All Chapters of The Alpha's Betrayal: My Second Chance To Defy Fate: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

CIARA’S POVThe healer's chambers smelled like dried herbs and something else I couldn't place. Something old and earthy. She sat across from me at a wooden table worn smooth by countless hands. My own hands trembled in my lap."What I did back there," I started, then stopped. The words felt thick in my throat. "That wasn't healing."She nodded slowly. "No. It wasn't.""Then what was it?"The healer was quiet for a long moment. She stared at her hands, turning them over like she was seeing them for the first time. When she finally looked up, her eyes held a weight I'd never noticed before."The rot," she said simply."The rot?""There is a time to heal and a time to destroy." Her voice carried the cadence of old wisdom, like she was reciting something passed down through generations. "Once upon a time, healers were just as sought after as any other gifted ones. The witch hunts of ages old did not only affect witches. They affected the delicate ones and us as well."I frowned. "But wit

DARRAGH’S POVThe church felt smaller with everyone packed inside. Werewolves from across the territory had come to pay their respects to Gamma Killian. The old stone walls echoed with quiet conversations and the rustle of formal clothes. I sat in the front row with my family, staring at the polished wooden casket surrounded by white lilies.He would have hated the flowers. Killian Bryne always said white lilies were for people who lived boring lives. And whatever else he was, boring wasn’t it. He’d been Sara’s grandfather—mine only in the most distant, political sense. She sat three rows behind us now. I could feel her presence like a weight on my shoulders, but I refused to turn around.Father shifted beside me, adjusting his tie for the third time. The bandage was gone from his head now, leaving only a small scar above his left temple. He looked healthier than he had in weeks, which bothered me more than it should have. Part of me had hoped the aneurysm would slow him down permanen

CIARA’S POVThe moment Darragh's hand closed around mine, pulling me away from the cemetery and from Ronan's piercing stare, I felt like I could breathe again. My legs moved without me telling them to, following his lead as we walked toward the Moonveil estate. The weight of everyone's eyes followed us, but he didn't seem to care. He understood that I just needed to get away from there. Away from him.Away from the memories that crashed over me the second I saw Ronan's face.Darragh led me through the back entrance of the estate, down a hallway lined with family portraits, and into a spacious kitchen. The walls were painted a warm cream color, and copper pots hung from hooks above a large island. It felt safe here. Quiet. The sounds of the funeral gathering were muffled by the thick walls."Sit," Darragh said gently, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table.I sank into it, my hands trembling in my lap. Everything felt too loud inside my head. Too bright. Too much.Darragh moved aroun

SARA’S POVI needed answers before I left. Before I disappeared from Moonveil forever and let Bastien think he'd won.The academy would be my last stop. After that, I'd find somewhere far from here, somewhere Bastien couldn't follow and Darragh wouldn't have to see my face again. But first, I had to understand what Luna Dayo meant about the healer with visions. About me and Darragh both knowing she would disappear.Because if what I suspected was true, if Darragh somehow knew what I knew, then everything changed.I found my first lead in the laundry room. Two omega women folded linens with sharp, angry movements. Their conversation stopped the moment they saw me, replaced by pointed stares and whispered words behind their hands."Excuse me," I said, keeping my voice steady despite the shame burning in my chest. "I'm looking for Alpha Darragh, have you seen him?"The older omega, a woman named Marta with gray streaking her brown hair, looked me up and down like I was something she'd scr

SARA’S POVI stumbled backward, my legs hitting the edge of my bed. The figure by the balcony door stepped closer, and moonlight caught her face. My breath stopped completely.It was her. My mother. Exactly like I remembered her from the portraits hidden in my grandfather's study. Wild red hair that matched mine, pale skin, and those same green eyes that stared back at me from the mirror every morning. But blood trickled from her nose just like mine, and her form flickered slightly around the edges."Mama?" The word came out as barely a whisper.She smiled, but it was sad and tired. "Hello, sweetheart."My knees nearly gave out. I pressed my hand against the wall behind me, trying to stay upright. This couldn't be real. I had to be hallucinating. The stress, the magic, the emotional breakdown—it had finally snapped something in my brain."You're not real," I said, my voice shaking. "You cannot be real. You've been gone for years.""I am real," she said, taking another step closer. "I'