I Became my Mate's Concubine のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 41 - チャプター 50

DEVA LOREN/ LANA ALVAREZ"Mel," I grinned. I could feel her power pulsing through me."I told you I would return to you," she said.And she did."Thank you." The tears continued to fall as I wiped them. "For coming back to me. I had thought I would never have you back with me. It has been..."She completed my sentence when I failed to find the words. "Lonely? Alone? Well, not anymore. You have me, always, Lana.""What are we going to do now? The wild marrow."I’d only ever heard of wild marrow in stories, said to grow where it least expects and hope is thin. It's rare. Nearly a myth.Its stalks are dark, almost black, with leaves shaped like teardrops, edged in silver. When the light hits just right, the veins shimmer gold, like they’re pulsing with something old. Ancient. The petals, when they choose to bloom, are a soft violet, nearly translucent and pleasant to the sight.They say it doesn’t grow twice in the same place. And if you ever find it, it’s because it chose to be found. T

DEVA LOREN/ LANA ALVAREZWe had finally reached near South at night. The fields had thinned, and our carriage wheels began grinding against gravel paths instead of dirt. We had left the main roads two hours ago, or maybe more. Time didn’t stretch the same out here; it dragged. Perhaps it was because we were in the carriage for so long.Aaron hadn’t said much since our last conversation. He kept to himself, mostly, reading the movement of the terrain or speaking softly to one of the guards riding ahead. I didn’t blame him. I was tired too. Hungry in a way I couldn’t feed, not for food, but for the troubles holding me down.We were entering a village I did not know the name of, had not even seen on any map. The locals called it Verrenpath, or something that sounded like that when one of the guards asked. It was tucked far into a sloping dip between hills, surrounded by rough stone walls, chipped and mismatched like they were built in a rush and never fixed again. Vines climbed over ever

DEVA LOREN/ LANA ALVAREZThe ground beneath me was bumpy as I stirred awake. Two strong hands held my body together before I hit the ground.My eyes fluttered open, and blue eyes met mine, calm as the ocean.Aaron looked rough. His dark hair was messy now, falling over his forehead, no longer neat like before. Sweat clung to his skin, and there were a few cuts on his arms, one deeper one just below his collarbone, showing through a tear in his shirt. His knuckles were bruised. He looked tired but strong, like someone who had just come from a fight and did not care if he bled.He was not wearing his usual fine clothes either. Instead, he wore a loose brown shirt, slightly too big for him, and wore black trousers tucked into old boots. He looked like any other traveler, simple and unnoticeable. But still… something about him stood out. Maybe it was the way he held himself. Or maybe it was just him. He was royal blood after all.His eyes found mine.And I was not the same either.Now I w

DEVA LOREN/ LANA ALVAREZThe air between Landon and me changed; he was back to being expressionless and silently following me like before.I was the one who wanted to make a friend out of him...now."Near the oak tree, where the sun first rises shining upon the lone stream from the lane of cabins. I am waiting for you, Deva," Aaron read the note out again.We were out on the road to find her as soon as we read the note."There are quite a good number of cabins here," I sighed."What I find amusing is how she knows your name," Aaron failed to hide his amusement."She just might be the greatest sage of all time. No one knows how she got her powers. We just know that she exists and she uses them for the greater good. Like a hero of some sort," I added to avoid more suspicion. "Anna told me that. And I believe her, given the current circumstances. It only makes sense, does it not?""I hope her powers are strong enough to figure out a solution to the famine before word spreads out too far

DEVA LOREN/ LANA ALVAREZAaron had not said much since we left Ember's cabin. It was not hard to tell that a lot weighed on his mind.The journey to Gold Moon took us three days."We have arrived, Alpha Aaron," one of the men said, making my heart skip a beat.I could barely face what this place was in my dreams. I was scared."Shall we?" Aaron plainly asked.I nodded gently, trying to keep my real feelings at bay. He got out of the carriage, stretching out his hand for me to take, for him to guide.We arrived at the lands of the Gold Moon Pack, and my heart sank deeper than an abandoned land under the sea. All lay quiet, save for the wind that moved through the broken walls. Once-strong gates leaned like old men, their wood grey and splintered. The houses stood hollow, their roofs fallen in, their doors hanging loose as though pushed by unseen hands.Dust lay thick on every stone, and weeds had claimed the paths where the people once walked. It was truly nothing but bare earth, with