Semua Bab THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING: Bab 81 - Bab 90

"The first rule of hunting is to know your prey, little wolf. But the first rule of survival is to know your ground."Kairi's voice was a ghost in my ear, a memory from a lifetime ago, as I picked my way down the treacherous scree slope into the Serpent's Tail Valley. The official maps were useless here, showing only blank space and the lazy curl of the river. The real map was written in the land itself—the way the wind twisted through a particular canyon, the type of lichen clinging to the sun-facing rocks, the subtle, almost imperceptible game trails used by creatures far wiser than any mapmaker. I was no scout, but I was a creature of instinct, and every fiber of my being was tuned to a single, desperate frequency: Find her.The journey was a brutal lesson in my own fragility. I, who had spent months in palaces and fortresses, was soft. My feet blistered in my worn boots. My muscles, used to council tables and throne rooms, screamed in protest at the relentless climb and descent. H

The world narrowed to the space between my daughter and me. The metallic scent of blood, the groans of the wounded, the wary presence of the warriors—it all faded into a dull hum. There was only Elisse’s face, her small features contorting as she processed Anya’s words.She was your mother.The past tense was a knife twist, but the acknowledgment was a lifeline.Elisse’s brow furrowed. She looked from Anya’s solemn face to mine, her eyes—Kairi’s eyes—searching, probing the face of the blood-streaked stranger before her. The silence stretched, thin and agonizing.“I… I have a dream sometimes,” she whispered, her voice so small it was nearly carried away by the valley wind. “Of a big, dark room with fire. And a voice… a deep voice, telling stories about the stars.”My breath hitched. Kairi. She remembered his voice.Her gaze dropped to the hunting knife still clutched in my hand. “You fought the bad men.”“Yes,” I managed, my own voice a ragged tear in the fabric of the silence.“Why?”

The word hung in the cedar-scented air, so fragile I feared it would shatter if I breathed. *Mama.* It wasn't a cry of joyous recognition. It was a question. A tentative, trembling hypothesis offered to the universe.My own breath stopped. Tears, which had been a constant companion for so long, now fell in a silent, steady stream. I didn't move. I didn't rush to grab her. I simply sat there, allowing her to observe me, to test the weight of that word between us."Yes," I whispered finally, the sound ragged with emotion. "Yes, my darling girl. I am your Mama."Her lower lip quivered, and a fresh wave of tears welled in her own eyes, but these were not tears of terror. They were tears of profound, bewildering confusion. The walls her mind had built to protect itself were crumbling, and the onslaught of returning memory was as terrifying as it was longed-for.She didn't come to me. Instead, she slowly, deliberately, opened the locket again. She looked at the painted miniature, then back

The seasons turned in a slow, steady wheel at the Warden's Keep. The summer heat gave way to the crisp gold of autumn, which surrendered to a deep, silent blanket of winter snow. My life found its rhythm in the simplicity of duty and the quiet ache of waiting. The charcoal drawing of "MamaS" was pinned above my desk, its wobbly lines a daily reminder that love, like a stubborn mountain flower, could find a way to grow in the harshest of cracks.Then, a week after the spring thaw, a different kind of messenger arrived. Not a clan runner, but a grim-faced scout from the Citadel, his horse lathered from a hard ride."My lady," he gasped, dismounting in the Keep's small courtyard. "A rider from the south. From the Stone Reach territories. He brings a demand."A cold knot tightened in my stomach. "A demand?""He claims rights to the Serpent's Tail Valley. Says it's been a disputed borderland for generations and that with Cresendo's leadership in... in question," he stumbled over the words,

The silence in the courtyard was a physical weight, thick and suffocating. The guards had lowered their crossbows, their faces a mixture of confusion and dawning, horrified recognition. They saw the ghost of their Alpha, returned as a broken beggar. I saw the man I had mourned, the father of my child, standing before me as a living monument to pain."Kairi," I finally breathed, the name a shattered thing on my lips.He flinched at the sound, as if I'd struck him. His gaze remained fixed on the dirt at his feet. "I should go," he muttered, beginning to turn, his movements clumsy and pained on his crude peg leg. "This was a mistake.""No."The word was not a command from a Regent or a plea from a lover. It was a statement of fact, as solid and unyielding as the stone of the keep itself. It stopped him in his tracks.I closed the distance between us. I didn't throw my arms around him. I didn't know if he could bear the touch. I simply stood before him, my own heart a riot of emotions too