All Chapters of THE THIRD MATING: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

LYRA: I sat on the cold steps outside the Dugar quarters, my back pressed against the wall, my hands covering my face as tears ran freely. I hated crying in the open like this. It made me feel exposed, weak, and I’ve had too many years where weakness cost me everything. I heard the door open behind me. I wiped my face quickly, hoping I could hide the evidence before he noticed. “Lyra?” Aldric’s voice came from the doorway. “What’s the problem? C’mon, Lyra… talk to me.” I kept my eyes down and didn’t answer. My throat felt tight, and I knew if I tried to speak, the tears would start again. Aldric walked closer and sat beside me on the stairs. He didn’t push or demand. He just sat there he was worried. “I don’t think this is going to work between us,” I said finally. My voice sounded uneven. “It’s not going to work, Aldric. I’m sorry if I gave you false hopes.” His expression shifted immediately, like confusion first and then hurt. “But you haven’t told me what’s wrong, Lyra.”

LYRA: Aldric’s eyes go dark, a cold rage that makes me feel smaller. I swallow hard. “...and after that, he divorced me and I left the pack and came to Moonshadow Pack.” My voice cracks on the last word. “That’s why I can’t conceive. That’s why this… us… can’t work.” He stares at me, jaw locked so tight I can hear his teeth grind. “That doesn’t change a damn thing,” he says, voice low and steady. “You’re my mate. I’ll love you even if we never have a pup. That’s not negotiable.” Then his anger shifts. “So this Alpha called Eamon took my chance to ever be a father.” He stands up slowly, fists clenched. “I won’t rest, Lyra. I won’t rest until I rip his head off and feed it to the dogs myself.” His fist slams down. The oak table splits clean in half, wood flying across the floor. “Aldric, stop.” I grab his arm. “Let it go. It’s done.” He turns to me, eyes burning. “Done? You call it done, but you want him dead just as much as I do. So why are you still protecting him?” “I’m not

RONAN: The guards are a joke. Half of them are smoking by the east gate, laughing too loud, the rest leaning on spears like they’re toothpicks. We slip past the old boundary wall without getting noticed. I drop behind a wide stone pillar in the back corridor of the main house, my heart racing. “Are we clear?” I mouth. Silas edges out, scans both ways, gives one sharp nod. He glides to the next pillar. Mike shadows him, silent as always. I’m two steps from moving when a hiss cuts the dark. “Ronan.” I spin. Lyra stands ten feet down the hall, barefoot, drowning in one of Aldric’s shirts that hangs to her thighs, arms wrapped around her ribs. She looks happy and wrecked at the same time. I’m in front of her before my brain catches up. “Lyra…” She ran towards me with a hug, I hugged back. “I missed you,” she whispers, her voice cracking. “I missed you so much.” Silas and Mike close in. She pulls away only to get swallowed by Silas’s hug, then Mike’s. Her dad’s hand cups the ba

ALDRIC:Eamon takes one step back.I did not think he would survive Kael, which is why I even let the duel happen. Seeing Kael on the ground bleeding out pisses me off more than I expected. My gaze shifts to Eamon. His tail is tucked under his legs, ears flat, body shaking.He knows he is dead.I move first.He tries to dodge, but I am already on him. My shoulder slams into his chest. He flies and hits the sand hard on his back.Before he can roll, I am over him. I bite down on the thick muscle at the back of his neck and shake once, hard. He yelps, claws scraping uselessly at my legs.I let go and step back.He scrambles up, limping, blood running from his neck. He lowers his head and charges again. I drop low, take the hit on my chest, then twist and throw him sideways. He rolls twice and comes up coughing.He is breathing loud through his nose, eyes wide, looking for any way out.There is not one.He tries one more lunge. I catch him by the throat in mid-air, lift him off the groun

ALDRIC:We don’t need their aircraft.We don’t need wolfsbane rounds.We have five hundred wolves running on four legs, and the ground shakes under us like an earthquake and I enjoy the feeling.I slow to a walk and shift back to human. My warriors do the same.We’re all wearing the same thing we always do for a run like this: loose linen war-kilts tied tight at the waist. One tug and they stay on through the shift, another tug and they drop like pants. Bare chests, bare feet, blades strapped across the back. Standard Redveil.Alpha Jerome is already waiting outside the main gate with thirty of his best. He’s older than I expected, but he stands straight. Lyra’s father Mike is on his left. Ronan and Silas stand a few steps behind.I stop twenty feet away.Jerome speaks first. “Aldric.”I nod once.“You’ve brought an army to my border,” he says. “State your business.”I didn’t want to talk. I just wanted to launch a full attack. But that would only ruin things between me and Lyra, and