Semua Bab Fated in the Dark : Bab 21 - Bab 30

There was something about the quiet that didn’t feel like peace. It felt like prey. Jace stood near the edge of the compound, where forest met wall, arms folded, listening to the birdsong, the breeze, and the faint echo of drills in the yard, but even more, to the silence behind it all. It felt intentional, like someone was watching.He hadn’t told Mira or Rhett yet. Not because he doubted himself, but because this wasn’t like the Kalyven. It wasn’t danger in the teeth-and-blood sense. It was colder. Calmer.This felt like someone was observing patterns and waiting for a misstep. A predator in politics, not in fur, and that chilled Jace more than any rogue scent on the wind.The bond was quiet today. Mira had been sent to oversee inventory resupply runs, and Rhett was locked away in his office, prepping for the following Summit address. This meant that Jace had space to think, and lately, that was dangerous. His thoughts drifted to the way Sergeant Lena’s eyes lingered too long duri

Lena didn’t believe in coincidences, not in battle, not in behavior, especially when an Alpha, his pack liaison, and a visiting Beta began operating as though they were one breath, one thought, one heartbeat. She leaned against the far end of the barracks hallway, arms crossed, watching Mira slip quietly into the Alpha wing once again.It wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last, but what mattered was why. Her encryption logs were protected. Standard Summit protocol allowed her to bypass local pack channels, and she kept it that way for a reason. She didn’t trust Rhett Calder, not because he was reckless. The opposite, actually. He was controlled, and control was often the best place to hide corruption. Or something else. Something deeper.Like a forbidden bond.The reports were mounting, unofficial, observational, and quiet, but they painted a picture she could no longer ignore. Calder’s refusal to disc

“Have you found your mate?” The words echoed through the Summit hall like a dropped blade. Rhett didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe for just a moment. He could feel Mira’s heartbeat across the room, a sharp spike of adrenaline laced with panic. Jace didn’t shift, but Rhett knew him well enough now to feel the sudden tension winding tight in his chest. The smart thing would be to deny or, better yet, deflect, but Rhett had never been a coward, and the moment he opened his mouth, mating instinct spoke before politics could catch up. “Yes.” The room shifted. A quiet intake of breath from someone in the second row. A rustle of papers. Mira’s spine went rigid in his peripheral vision. Thorne’s eyes sharpened. “You’ve accepted a mate bond?” The air stretched thin. Rhett didn’t break her gaze. “I have.” Her head tilted slightly. “And your mate is…?” He let the pause drag just long enough to gather all eyes, then said evenly, “Jace Rowan.” It hit the room like a thunderclap. E

Mira had worn armor before. Not the tactical kind, though she had plenty of that, but the emotional kind. The kind that kept people from seeing the wolf beneath the uniform. The kind she’d needed her whole life to survive duty, rejection, war. But this… this was different. This time, she had to armor everything—her instincts, her scent, her bond. Someone was coming who had the authority to rip their lives apart, and if the Council decided she was part of a triad mating, she wouldn’t just be reassigned; she’d be exiled—or worse. She stood at the edge of the training ring, watching pack members spar in the morning haze. The earth smelled like ash and pine. Sweat clung to the air. And beneath it all was the low pulse of adrenaline that never quite left her since the night of the Kalyven attack. Behind her, Rhett was speaking with Kellen. Jace flanked her right side, pretending to observe footwork but glancing at her every other breath. They were close. Too close, and every second fe

They were good. Too good. Lena watched from the shadowed edge of the compound as Alpha Calder extended a hand to the Summit observer like he hadn’t just spent the last week radiating the kind of tension wolves weren’t supposed to survive. The observer, Drayce Malor, was sharp, composed, and utterly unreadable. Dressed in formal Summit attire, with dark eyes behind thin glasses, she was the kind of woman who didn’t waste breath or blink without purpose. Her reputation for dismantling fractured packs with a smile had preceded her, and now she was here, not for war, not for monsters, but for them. Mira stood ten paces behind Rhett, her uniform crisp, expression clipped. No warmth. No wandering glances. Jace Rowan was further still, stationed as if he were just another task force Beta, calm and silent, but Lena felt it. Their energy hummed like a live wire under the surface. Something real. Something forbidden and hidden expertly. Dayce accepted the Alpha’s greeting without flourish,