All Chapters of From Escape To Bound: Her Destined Wolf : Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

Clara’s POV A heavy silence stretched between us.“Elia, if you know something_“I know that the Council underestimates you. I know Lucas underestimated you. But Dorian?” Her voice dipped. “He never did. He always saw what you were becoming. That’s what terrifies me most.”I clenched the feather tighter. “Then he’s coming not to destroy me—but to use me.”“To twist you,” she corrected. “Or worse, to force your hand.”That idea sat heavy in my gut.Because there were still things I hadn’t told Ryker. Still truths I hadn’t faced myself. About my past with Dorian. About the deal I almost made with him once… back when I was still caged, still begging for someone to see me.Before I learned to see myself. “Elia,” I said, voice low, “if there’s a single noble left who’s pledged to Dorian, I want their name. Their house. Their bloodline. I want them watched.”She nodded. “And if he calls for you?”My answer came without hesitation.“Then I’ll answer. But not as his weapon. As his reckoning.”She left

Ryker’s POVI looked up at him. “You’ll keep them safe?”“With my life.”“And you’ll come back?”His jaw flexed. “Only if you command it.”“I do,” I whispered.He touched my fingers—just once—then disappeared into the dark.By morning, they were gone.And I stood alone again.But not as prey.As Queen.And in the silence before the storm, I prayed not for mercy—but for the strength to burn.The hours after they left passed like ghosts—silent, watchful, always at my back.I should’ve slept. I didn’t.Instead, I paced the length of the war room until the candles guttered low and the wind howled outside the stained-glass windows like the dead were whispering.Kira found me at dawn.“You’ve already memorized every line of those maps, Clara,” she said, arms folded as she leaned against the archway.“I’m not looking at the maps,” I murmured. “I’m watching the pieces move.”She walked to the table, her steps as soundless as a shadow. “You know they might not come back.”I met her eyes. “I know.”And it tore at