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

The silence after my declaration was heavier than the fire coiling around my skin. Every eye in the chamber lingered on me, some wide with awe, others sharp with unease. I could feel the shard pulsing as though it relished the tension, its warmth binding itself deeper into my chest. Power had made me untouchable for a moment, but I knew moments like this never lasted.Vorian was the first to move, his silver gaze cutting through the smoke-dimmed light. “You speak of standing,” he said smoothly, “but standing against the Council is no trivial matter. Our law is older than you, older than your flame, older even than Dark Hollow itself.” His words curved like knives, but I heard the thin strain beneath them—he hadn’t expected me to meet his threat head-on.One of the elder councilors shifted uneasily, her moss-green eyes darting from me to Vorian. “Perhaps we should not rush to judgment,” she said softly, her voice like cracking parchment. “If the flame has chosen her, who are we to deny

The fire hissed as I stepped into the circle, its heat licking at my skin yet refusing to burn. The world around me slowed, sounds muffled, as though the flames themselves had swallowed the chamber whole. My chest tightened, the shard pulsing against me like a second heart, its rhythm pulling me deeper into its will. For a moment, I could not tell if I was standing in the Council’s chamber or at the edge of another world.The flames rose higher, but instead of scorching, they shimmered into shapes—phantoms of memory not my own. A woman’s laughter, low and soft, drifted through the crackling fire, echoing in tones that didn’t belong to me. I reached forward, and the fire parted to reveal a figure draped in silver and crimson, her eyes the same pale silver as mine. Ashara. Her presence wrapped around me like smoke, suffocating and alluring all at once.Her voice was a whisper at first, then a blade. “You dare to carry what I once commanded? You dare to claim the shard as if it belongs to

Selena’s POVThe council chamber pulsed with silence, as though every stone in the walls had leaned forward to witness my next move. The shard throbbed against my chest, warm and insistent, echoing with the rhythm of my heartbeat until I could hardly tell where I ended and it began. Damian’s nearness steadied me, his golden eyes fierce with loyalty, yet the weight of Vorian’s threat lingered like a blade poised above my head. If I faltered now, the Council would see not strength but weakness, and weakness was an invitation they would exploit without mercy.I raised my hand, flames curling like ribbons along my skin, their glow casting shadows that danced across the carved sigils above us. “I will not bow,” I said, my voice low but steady, carrying farther than I expected in the charged air. Whispers rippled among the councilors, some sharp with disapproval, others laced with fear, yet all unwilling to meet my gaze. The shard pulsed harder, approving, its warmth like a vow binding itsel

The fire receded like a tide, leaving the council chamber scorched and trembling in its wake. Smoke curled along the stone floor, curling around the boots of trembling councilors who dared not meet my eyes. My chest heaved, every breath dragging against the searing weight of the shard, its rhythm still hammering against my ribs with merciless intent. It had not finished with me. No, the shard had only begun, and its hunger pressed deeper, whispering that the choice it demanded could not be postponed much longer.Vorian rose through the haze, untouched by the flames that had sent others staggering back. His silver gaze glowed with cruel delight, his lips curving into a predator’s smirk. “It speaks to you still,” he murmured, his voice carrying a mockery as soft as it was sharp. “Every fire has a fuel, little flame. If you cannot decide what to burn, it will decide for you.” He raised a hand, and the air chilled, shadows recoiling from the heat still clinging to my skin. “And when it cho

Sleep never found me that night, though Damian tried to guard me as if his presence alone could keep the shard at bay. I lay on the edge of the bed in the guest chamber, my body still trembling with echoes of fire, every breath sharp as though the flames lingered in my lungs. His warmth at my back was both comfort and torment, because even as I craved it, I feared it was exactly what the shard sought to rip from me. The truth haunted me more than Vorian’s threats ever could—the shard would not be sated by strangers or symbols, only by the ones closest to my soul.At dawn, when light finally spilled weakly through the high stone windows, I rose before Damian stirred. My reflection in the mirror stopped me cold—silver eyes shadowed with fire, lips pale, a faint glow beneath my skin as if embers lived in my veins. I pressed my hand to the glass, half-expecting it to melt beneath my touch, but it only fogged with my breath. The shard hummed low, a steady hunger reminding me that no sunrise