Semua Bab BETRAYED BY MY MATE CLAIMED BY HIS STEPBROTHER : Bab 71 - Bab 79

ZACH WINCHESTER…..The sun had already dipped below the horizon when Beta Draven finally called.I had been pacing my office for hours, unable to sit still. The scent of burning candles, old paper, and anger hung thick in the air. My wolf was restless, snarling beneath my skin, demanding blood.The phone rang once. I snatched it up.“Tell me did you find something?”There was a pause. I could hear the sound of a car engine in the background, wind whistling past the receiver.“Alpha… we tracked the van.”I straightened instantly. “Where?”“About twenty miles south of the border, near the abandoned quarry. But—” Draven hesitated.“But what?”“It’s gone, Alpha.”My heart froze. “Gone?”“Burned. To the ground. Whoever did this torched it completely. There’s nothing left but melted metal and ash. No fingerprints. No tire marks. No scent trail survived the fire.”For a moment, I didn’t speak. The only sound in the room was the crack of my knuckles as my fists clenched hard enough to whiten

ARIELLA DAVENPORT…..The first thing I felt was light — soft and warm, spilling across my face. Then came the ache… a deep, bruising heaviness that ran through my limbs. My throat burned when I tried to breathe, but the scent of home—lavender, wood smoke, and faint pine told me I was safe.When I opened my eyes, I saw white walls and sunlight filtering through lace curtains. The crown crest on the blanket confirmed it, I was in my father’s pack.My mother sat by my side, her eyes rimmed red but full of relief. “You’re awake,” she whispered, pressing her trembling hand to my cheek.“Mom…” My voice was hoarse. “What… happened?”Her smile faltered. “You’re safe now, that’s all that matters.”I looked around to see Zach but he wasn't in the room. “Where is Zach, Mom?” I asked.My mother hesitated, then sighed softly. “He never left, Ariella. He’s been staying in a cabin nearby since the night we brought you home. Your father… and brother—they don’t want him near you.”Her expression falt

“Why haven’t you signed the divorce papers yet, Zach?”Alpha Nathan’s cold voice crackled through the phone, laced with anger and authority.Zach’s jaw clenched as he stared out the window of his office, knuckles whitening around the phone.“Because I don’t want to divorce my wife, Alpha Nathan,” he replied firmly, his tone calm yet heavy with conviction. “You’re making a terrible mistake by trying to separate us.”Alpha Nathan scoffed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.“Don’t lecture me, boy. Do as I say or be ready to face the consequences.”Zach exhaled slowly, struggling to keep his own temper in check. “Let me ask you something, Alpha Nathan,” he began, his voice low but sharp. “If Mrs. Davenport were kidnapped by your enemies, who would you blame?”There was silence on the other end.“You’d blame yourself,” Zach continued. “You’d tear yourself apart for failing to protect her. And tell me, what would her family do? They’d take her away from you, wouldn’t they? Because you failed

ARIELLA…..The morning light slipped through the curtains like spilled gold, warming my cheek and coaxing me from sleep. The soft rhythm of steady breathing brushed against my neck, and for a fleeting moment, I lay still listening to the sound that had become my favorite lullaby.Zach’s arm was slung protectively around my waist, his body pressed close, his warmth anchoring me to a world I had almost lost. His scent cedar and smoke, with the faintest trace of the forest wrapped around me like a promise.So much had changed.So much had broken.And yet… somehow, we were here.I shifted slightly, and his fingers instinctively tightened around me, even in sleep. My heart melted. This man, the one everyone had blamed, the one who had carried guilt like a second skin, had never once stopped fighting for me.When I finally slipped out of bed, my feet touched the cool wooden floor of the little cottage we had built near the edge of the woods. Outside, the world was silent—dew glittering on w