Semua Bab The Alpha's dirty game: Bab 111 - Bab 120

~RAELIYA~ Three days had passed since Kaelric had held me in his study and promised me he wouldn't let go. Three days since I'd felt his arms around me and believed that we would find another way, three days of nothing.He was avoiding me again. He left for training before I woke up. He took meals in his study with the door closed. When we passed in the hallways, he barely glanced at me, and if I tried to speak, he found an excuse to walk away.The mark on my neck burned constantly now. I told myself it was because he was struggling, but the voice in my head grew louder with each passing day.I found him in the training yard that afternoon. He was alone, which was rare, sweat soaked through his shirt, and his muscles strained with each movement, and he looked so fierce and so distant that I almost turned around, but I didn't. I couldn't."Kaelric."He didn't stop. "Kaelric, please."Still nothing. I stepped into his path.He stopped then, his chest heaved, his eyes wild, and for a m

~KAELRIC~I woke up on the floor of my study but I didn't remember falling asleep or remember lying down. One moment I was sitting at my desk, staring at the same papers I'd been pretending to read for hours, and the next I was on the ground, my cheek pressed against the cold wood, and my body too heavy to move.I lay there for a long time, listening to my own heartbeat. It sounded slower and weaker than it should be.When I finally forced myself to sit up, the room spun. I grabbed the edge of the desk and held on until it stopped. My hands looked strange, paler than usual, the veins too visible under the skin. I lifted one and ran it through my hair, and when I brought it back down, there were silver strands wrapped around my fingers.They were more than yesterday, more than the day before.I stumbled to the mirror on the wall and forced myself to look.The man staring back at me was a stranger. My eyes were sunken, with dark circles that looked like bruises. My skin had lost its col

~KAELRIC~I made it back to the mansion before my legs gave out.The walk from the forest felt like it took hours. Every step required concentration, which required me to remind my body that it wasn't allowed to stop yet. Raeliya stayed close to me the whole way, her hand in mine, her worried eyes darting to my face every few seconds.I kept my expression neutral and my grip steady.Dante fell into step on my other side, saying nothing, but I felt his eyes on me. He knew, he always knew.The mansion stood ahead, and I focused on it like a dying man focuses on water, just a little further. Just a few more steps.We reached the doors. Raeliya squeezed my hand. "I'll get you some food. You need to eat after that fight.""I'm fine."She gave me a look that said she didn't believe me, but she let go and headed toward the kitchens. I watched her go, and the moment she disappeared around the corner, I grabbed the door frame to keep from falling.Dante was there instantly, his arm around my w

~KAELRIC~Two days had passed since Morgan disappeared, and the pack was still on edge.I stood at the window of my study, watching the patrols move along the tree line. The attack during the hunt, then Morgan's disappearance, then the strange wolves at the border, it was too much to be coincidence.Someone was playing games, I just didn't know who yet.A knock pulled me from my thoughts. Dante entered before I could answer, his expression troubled."We need to talk."I turned from the window. "What now?""Chase." Dante moved further into the room, keeping his voice low. "He's asking questions about the attack. He's digging."I frowned. "Digging into what?""The assassins, where they came from and who sent them." Dante paused. "He went to see the bodies this morning and spent an hour examining them."That made me pause. Chase had no reason to investigate the attack so thoroughly. Unless he suspected something or he knew something."Could he be looking for proof that his mother was inv

~KAELRIC~ Three more attacks came in the following week. Each time, the strange wolves struck fast and retreated faster. They never engaged fully, never tried to push deep into our territory. They just... tested, probed and probed for weaknesses. The pack grew restless, whispers started and questions about why this was happening, who was behind it, whether we were safe. I had no answers to give them. Raeliya stayed close to me through all of it. She trained harder, pushing herself in ways I hadn't seen before. Her wolf was stirring, I could feel it, even if she couldn't access it yet. There was strength in her, buried deep, waiting to break free. I just hoped I'd be alive to see it when it did. "Kaelric." Dante's voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up from the maps spread across my desk. He stood in the doorway, his expression troubled. "Chase is gone." I straightened. "Gone where?" "I don't know. He left at sunset and told the guards he was patrolling the eastern bor