All Chapters of The Alpha's concubine mate : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The night had fallen silent again. Too silent.Cole knelt in the ruin of the crypt, the air thick with smoke and the lingering scent of scorched magic. The red mist that had swallowed Lila shimmered faintly in the dim light, swirling around her body like a living thing.“Lila…” he whispered, brushing a trembling hand against her cheek. Her skin was cold—too cold.Her chest rose once, then stilled.“No, no, no…” Cole’s voice cracked as he shook her gently. “Don’t you dare.”He pressed his forehead against hers, his wolf clawing within him in panic. His pulse thundered as he poured his strength into her, calling her name again and again.A spark. A tremor.Her eyes shot open—but they weren’t hazel anymore.They glowed crimson, like blood caught in fire.Cole jerked back, heart hammering. The air around her pulsed, charged with a power that wasn’t hers. Her body rose from the ground, weightless, the red mist coiling around her like a crown.“Lila?” His voice broke the silence, cautious,

The forest no longer breathed.Even the wind dared not whisper through the trees as Lila stumbled through the hollow paths, barefoot and dazed. The moon hung above her like a bleeding eye—unmoving, eternal. She could not tell if she had been walking for hours or days. Every sound felt wrong. Every heartbeat echoed twice, once inside her chest and once far away, like a shadow following too closely.“Cole?” Her voice cracked against the silence. “Cole, where are you?”No answer. Only the distant hum of something that did not belong to this world.Her palms were stained with dark earth. There were gaps—whole fragments of time she couldn’t recall. The last thing she remembered was the temple collapsing, the flare of red light, and Cole shouting her name. After that… nothing. A void. And then, she woke up, surrounded by glowing roots and a faint pulse of power deep in the ground, like a heart buried beneath her feet.Her own heartbeat stuttered in response.Lila pressed a trembling hand to

The first thing Lila felt was silence. Not the comforting kind, but the heavy, breathing stillness that presses against the skull. The world was dim and silver, the air shimmering like glass. She lay on a bed of cold moss beneath a sky that never changed—black as ink, pierced by a full blood-red moon that refused to move. Her head throbbed. Every sound felt distant, as if she were underwater. She tried to sit up. The forest around her wasn’t the one she knew. It was older—too still, too symmetrical, like it had been painted from memory rather than grown. The trees rose in spirals, their bark glowing faintly with veins of blue light. There were no birds, no insects, no breath of wind. Only that endless, crimson moon. “Where… am I?” she whispered, but the words echoed twice—once from her lips, once from somewhere behind her. When she turned, she saw herself. Or rather, a version of herself. The same face, the same hair, but her double’s eyes were darker, colder, and her skin glo

Darkness breathed.Not empty, not cold — but alive. The air shimmered with the faint hum of energy, and Lila felt herself suspended in it, as though the world itself was exhaling her name.Her body was weightless. Her thoughts drifted like fragments of smoke, chasing half-remembered whispers. Then — a pulse. Slow, rhythmic, echoing through the dark like the heartbeat of the earth.When her eyes opened, she was no longer in the clearing.The fog had lifted, replaced by moonlight spilling through silver leaves. Before her stretched a vast field of ash and flowers — black petals dusted in starlight. And in the center of it all stood the First Tree, whole and radiant, not yet twisted by decay. Its branches glowed faintly, dripping with light that looked almost like tears.Lila took a step forward, bare feet brushing petals that crumbled into sparks. Her heart thundered, but it wasn’t fear this time. It was recognition.“This place…” she whispered. “I’ve been here before.”“You never left,

The first light of dawn filtered through the dense canopy, scattering gold and silver across the forest floor. Lila’s bare feet pressed against the damp moss, grounding her after the storm of the curse. The world was quiet, almost fragile, like it had been holding its breath and finally exhaled.Cole sat beside her on a fallen log, his hands wrapped around his knees, staring into the distance. The glow in his eyes had returned to its familiar golden warmth, but he looked… tired. Not just physically, but like the weight of centuries of battles had pressed down onto his shoulders all at once.“Cole,” Lila whispered, her voice soft, hesitant. She stepped closer, hands brushing his forearm. “Are you… okay?”He exhaled slowly, turning to look at her. The intensity in his gaze made her heart flutter — both with relief and fear. Relief because he was still him. Fear because the echoes of the curse still lingered. “I… I think I am,” he admitted, though the stiffness in his jaw betrayed him. “