence was a steady anchor beside her, a reminder that she wasn’t alone in this madness. Thorne, ever the si

The scream ripped through the cavern, a sound that clawed at Selena’s soul. It wasn’t just pain—it was everything Mira had been, everything the Hollow had twisted. The wail echoed off the stone walls like a death knell, shaking loose fragments of rock and dust from above.Selena stumbled backward, clutching her chest as the gate pulsed again—faster now, hungrier. Her fire roared defiantly to life, but it sputtered with every beat of that terrible magic. Around her, the very air was warping, the dark energy distorting light and sound. The Hollow was no longer just a threat; it was becoming.Kael grabbed her arm. “Listen to me. There is a way to close it—but it comes at a cost.”Selena jerked away, her eyes narrowing. “What cost, Kael? How many more lies do I have to endure?”Kael didn’t flinch. “It needs a sacrifice. A powerful one. Someone bound to both the Hollow and the gate.” His gaze flicked to Mira, then back to Selena.“No,” she said instantly, her voice trembling. “There has to

The silence after the collapse felt wrong. Not peaceful—expectant. Selena stood over the shard, its obsidian surface catching what little light remained from the dying Heartstone. Though small, no longer than her forearm, the object pulsed with something ancient, something aware. Her instincts screamed that it didn’t belong here—or maybe it belonged too deeply.Kael stepped closer, tension radiating off him in waves. “This doesn’t feel like the Hollow,” he said quietly. His voice carried a weight that made her pulse quicken. It wasn’t fear. It was recognition. A memory long buried, now forcing its way to the surface.“It’s not,” Selena replied, her voice flat with dread. “It’s older.”Thorne came up behind them, one blade still drawn, eyes fixed on the shard. “Then why was it hidden beneath the gate? Buried like an afterthought?”Selena didn’t answer immediately. The Heartstone, cradled in her palm, gave off a single flicker of warmth before cooling again. Her gaze shifted back to the

The air around them thickened as the chasm’s dark voice faded into a haunting silence, leaving only the creak of the earth shifting beneath them. Selena’s pulse hammered in her chest, the weight of their mistake settling on her like a crushing boulder. They had believed they were closing the gates of the Hollow, stopping the spread of its evil. But it was never just the Hollow. The Hollow had been a herald—a warning—and now it was clear. There was something far worse beneath it all. Something ancient.The ground trembled again, sending ripples through the camp. A crack echoed, low and deep, as though the very foundation of the world was splintering. Selena’s hands clenched into fists, her nails biting into her palms. There had to be a way to stop this—to stop whatever nightmare had been set into motion when they sealed the gate.“We can’t fight what we can’t see,” Kael muttered, his voice strained but steady. His eyes remained locked on the chasm, scanning for any movement, any sign o