All Chapters of Against All Odds: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

* Cerberus *That night, the fires in the courtyard burned low, fed not by the desperation of war, but by the quiet thrum of something steadier, loyalty, rebirth, peace. And yet, beneath all of it, under the pulse of ceremony and the echoed howls, there was another fire still burning. One far older. One that belonged to her and me.Zeina had returned to the war room for a final set of briefings with Beta Kael and Beta Aldin. Donna gave me a glance before she followed, half amusement, half warning. Don't be reckless with her, that look said. But we both knew it was too late for caution. I had claimed Zeina in more than ritual. And tonight, I would show her that nothing in this keep, not title, not legacy, not throne, meant more than the bond between us.The high tower chamber was dark when I entered it. Not empty, not cold. Just waiting. Like the mountain waited for the moon to rise. I shed the cloak around my shoulders, unbuckled the leathers at my waist, moving silently through the r

* Cerberus *I watched from the shadows of the northern corridor—an old habit I hadn't quite broken, even after stepping down as Alpha. Maybe I never would. Maybe part of me would always be the warhound, the sentinel, the shield in the dark.She hadn't asked me to be there. And gods, that made me want her more.Alpha Zeina was flame incarnate, sharp and steady, burning through doubt like a forge cleans impurities from steel. Watching her face Soren alone, seeing her spine hold beneath the weight of his disdain, reminded me of the first time I saw her walk into fire and come out without screaming. She didn't command with fear. She didn't posture. She didn't roar to prove her dominance.She was dominance. Steady. Certain. Sovereign. But it cost her.Even if she didn't show it, I could feel the heaviness settle into her bones with every step she took away from the table, every cold exchange, every bowed head full of resentment rather than allegiance. They didn't see her yet, not truly. T

* Cerberus *I didn't believe in omens. Not really. Not after all I'd seen, how often hope twisted itself into a blade. How many times I'd watched prophecy turn to ash in the mouths of those who dared speak it.But that dream...That dream was different.I hadn't told her yet, not all of it. Not the way the forest felt when I walked into it, not how the stars overhead pulsed like heartbeats, not how the wind called my name in the voice of something older than time. And not how the pup looked at me, not like a stranger, but like a son coming home.I stared at the ceiling of the Alpha House, arms wrapped around Zeina's body, the press of her spine a comfort I never thought I'd deserve. The silence around us was rare, so rare it almost scared me. But inside me, the dream still throbbed like the aftermath of battle.His eyes. Stormlight and violet fire. Like hers. And mine.I had never feared death, but the moment I looked into that pup's gaze, I knew fear, not of dying, but of failing. O

* Zeina *I didn't need the room to agree with me. I only needed them to listen.I held my brother's gaze, that sharp, hard emerald that once reflected the same sky we were born under. Once, we were children playing in the ash of the fallen Flamekeep, two survivors of a dynasty that tried to burn brighter than the gods would allow. Now, we stood on opposite sides of something deeper than power, belief."Zed," I said, my voice soft but unshakable, "you think this child is a threat to your throne. You see prophecy and feel the heat licking at your feet. But he is not a usurper. He is not your undoing. He is mine."Zed's eyes narrowed, but he didn't speak. He always listened when I used his name without title."I am not here to challenge you. I never have been. I carried swords, not banners. I spilled blood to protect what little was left of our wolves, of our line. While you sat in marble halls trying to hold broken alliances together with fear and ritual, I lived among the dying. I fou

* Zeina *The fire crackled low in the hearth, casting long shadows across the stone walls of my chamber. My hands rested over the slight swell of my abdomen, still barely noticeable beneath the folds of my dress. But the weight of it, of him or her, of the possibility, was already reshaping the bones of my world.Doctor Isolde stood at the foot of the bed, arms folded, her sharp gray eyes flicking between me and the open scroll of notes she'd drawn up during her examination."I need you to listen to me, Alpha Zeina," she said, voice steady but lined with something more personal. Worry. "I know you're strong. You led the warfront. You survived a death binding. You're not... ordinary. But pregnancy changes everything. Even for women like you."I narrowed my gaze at her. "I'm not broken, Isolde.""No," she agreed. "But you are no longer just one body. You are two. And the second one? It's demanding things from you that even you can't muscle through."Donna sat nearby, silent, a cold com