All Chapters of CLAIMED BY THE COLD-HEARTED ALPHA: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

GRAYSON’S POVAshen slept like someone whose body had finally given up its last reserves. Not peacefully. Not deeply. His fingers twitched sometimes, his breath catching every few minutes as if the fire Ateron left behind still curled through his lungs. I stayed beside him the entire night, sitting against the headboard, one hand holding his wrist while the bond thrummed in slow, heavy beats.And unlike Solven and Ateron, this one wasn’t a fragment.It was everything.When the first sliver of dawn cut across the room, Ashen stirred. His eyelids fluttered open slowly, revealing exhaustion sitting beneath the surface.“Grayson,” he whispered, voice hoarse.I squeezed his wrist. “I’m here.”He blinked a few times as if returning fully to himself. “Did I sleep long?”“Long enough,” I said. “Your body needed it.”He sat up slowly, rubbing his face with both hands. “I feel heavy.”“Not surprising,” I said. “You’ve anchored two ancient forces in forty-eight hours.”He let out a weak laugh. “

GRAYSON’S POVI adjusted my hold, easing him down onto the bed while keeping his head against my chest. His breathing shook, catching every few seconds like a tremor starting beneath the surface.“Ashen?” I murmured, brushing my thumb across his cheek. “Can you hear me?”His lips moved faintly. “Grayson… it’s loud.”“What is?”“Everything.”The bond pulsed once—a jolt like lightning striking far too close.I sucked in a breath. “Hamish wasn’t exaggerating.”Ashen’s fingers twitched weakly against my coat. “It feels like… layers. Like pages being flipped too fast. Like voices that aren’t voices.”I tightened my arm around him and pulled the blanket over his legs. “Slow your breathing. Let the balance presence filter the noise.”He tried, but another wave of energy rippled through him, making his back arch and a low sound escape his throat.I wrapped both arms around him immediately. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Let it pass.”He clung to me, eyes squeezed shut. “Grayson—don’t—don’t le

ASHEN’S POVThe unification settled into me like a second heartbeat—quiet but impossibly present, as if the core itself was waiting for my next breath to decide its shape. I could feel the weight of it resting in my sternum, warm and steady, nothing like the chaos it used to be. For the first time in my life, there was no conflict inside me, no cold trying to destabilize warmth, no flame trying to consume stillness. Everything moved in a single direction, following a center that was undeniably mine.Grayson sat beside me on the bed, one hand still cradling the back of my head, his thumb sweeping slow lines along my neck. He wasn’t trying to comfort me—he was grounding me, reminding me where I was, reminding me who I was. The bond thrummed faintly between us, steady but cautious, as if even it sensed the magnitude of what had just happened.“What do you mean it’s not over?” he asked quietly. “You said the unification is complete.”I licked my lips slowly, trying to find the right words

ASHEN’S POVWhen the words left my mouth—I choose to protect you—the core inside my chest reacted faster than any awakening, any resonance, any forced alignment ever had. A pulse shot through my ribs, sharp but not painful, bright but not blinding. It felt like something ancient and formless suddenly recognized a purpose clear enough to settle into.Grayson froze..“Ashen,” he said quietly. “Repeat that.”I swallowed. “I said I choose to protect you.”His jaw clenched, breath tightening. “You shouldn’t choose for my sake.”“I’m not choosing for your sake,” I said firmly. “I’m choosing for mine.”His eyes darkened, emotion flickering in the shadows of his expression. “Explain it. Say it out loud.”I pressed a hand to my sternum, fingers trembling slightly from the warmth building beneath the surface. “Because my power was born fractured. Because my identity was shaped by running from forces inside me I couldn’t control. And because you were the only constant that never fractured with

ASHEN’S POVThe room felt different—warmer, clearer, sharper in a way that wasn’t physical but perceptual.It was like every corner, every shift of air, every sound existed within a new clarity I hadn’t possessed before.The eclipse inside me had settled enough that the world no longer fought me.And for the first time since the awakening began, I felt like I could breathe without bracing for impact.Grayson was still sitting close, one hand resting on my lower back, the other loosely holding my wrist. Even after everything—the unification, the sigil, the forming instincts—he didn’t move away. If anything, he watched me even more intently, as if trying to understand the new rhythm of my aura the same way he learned to read every expression on my face.“Ashen,” he murmured, voice steady, “tell me again. How does it feel now?”I rested my hand over the mark on my chest, feeling its faint hum. “Settled,” I said. “But not static.”His brows lowered slightly. “Meaning?”“Meaning the power