All Chapters of THE COLD WOLF'S MATE : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Elara's POV Morning came with no mercy.My body screamed in protest as I forced myself off the cold floor. Every joint ached. My head throbbed dully—a reminder of Liora’s violence the day before. The thin mat had done little to protect me from the icy marble, but I didn’t complain. Complaints were useless here, and I had learned that the hard way.Suri was already awake, standing silently at the foot of Liora’s massive bed. Her expression was unreadable, like a mask she’d worn so long it had fused with her skin. I stood beside her, mimicking her stillness.The princess stirred.She yawned theatrically before sitting up, her long golden hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders. Her eyes lazily scanned the room and landed on me. A cruel smile curved her lips.“Ah, the little slave is still here. I expected you to run again.” She stretched. “Disappointing.”I bowed my head. “Good morning, Princess.”Suri moved first, stepping forward with a basin of warm water and a fresh cloth.

Kael's POV She was fire wrapped in chains.I watched Elara disappear into the shadows of the library hall, her steps silent despite the rawness I knew lined her feet. There was blood on the stone floor—barely a smear—but I saw it.Liora’s cruelty was escalating, and every bruise Elara bore echoed in my chest like a thunderclap I couldn’t stop.I gripped the window ledge, jaw tight.This was the cost of patience.Let her believe she’s won. That had been my counsel to Elara. But even as the words left my mouth, I questioned them. How long could she endure? How long could I watch and do nothing?I turned from the window, forcing myself to breathe. The moonlight, bright and indifferent, spilled across the library like judgment.She shouldn’t have had to come here tonight. She shouldn’t be forced to seek silence like it was freedom. But she had—and she’d asked why.Why did you bring me back? Why do you care?I didn’t have answers that made sense, not even to myself.All I knew was this—wh

Elara’s POVThe name came in a whisper.Saria.That was all I had. No surname, no rank—just five letters that hung heavy in my mind as I moved through the quiet corridors before dawn. The girl Kael had spoken of—the one who disappeared, buried and forgotten. But not anymore. I wouldn't let her name stay buried too.I pressed a hand to the cold stone wall outside the servants’ hall and breathed slowly. My heart beat like a warning drum in my chest, but I welcomed the fear. It meant I was close to something that mattered. Something dangerous.Saria.I whispered it under my breath, as if saying it out loud would conjure her ghost from the walls.I needed someone who remembered her.Someone who hadn’t forgotten the girl who tried to speak, who vanished conveniently after defying Liora. Most of the older servants kept their heads down and their mouths sealed, but there was one who might speak if I asked the right way—Mira, the linen matron. She’d been here longer than any of us and had a m

Kael’s POVShe stood there—she was small, trembling, but unyielding.Elara Moonridge.A slave with no wolf, no status, no backing. Just a letter… and the raw courage to stand in front of me, the Council, and her accuser’s father. I had seen many things in my time as Alpha—witnessed warriors break and nobles cower—but never had I seen someone so powerless act with such fire.My silence wasn’t indifference—it was calculation.From the moment she stepped into the throne room, I had watched her, studied her. I’d expected fear, maybe even a breakdown before the crier gave her permission to speak, but instead, she bowed with the formality of someone who understood the weight of tradition and rose with the strength of someone who had nothing to lose.She called out “Liora Vexen Take”.The moment her name echoed through the chamber, the room ignited like dry wood touched by flame. Murmurs surged, and every councilman exchanged glances with tight jaws. It was a name no one dared associate with

Kael’s POVThe scent of fury still clung to the air outside my office, thick and oppressive like a storm refusing to pass. I stood by the door for a moment, my hand still curled after commanding Liora to bow. My heart pounded with a strange mixture of exhaustion and resolve. That had been a necessary display of dominance—but it didn’t make it any easier.Liora wasn’t just another pack member. She was the daughter of Councilman Take Vexen, raised like royalty, bred for entitlement, and dangerous in ways that even she hadn’t come to fully understand. And now, she was also a liability. A case with real weight had landed at the court this morning—documents, testimonies, traces of embezzlement and bribery, all pointing to her.And for once, it hadn’t come from my enemies.It came from within.I moved back into my office, the papers on my desk seeming to multiply each time I blinked. A soft knock tapped against the door. I didn’t need to ask who it was.“Come in, Jack,” I said, turning away