All Chapters of The Alpha’s Claiming Bite : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The morning after the council meeting, Blackwood was a wound trying to heal. Ash still drifted in the air, clinging to the trees, the stones, the wolves who passed with eyes too tired to be sharp. Every breath carried the weight of what we’d lost. Every sound felt heavy with ghosts.I stood at the edge of the training yard, my boots sinking into packed dirt stained with yesterday’s blood. Wolves sparred in pairs, their movements fluid and brutal, claws flashing, teeth snapping. Others fought in human form, trading blows with fists and blades. They moved with a lethal grace that made me ache with both awe and dread.I didn’t belong here. Not in their ring. Not in their world. My bones still remembered the fire of Kade’s bite, my neck still thrummed with a phantom throb when the wind brushed my skin. But the mark wasn’t just memory. It pulsed. It burned. It tied me here, to him. To all of this.“Move your feet or you’ll be dead before the first strike.”His voice rolled over me before I

The river still clung to me.Hours later, the taste of it lingered on my tongue, bitter and metallic, like the echo of fear I couldn’t wash away. My skin smelled of pine and cold stone, but underneath it all was Kade—the Alpha’s heat, the press of his hand on my throat, the command that still echoed in my chest.You’re mine in the water. You’re mine in the wild. And before long—you’ll be mine everywhere.I wrapped my arms around myself as we moved deeper into the forest, branches slapping against my shoulders, roots biting into my bare feet. My clothes clung damp against my skin, each step a reminder that he’d forced me into the river, forced me to trust him when trust was the last thing I wanted to give.And yet—I’d survived.Not because of my strength. Because of him.That truth burned worse than the cold.Kade walked ahead, his stride unyielding, predatory grace in every step. The moon caught on his wet hair, silver threading through the dark strands. He didn’t glance back, not onc

The forest had fallen silent.Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as Kade guided me back toward the keep. My legs still trembled from the trial, my chest burned with exhaustion, and every nerve in my body hummed with the raw, electric pulse of the bond he had awakened.I wanted to collapse, to let the earth swallow me whole, but Kade’s hand at the small of my back was firm, unwavering. He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. Every step he took said one thing: You belong to me now, and I will not let you fall.The moonlight spilled over his shoulders, highlighting the hard lines of his body, wet from the sweat and blood of the fight. My throat constricted. I had survived, but barely, and somehow, every glance he cast at me reminded me that my life wasn’t entirely my own anymore.Whispers followed us.I could feel them brushing past me, curling around my spine. Wolves who had watched me fight with jaws slackened and claws retracted now muttered under their breath, the words like poison

The forest was alive.Not with birdsong or the rustle of wind, but with the pulse of life beneath the canopy—predators moving unseen, scents layering the damp earth, the metallic tang of blood lingering in places I couldn’t identify. Every step we took made the ground hum beneath my boots, and I realized I was listening to things I had never heard before: the soft padding of wolves on fallen leaves, the subtle snap of distant branches, the low murmur of creatures hidden in the shadows.Kade moved ahead of me, body taut, senses alert. The bond throbbed in my veins, an invisible tether linking my awareness to his. It was disorienting at first—the forest seemed too vivid, every sound and scent amplified—but it also made me sharper, faster. I could feel his intent as if it were my own, a shared rhythm guiding us forward.“This is your first hunt,” Kade said, his voice low, steady. “Your task isn’t to fight—yet. Observe. Move. Blend. Let your instincts guide you, but don’t let them consume

The safehouse was quiet, almost unnaturally so. Outside, the forest whispered, leaves rustling with the subtle movement of unseen creatures. Inside, the air was thick with tension, sweat, and the faint coppery tang of blood. My muscles ached, every limb heavy from the ambush, but the bond pulsed through me, sharp and insistent, reminding me that exhaustion didn’t mean safety.Kade moved silently through the room, checking each squad member, his eyes gold and molten in the dim light. His touch was precise, almost clinical, yet undeniably possessive. When he approached me, I felt the fire of the bloodmark throb, a constant, burning reminder of what I was now—a weapon, claimed, and tethered to him in ways I was only beginning to understand.“You pushed too hard,” he murmured, brushing his fingers over my shoulder. “The bond can guide you, Lena, but you must learn its limits. Strength without control is as dangerous as weakness.”“I… I didn’t feel weak,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I felt…