All Chapters of Mine to keep, mine to break : Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

Nalini The forest felt alive, the air thick with the residue of my power. My chest heaved, heart pounding from the bond surge, from the sheer intensity of the third presence. I didn’t know whether to feel terrified or exhilarated—or both. Myron’s hand stayed on my shoulder, grounding me, while Timothy’s was at my lower back, holding me upright. Together, they were a human shield, and yet I felt exposed, raw, like every thread of my being had been unraveled.“I… I didn’t know I could do that,” I whispered, voice trembling. My words barely carried over the stillness of the moonlit trees. “I didn’t know I could be this… powerful.”Myron’s jaw was tight, his eyes reflecting concern, frustration, and something else—something vulnerable I’d never seen. “You are this powerful,” he said slowly. “And it’s not just you. It’s us—this bond. That bond you feel between us isn’t normal. It’s… amplified.”Amplified. The word rolled over me like thunder. I had known, in some quiet, secret corner of m

Nalini Sleep refused me after my father vanished. I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, every shadow feeling like a mouth about to speak. The third bond refused to quiet. It did not burn the way Myron’s did, fierce and storm-bright. It did not soothe like Timothy’s, steady and anchoring. This one… watched. It coiled low and patient, like something ancient that knew time would eventually kneel.I pressed my palm to the glowing mark at my chest. It answered with a slow pulse—once, twice—then a sharp tug so sudden I gasped and sat upright.“No,” I whispered. “Not now.”The pull didn’t care.It yanked hard enough that my wolf surged forward, claws scraping against the inside of my skin. Energy spilled out of me in a low wave, rattling the windowpanes. Somewhere down the corridor, I heard startled voices. Guards. Sentries.I didn’t stop it.The bond wasn’t trying to hurt me. It was trying to lead me.I wrapped a cloak around myself and slipped out through the balcony door before my min

Nalini The forest did not release us immediately.Even after the guards were bound by roots and fear, even after the echoes of my power faded into a trembling hush, the air remained charged—like the moment before lightning strikes again. I could feel it humming under my skin, coiled tight around my ribs, waiting. My wolf did not retreat. She paced inside me, alert, watching.Myron carried me without asking. His arms were iron, his scent wrapping around me in a way that made my knees weak and my chest ache at the same time. Timothy stayed close on my other side, one hand hovering near my back as if afraid I might disappear if he let go. Kael walked ahead, silent now, his shoulders squared like a man stepping back into a war he never truly left.We didn’t speak until the trees thinned and the old boundary stones came into view—the invisible line where Silvermist land gave way to neutral territory.“That was not a coincidence,” Timothy said finally, his voice steady but tight. “The coun

Nalini The night did not stay quiet after that.Silence, I was learning, was a lie the world told before it struck.I couldn’t sleep. The outpost breathed around us—stone ticking softly as wards adjusted, the forest whispering beyond the walls like it was eavesdropping. Myron and Timothy argued in low voices somewhere outside the room Kael had given me, their tones sharp with fear they were trying not to aim at each other. I lay on my side, staring at the faint glow seeping through my skin, the mark warm and restless, as if it were listening to a rhythm I couldn’t hear.The third presence stirred again.Not violently this time. Not like the visions before.This was… deliberate.You are awake, a voice said—not aloud, not in my head, but inside the bond itself.I sucked in a breath and sat up so fast the blanket slid to the floor. My heart hammered painfully, my wolf rising instantly, hackles up.“Who are you?” I whispered.The air shimmered.The wardstones flared blue.And then the im

Nalini The bow of the old guard didn’t feel like victory.It felt like a line being drawn.The forest was still bent around us, branches lowered as though the land itself had chosen a side. I could feel it—roots humming beneath my feet, ancient and awake. Not answering me exactly, but listening. Watching. Measuring.Power like that doesn’t bow easily. And it never bows without demanding payment later.“Enough,” I said finally, my voice carrying farther than it should have. The echo startled even me. “Leave. Before the land decides you no longer belong here.”The guard in the broken crescent hesitated. For a heartbeat, I thought he might challenge me. Instead, he pressed his fist to his chest in a formal salute—older than the council, older than packs—and rose.“As the vessel commands,” he said.That word again.They retreated into the trees, armor dissolving into shadow until the forest swallowed them whole. The moment they were gone, the pressure snapped loose all at once.I sagged.