Semua Bab Running Away with Alpha's Baby Bump: Bab 31 - Bab 40

( Aria's POV ) The first light of morning was colorless, a dull gray that seeped through the trees like ash. The forest had gone still, unnaturally so. Not even the birds stirred. Every sound we made, the crunch of boots, the soft rustle of cloaks, felt like a violation of something sacred and dangerous. Kael led the way. His steps were steady, silent, his blade strapped across his back. But I could feel the storm inside him. The revelation from Lyra, the whisper that Jaxon, his most trusted Beta, might be the traitor, had changed something in him. His movements were sharper, his words fewer. He was the Alpha now, entirely, and the man I loved was hidden somewhere behind the steel in his eyes. Lyra walked a few paces behind me, hood drawn low. Her presence was quiet, almost ghostlike, but I could feel her gaze flicking around constantly, scanning the forest with some unseen sense. She’d said she could feel the threads of blood magic that bound the land, that Ronan used them to tr

( Aria's POV ) The storm broke at dawn. Rain fell in a steady whisper over the ruins, washing blood and ash into the cracks of the temple floor. Smoke still curled from the shattered stones where Ronan’s power had touched the earth, leaving black veins that pulsed faintly before fading into silence. Kael stood at the temple’s edge, shirt torn, shoulders slick with rain. The glow of the fight was gone from his eyes, replaced by something quieter, fear wrapped in fury. Lyra moved carefully around the altar, tracing her fingers along the cracks. Her runes no longer glowed, whatever power had answered her before was spent. “He’s not gone,” she said finally. “He’s tethered, pulled back, but not destroyed.” Kael’s jaw tightened. “Then we find him and finish it.” She glanced up sharply. “You can’t fight something that exists between worlds. What happened here burned through every protection I had left. If she hadn’t sealed the bond when she did...” Her voice broke off. Both of t

(Aria's POV ) The forest didn’t sing when we returned. Even after we left the Shadow Keep far behind, silence clung to us like a second skin. The pack moved as one, alert, restless, half expecting Ronan’s shadow to rise from the trees and strike again. But nothing came. Not a whisper. Not a tremor. Kael led the way, one hand never straying far from his blade. His steps were steady, but I could feel the tension in the way his shoulders locked with every sound. Lyra trailed behind, hood pulled low, the faint light of her runes nothing more than a pale ghost against the fading dusk. And me... I walked between them, feeling both lighter and more hollow than I’d ever felt in my life. The Veilstone had stripped Ronan’s bond from me. I could breathe without the weight of him pressing down on my ribs, could hear my heartbeat without the echo of his. But something else had been taken too. The bond that had been woven between me and the child was weaker now. Not gone, but thin. Lik

(Aria's POV ) The forest didn’t trust the quiet. Neither did Kael. He held me like I was both an anchor and a live wire, something that could steady him, or burn us both down. The wolves stood in a loose perimeter around us, ears pricked, every muscle taut. Even with the sun bleeding pale gold through the branches, no one lowered their guard. The air still smelled faintly of scorched magic. Of things that weren’t supposed to exist outside the old stories. Lyra pushed herself to her feet first. She was trembling, but there was a set to her jaw that said she’d walk through fire if she had to. Her runes had faded back to faint silver scars along her forearms, like quiet echoes. “We need to move,” she said. “That was just the first wave.” Kael’s grip on me tightened. “First?” Lyra’s gaze slid toward the empty treeline, her mouth pressed in a thin line. “Old magic doesn’t come alone.” The wolves exchanged wary glances. No one spoke. They didn’t have to. We all felt it, the

( Aria's POV ) The Hollow was older than any of us. Older than Kael’s pack. Older than the Circle. It wasn’t a fortress in the way most imagined, no iron gates or stone walls, but the forest itself wrapped around the clearing like it had made a promise long before we were born. Towering trees formed a canopy so thick, the sunlight fell in thin, broken shafts, turning the air into a patchwork of shadow and gold. The wolves slowed as we approached. Their shoulders dropped, their steps grew quieter. Even the forest seemed to hush, like it was holding its breath. Lyra was the first to cross the ward line. I saw the shimmer ripple against her skin, a thin veil of magic, older than hers but not hostile. It recognized her. It let her through. Kael stayed close to me, as he always did, a wall of heat and steel at my side. His hand brushed the small of my back, not pushing, just steadying. My legs still felt shaky, not from weakness exactly, but from the weight of what had happened.