Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 171 - Chapitre 180

Chapter 172Author's POVNathan returned later than anticipated.He had been out for the better part of the day on business, riding out to the border lands to complete business and security, matters he felt would cement his place within the pack. When he rode back into Alpha Duaine's lands, the sun was already starting to set west, the sky ablaze with brushstrokes of gold and red, he rode in with the authority of a man who commanded respect, aware that his sway was not shaken.But the moment he entered the large hall, he knew it, a queer buzz, quiet whispers, eyes that avoided his. Something had happened in his absence."What did you do here?" Nathan snarled, his gaze shifting to one of the younger guards who stood at the outer reaches of the throne hall.The guard gulped. "The elders met while you were gone. Lessie was there.""Lessie?" Nathan's voice was as icy as a blade."Yes, Alpha," the guard stammered, lowering his eyes. "She spoke to them and they cheered for her. The chief e

Chapter 174Lessie's POVI woke up that morning under something heavier than a blanket, something that was pressuring. My head throbbed as drums were being pounded inside my own head, and my arms and legs as if they were sandbagged. Even bringing my hand to my own forehead required more effort than it ought to have.Daylight filtered through the curtains, but I was not revived when I awoke, but instead that night itself had rested upon me during the night. I moaned and tried to sit up, but my body was not working.My maid, who was humming softly by the corner, was on my side in a moment."My lady, are you well?" she inquired, her face twisted with worry."I…." I stuttered.My voice remained lodged in my throat and I talked quieter than I intended. I swallowed hard and tried again. "I don't know. I hurt so much. I feel sick."She put a steadying arm around my shoulders and coaxed me back into sitting position. The pressure was firm and unrelenting, and I rested on her for a moment, fi

Chapter 176Author's POVAlpha Duaine's chest rose and fell with rigid gasps, his eyes aflame with the fury of a wolf driven to bay. He had prepared himself for so much, and yet not for this, for Nathan to inform him so unequivocally the one thing that had filled him with sleepless nights and corrosive dreams.There was nothing but silence between the two for a very long time, interrupted by only Nathan's rough breathing sound and the muffled soft footsteps echoing down the stone walls of the pack house. But below the quiet, a storm was brewing to burst.Nathan rubbed the back of his hand against his mouth, laughing as blood that dripped from the corner of his lips splattered against it. He didn't even flinch, he laughed. It was a cruel, mocking, bitter reminder that pain did not make him weak, it made him meaner."I never did get you like that, Duaine," Nathan slurred, his voice filled with pleasure. "So angry, so riled up. You've always held yourself in reins, have you? But look at

Chapter 178Lessie's POVWhy is he so cruel?The question had been simmering in my brain since I'd gotten away from him, and now trapped inside the confines of the bedroom, it foamed with even greater fury than ever.All I had asked was a why. That was all. A why for ending things with Nathan. Something, anything that accounted for why Alpha Duaine was so furious with me for just being in the area where he was. Was that too much to ask? What I received from him, however, was power let loose upon me as a tool. Not love, but control.My gut twisted. "Is this all he thinks of me now?" I muttered under my breath before I even knew it. "That I'm just someone he can shout at, a warrior or servant? That's all being his mate is to him?"Across the room, in the corner, my maid sat quietly, her eyes gazing at me with wide, anxious eyes. She had witnessed me storming in, her quiet a burning coal to the firestorm brewing inside of me. She kept quiet long enough, as if waiting for me to exhaust m

Chapter 180Duaine's POVThat moment Nathan's taunts echoed in my head, I could no longer sleep. Even when I was in my bedroom with the quiet enveloping the walls, my thoughts would not calm down. Who would have told him about it?Nathan wasn't there when all that happened. Nathan was away on a business trip then. He wouldn't have known unless someone had been privy to the information.The only people who knew. the list was brief, heart-wrenchingly so. Two of the elders had glimpsed bits of it, Shane was aware because he always had a knack of finding other people's secrets which were not his, Dylan, he never let a chance go by to ride someone else's mistake. And then there was I, the one bearing the truth on my conscience all the time.The elders, I suppose. I never thought so. It was long ago since the event occurred, long enough for them to have kept quiet about it, for their own sake to keep quiet. Ancient men who valued stability over stirring up old devils. I’m sure they won’t sp