Semua Bab The Alpha's Bargain: Bab 11 - Bab 20

By the time I stumbled back out into the rain, the afternoon had dissolved into early evening, and what had started as a gentle drizzle had become a proper downpour. Chester stood where I'd left him, water streaming off his coat, giving me the kind of reproachful look that horses seemed to perfect for occasions like this."I know," I muttered, fumbling with the reins. "I know."The money from the jewelry sales felt heavy in my coat pocket—not nearly enough to solve our problems, but enough to keep us fed and housed for a few more months. Enough to pretend we had time to figure out something better. The whiskey had painted that future in rosier colors than it probably deserved, but for the first time in weeks, I could almost believe we might find a way through this.Mount and ride. That was all I had to do. Get back on the horse and follow the road home to my family. Simple enough, even with my head spinning from too much drink and too little food.Except the rain was coming down so ha

Kieran -The scent hit me like a physical blow—human, male, reeking of desperation and cheap whiskey. But it was the location that made my vision go red around the edges. The rose garden. The one place on my entire estate that I'd marked as sacred, untouchable, mine in a way that went deeper than mere ownership.I was moving before conscious thought caught up with instinct, my body shifting from wolf to human form as I ran through the corridors of the castle. Stone floors that should have been cold against my bare feet felt warm, almost burning, as if the very foundations of my home were responding to the violation taking place in its heart.Twenty-seven years. Twenty-seven years I'd protected this place from human intrusion, kept it hidden behind walls of mist and legend and carefully cultivated fear. And now some drunken fool had stumbled through my defenses like they were cobwebs, drawn by whatever madness compelled mortals to take what wasn't theirs.The wolf in me howled for bloo

"Tell me about your daughter," I said, my voice deceptively calm while my mind raced through possibilities that felt both impossible and inevitable.Charles blinked, confusion replacing some of the terror in his expression. "Catherine? She's... she's twenty-two. Beautiful, intelligent, far too good for the circumstances we've fallen into. She's been trying to hold our family together while I..." He swallowed hard. "While I've been failing them."Twenty-two. The right age. The right situation. A daughter whose father was desperate enough to steal roses from cursed gardens, moving to a property that bordered my territory.The prophecy whispered through my mind again, more insistent now: The rose will bring her."And you thought this stolen flower would somehow help her?""I thought..." Charles looked down at the rose in his hand, its petals now stained with his blood. "I thought it might remind her that beautiful things still exist in the world. That not everything has to be about survi

The rest of the evening passed in a strange sort of suspended animation. Father bustled around the house, distributing his mysterious bounty with the manic energy of someone trying to distract himself from his own thoughts. Jamie threw himself into the excitement with the wholehearted enthusiasm only children could manage, exclaiming over sweets and new toys as if Christmas had arrived early.Mother accepted the gifts with gracious efficiency, but I caught her watching Father with the same careful attention I'd been giving him. We were both waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the truth to emerge from whatever web of half-lies and careful omissions he'd woven around his windfall.I tried to participate in the artificial cheer, tried to smile at Jamie's delight and express appropriate gratitude for the fine wool that would make warm dresses. But every time I looked at Father's hands—still trembling slightly, even hours after his return—I felt that familiar twist of dread in my stoma

Kieran -The rose sat on my desk like an accusation, its crimson petals still perfect despite being severed from its roots three days ago. I'd wrapped it in one of Lydia's lace handkerchiefs—a delicate thing embroidered with forget-me-nots that had survived twenty-seven years of careful preservation. The irony wasn't lost on me: using a token of love lost to preserve a token of love promised.But it wasn't the rose itself that held my attention. It was what the rose carried.Her scent.Every time I lifted the handkerchief to breathe in the flower's perfume, I caught traces of something else—something that made my wolf pace restlessly behind my ribs and sent heat coursing through my veins like molten gold. Human, yes, but human touched by grace. Female, young, with an underlying sweetness that spoke of innocence maintained despite hardship.Catherine.Her father had spoken her name with reverence and desperation in equal measure, and now that name echoed through my thoughts like a pray