All Chapters of CHASING MONSTERS: Chapter 221 - Chapter 230

249 Chapters

221-RIPPLE

It wasn’t Xavier who opened the doors to the healing wing; it was his Lycan.It moved through the castle as if the stone itself had been built for its stride, broad shoulders clearing corridors that suddenly felt too narrow, claws ticking against the floor with a slow, deliberate patience that did not match the storm in its chest. Every scent layered over another, every heartbeat in the nearby rooms registering like a warning, every whisper sharpening into something it could track.Possession was not a thought in this form. It was the law.Mine. Sophie, and I had to get to her, and the small, new pulse that hadn’t existed this morning.A healer stumbled backward as I entered the corridor, hands lifting instinctively as if she could soothe a force of nature with gesture.“Your Majesty,” she breathed, voice shaking.The lycan’s gaze cut to her and held, and Xavier felt the tremor of it ripple through the staff nearby. He caught their fear at a distance, the way they pressed against wall

222-OBJECTIONS

(Xavier's Pov)Sophie’s lashes fluttered again, slower this time, and Xavier felt the shift in the room before anyone spoke. They were hopeful.He stood at her bedside with their child held close against his chest, still half afraid, because he had watched her fall, watched blood spread, watched the chapel turn into a screaming ruin, and some part of him still expected the world to snatch her away as punishment for daring to love this much.Her eyes opened slowly, like she was surfacing from deep water and finding him waiting at the edge.Sophie stared at him for one long breath, her mouth parting as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry, and then the corners of her lips lifted in a weak, radiant smile that made Xavier’s throat tighten so hard he couldn’t speak.“There you are,” she whispered, voice rough with sleep and pain and relief.“I’m here,” Xavier managed, and his words came out uneven because he hadn’t realized how much he’d been holding inside his chest until she wo

223-FIERCE VICTORY

Shiloh watched Sophie and Xavier from the doorway of the healing wing and felt something settle quietly in her chest.They were standing close, too close for company, Xavier’s head bent toward Sophie’s, his shoulder curved protectively around her and Kaon, as if the rest of the world had already faded to background noise. Sophie looked fragile and strong all at once, her hand resting on her son with a reverence that made Shiloh’s throat ache.“Well,” Shiloh said loudly, clapping her hands once, sharp enough to break the spell. “That’s quite enough witnesses for one newly married couple.”Sophie blinked, startled, then laughed softly. “Shiloh—”“You,” Shiloh continued, pointing at Xavier, “are officially on baby-and-wife duty. And you,” she added to Sophie, gentler now, “need rest. Real rest. Not the kind you get while people keep hovering.”Betsy smiled knowingly. “She’s right.”Magi inclined her head. “Very right. Sophie has done more than enough for one day.”Shiloh turned, planting

224-LITTLE BROTHER

(Abel's Pov)The castle had gone strangely quiet. This was the kind of quiet that followed catastrophe, when everyone had finally stopped running and the weight of what had been lost settled into bones and stone alike.Xavier was in the healing wing with Sophie and their newborn son. Ronan had his attention fully on Shiloh and the two new lives that had arrived far earlier than expected. The future, it seemed, had chosen to arrive all at once.That left Abel with the past.He stood at the top of the stairwell leading down into the holding cells, his hands clasped behind his back, his shoulders squared, his expression composed into the mask that had served him through wars, purges, and councils, where he spoke softly while councils sharpened knives.He had interrogated warlords who laughed as they confessed.He had broken traitors who swore loyalty with blood on their hands.He had listened to men beg, and women bargain, and monsters pretend they were neither.Toren was young and stupi

225-TAKE WHAT IS OWED

The stones whispered at night.Lucian had learned long ago that prisons spoke to those who listened. Not with voices, not with mercy, but with rhythm. Footsteps. Breaths. The cadence of men who believed themselves safe because a door stood between them and what they feared.He sat on the narrow bench of the holding cell, back straight, hands folded loosely in his lap, eyes half-lidded as if in rest. He did not pace. He did not rage. Rage wasted energy, and Lucian had never survived by wasting anything.“You see, Della,” he murmured softly, head angling toward the empty space beside him, “they still think me finished.”The cell did not answer, but Della did. She always did now.Her presence came like memory sharpened into certainty. The curve of her mouth. The way her eyes had once gleamed with belief in him, in what they were meant to build.They have grown careless, she said, as she always did.Lucian smiled faintly. “Careless is another word for arrogant. They underestimate me.”The

