Lahat ng Kabanata ng Claimed by Three Alphas, Fated to One: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

Adrian’s POVLater, when the night stretched too thin and even Caleb stopped talking strategy, I lay in the guest room staring at the ceiling. The pendant burned against my chest again like it wanted me to move. My body was exhausted, but my head was running like a storm.I thought about my mother. About the way she braided my hair in silence some mornings, hands fast, precise, no wasted motion. I thought about how she always knew when someone was watching from the street, how she never liked leaving lights on at night. All the little things that used to feel like quirks. They weren’t quirks. They were survival.A quiet knock hit the door.Before I could answer, it opened. Derek crept in like a shadow that wouldn't go away. His shirt hung off one shoulder, his hair was messy, and his eyes caught the dim light. He didn't waste time making excuses. He simply closed the door behind him and leaned down, looking at me as if the stillness spoke for itself. Finally, in a raw, trembling v

Audrey’s POVThe smell of damp concrete, like mildew that no amount of bleach could remove, was always present in the underground hideout, and it hit my lungs as soon as we descended the ladder. Although it wasn't actually a house, it was the only location where no one else could see, hear, or follow us. This place was our temporary hideout since we successfully burned down the fake clinic. And it seemed as though the world above was no longer ours after tonight, after the girl in the cage, and after the fire and blood.Rina didn’t let go of me, not for once. Even when Caleb carried her down the ladder, and not when Derek slammed the hatch shut. Adrian stumbled bleeding through the door with his arm around Derek’s shoulder. Rina just clung with fingers tight in my sleeve, and her face hidden against me.As if I were the sole thing holding her to this planet. I was not sure of how to handle her. I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I would have been in that cage if things had g

Audrey’s POVIt wasn't the shallow slumber of someone who constantly jerking up, and clutching her chest like the walls were about to burst open, but this time, Rina's first deep sleep in weeks didn't appear phony. She was breathing deeply and her face was relaxed, one hand was curled beneath her cheek. I kept checking to see whether her chest was moving since it was so calm and I didn't trust anything that appeared to be peaceful.The boys didn’t look at her, though. Not for once. They only stared at me as if I were the looming disaster, and perhaps I was. But despite his best efforts to appear at ease, Caleb was leaning back in the chair with his arms crossed and his gaze focused. Adrian was pacing and rubbing his jaw as if he was undecided about whether to punch me or the wall, while Derek sat too close, as if he would grab me if I blink. They all three exuded an intolerable sense of pressure, like the room was too tight for us.And I hated how much I wanted it. How much I

Audrey’s POVI walked into the chamber where they took Derek in. My skin went tight the second the door clicked shut behind me. That sound didn’t just mean locked. It meant trapped. It may also meant game over if I fucked this up.Councilmember Marlowe was sitting at the head of the table staring at me.This is the man I’d written on the wall in jagged letters like a curse, the man whose name bled into every nightmare I’d had, since mom died. But sitting here and seeing him? He wasn’t the monster my head had made him. He was not having fangs, nor claws, even dripping darkness. He put on just…ordinary wrinkled suit, with loose tie, hair thinning like he was one stress call away from quitting his job. He looks like a random man you’d walk past in the grocery store without a second glance. Because how the fuck could someone that plain hold the power to tear my entire world in half?But his eyes was something else. Yeah. His eyes killed me because it was cold and calculating as if he

Audrey’s POVWe left after burning down the council chamber and the seal. We couldn't wait to confront what was coming.“Hurry, let's move” I shouted as we drove back to the safehouse.The safehouse was not well ventilated. There was no windows, the . Concrete walls was sweating damp and cold biting through the floor.We unpacked and Derek sat against the far wall like his body had just… quit. Knees up, and shoulders slumped, while his head was down. He hadn’t said a word since we dragged ourselves back here. He wouldn’t even look at me, and that, God! That was worse than claws or the way the council wanted us dead. I slid down the wall a few feet away. And close enough he knew I was there. Not close enough to piss him off. The concrete burned cold through my jeans, but I needed it. I needed to feel something that wasn’t just my chest splitting open.“You’re still breathing,” I said, voice so small it made me hate myself. “That’s something, right?”He didn’t move and d idn’t l