Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 161 - Chapitre 170

210

Chapter 160 - The Weight

The mansion loomed through the trees like it always did - solid, immovable, pretending it hadn’t just watched us disappear into the woods and come back changed.We walked the last stretch in silence.Not the awkward kind. The settled kind. The kind that came after something decisive, something that didn’t need to be named to be real. Our hands brushed once, twice, then stayed close without touching. The bond between us had quieted into a deep, steady warmth, like embers banked low but very much alive.The front doors opened before we reached them.Someone had been watching.Cameron’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “Room first.”“Agreed.” I said. My hair was still damp, my clothes clinging in ways that would absolutely not go unnoticed by four highly observant Alpha brothers.We took the stairs two at a time.The door to our room closed behind us with a solid click, and for the first time since the lake, the world exhaled.Steam rose faintly from my clothes as I leaned back agains

Chapter 161 - The Council

Morning arrived wearing a lie.Sunlight poured through the tall windows like everything was normal. Like the world hadn’t tilted on its axis sometime between poison and survival, between water and fire, between what Cameron was willing to become and what others would try to stop him from being.The mansion was awake in that restrained, watchful way it got before something went wrong.I noticed the details now. The extra guards along the eastern corridor. The servants moving faster, quieter. The way conversations dropped when I entered a room. Anticipation clung to the air like static.I dressed with intention. - No softness. No invitation. No apology - Dark trousers. A fitted jacket. Boots I could stand in for hours. My hair pulled back tight enough to keep my wolf from pacing under my skin. I didn’t want to look like a mate today.I wanted to look like a problem.Cameron watched me from the doorway, already dressed, already Alpha-still. His eyes followed my movements - not possessive

Chapter 162 - The Clause That Was Never Meant to Be Used

There are silences that ring. This one did. The words the clause concerning mates hung in the air long after the messenger fell quiet, heavy enough to press against my ribs. I could feel Cameron’s pulse through the bond - fast, controlled, furious. Not panic. Calculation.That scared me more.Rowan was the first to move. He turned sharply toward the messenger. “Which Councilor approved the petition?”The man hesitated. “It was filed through Councilor Bereth’s office, but…” He swallowed. “It required secondary validation.”“By whom?” Silas asked.The messenger looked at me again. “Councilor Veyne.”The name landed wrong. Veyne wasn’t loud like Bereth. He wasn’t brutish like Halvorsen. He was quiet. Legal. The kind of man who hid knives in footnotes.Damon swore. “That rat’s been waiting for this.”Cameron finally spoke. “Explain the clause.”No one rushed to answer. Because everyone in the room knew what it was. They just didn’t want to be the one to say it out loud.I straightened in

Chapter 163 - The Announcement and the Knife

They announced it at noon.Of course they did.The great hall was dressed for ceremony - banners restored, long tables cleared, the old stone floor polished until it reflected light like a mirror. Witnesses arrived in waves: Alphas, Betas, ranked wolves from packs that had learned long ago that absence was a political statement. No one wanted to be absent from this.I stood beside Cameron at the front of the hall, my spine straight, my expression calm. If anyone expected me to look afraid, they would be disappointed.But my wolf was coiled tight inside me, every instinct screaming that this was a trap dressed up as tradition.The Council arrived last.Five men. Same faces. Same entitlement. Bereth walked at the center, Veyne half a step behind him, hands folded, eyes already calculating. They took their places on the raised platform without acknowledging us.Witnesses rose. Silence fell.Bereth stepped forward. “By authority of the Northern Council,” he intoned, voice echoing through

Chapter 164 - The Rite of Counterclaim

I learned something important that day: power doesn’t announce itself with shouting. It pauses. It waits. And then it steps forward when everyone else thinks the moment has passed.The great hall was still buzzing when Cameron and I finally broke away. Conversations snapped shut as we passed. Eyes followed. Calculations were made quietly, behind polite nods and murmured courtesies. Some of them pitied me. More than a few of them were already deciding whether I was worth betraying later.I didn’t let any of it show."What have you done?" he mindlinked me. With curiosity and maybe a little... amusement . "Later. I will explain everything when we will be alone. Now let's go. Quick." I hushed him in response.The corridor leading east was colder than the rest of the mansion. My boots echoed softly as we walked, Cameron half a step behind me. Matching me.“They think I’ll hesitate and I will loose.” he said quietly.I didn’t slow. “They think I’ll behave and I will let it happen.”He le

