Semua Bab CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA PRINCIPAL : Bab 31 - Bab 40

Eden’s POVI stood frozen at the top of the escalator, the hum of the mall around me dimming beneath the weight of his stare. People brushed past me in waves, their laughter and chatter spilling like water over stones, but none of it reached me. All I felt was the tether that stretched across the distance, the one Kael had tied around me without ever asking.He had not moved. He did not need to. His stillness was its own command. His eyes were not just watching but holding, claiming, as though they alone were enough to stop me in my tracks.Claire tugged at my arm, oblivious. “Eden? Come on, you are spacing out again.”I forced my legs to move, the fabric of my skirt swishing softly against my thighs as I followed her. Each step was a betrayal of the part of me that wanted to stay rooted in place, to keep looking at him until I understood why he unsettled me so deeply. I told myself it was fear. I told myself it was wrong. But beneath the tight knot of dread, something hotter curled l

Eden’s POVThe mall lights blurred in my vision as Claire chattered beside me, her hands full of bags, her voice spilling excitement over which outfits she would wear first. I nodded when she looked at me, murmured back the right words, but none of it sank in. My pulse was still racing from the kiss that had seared my lips, from the way Kael’s body had pressed into mine, from the dark promise in his voice.I could still feel him.The phantom weight of his hand at my waist lingered like a bruise. My lips tingled as if they had been marked. Every step I took felt unsteady, as though I was walking with his eyes still fixed on me from somewhere in the crowd.Claire tugged at my arm. “Earth to Eden. Are you even listening to me?”I blinked and forced a smile. “Sorry. Just tired.”She rolled her eyes but grinned anyway. “That’s what you get for skipping half your food. I swear you’ll faint one of these days if you keep living on air and coffee.”Her teasing brushed over me like static, but

A few days later, the holiday came to an end. Eden tugged her suitcase behind her as she walked back through the gates of Crestwood Academy. The campus stood in its usual stillness, tall buildings rising against the pale winter sky, but something about them felt heavier now. The silence between the stone walls seemed too sharp, as if the air itself carried secrets she could not hear.The dormitory loomed ahead, its tall windows glowing faintly in the late afternoon light. She told herself she was ready, but her body betrayed her with a restless flutter in her chest. Life at home had been loud and distracting. Here, every step seemed to echo louder than it should.The dorm doors opened and warmth spilled out, carrying the chatter of students dragging their bags inside. Laughter and voices filled the hallways, yet Eden’s unease did not ease. She found her room and pushed the door open, greeted by the sight of Layla sprawled on her bed with her phone in hand. Layla looked up, grinning.“

The fire burned lower as the night deepened, shadows stretching long and ragged across the forest floor. The rogues settled into their positions around the clearing, sharpening blades, cleaning claws, and whispering about the blood that would one day be spilled. But Rafe did not linger. He had no interest in sitting among men who smelled of rot and desperation. His work was not done in the woods. His hunt was waiting inside the walls of Crestwood.He turned without ceremony, ignoring the way some of them glared at his back. Let them glare. They needed him more than he needed them. None of them had dared step foot within the academy. None of them could hold a smile across their lips while masking the hunger that curled behind their eyes. That was what made him dangerous. He knew how to hide. He knew how to smile while plotting a throat’s end.The forest welcomed him as he left the circle. The branches above shifted in the wind, their whispers sounding almost like voices. Rafe breathed

Kael’s POVThe forest was alive in ways most mortals would never understand. Every branch creaked like a warning, every gust of wind carried the trace of something hidden, and every shadow stretched longer than it should have under the pale light of the moon. Kael moved with a predator’s stillness, each step silent even when the earth beneath him threatened to crackle. His senses were wide open, straining to catch the faintest hint of what he sought.The shapeshifter had been near. He could feel it as clearly as he felt the thrum of his own pulse. The scent was faint, a distortion in the natural rhythm of the forest, an oil slick running through water. It made his skin crawl. And beneath it all, threaded in the sharp tang of earth and night, was something that twisted his focus in ways he did not want to admit. Eden. Her scent lingered even here, though she was nowhere near the forest. It had soaked into his instincts, refusing to release him.Kael pressed a hand against the bark of a