All Chapters of Marked by the Alpha: Blood Oath: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

AlaricThe courier’s words amuse me. They’re certainly not a surprise. Ronan Vale’s message is as predictable as snow in winter, but I savor it anyway.He wants a meeting. He dares to ask that I open my halls, that I grant him audience. He offers no tribute, no apology, no terms of surrender. Only the arrogance of a wolf who believes himself beyond consequence.He even lists the names of those he’ll bring. Mara, Hazel, Jace… and Eli.The boy who should already be mine. The Omega with the gift that will crack the world wide open, if I can pry it from his stubborn hands.I let the parchment curl in the fire until it blackens and falls to ash.“Ronan thinks he has a plan,” I say, my voice echoing through the vaulted chamber. “But the fact that he comes with so few tells me everything. He believes himself untouchable. He believes I’ll honor the pretense of civility.”Corin sits across from me, smirking. “He’s overconfident. He brings his mate to Silvercrest as if that doesn’t hand you a w

EliHe pulls me to my feet. Kneeling to standing isn’t graceful when your hands are tethered and your legs are shaking and the whole world is a moving target of sensation, but the rope helps and his hand at my hip helps more. He backs me up a step so the rune at my feet matches the one over my heart and I can feel the old lines under my soles.“Feet wider,” he says, and I obey because I love what happens to his breath when I do.Oil ghosts my skin when he lubricates his fingers. As if I’m not already drenched with my own slick. The first press is careful, the second less so, and the third makes me forget my own name and remember his like it’s the only word I was ever meant to say. The beads become a wicked echo of his hand, teasing when he crooks and finds the place that makes my knees blur. He doesn’t give me the mercy of a rhythm. He teases, withdraws, drives me to the edge of the cliff and lets me see over, then pulls me back by the collar with a hand that doesn’t move.“Not yet,

RonanWe’ve been running since dawn and every stride brings the walls of Silvercrest closer. Every heartbeat drums one word through me. Eli.Kieran runs beside me in wolf form until the trees thin, then he slows and shifts, his breath sending steam rising in the air. “We need to talk,” he says. His voice is hoarse from disuse. He hasn’t spoken much since we left Blackthorn.I nod and change, watching as the others slow down when they catch up to us. We find shelter under an overhang streaked with icicles. It smells of cold and moss, neutral ground.Kieran drags a hand through his hair, leaving it wild. “You should go ahead without me. I’ll find a way into the keep and hide until you give the signal.”I’ve been thinking about that part of the plan and it leaves Kieran alone and unprotected. Gods know when I turned into such a sappy softy, but I don’t want him in danger and separated from the rest of us.“You go in with us,” I tell him. “Tell your father you’ve convinced me to compromi

AlaricEverything in Silvercrest must gleam, especially when I intend to kill beneath it.The great hall burns bright with a hundred candles, silver catching every flame until the air itself looks molten. I chose the setting carefully. Beauty makes people careless. It also reminds them who owns the light.Kieran stands at my right hand, stiff as a sword left too long in frost. He smells of foreign snow and guilt. My son returns with wolves at his heel and calls it peace. He should have stayed gone if he meant to keep his dignity and his life.Ronan Vale sits opposite me, shoulders like walls, eyes like midnight iron. His size would be imposing if I didn’t have the numbers on my side.He wears weariness well. It’s almost convincing, but I can taste the patience in him, the kind that hides violence. The omega sits beside him, collared, elegant, pretending not to feel the room’s weight. Pretty, in a raw way. Power waiting to be polished into submission. The mistake most Alphas make is

RonanI wait in the guest hall, armor half-undone, sword resting across my knees, the door wide open. The fire’s been banked to embers. Each one glows like an open eye. I haven’t moved in hours. If I breathe too loud, I might miss a sound.Mara sits a few paces away, back against the wall, one knee raised, her knife balanced on it. She hasn’t spoken since Eli left. She knows there’s nothing to be said. Nothing that will calm the screaming panic in my head. I ordered Jace and Hazel to get some sleep. All of us can’t be useless tomorrow. Kieran offered to wait with me and I glared at him until he left. Mar