บททั้งหมดของ How to Catch a Mate: บทที่ 121 - บทที่ 130

Keiral “Can’t we get the black top? I don’t like yellow, Keiral.”I stopped dead in the middle of the aisle. Stalls pressed in tight on both sides, lights flashing, colors bleeding under neon strips. The crowd shoved past, irritated, but I turned on Mira and gave her a look sharp enough to shut her up.“You will wear what looks good,” I snapped. “Not what you think makes you mysterious. Black makes you look like you’re hiding. Yellow makes people look at you. That’s what you need. People watching you. People noticing you. You want them to whisper that you’re weak, or you want them to remember you walked into Panther City with your head up?”Her lips pressed together. The glare she threw me said she hated it.“Fine,” she muttered. “Yellow.”“Good choice,” I said, shoving the top into the bag and moving on.I didn’t have the patience for sulking. She’d been here a week and still didn’t get it. Panthers noticed everything. Every twitch, every slip. You showed weakness once, they tore yo

Keiral “Don’t,” I said.She shut it. She didn’t smile. She didn’t poke. She stayed quiet and walked.We hit the stairs down and I took them two at a time. I didn’t look back. The square noise rose up. The scent of grilled meat and citrus cut across the cooler air. I kept my head angled like I was watching my path and not the man I could feel without seeing.“Do you want to go the long way?” Mira asked.“No.”“You sure?”“Yes.”We crossed the edge of the square. My eyes betrayed me anyway. I looked.Ellan laughed again. The blonde leaned closer, said something in his ear. He smiled. Not the one he uses on a crowd. A smaller one. Closer.My jaw locked. I didn’t change pace. I didn’t veer. I didn’t do anything I’d have to explain. I walked past with Mira at my shoulder and the bag of herbs getting heavier by the second.At the far corner I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d held. My chest hurt like I’d been running.“Keiral,” Mira said softly.“What.”“You don’t have to pretend with me.

Keiral The lab was quiet except for the hum of the machines and the soft scratching of Mira’s pen as she logged samples. Dax leaned over one of the new spectrometers Panther City had shipped in last week, muttering to himself as he tried to balance the calibration. I was bent over a tray of roots I’d sourced from the market—hibiscus, dried sandalwood, ground wolfsbane. Everything smelled sharp, bitter, the kind of scents that clung to your clothes even after you left.Mira wrinkled her nose. “This stuff stinks.”“Then don’t breathe so hard,” I said, not looking up.“You’re in a mood,” she muttered.“I’m in a lab,” I corrected. “Which means you should shut up and work.”She grumbled but went back to it. Dax shot me a look that said he wanted to laugh but knew better. I’d been short all morning. Too many tests, too many files piling up, and too many reminders that I wasn’t home in the Valley.I was halfway through grinding sandalwood when the door hissed open.Ellan.He stepped inside

Ashlyn The ride down into Dragon Valley felt endless.Stone stretched above and around us, a ribcage of dark rock lit by veins of molten glow running through the walls. Heat pressed in thick, heavy, and alive. By the time we hit the bottom, the air was damp with steam, my shirt sticking to my skin.“Jesus Christ,” Chase muttered as the doors opened, fanning his collar. “It’s like walking into a sauna run by Satan.”“Shut up,” Lechandray said, elbowing him as we stepped out into the cavern.“No, really,” Chase carried on, ignoring her. “We’ve got wolves who live in forests, panthers in shiny-ass towers, lions strutting in domes, and dragons? Dragons decided ‘hey, let’s just live in Hell.’”I snorted before I could stop myself.Curt clapped him on the shoulder. “At least you won’t freeze to death.”“Yeah, but I might cook to death,” Chase shot back. “We’re all gonna end up like rotisserie chickens by the time this is done.”The cavern stretched wider the further we went, the ground dip

Ashlyn The council chamber doors slammed shut behind us, and the heat of Dragon Valley pressed in again. The air smelled of smoke and iron, heavy enough to cling in your lungs. None of us spoke at first. Gretorian’s words were still circling like vultures. Haden stalked ahead, jaw clenched, shoulders tight. Curt muttered curses under his breath as we started down the steps, sweat slicking his neck. Chase tried to whistle but it came out cracked, so he gave up. Lechandray stayed at my side, quiet, but her eyes kept cutting toward me like she was trying to read the thoughts I wasn’t ready to share. Sheetal stirred inside me, restless, and it made my skin itch. Consort’s soul. Gretorian’s voice kept echoing. I shoved it down. We were halfway down the first terrace when shadows dropped in front of us. Dragons. Not the massive ancients perched on the higher ledges. These were young, cocky, barely older than the kids spitting flames below. Four of them, all in partial shifts—scales g