Chapter 165 - Old Law, Sharp Teeth

Veyne didn’t bother with pleasantries.“You overstepped.” he said the moment we entered the Council chamber.The doors boomed shut behind us, sealing the sound like a verdict. The room smelled like old paper and older grudges - ink, dust, and the faint metallic tang of blood. That was really peculiar sensation in a quite new mansion.Bereth sat at the center of the table, fingers steepled, his expression carved into something neutral enough to pass for wisdom. Halvorsen leaned back in his chair, thick arms crossed, mouth already pulled into a scowl like this entire meeting was a personal inconvenience he intended to survive through brute irritation alone.Veyne stood.A subtle assertion of height, of dominance, of the unspoken idea that he answered to no one - not even the table he supposedly served.“I followed the law.” I replied calmly. “Your favorite thing.”Cameron didn’t move beside me, but I felt him - solid, contained, a predator choosing stillness. The bond hummed between us,

Chapter 166 - Our Is The Night

The mansion finally went still. Not silent, but quieter, like even the walls knew better than to intrude. Guards shifted to night watch. Lights burned low. Somewhere far off, a wolf howled, long and aching, and my chest tightened in response.Dawn was coming. And the Challenge with it... My head was spinning with possible ways of out from this impossible situation.I had played with all the cards I could afford. But the thought of just possibilty of loosing our bond with Calder.. It was too much.I closed the door behind us and leaned back against the wood, suddenly aware of how heavy my body felt. Not tired - weighted. Like every moment mattered more now because there were so few left before everything changed.Cameron stood in the center of the room, watching me like he was memorizing the shape of my breathing.“No council,” he said quietly. “No brothers. No laws. Just us."I nodded, pushing away from the door. “No futures.”His mouth curved faintly. “Only tonight.”We didn’t rush.

Chapter 167 - Something Rare

Every touch slowed time.Not because we were hesitant, but because neither of us wanted to miss a single sensation. Cameron’s hands moved with intention now. Warm, steady, learning me all over again as if memory alone wasn’t enough. His thumbs traced paths that made my breath hitch, then lingered there like he was imprinting the reaction into his bones.I answered without thinking, pulling him closer, my body aligning with his as naturally as breath. The bond responded instantly, tightening, brightening, a living thing between us that thrummed with recognition. Not hunger. Not urgency.Connection.The fire burned low behind us, but I barely noticed the heat from it. Everything I felt came from him - the weight of his body, the warmth of his skin, the quiet sounds he made when my fingers slid over his shoulders and down his back. I felt the way his breath changed, how his control frayed just enough to make my chest ache with want.We moved together slowly, deliberately, like we were de

Chapter 168 - Before the Sun Chooses Sides

I woke before the bells. Before the horns. Before the world decided it was ready to destroy us.The room was still dark, that fragile hour before dawn when night hasn’t surrendered yet and day hasn’t gathered the courage to intrude. The fire in the hearth had burned down to embers, painting the walls in low, breathing orange. For a few heartbeats, I didn’t move. I just listened - to the quiet, to the steady thrum of the bond, to the faint sound of fabric shifting somewhere near the window.Cameron was already awake.He stood with his back to me, half-dressed, silhouetted against the thin silver line of pre-morning light. He moved without hurry, without hesitation, like this moment had lived in him for a long time. Black trousers first. Thick, reinforced. The kind meant for blood and dirt, not ceremony. Then the shirt, dark and close-fitting, sleeves rolled back with deliberate precision.Alpha black.War black.I stayed where I was, watching him like if I looked hard enough, I could e

Chapter 169 - The Arena Does Not Care

The arena was already awake.It breathed like a living thing - stone and iron and bodies packed too tightly together, anticipation buzzing through the cold morning air. Torches burned along the circular walls, flames snapping sharply in the dawn wind. Above us, the sky was pale and merciless, the kind of blue that promised clarity instead of mercy.Every step forward tightened something in my chest.Cameron’s hand was still in mine as we emerged from the inner corridor, the sound hitting us all at once -voices, boots, metal, the low thunder of wolves pacing beneath skins. Hundreds of eyes turned toward us. Some curious. Some hungry. Some openly hostile.Vale stood out against them all.Rowan walked a pace ahead, shoulders squared. Silas and Damon flanked us, unreadable and lethal in equal measure. Kieran brought up the rear, gaze sweeping constantly, cataloging threats. They looked like what they were - Alphas in their own right, not here to bow, not here to beg.Cameron now felt like

Dernier

...

15 16 17 18 19

...

Scanner le code pour lire sur l'application