Semua Bab To Love The Hunters Daughter: Bab 31 - Bab 37

EvelynThe village was unlike anything I had imagined.Talia led me down winding dirt paths framed by ancient trees and lanterns that hung from thick branches like glowing fruit. The smell of smoked meat, fresh bread, and damp earth clung to the breeze. Homes were nestled into the forest like they had grown there, built with timber and stone, rooftops covered in moss and wildflowers.It didn’t feel like a war camp. It didn’t feel like a prison.It felt… lived in.“This way,” Talia said, waving me past a wooden cart stacked with baskets of dried mushrooms. “We’ll hit the market square first.”I kept my hood low at first, unsure how the pack would react. Not everyone in the keep had been warm — some still looked at me like I carried a dagger behind my back. But the villagers here didn’t stare. They looked. A few lingered, curious. But it wasn’t hostili

RafeThe scent of aged parchment hung heavy in the war room — sharp, metallic, like the memory of blood.But the message lying on the stone table in front of me reeked of it.I read the letter again, slower this time, letting each word settle in my bones like ash:I read it again.To Alpha Rafe Blackthorn,Word has reached Ashmoor.You harbor the daughter of Dorian Vale.Your silence is an insult.There is still blood unpaid.We will meet you at dawn.—Alpha Kael of AshmoorMy wolf stirred, pacing beneath my skin, lips curled back in silent rage. The urge to shred the parchment into a thousand pieces tugged at me, but I forced my hands to stay still.“They’re baiting you,” Cassian said from across the room, arms folded, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “They want to see how far they can push before you snap.”“They think I’ve gone soft,” I muttered. “Because of her.”“Because of who she is,” he corrected, voice hardening. “Not what she’s done. She wasn’t there, Rafe. She didn’t draw blood

EvelynThe moon hung high over the keep, silver and solemn, casting pale shadows across the stones. The courtyard had long since quieted. No training drills. No footfalls. No distant howls. Only the soft hum of crickets and the wind brushing gently through the treetops — like the earth itself was holding its breath.I sat beneath one of the towering ash trees near the garden’s edge, legs drawn up, arms wrapped loosely around them. The moss-covered roots were cold beneath me, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Not yet.Everything still echoed too loudly in my chest.The way they looked at me.The way they howled.I had expected silence. Resistance. The lingering taste of suspicion on their tongues. But what I got… was something closer to hope. And it terrified me.Hope was delicate. Breakable.I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the trunk. “All I ask is that you give me the chance to prove I belong,” I whispered into the quiet.It sounded different now.Smaller. Like a prayer.

EvelynThe Circle Hall had grown colder.After the Ashmoor wolf’s growl, the entire gathering had shifted on edge, tension thickening until it vibrated in the air itself. But it hadn’t exploded—not yet. The Ironridge emissary raised her hand with sharp authority, her voice slicing cleanly across the murmurs.“Enough. This is sacred ground. If your wolves cannot restrain themselves, Alpha Kael, the court will consider it a breach of sanctuary.”Kael said nothing for a long beat. Then, with the flick of two fingers, he called his wolf back. But the look he gave me over his shoulder was clear. He hadn’t surrendered. He was waiting.The emissary turned to the assembly. “This matter touches on ancient blood debts, mate bonds, and the stability of peace between territories. As such, we invoke the Trial of Truth. All must be seen. All must be heard. And the Goddess shall be witness.”A ripple of movement passed through the crowd. Several wolves straightened, others stilled entirely. Something