Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Cursed Alpha’s Daughter: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 29

Of course nothing was settled in the many minutes that followed.Wine flowed. Plates clattered.Then the dancers arrived. A break of some sort.A dozen vampire courtesans swept across the marble floor, veiled in silks the color of bruised roses. Their movements were as fluid as falling water, their steps a practiced seduction designed to mesmerize. And beneath the beauty—something sharp. Predatory. Terrifying.They didn't dance as unbridled as the wolves in Vargrheim. Every dance I'd ever been to was filled with energy and madness to the drum beats.I watched, and for a second my chest felt hollow with the sight of it. Something told me they were more than just dancers—they could kill efficiently if need be.Drums here pulsed low. A flute wept a thin, eerie lament.After much apprehension and annoyance on my side, one of the human kings rose, his goblet lifted. “May this be the first of many peaceful dawns,” he intoned, his voice carrying through the music.Unnecessary words.Queen N

The walk back through Sanghana was nothing like the arrival.No warm air, no glimmering lanterns that felt like wonder.Only silence. Heavy. Punishing.No one spoke as we descended the endless bone steps. The cold bit sharper now, pressing through cloak and skin. The vampires watching from balconies didn’t even bother to hide their sneers this time.Elio’s jaw was locked so tight I could hear his teeth grind.Quinn’s eyes were storm clouds.Ezekiel muttered prayers under his breath that sounded suspiciously like curses....for me.And we were on foot.No horses. No escort. Just the sound of our boots echoing through the streets, the faint hiss of our breath, and the weight of a thousand unseen eyes trailing behind us.I’d thought I could breathe again once we left that damned hall.I was wrong.The air here wasn’t just cold—it was stifling.Like the whole city wanted us gone but also wanted to watch us crawl out instead of how high our heads were now.Isolde eventually came to walk be

The moment they dragged me inside, I knew.It wasn’t a room anymore. Quinn’s quarters had been stripped bare and turned into a council chamber. Maps were pinned to the walls. A lantern swung low above the table, casting warped shadows on every face.And in the center—resting on a stand of blackwood—sat the orb.That damned glass.The air was tight, heavy. No one spoke as I was shoved forward.I stumbled but caught myself. My boots scraped against the boards.My eyes went first to Elio.He didn’t look up. His hands were braced on the table, jaw set. His eyes—red. Not from anger. From something worse. Shame.My stomach sank.Quinn stood beside him, arms folded, somber.The elders flanked them in a perfect half-circle: Ezekiel, North, Torah—all wearing the same look. Disappointment, merciless, sharp and deliberate.And there was no sign of Isolde.That couldn’t be good.The silence stretched until I swore I could hear my pulse echoing in my ears.Then the orb pulsed once.Light spilled

My tears soon dried in the biting cold air.The pistol was cold against my palm.My last defense. My last chance.I'd never killed before but apparently I had no squabbles with it when it came down to me being a prisoner to the undead.I raised it, aimed for the nearest vampire’s head, and fired.The shot split the night apart—but they were faster than sound. One blurred aside, the bullet carving air instead of flesh. I fired again. Missed again.The third time, the one I tore his flesh with my teeth caught my wrist mid-shot. His grip snapped bone before I could even scream.White-hot pain seared up my arm. I staggered back, clutching the useless limb to my chest.It would heal.They didn’t advance. They just stood there, pale faces gleaming under the moonlight, watching. I could see it in their eyes—contempt. Disgust. Loathing.“You’ll have to kill me first,” I gasped, aiming again with my good but shaking hand. My voice shook, but I forced it steady. “The only way I’m getting in t

The air grew colder the closer we rode to the Keep. I didn’t even realize I’d been holding my breath until my vision went spotty. I let it out slow and leaned my forehead against the silver bars. The metal was freezing. Figures.I let the world blur around me as hooves clattered against stone, echoing off buildings that looked too perfect and uniform to be real. The air smelled like incense and sea salt and something else… something sharp.Blood. Old blood.Holy place, my ass.Mafos, the goblin, had long shed whatever fear he’d once had of me. He’d been chattering beside my cage since, going on about where we were headed. I suspected it was less about me and more about how no one else wanted to listen. Vasska certainly didn’t.I, ever the cooperative captive, responded with my polite little ohhs and ahhs.Mafos made the city sound like paradise.And then it rose before us — vast, cold, and beautiful — like something sculpted from a nightmare, as everything in Erevar tended to be.Hal