Semua Bab CHASING MONSTERS: Bab 151 - Bab 160

(Jax’s POV) The base lights flickered as another scream tore through the lower levels. Good. It meant the wolf was still alive. I walked toward the basement cells, boots echoing. Hunters stood straighter when they saw me. They knew what I was here for. They knew what I expected. Two guards opened the reinforced door before I needed to speak. Inside, Abel hung suspended by thick chains bolted into the ceiling, arms stretched, feet barely touching the ground. A wolf warrior. A commander. One of Xavier’s most trusted. He looked like hell. He also looked… annoyingly alive. His skin had the rough sheen of someone half-shifted under stress, eyes bright even while unfocused. His chest rose and fell in shallow, stubborn breaths. He glared at me the second I stepped in. “Still conscious,” I said lightly, removing my gloves. “Good. Would’ve been a real disappointment if you died while I was upstairs.” Abel spat blood at the floor near my boot. I smiled. “Now isn’t that c

(Sophie’s POV)I woke up fresh as a spring morning.The King did not.Xavier lay facedown beside me, one arm flung across the pillows like he’d lost a war. His hair was a mess, his breathing loud, and when I poked his shoulder, he groaned from somewhere deep in his soul.“Get up,” I whispered. “We have breakfast.”“No.” His voice was muffled. “Cancel the kingdom.”I laughed. “You’re the one who wanted to drink with Ronan.”“I was celebrating,” he said, rolling onto his back with the grace of roadkill. His eyes were red, his mouth dry. “You’re pregnant. Shiloh’s pregnant. My kingdom is multiplying and I am very proud. But gods, I regret everything.”“You’re the King,” I said, kissing his jaw. “Kings don’t get sick days.”He cracked one eye open. “My mate is cruel.”“Up,” I insisted. “Wash your face. Pretend to be dignified.”“I don’t want anyone seeing me like this.”“Then move faster.” I slid out of bed.His fingers closed around my wrist. “Stay.”The soft plea pulled at me, but I sti

(Xavier’s POV) I hadn’t even taken two steps inside my office before Ronan slammed the door behind us hard enough to rattle the hinges. “Did you see it?” Ronan growled. “Every damn stroke of it,” I said. Hunter scum. Wolf killers. Down with the King. Sprayed across a stone wall right outside the breakfast hall. Bold. Brazen. Suicidal. I’d woken in a haze of hangover and joy, Sophie glowing, smelling like us, our child in her belly, only to be greeted with treason before my first cup of tea. Ronan paced like a caged storm. “They think they can do this now? After everything? After Abel? After the rescue?” “They think we’ve gone soft,” I said coldly. “We give the hunters sanctuary, we protect humans, we take in children… and some of my own people think it makes us weak.” Ronan snorted. “Weak. Right.” I slammed my hand onto the table, maps and papers jumping. “We’re finding whoever did it. Today.” “Agreed.” We leaned over the table, fury and strategy mixing like blood in wate

(Jax’s POV)Abel lay strapped to the reinforced table, his breath shallow, his chest rising just enough to prove he wasn’t dead. He should’ve been. A human in his condition would’ve stopped breathing days ago. But wolves were stubborn creatures. Their bodies clung to life as if it were a contest.Perfect for testing.“Note the recovery rate,” I said, folding my arms as two lab techs hovered over the warrior.They scribbled frantically.The gaping wound in Abel’s side, courtesy of the last round, was already stitching closed before my eyes. Not neat. Not fast. But real. Ten minutes ago, you could’ve seen bone. Now it looked like a deep cut.Incredible.“This is what Lucian never understood,” I murmured. “He wanted more hunters. Modified hunters. Engineered hunters. But the real key is studying the wolves. Finding the limits.”One scientist nodded, sweat on his brow. “Sir, his vitals are stabilizing again. It isn’t natural.”“Oh, I agree,” I said, stepping closer. “But who cares about n

Pandora sat on the edge of the bed Ethan had built with his own hands, tears pressing at the back of her eyes, though she didn’t let any fall. The quiet of the little house felt wrong now, too sharp, too thin. The ruined nursery still lived behind her eyelids every time she blinked, splintered wood, torn blankets, the kind of violation that changed a person. Ethan moved through the room with soft steps, giving her space but staying close enough that she knew she wasn’t alone. He’d been doing that for days. He hadn’t asked for explanations she couldn’t give, hadn’t pressured her for truths she wasn’t ready to voice. He just held her when she froze, kept watch when she flinched at shadows, and reassured her when he thought she might be spiraling. He was a good man. A steady man. The kind of man who’d make a gentle father even in the middle of chaos. And she was about to break his heart. Pandora pressed her palms to her face, taking a long breath. “Ethan… I think I need to go away for