Semua Bab THE ALPHA MUST DIE: Bab 11 - Bab 20

Emilia sat by the firepit behind the farmhouse, the flames cracking in low, lazy bursts, casting orange light across her face. Her hands were wrapped around a chipped mug, fingers stiff from the cold that had crept in with dusk. Asher stood across from her, arms crossed, face unreadable in the flickering shadows. The silence between them stretched, a taut wire humming with what hadn’t been said.He’d led her this deep into the truth only to stop at the doorstep of something larger... something darker. And now, he looked like a man standing in front of a mirror he didn’t want to look into.“You’re hiding something,” she said, voice too steady to be calm. “It’s not just that you knew them… those wolves that night. You were one of them.”He looked away. Just slightly. Just enough.A beat passed. Then another. Then, like the crack of a dry twig, he broke.“I wasn’t just one of them,” Asher murmured. “I was his.”Emilia blinked.“His?” she asked, though she already knew.“Victor’s,” Asher

Emilia couldn’t stop sweating.It was the kind of sweat that didn’t make sense for a spring night. Her breath steamed in the cold air as she knelt beside the old tub, gripping its porcelain edge like it might ground her back into her skin. Her forehead pressed against the rim, skin burning, pulse everywhere.Her grandmother had whispered something over her before bed. A prayer, she thought. Old words in older languages that didn’t match the woman’s usual cadence. But the warmth in her voice had vanished too quickly. She’d looked at Emilia like she wasn’t sure who... or what... was lying in that bed anymore.The water in the tub went cold. Then colder. Then black.She blinked.There was no water in the tub.Just her.And a smear of blood along the rim.Earlier, Asher had tried to undress her... just to cool her down. To help. His hands had been trembling more than hers.“Don’t,” she’d hissed through clenched teeth. “Don’t look at me like I’m breaking.”“You’re not,” he’d said too fast.

The farmhouse slept, but the wind didn’t. It crept between the cracks in the windowpane like it had fingers, and it stroked Emilia’s fevered skin until she woke with a start, the sheets tangled between her legs like vines trying to hold her down.She gasped. The dreams were getting worse. Louder.She shoved the covers back and sat on the edge of the bed, bare feet touching the cool wooden floor. She could still hear it... a whisper, not a voice, not entirely... but something brushing against her bones, speaking in symbols and instinct.She rubbed her arms. The scent of wet leaves and smoke lingered in her nose even though the room was closed.Downstairs, the floor creaked. Asher.She knew his steps by now... steady, barefoot, heavy in a way that didn’t shake the floor, but reminded it he was there. He always moved like he was listening, like the world whispered back to him.Emilia slipped down the hall, quiet, ghostlike. Her body still ached from training. Her fingers twitched... some

The night pressed against the windows, thick and silver with the nearness of the full moon. The farmhouse breathed in creaks and groans, old wood expanding under pressure it didn’t understand. Emilia stood barefoot on the cold floorboards, sweat slicking her temples, her breaths ragged as if she’d run miles without moving an inch.Outside, the moon hadn’t yet risen, but she could feel it... a heat building beneath her skin, in the marrow of her bones, as if her body was waiting for a signal. Her hands trembled, her teeth clenched. A low, guttural sound rose in her throat before she could swallow it back.She stumbled forward, gripping the edge of the dresser, but it wasn’t enough. Her knees buckled. She dropped to all fours, fingernails splitting against the wood. The pain was immediate, stunning. She gasped, and then the shift began.Her spine cracked like dry timber. Fingers bent back, stretching, thickening. The skin along her arms bristled, and the fine down of new fur began to br

The wind stilled.A cold hush rolled over the land like the breath before a scream. Emilia knew that quiet too well now. It wasn’t peace.It was predators.She was outside... barefoot, sweat prickling her skin, the hem of her shirt damp from training with Asher. Her thighs ached, her ribs stung from where he’d knocked the wind out of her during a tumble in the grass. They’d laughed.And then the scent hit.She stopped mid-breath.Asher froze, nostrils flaring, head snapping to the east. “Three of them,” he said. “Fast.”“How do you...”They burst from the tree line before she could finish the question.Three shifters. Not full wolves, not fully human. The stench of unwashed fur and adrenaline hit first, thick and hot. One was massive, hulking, his back curved like a bear’s, lips twitching above too-long canines. The second was wiry, all twitch and sinew, black veins threading beneath his half-shifted skin. The third... female... moved like water, smooth and precise, her eyes burning v