All Chapters of THE COLD WOLF'S MATE : Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

Liora’s POV “You call that bravery?” I asked, and the question rolled through the council box like a pebble tossed into still water.“She controlled her wolf,” the elder croaked, more fond of ritual than truth. “She contained it.”“Contained?” I laughed softly, the sound of a knife wrapped in silk. “Your wolf trembled and she stumbled. She would have torn through the square if I’d let that vial touch the stones a heartbeat longer.”A ripple of uncomfortable silence slid through the circle. Good, let them swallow the taste of doubt. Let Kael’s stare burn his certainty into ash.“Liora,” Magnus said at last, his voice the necessary slow draw of aged leather. “We already judged her trial. The council……..”“You judged a performance,” I cut him off. “A performance I arranged and a test I engineered.” I let my eyes travel over their faces, the ones who liked their decisions final and their bloodlines tidy. “If you want to know what she truly is, then don’t make her play-act in a ring, mak

Elara’s POV The silence after the duel was louder than any howl.I stood in the center of the ring, my chest heaving, blood soaking my fur. My legs trembled, but I didn’t fall. I wouldn’t, not while their eyes were still on me.The torches spat and hissed against the night breeze. The pack pressed forward at the edges of the arena, wide-eyed, breathless. They had expected to watch an execution. Instead, they’d witnessed something else, something they hadn’t believed possible.Liora’s red wolf crouched a few paces away, chest heaving, her eyes burning with fury. She had not won, not outright and that fact alone cracked the earth beneath her arrogance.The council stirred in their high box. Elders cloaked in black and silver leaned forward, their wrinkled hands gripping carved rails. Their eyes were ancient and unyielding, but tonight, I had forced them to see me.The eldest rose. His voice carried like a bell across the ring.“Enough.”The word cut through the heavy air, pulling ev

Elara’s POV Darkness.It pressed at the edges of my vision, thick and heavy, but it wasn’t complete.There were threads of sound and scent pulling me back, Kael’s scent, sharp and grounding, the faint burn of smoke, the tang of blood, my own.I floated in that space between pain and nothing, my body weightless but aching in every place his arms touched. His heartbeat was a drum under my cheek, steady but faster than usual, like a storm barely contained.I opened my eyes a fraction. The torchlight from the arena blurred and swam. All I could make out was his jaw, tight, the muscles clenching like he was holding himself together through sheer force.“Kael…” My voice cracked. It didn’t sound like me.“I’m here.” Low, rough. The kind of voice you don’t argue with, but there was something soft buried inside it too. “You’re safe now.”Safe.The word rang hollow in my head. Safe had never existed for me.Not in the kitchens of the midnight fang pack, not under Liora’s shadow, and certain

Elara’s POV The next day dawned, not with silence, but with noise.The courtyard rang with the sounds of steel clashing, boots striking stone, the guttural growls of wolves sparring. Training, testing, waiting. It was as though the entire pack had decided that today, of all days, they needed to prove their strength in plain sight.I stood at the high window, watching. Wolves who had barely spared me a glance before now looked up occasionally, their gazes sliding toward the window where I stood. Some held challenges in their eyes, others curiosity. None offered acceptance.My wolf pressed against the edges of my skin, restless. She didn’t like being watched like prey, but she didn’t like hiding either.Kael had left early, without a word, but I could feel his presence in the way the wolves carried themselves, straighter, sharper, wary of who might be looking. He was training them harder, I knew, not just for Liora’s inevitable return, but for me, for what I represented.The thou

Elara’s POV The days blurred together after Kael’s decree.It was four weeks.It sounded long when spoken aloud, but the truth was it was no time at all. Every sunrise carved another notch into the countdown, and every nightfall weighed heavier on my chest.I woke earlier than I used to. No more slipping quietly into corners, hoping to go unnoticed. That Elara was gone. In her place stood someone the pack had begun to watch more closely.The servants no longer treated me like a burden. Their glances lingered, curious, almost reverent, as if Kael’s words had shifted the ground beneath us all. Even the warriors who had mocked me in whispers now paused when I passed, their silence more telling than any insult.It unsettled me but also, it thrilled me.On the third morning after his announcement, I stepped into the training yard before anyone else. The stones were cool beneath my feet, the air sharp with dew. My bruises from the last spar were fading, but the ache was still there—remi