All Chapters of Against All Odds: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

* Zeina *But even the wind knew my name now.It wrapped around me like the ghost of old prayers, ones whispered by the desperate, the loyal, and the dead. There was no silence in this place, not truly. The stones remembered. The air held echoes of my laughter as a girl, the thunder of Robert's soldiers when they stormed the gates, and the cries of those who stood and fell in my name.And now, it held this moment.Mine. I walked with Beta Aldin at my side, the path ahead opening as if the land itself remembered who it belonged to. The banners above us rippled, crimson and silver, the Crescent Flame embroidered with threads that shimmered like starlight. Every thread had been stitched by hand, Donna had once told me. Every symbol was a vow. And now, every one of those vows had outlived the wolf who betrayed them.We passed through the central archway of the fortress.The scent of the pyres gave way to something older, stone, iron, blood, and pine. The bones of this keep ran deep, down

* Cerberus *Later, after the others had left.Zeina stood near the fractured hearth, her back half-turned to me, hands clenched behind her. The firelight crowned her in gold and ruin, but she did not look broken. She looked... restrained. Like a blade still sheathed out of mercy, not weakness.She had dismissed Donna and Beta Aldin with the same calm she'd once used to silence a battlefield. But I knew what it cost her to stay composed. I could feel it in the air, the tightness, the ache. Grief riding beneath the skin of anger. And now, it was only us.I stepped forward, letting the quiet stretch between us. She didn't look at me."I didn't tell you everything earlier," I said.She didn't flinch, but I saw her head tilt slightly. Listening. Bracing."It wasn't just Alpha Robert who betrayed you," I continued. "He wasn't acting alone. He wasn't the architect. He was... shaped. Molded."At that, she turned. Slowly. Eyes sharp as emerald wet with firelight. "By who?"I took a breath I d

* Zeina *The palace loomed like a monument to everything I had lost. Its obsidian spires scraped the bruised sky, draped in the ghost-light of a reluctant dawn. The wind carried the scent of scorched stone and frostbitten roses. I rode my black BMW through the charred gates alone, no banners raised, no trumpets sounding. The iron portcullis lifted without fanfare, the guards bowed low, but none dared speak. My silence had become its own command, a mantle heavier than any crown.I parked by the old rose fountain, the one my mother had enchanted long ago to bloom even in winter. Now it stood dry and broken, its marble wings cracked, vines curling over the basin like veins reclaiming a dead heart. No water sang there anymore. Only silence. I touched the rim with gloved fingers before climbing the palace steps, each one echoing like the footsteps of the past marching behind me.Inside, the halls still bore the scent of lavender oil and cold ash. They had tried to cleanse it, scrub the bl

* Zeina *The Western skies opened in streaks of firelight, burning away the last shadows of the war. I stood atop the ramparts of the old fortress, now mine again, and let the wind carry the scent of pine, stone, and blood-soaked earth. But beneath that... something cleaner. Freer.Victory.It wasn't the wild euphoria that stories always promised. It was quieter. Like breathing after drowning. Like standing still after years of running. My wolf form was smudged and dirtied, the silver wolf insignia on my chestplate marred with soot, but it pulsed with heat. With purpose.The Western Territory was mine again.No longer a pawn on someone else's map. No longer a fractured pack ruled by fear and old ghosts. Every village, every mountain pass, every howling canyon, I had claimed them back with fire and claw.Donna approached, her cloak trailing behind her like a shadow stitched to the wind. "The last border stronghold sent word. They have sworn fealty. The Cerberus pack, the Hollow Fangs,

* Cerberus *The cold bit sharper on the ridge.Southern winds always did that, slipping beneath your armor like regrets you hadn't spoken aloud. But tonight... it felt like more than wind. It carried weight. A pull in the marrow. An omen that licked at the edges of instinct.I adjusted the strap across my shoulder, cloak whipping at my legs as I stepped onto the cliff overlooking the southern border. Below, my warriors moved in silent formation across the snow-laced terrain, cloaks dark as blood ink, their torches flickering like watchful eyes in the night. The land was ours now. Officially. But claiming territory and keeping it were never the same thing.Beside me, Beta Kael stood like a statue carved from frost and steel, his greatsword buried into the frozen earth like a flag of warning. The wind tugged at the silver braid threaded into his dark hair, but his expression didn't shift."You sure she's safe in there?" Kael asked finally, voice low and gritted.He didn't look at me. H