Semua Bab The Alpha king and the Hunt: Bab 21 - Bab 30

Aria’s POV Kaelen was so annoying. The kitchens were a cave of warmth at this hour. We’d finished the last of the evening pots and the clatter of serving had faded hours ago. I liked the quiet, the way heat thinned the edges of grief and left only work. It made thinking too much manageable—if thinking ever was. Tonight, only three of us remained: my mother with a basket of herbs, a girl named Mara finishing the last loaves, and me. Word had gone out for the others to sleep; Kaelen’s orders for strict silence after the day’s alarms kept most of the wolves to their rooms so it meant we were alone, just the three of us. Then Serena came in, I should have heard her before she entered, her footsteps were always too confident and her presence was like a blade that found its mark. But the kitchen’s steam smothered noise into softness, and I was bent over a table when she leaned in like a shadow, the scent of her perfume sharp and intrusive. “Look at you,” she said, her voice casual

Aria’s POV.... The council chamber smelled like smoke and some other scent I couldn’t name. Torches flickered along the carved stone walls, throwing tall shadows across the circular hall where Kaelen’s council gathered. I had never stood in this place before, never felt the heavy weight of so many eyes on me at once, a meeting was called and I was asked to stand here. Kaelen sat at the head of the table, his chair more like a throne than a seat, it was crafted from Blackwood and iron. Varric stood at his shoulder, calm but watchful, while Lyra and Kael his shadows remained near the walls, silent as statues. Around the room, Kaelen’s high-ranking wolves filled the benches: commanders, elders and a council of female wolves, women with sharp eyes and sharper tongues. And then there was Damien. The Alpha sat with his Beta(my dad) at his side, both of them stiff-backed and both radiating disapproval. He was still bandaged, the wound on his chest was healing slowly but his pride had

Kaelen….. Aria was infuriating and beautiful and strong and also very feisty, the import thing was I knew she was my mate I felt the pull during the hunt and it wasn't just because of her heat but she doesn't know that and she is the mate to Damien Storm The Moon goddess hardly gives second mates, hardly, so what could be going on, just then my door opened and I saw Varric “Alpha We found something in the woods” he said I got up and followed him out, lyra and kael were there already , we walked into the forest and we got to a huge clearing, I saw a dead pup “What am I looking at?” I asked “We found bite marks on him from a fang” Lyra said and my wolf growled “Did you see anything else?“ I asked “We looked around and saw three different footprints” Kael said “Two belonged to men and one was tiny and a footprint of a woman” Lyra said “Aria was in this woods with Damien” I said Don’t judge me, I knew because my spies had told me, I had people looking out for her when I

Aria… By the time I stumbled into the house, every bone in my body felt like it was made of stone. Training with Father and Elias had wrung me dry, my arms trembled, my legs shook, and my stomach growled like a wild beast. “Food first,” I muttered, collapsing at the kitchen table. Mother had left a pot of stew in the kitchen and some rice, I didn’t even bother with manners, I ladled a bowl, and ate as if I hadn’t seen food in weeks. The warmth filled me, heavy and soothing, dragging my eyelids lower with each bite. I barely remembered crawling into bed, the last thing I felt was the cool linen against my cheek… and then I slipped away. The dream came suddenly. I stood in the middle of a moonlit field. The grass shimmered like silver, and the air carried a quiet hum, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Ahead of me stood a woman cloaked in light, her hair spilling down her back like liquid starlight, her eyes glowing silver. I froze. “Who are you?” Her voice was li

Aria......I stared at the parchment until the black ink seemed to blur and twist like it was mocking me. My pulse hammered in my ears, drowning out the shuffle of feet and the soft murmurs of the crowd watching us from the gallery above and below, everyone was looking excited while my chest was in knots.The words were simple enough, and yet they clawed at me.“I am taken from a mine, locked in a wooden case, never released, and yet almost every soul uses me. What am I?”It was the first of three riddles, written in curling script across the parchment, each line more cryptic than the last.My throat tightened. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Serena’s words rang in my head, sharp and venomous. She chooses toys. Giselle’s delicate smirk lingered in my memory, her spear glinting like a promise. Matilda had looked like a warrior born, her axe resting against her shoulder as if she’d been raised with it in her hand.And me? I was sitting cross-legged on the floor with parchment in my lap, t