All Chapters of Alora's Windsong: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Everyone knew that Friday night was pizza and movie night. Blaise and Sam had just hooked up the new sixty-five-inch wide screen TV in our den. Alpha had bought it for us for passing our finals. He even added surround sound. Movie night just got an upgrade.Blaise was on the phone trying to order the pizzas, but everyone wanted something different. I wanted a combo with pineapple. Everyone but Blaise groaned, “Ewe.” “Good, more for us,” we smiled. Beth yelled from the kitchen, “Cheesy bread! Lots of cheesy bread!”“Don’t forget the drinks,” Dad said as he handed Blaise his credit card.Jenna was handing out blankets and pillows, and she made a pallet for Storm next to me. He had all his toys and his sippy cup. Rudy was swatting at his stuffed fox.It didn’t take long for the food to arrive, and we had already picked out a scary movie. Our condo was warm and peaceful that evening. Soft light glowed from the lamps, and the scent of melted cheese and garlic filled the air. The movie h

The next day, the figure dressed in all black came.Jake had been waiting for him.The man moved down the corridor with the lazy rhythm of someone who’d done the same job for years. He pushed a mop bucket that squeaked with every turn of the wheel, the smell of bleach thick in the air. His uniform was the same dull black as the others, but there was something different about him. His steps were too careful. His eyes stayed low, yet every movement was deliberate, measured.Even the way he breathed sounded wrong, controlled, as if he were timing it.When he stopped at their cell, Jake leaned forward. The man bent slightly, pretending to wring the mop, then slipped a folded note beneath the bars. The paper landed soundlessly on the concrete.Jake’s grin returned. He crouched low, whispering for the man to wait.The cleaner didn’t look up. “Not here,” he muttered, his voice rough and quiet, like gravel dragged over steel.Jake moved closer to the bars. “Just a word.”Their voices dropped

Rain hammered against the windshield as the wipers swept back and forth, cutting through the dark. Ryker drove in silence, eyes fixed on the twisting mountain road ahead. Beside him, Cline sat quietly, his cuffs removed, his expression unreadable.Neither spoke for several miles. The hum of the Hummer’s engine was the only sound between them.“You took a risk,” Ryker finally said, his voice low. “That could’ve gone sideways.”Cline smirked faintly. “I knew what I was doing. Jake was too greedy to resist pie.”Ryker’s mouth curved slightly, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. “He’s gone, then?”Jake just looked at him, that mission-accomplished look. Ryker nodded once. “Good. One less snake in the grass. Did he say anything before it happened?”Cline stared out the window, watching the trees blur by. “Yeah. He was still running his mouth even at the end. Said she promised to set him free once the portal opened.”“The old witch,” Ryker muttered.Cline nodded. “He called her his Mother

Cline wasn’t nervous; he didn’t get nervous, but this was different.He had led men into enemy fire, broken necks in silence, and walked out of hell alive. Yet standing across from Mara, watching her tuck one loose curl behind her ear as she waited for him to speak, he realized he had no training at all for this.They ate on the balcony of his room. The round stone table had been laid out by the house staff, A fresh white cloth, with plates and silverware. The bread was still steaming, Scrambled eggs and Hot cakes drizzled with butter and syrup, dark berries served in hand-carved bowls. A cold glass of milk for each of them with a copper kettle of coffee that sat between them, still hissing with heat.Mara’s fingers brushed the rim of her coffee cup as she lifted it, and Cline watched her small movements with the intensity of a man memorizing a map before battle, as she drank.Savage stirred low in his chest. *Easy,* Savage said, half-amused. *She’s not the enemy.*Cline ignored him

They chose the meadow below the south ridge, where the pines opened to sky and the mountain listened. Kira arrived first and laid her wards, shaped like ancient stones, forming a wide, silent circle that encompassed the entire clearing. The veil that rose from them bent light and sound until the world outside could no longer see inside.When Thorn stepped into the circle, the air itself shifted. Power rode in with him like a silent stormfront. His ash-colored cloak skimmed the grass behind him, and his antlered shadow rose tall at his back, a second crown that moved as if it had a life of its own.He took his place at the center, facing his beloved granddaughter. He smiled. She looked just like her mother.Mara stood before him, chin lifted, her long red curls stirring in the breeze as if recognizing their bloodline before her voice could. She did not tremble; she belonged there. There was courage in the set of her shoulders, and something older than fear in her gaze.Cline stood at h