All Chapters of The Alpha's Breeding Pet : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

**CAELAN'S POV** The hunt ended very successfully.Blood still stained my muzzle as I led my pack back through the forest, the kill carried behind us by two younger wolves. The metallic tang of it clung to the air, mixing with pine and damp earth. The sun had shifted lower, casting long shadows through the bare branches. My wolf felt satisfied. The hunt had been good, clean, the kind of release I'd needed after days of tension. Aria would still be waiting where I'd left her. As we approached the clearing, something shifted in the air. My wolf stiffened before I consciously understood why. The fur along my spine bristled, a low warning growl curling in my throat as my pace slowed. The forest had gone too quiet. No birds. No insects. Just the soft crunch of our steps and the distant rush of wind through bare branches. I lifted my nose and drew in a deep breath.The scent hit me like rot. Something foreign had entered this space. I burst into the clearing at full speed, the res

**CAELAN'S POV**Fifty marks.They wanted fifty marks for her return.It didn't make sense.Fifty marks was nothing. Less than what a decent horse would cost. Less than I'd paid for her at auction. A pittance that any Alpha could produce without straining their coffers even slightly.That was too cheap.Something was wrong. They were planning something that had nothing to do with money.I read the letter again, searching for hidden meanings in the brief, calculated words. They didn't specify a location for the exchange. They didn't even threaten what would happen if I refused.Just a price. Absurdly low. Insultingly low.What they truly wanted was to see how I'd react. That's what this was about.They wanted to test whether I'd scramble to pay immediately, proving she was worth more than I claimed. Or whether I'd refuse, confirming she meant nothing and could be disposed of without consequence. Or whether I'd negotiate, showing weakness they could exploit.Every possible response gave

**CAELAN'S POV**The forest moved around me in patterns I'd recognized from years ago. The scent of pine resin sharp in the cold air, mixing with damp earth and decaying leaves beneath my feet. This was my territory, mapped in my bones from countless patrols, countless hunts.The scent from the letter pulled me forward with certainty, leading exactly where I'd calculated it would.The old ruins.I hadn't been there in years, not since the last pack wars that had forced me to navigate every corner of my territory. The structure had been abandoned even then, stone walls crumbling under time's weight. Moss grew thick between ancient stones, and ivy had claimed the eastern wall entirely, choking what remained of carved symbols I could no longer read.My wolf pressed against my skin, wanting to surge forward and tear apart anything between me and what had been taken. My jaw ached from clenching, teeth grinding together as I forced control over instinct that demanded blood.I wasn't here f

**ARIA'S POV** I stood frozen in the middle of Caelan's chambers, my heart hammering against my ribs. What now? The question circled in my mind as I stared at the closed door. I took a hesitant step towards it, then stopped. Wait. It wasn’t Caelan’s deep, commanding tone that usually filled these halls. This voice was lighter. Sharper. Female. At first, I thought I must have been imagining it. My mind playing tricks after everything that had happened. Exhaustion could do strange things to a person's perception. Maybe I was hearing servants in the hallway. But then the voice came again, louder, edged with irritation. “I know you’re in there!” My pulse jumped violently. That was real. And it was meant for me. Before I could decide what to do, a heavy knock slammed against the door. Not hesitant. Not polite. Not the careful, apologetic tap of a servant afraid to disturb their Alpha's property. A knock that assumed authority. That expected to be answered. That demanded resp

**ARIA'S POV**The silence that followed Lysandra's declaration felt like death itself.I stood frozen in the center of the chamber, my heart hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat, in my temples, in every pulse point throughout my trembling body. The words hung in the air like smoke, suffocating everything they touched.She must die.Three words delivered with such calm certainty that they felt more like an inevitability than a threat."The accusation is grave," one of the elderly men on the dais said finally, his voice measured and careful. "Witchcraft is not a charge we take lightly."Hope flickered weakly in my chest. Maybe he would demand evidence. Maybe there were rules here, procedures that would give me a chance to defend myself properly."However," he continued, and that single word extinguished the hope before it could fully take root, "the signs Lady Lysandra describes are troubling. The Alpha's behavior has been increasingly unusual.”A second council member nodded