Semua Bab Marked in the Middle: Bab 31 - Bab 40

The night air in Viremont was heavier than usual, carrying a metallic tang that reminded Nora of blood long dried on steel. Her boots hit the cracked pavement with steady rhythm, but inside, her pulse raced. The hunt had shifted into something sharper, something that pulled her toward the city’s underbelly where whispers of the Silver Ash Pack never really died.She pulled her hood low as she approached the old courthouse ruins. It had once been a proud monument of law and order, now reduced to shadows and broken pillars—perfect for the kind of meeting she was walking into.Roman had warned her.“The Silent Council doesn’t gather unless blood is about to spill. You’re walking into a den of wolves that feed on secrets.”But Nora had no choice. The pendant, Lira’s disappearance, and the mounting evidence of betrayal all pointed here. The Silent Council—ancient werewolves who moved between packs like ghosts—held answers. And Nora wasn’t leaving until she had them.Inside, the silence was

The night in Viremont was colder than usual. A damp fog crawled over the streets like something alive, and Nora felt it sink into her bones as she tightened the jacket around herself. Her boots clicked against the cracked pavement as she followed Roman, both of them walking in silence, both carrying too many questions they didn’t yet dare to voice.The pendant pulsed faintly under her shirt, a rhythmic throb that almost matched the beat of her heart. Every time it did, she felt her wolf stir, uneasy, whispering warnings she couldn’t fully understand.Roman finally broke the silence.“They’ll come for you soon.” His voice was low, rough, the kind that carried weight because it came from someone who’d been through hell and back.Nora glanced at him, shadows stretching across his sharp jawline under the streetlamp glow. “The Silver Ash?”Roman shook his head. “Not just them. There’s someone else in play. Someone who knows more about that pendant

The air smelled like smoke and saltwater. The Ash Docks still burned behind us, fires licking the night sky like jagged claws. Every step I took felt heavier, my boots crunching over broken glass and ash. Janie limped beside me, one arm thrown over my shoulder, her weight trembling against me. Kael trailed behind, blade still slick with blood, his eyes scanning every shadow.We shouldn’t have survived. That truth pulsed through me like a second heartbeat. Too many Ash wolves, too many guns, too many burning warehouses collapsing around us—and yet somehow, we crawled out breathing. But just barely.And not without cost.“We need to move,” Kael muttered. His voice was low, clipped, the kind of voice that belonged to someone who already smelled more danger rolling in. “That fire’s going to draw every Silver Ash scout within three miles.”“I can’t—” Janie’s voice broke. She winced as her bad leg dragged uselessly, her jeans soaked in blood.“

The storm hadn’t stopped in three days.Rain hammered the roof of the half-broken train depot I’d turned into a command post, dripping through cracked beams and landing in rusty buckets I’d scavenged from the wreck yard. The air smelled of wet steel, oil, and smoke — the scent of survival. My wolves moved like shadows through the ruins, always restless, always on edge. Too many eyes on us. Too many enemies waiting for us to slip.I stood at the edge of the platform, staring at the map spread across a wooden crate. Every line, every note, every symbol carved into that paper was a reminder: war wasn’t coming. It was already here.Kael had the upper hand. He owned Elarrow. He had spies in Viremont, agents in Silver Ash, and mercenaries who didn’t care which banner they bled under so long as their coin came on time. He’d built his empire off fear and loyalty twisted into chains.But me? I wasn’t looking to rule. I wasn’t looking to wear crowns or poli

The riverbank felt like the edge of the world.Rain hammered down in sheets, turning the mud beneath my boots into sludge. My chest rose and fell hard, breath sharp in my throat, claws still dripping with blood from Kael’s men. But none of that mattered, not compared to the man standing just a few feet away.Roman Vale.He hadn’t changed. Not really. Same sharp jaw, same piercing amber eyes that saw too much, same presence that made everyone else fade into the background. Except now he wore the weight of command like armor, his wolves shadowing him, their stances taut, waiting for his signal.And me? I was caught between wanting to tear his throat out and wanting to close the distance between us.“You shouldn’t be here, Nora.” His voice cut through the rain, low and steady, like he wasn’t standing in the middle of a battlefield but in some quiet room where truths could slip between words.I bared my teeth, half-wolf still humming unde