Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Tribrid Alpha’s Nemesis : Kabanata 111 - Kabanata 120

ANESSA Guilt made people weak. And weak men were easy to manipulate. It was amusing to see Lucien fuss over Daxton so carefully. It was obvious that he was the guilty one. Lucien's heart has always been tender, and if he thought he owed Daxton an apology, he would do everything he could to atone for his sins. I stepped out of the shadows slowly, watching Lucien wipe a hand across his face. He looked so pensive and serious, I almost laughed. But he hadn't even noticed me yet. "Just who I wanted to see," I purred, my voice laced with amusement. Lucien jerked his head up, his pretty brown eyes widening. "Arya?" No. Not Arya. But that pathetic girl was still whimpering somewhere deep inside, clawing at the walls of her own mind. I tilted my head and smiled, the kind of smile wolves show right before they go for the throat. "Oh, Lucien. Don't pretend you haven't missed me." He clenched his jaw. "You're not Anessa." "You keep saying that," I replied, stalking towards him.

ARYA The hush of the evening wrapped us like a shroud, the bedside lamp illuminating the room and casting gentle shadows on the walls. I sat perched at the edge of our bed, my limbs heavy. Daxton sat behind me with a brush in his hand. His touch was careful as he brushed my hair and undid the knots, but all I felt was emptiness. He'd bathed me, dressed me in his shirt, and yet... I felt like a ghost in my own body. When the brush caught on a knot, he paused, waiting for my reaction. But I offered nothing. So he stopped. "Arya?" I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. "I want to feel something again," I said under my breath, my voice trembling. He tensed from his position behind me. "Anything?" I spun to face him and tugged at his shirt, my hands trembling. "Please." My voice was laced with desperation. "Make love to me, Dax." The hesitance in his eyes stole my breath away. He'd paused, the hairbrush suspended in midair. I let his shirt slide from one of my shoulders and f

DAXTON Several Decades Ago, The barn stank of mildew, blood, and old straw. Moonlight filtered through the cracks in the wood, dancing across the dirt floor. I was eight years old. And I was dying. My wrists ached where the chains dug in. My throat burned like someone had poured acid down it. The bloodlust had hit me days ago, tormenting me. I hadn't eaten. I hadn't slept. My body was too hot, damp with fever and sweat. I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted copper. Again. "Mama will come," I whispered to myself. I rocked forward and back, the chains rattling softly. Outside, the wind howled. They said I killed the chickens. The villagers did. They hated me. Not just because the animals had turned up gutted, but because I was born wrong. A monster in a child's skin. A tribrid. An Abomination. Half-wolf, half-vampire, with a witch's eyes. They didn't see a child. They saw a weapon. So they locked me in this barn and left me to starve to death. But she would come. A

HADRIN The warehouse reeked of magic and blood. It wasn't abandoned, not truly. Someone had scrubbed out the graffiti and cleared the broken bottles. The steel beams overhead had new chains bolted to them, some glinting with silver, others inked with runes in a language I couldn't understand. I followed the hum of power down the concrete corridor, my boots echoing in the space. Unease gripped me because I knew what I would find. Lucien. He was crouched in the center of the space, surrounded by sigils scrawled in chalk and dried blood. I swallowed hard. His fingers were trembling over a cracked tablet as he muttered the last of the spell under his breath. The runes pulsed, but he didn't notice me yet. Or maybe he just didn't care anymore. "Lucien," I said, stepping fully into his line of sight. The door shut behind me with a slam. Still, he didn't look up. "I know what you're doing," I continued. "The first stage is done, right? One-third of your soul is now tangled

ARYA The laughter and chatter from the celebration faded into a muffled hum behind the closed door of the kitchen. I leaned over the counter, wiping chocolate crumbs from the plate, still smiling at the memory of Daxton's stunned face when he saw the cake. He'd looked like a little boy all of a sudden. I didn't hear the door open. But I felt him. "Lucien?" I turned, my spine prickling. He didn't answer at first. He just stood there, his breath uneven. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier," he said in a low, husky voice. My pulse thudded faster. "There's nothing to talk about," I said, keeping my tone even. "I just..." He stepped closer. "You look really beautiful today ." I took a step back, but it was too late. His hand shot out, gripping my waist. Another ghosted up my arm, intimately. My breath hitched, and I froze for one second too long. His fingers skimmed the side of my breast, and I smacked him. Hard. "Lucien!" I snarled. "What the hell are y