Semua Bab The Alpha's Betrayal: My Second Chance To Defy Fate: Bab 71 - Bab 80

CIARA’S POVThe kitchen fell quiet around us, the weight of our conversation settling like dust after a storm. Through the window above the sink, moonlight streamed in, casting silver squares across the wooden table. I watched the light play across Darragh's features, turning his tan skin luminous."Looks like the moon is here," Darragh said softly, his voice breaking the comfortable silence. He then looked at me. "Is the tradition of shifting to help usher the deceased into the afterlife practiced in your pack too?"I nodded, remembering the full moon gatherings from my first life. The way the entire pack would come together under the open sky, honoring those who had passed by running free beneath the goddess's light. "Yes. You were there, remember? For my parent’s funeral."Darragh nodded. “I do remember.”"Do you want to do it?" His question was gentle, but I caught the underlying invitation in his tone.A smile tugged at my lips despite everything. "That sounds like an excuse to s

EWAN’S POVI stared at him, feeling something crack open inside my chest. The words he'd just spoken hung in the air between us, and for a moment I felt completely exposed. Like he could see straight through to the parts of me I kept hidden."Are you being nice because you actually mean it, or because you just want to see what a speckled wolf looks like?" The question came out harsher than I intended, but I needed to know. I'd been disappointed too many times by people who pretended to care just to satisfy their curiosity.Eamon didn't flinch. If anything, his expression grew more thoughtful. "A little bit of both, if I'm being honest."The admission should have stung, but somehow his honesty made it easier to breathe. At least he wasn't lying to me."And if appearances matter to you that much," he continued, "you can just shift here. It will be private. I'll stay with you."I let out a short laugh. "You're persistent.""If you don't want to do it, that's fine." His voice was gentle b

RONAN'S POVSara's words kept echoing in my head like a broken record. The future... Ciara knowing what my intentions were because this was not her 'first life'. Some daughter we allegedly had called Erin. The name had hit me like a punch to the gut. Because it was a name was personal to me. A name that was personal to Ewan as well.So as much as I detested the idea, I was starting to believe what Saraphina said.But that didn't matter now. I still could not get a hold of Ewan.I pulled out my phone with my good hand and tried calling Ewan again. The broken fingers on my other hand throbbed with every heartbeat, but I ignored the pain. I needed to talk to my brother. I needed to hear his voice and know that at least one person in this world didn't look at me like I was some kind of monster.I wanted to apologize at least for being so cold to him. Mom had put it in my head that it was necessary and a part of me had bought it.If I was doing this—all of this— for Ewan. Then the last thi

RONAN’S POVI carried Ewan up the stairs to one of the unused rooms assigned to us when we first arrived at the Byrne Estate, each step sending sharp jolts of pain through my fractured hand. He was burning up, his skin hot against my good arm, but at least he was breathing steadily. I laid him down on his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. His face looked so young in the dim light filtering through the window. Too young to be carrying all the weight Mother kept piling on his shoulders.I wet a cloth in the bathroom and pressed it to his forehead. The fever made his cheeks flush red, and every few minutes he'd mumble something I couldn't make out. His body would twitch like he was trying to run from something even in sleep.I settled into the chair beside his bed and watched him breathe. The house was quiet except for the occasional creak of old wood settling. Everyone else was probably still in the forest, honoring the dead the way wolves were supposed to. But here I was, sitti

SARA’S POVI dragged Eamon down the hallway, my grip tight around his wrist. He didn’t fight me, but the stiffness in his arm said enough. Beneath my fingers, his muscles were coiled, tense like he was bracing for something worse than the silence between us.Only when Ronan’s door was far behind us did I stop. Or rather, he did. I nearly stumbled from the momentum, my hand still clutching him like I couldn’t let go.“What were you doing with him?” I asked, my voice low, clipped.He glanced down at our hands, then back at me, something unreadable flickering across his face.“I wanted to talk to his brother.”There was no defensiveness in his tone, no guilt. Just the kind of honesty that unsettled more than it soothed.“Why?” I pressed.Eamon held my gaze. “Because I was curious about him.”The word felt sour. Curious. I had caught them under the oak tree. That wasn’t curiosity. It was the way Eamon looked at Ewan, like he was trying to memorize the shape of him. Like whatever curiosity