Lahat ng Kabanata ng Bound by Blood, Fated to the Two Alphas : Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 140

ELARA'S POVTonight there wasn't much wind. I tugged my cloak around me and settled against this big oak tree. Everything was quiet, but not the kind of quiet that made you nervous. Actually quiet. Peaceful.God, I couldn't remember the last time anything felt peaceful.Ronan was sitting next to me. His sword was just laying across his legs - he wasn't messing with it or anything. Just staring off somewhere. Kael took the other side. His hands were in his lap and he was breathing all slow and steady. We weren't talking. Didn't really need to, you know? Sometimes after you've been through hell with people, words just get in the way.The moon was huge tonight. Made everything look all silvery and weird. Like maybe we were dreaming or something. Honestly, these last few months have been so messed up that nice moments like this felt fake.I moved around trying to get comfortable. My body's been doing all sorts of weird stuff lately and my back was killing me. When I shifted, I felt somet

"The Watcher in the Trees"Kael hits the door running. Don't even think about it. Just move."Stay with Elara!" he yells back at the cabin but Ronan's already behind him. Heavy boots splashing through mud and puddles. Rain soaks through their shirts in seconds.The forest is all wrong. That's the first thing hits them. Should be hearing animals. Night birds. Something. Instead there's nothing but rain hitting leaves. Like everything with sense ran away already."Where'd it go?" Ronan pants. Guy's out of shape. Too much sitting around planning instead of actual work.Kael stops and listens. Nothing. Just water dripping from branches. But the air smells weird. Like burnt metal mixed with something sweet. Something dead."There." Kael points to a big oak tree about twenty feet away. "Look at that."Ronan squints through the rain. Takes him a minute to see what Kael's looking at. Then he swears real loud.The tree trunk's got marks burned into it. Same twisty pattern that's all over Elar

Third person POVRonan can't stop staring at that knife stuck in the door. Silver blade catching the lightning like it's alive. Three nights. That's all they got."We should run," he says. Don't care if Kael don't like hearing it. "Pack up right now and get the hell out of here."Kael spins around. Face twisted up angry. "Run where? You heard Marcus. They'll follow us anywhere.""Better than sitting here waiting to die.""You want to run? Go ahead. Nobody's stopping you."The words hit like a slap. Ronan feels his whole body tense up. Old anger bubbling up from way down deep. "You think I'm a coward?""I think you been looking for an excuse to bail since the second this got complicated.""That's bull and you know it.""Is it? When's the last time you stuck around when things got tough?"Ronan steps closer. Close enough to smell the rain on Kael's clothes. Close enough to see the fear behind all that anger. "You want to go there? Really?""Yeah I do. Because this is my family we're ta

Third person POV The river sounds angry. That's the first thing Elara notices when they finally reach it. Water's moving fast and deep. Dark like coffee. Makes a rushing noise that gets inside her head and won't shut up."There's the crossing," Marcus points to a narrow bridge made of logs and rope. Looks like it might fall apart if you breathe on it wrong. "Only safe way across for miles.""Safe?" Ronan stares at the rickety thing. "That don't look safe.""Safer than swimming. Water's got things in it you don't want to meet."Elara shifts the baby to her other arm. Little one's been quiet for the last hour but she can feel the power building inside it. Like pressure behind a dam. The marks on her skin throb with every heartbeat. Getting worse every step they take away from familiar territory."Who controls this crossing?" Kael asks."Alpha Myra. She runs the Bloodmoon pack."Elara's blood goes cold. "Myra? You didn't tell me it was Myra.""You know her?""She tried to kill me two ye

Third person POV Luna leads them into the worst part of the forest Ronan's ever seen. Trees here grow wrong. Twisted up like arthritic fingers. Branches reach toward each other making a canopy so thick barely any light gets through."You sure this is the right way?" he asks."It's the only way they won't expect us to take." Luna moves through the weird trees like she's done this before. "The Forest of Whispers. Most people avoid it.""Why?""You'll see."Great. Ronan's already got a bad feeling about this place. Air smells different here. Sweet and rotten at the same time. Like flowers left too long in stagnant water.They've been walking maybe ten minutes when it starts. Quiet at first. Just little sounds that could be wind through leaves. But then the sounds get clearer. Turn into something else.Voices."Anyone else hearing that?" Kael asks."Hearing what?" Elara shifts the baby to her other arm. Kid's been fussy since they entered the forest. Making those worried noises babies ma