All Chapters of THE MATE HE COULDN'T CLAIM : Chapter 21 - Chapter 27

Chapter 21 Flame and FrostPOV: Adelina McKennaFire cleanses.But frost remembers.That’s what Mama Oya whispered to me as I stood at the mouth of the ember chamber the next morning, watching the man who once rejected me now sleep beneath sacred flame.Daxon Reyes former Alpha of the Silver Fang pack, once heir to a legacy soaked in blood was now just a man with nowhere to run.And I didn’t know whether to mourn him or use him.Maybe both.The Hollow Moon wolves didn’t take kindly to his presence.Especially not Asha.She met me near the edge of the crater where the temple once stood, arms crossed, her breath fogging in the chill dawn.“You let him live,” she said flatly.“I did.”“You let him in.”“Yes.”She stepped closer. “He severed you.”“Not completely.”“Don’t make excuses for him.”I met her eyes. “I’m not. I’m making use of him.”A pause.That gave her just enough doubt to hold her tongue.But I could still feel the heat behind her glare.“He carries Silver Fang blood,” she

Chapter 23 Sylvia’s Cold Truth POV: SYLVIA The world looked better from above.Sylvia Reyes had always known that.From the east-facing terrace of the Silver Fang estate, Aspen sprawled below her like a docile pet gleaming rooftops, ribboning streets, and, beyond it all, the jagged winter peaks. This high up, the air was thin and biting, but it sharpened her mind.A cup of perfectly brewed black tea steamed in her hands. She let it warm her fingers, even as the rest of her body sat poised, unyielding, in the tall-backed chair.Control the view, she thought. Control the game.The Silence Between Mother and SonDaxon hadn’t spoken to her in three days.Not since their last argument in the council chamber, when he’d dared to accuse her of manipulating the pack’s archives. He had stood there in front of the elders her son, her heir and all but called her a liar.In some ways, Sylvia almost admired his courage. He’d inherited that streak of steel from her.But he hadn’t yet learned the

Chapter 25Discovery of the SealPOV: ADELINAThe deeper we walked into the tomb beneath what remained of the Ember Shrine, the colder the magic became.This place wasn’t just dead it was sealed. Shut tight by something ancient. Older than Hollow Moon. Older than the Council. Maybe even older than the Flameborn themselves.The air was heavy with static and silence. Every breath echoed. Every step felt like trespass.“Still think this was a good idea?” Caleb whispered, brushing cobwebs off an archway carved with runes neither of us could read.“No,” I said. “But it feels like a necessary one.”Asha trailed behind us, sword drawn, eyes alert. She didn’t speak. Her silence was its own kind of trust or warning. I hadn’t decided which yet.The shrine had once been a place of lunar offerings. That much was clear from the stone rings, the dried moonroot vines hanging from the corners, and the central pit that led down into the underchambers, where Matrons once came to bury their relics.This

Chapter 27 An Unspoken NameThe moon hung low that night, a pale coin suspended in the darkness, glinting off the frost that crept across the eaves of the cabin. I could smell the forest stretching for miles, heavy with pine and wet earth, yet there was something else threading through the air a scent that twisted in my gut, familiar and unwelcome. It was faint, like the memory of smoke after a fireI had been at the desk for hours, hunched over the scraps of parchment and digital files I’d been given by the Seer’s courier, cross-referencing them with the journal my mother had hidden for me. Every page smelled faintly of lavender and old paper. My eyes burned from staring at the curling script, but the words were stubborn, like they knew I wasn’t ready for them yet.It all kept circling back to one entry, written in my mother’s neat, deliberate hand. A warning. A name partially blotted out by a spill, or maybe erased on purpose. Only the first letter remained: C.It shouldn’t have me