Semua Bab The Alpha’s Unbroken Mate: Bab 31 - Bab 40

The silver cuff did not loosen.By morning, the skin beneath it was raw, blistered in angry streaks where silver kissed flesh. The healers begged me to remove it, whispering that even traitors weren’t kept in such torment. But I only shook my head.“If I take it off,” I told them, voice like broken glass, “then everything I bled for in that hall means nothing.”They looked away, ashamed, and left me in silence.Only Lucian stayed. He had prowled my chamber like a caged beast all night, refusing food, refusing sleep, his golden eyes shadowed with fury. I could feel the rage coming off him in waves not at me, but at the council, at Mirek, at the entire pack for forcing this charade.“You proved them wrong,” he said at last, low and hoarse. “They should be kneeling in apology, not whispering behind your back.”I lifted my cuffed hand, the skin beneath hissing faintly as if the silver had fused into me. “If they need my pain to keep their faith, then let them have it.”His jaw clenched. “

Snow muffled everything.The fortress courtyard was quiet that morning, hushed in a way that unsettled me. Normally, it rang with steel against steel, young wolves laughing between drills, the deep, booming calls of sentries changing watch. But that day, the snow fell too heavy, and the silence was broken only by the crunch of boots across frost.Mirek trailed behind me as always. His steps were deliberate, steady, and I could almost feel the weight of his gaze on my back.I hated the cuff that still burned my wrist. I hated how the silver bite grew worse in the cold, each pulse a reminder of the oath I had sworn, the suspicion I carried like another brand. The wolves glanced at me as I passed, their eyes darting toward the cuff, then away again, as though looking too long might infect them.But it wasn’t until the first scream that the silence truly shattered.The sound came from the western gate. Sharp. Young. A cry that tore through the air, followed by a chorus of howls that made

The next morning, the fortress bled unease.News of the southern breach still echoed through the pack’s whispers, but now a subtler current churned beneath it questions they dared not ask aloud. Why had Lucian faltered during the battle? Why had the chains broken so easily? And why, always, did the Shadow Alpha’s darkness seem to flare strongest around me?Lucian silenced the rumors with his presence, but I could feel them even when unspoken. Suspicion clung like frost to the walls.So I threw myself into training.Steel, sweat, discipline anything to quiet the fire in my blood, anything to drown the echo of the Shadow Alpha’s laughter. I joined the warriors in the yard before dawn, cuff burning, body aching, forcing myself past exhaustion. Every strike, every block, every step was a plea: Let me belong. Let me be more than his mark.Mirek was there, too, drilling the young wolves until their arms shook. His gaze slid to me often, cool and calculating. He hadn’t said a word since vowi

The fortress walls groaned under the weight of winter storms. Snow fell hard, burying the world in white silence, but inside the stronghold, unease roared like thunder. The rift widened each day, whispered loyalties pulling wolves in opposite directions.I felt it in every look that slid across me when I passed. Some full of doubt. Some of suspicion. A few, still holding to Lucian’s faith. But most were gray, uncertain. A waiting storm.Lucian did what he could. His presence was steady, his commands strong. Yet even he could not silence the quiet rebellion of eyes that drifted too easily toward Mirek.And Mirek… he did not claim leadership, but neither did he discourage it. He stood apart, tall and immovable, a pillar wolves naturally leaned toward when everything else shook.I tried not to let it wound me. But the Shadow Alpha’s voice knew where to strike. See how they lean? See how they doubt? They are already half mine.It was the elders who summoned me.Not to council, not to tria

The voice lingered long after silence fell.Serena… find me.I pressed my palms against my ears, but the sound had already wormed inside, echoing through my ribs like it was carved into bone. My mother’s voice. Impossible. She was dead buried in soil years ago. Yet it hadn’t been memory or dream. It had been present. Real.I sat on the cold floor of my chamber until the first crack of dawn painted the frost-stained window. By the time I rose, exhaustion hung on me like chains, but I knew I couldn’t tell Lucian. Not yet. Not after Thane’s betrayal. Not after the hall had almost torn me apart with their suspicion.If I confessed I was hearing ghosts now, the council wouldn’t just doubt me they’d condemn me.And condemn me they soon would.The summons came mid-morning.Lucian and I were in the war room, mapping out rotations for the southern wall, when the heavy doors slammed open. Mirek strode in, two elders at his side, the frost of the courtyard still clinging to their cloaks.His exp