226-BETTER WORLD

The morning light was warm. Today was a beautiful day. Xavier noticed it the moment he stepped onto the balcony outside the royal chambers, the sun spilling across stone that had seen far too much blood. The light was clean, bright, almost stubborn in its normalcy, as if the world itself had decided the chaos was finished and dared anyone to argue otherwise. Below, the Wolf Nation stirred. People moved through the courtyard with purpose, voices rising, children darting between their legs, guards relaxed yet watchful. Life, unbroken. Sophie stood beside him, wrapped in soft linen, Kaon cradled carefully against her chest. She looked tired, undeniably so, the kind of exhaustion that lived deep in the bones, but there was nothing fragile about her stance. Her spine was straight. Her chin lifted. Her eyes steady. An Ice Queen who had endured and remained. Xavier pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. “I thought I’d lost you,” he murmured. “B

227-THE EARTH WOLVES

Wildbourne Academy had once belonged to Jax.In the way corridors quieted when he passed. In the way instructors watched him with approval sharpened by expectation. In the way other students measured themselves against him and came up short.He had been the strongest of his year. The fastest. The most disciplined. His scores had rewritten training benchmarks. His name had been carved into record tablets that still lined the eastern hall.Wildbourne had not merely taught him.It had shaped him into something exceptional.Standing at the foot of the academy steps now, Jax felt the echo of that old certainty stir. The air carried the same crisp bite it always had, clean and high, carrying the scent of pine and frost from the surrounding ridgelines. The banners still snapped in the breeze above the towers, bearing sigils of hunters long dead, victories long celebrated.Rufus stood beside him, his presence grounding, heavy with the authority of the Council.“This place hasn’t changed,” Ruf

228-NORMAL

(Shiloh's Pov)Shiloh had survived war rooms, chapel blood, and the kind of screams that never left your bones.She had not expected to be undone by a sock.A tiny one. Soft. Blue. The size of her thumb.She stood in the middle of their chambers with it pinched between two fingers, staring at it like it was a riddle she had failed to solve, while Leo howled from the crib and Skye made an offended sound in her arms as if she too was about to go.Ronan had been wonderful. He had been everything he promised he would be. He was steady hands and low voice and a body that moved like nothing could touch them.But he was also Ronan.And Ronan’s duties did not stop because Shiloh’s world had split into two wailing, hungry, unpredictable little pieces.“Okay,” she muttered to herself, bouncing Skye and trying to tuck the sock into the little drawer without dropping it. “We’re fine. We’re absolutely fine.”Skye’s mouth rooted blindly at Shiloh’s collarbone.“I know,” Shiloh whispered, voice goin

229-WHERE ARE THEY

(Shiloh's Pov)The shower water struck her shoulders and she braced both palms against the wall, head down.She expected the water to rinse her clean. Instead it just made space.Images came in the gaps. The chapel. Sophie on the floor. Blood. Xavier’s scream. Her own hands trying to press life into someone slipping away. Then the bathroom, the bath filling, Ronan’s shaking hands, the shock of Leo, the shock of Skye.Twins.She had laughed and cried and felt blessed and then, somehow, in the morning, she had woken up with a knot in her chest and the certainty that she would ruin everything.She scrubbed her face, breathing hard.When she stepped out and dressed, her hands were steadier. Her mind was not.A knock came.Shiloh opened the door to find the healer, an older woman with calm eyes and a basket of small jars.“Lady Shiloh,” the healer said gently. “May I come in?”Shiloh nodded and stepped aside.The healer moved like she’d done this a thousand times. Sat Shiloh down. Took her

230-PROTECT WHATS OURS

Ronan woke to the sound of panic.Not a scream. Not yet. Just the sharp intake of breath beside him, the kind that dragged him instantly from sleep to alertness.Shiloh was already sitting up, sheets tangled around her legs, eyes wild as they scanned the room.“They’re gone.”Her voice cracked on the last word.Ronan was moving before the fear could take root. He swung his legs off the bed and turned to her, hands already on her shoulders.“Hey,” he said firmly. “Shiloh. Look at me.”She didn’t. Her gaze was fixed on the empty bassinets, her breath coming too fast.“They were right there,” she whispered. “I only slept for a minute. I swear I only...”“They’re with the nannies,” Ronan said, steady and certain. “I took them for a walk. I let you sleep.”Her eyes snapped to his.“You what?”“You were exhausted,” he said softly. “You hadn’t slept properly since the birth. You were shaking in your sleep, love. I wasn’t waking you.”Her lips trembled. “I thought they’d been taken.”Ronan pu

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