Lahat ng Kabanata ng Love is not for the Wolfless : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

The wedding gown hangs in my room like a ghost, white silk gleaming in the afternoon light.Three days. Seventy-two hours until I stand before the pack and let Pete mark me forever. The countdown echoes in my mind with every heartbeat, relentless as a funeral drum.I can't eat. Every meal turns to ash in my mouth, my stomach rejecting food like my body knows something my mind refuses to accept. The servants whisper about how thin I've gotten, how the gown needs constant alterations to fit my shrinking frame.I can't sleep either. Every time I close my eyes, I see fragments that don't connect. My parents' bodies, positioned too carefully. Pete's knowing smile. The old shrine waiting in the forest. Stark's face the last time I saw him, broken and beautiful under the blood moon."You look terrible," Cicilia whispers in my mind. She's stronger now, recovered from the wolfsbane, but cautious. Ever since my vampire nature awakened, she's been different. Wary."I feel terrible," I whisper ba

Tomorrow is the ceremony, and I still have nothing.Three days of careful searching. Three days of playing the obedient mate while sneaking through archives, questioning servants, examining Pete's study when he's occupied. Three days, and I've found exactly zero evidence of demon rituals or dark magic.Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe my mother's letter was about something else entirely. Maybe Pete is just an ordinary wolf planning an ordinary ceremony, and I'm seeing shadows where none exist.But I don't believe that. Can't believe that.The blood moon hangs full and crimson outside my window, its light painting my room in shades of warning. Tomorrow at sunset, during the winter solstice, I'll stand before the pack at the old shrine and let Pete mark me.Unless I find proof tonight.I wait until the pack house grows quiet, until I can hear steady breathing from the guards outside my door. My vampire hearing has become sharper over the past days, adapting to my hybrid nature. I can distinguish

I make it maybe half a mile into the forest before they cut me off.Six elite guards materialize from the shadows, forming a circle around me. These aren't ordinary pack warriors. They're Dante's personal enforcers, the strongest fighters in Fang territory. Their eyes glow with predatory hunger, and I smell their bloodlust mixing with the night air."Stand down, Lady Roselyn." The captain, a massive wolf named Gareth, steps forward. "The ceremony is tomorrow. You can't run from your destiny.""My destiny?" I laugh, and the sound is wild, unhinged. "You mean my murder? Pete's planning to bleed me dry on that altar, and you're helping him."Gareth's expression doesn't change. "We serve the Alpha. Whatever he commands, we obey.""The Alpha is possessed by a demon!" My voice cracks. "You're not serving Dante. You're serving something that's been wearing his skin for twenty years.""Lies." Another guard moves closer. "You're hysterical. The ceremony preparations have overwhelmed you."They

I'm sitting alone by a dying fire when she approaches."You're the hybrid everyone's talking about." The voice is old, raspy, but holds unmistakable power.I look up to find a woman who could be anywhere from fifty to five hundred years old. Her skin is weathered like ancient bark, covered in tattoos that seem to move in the firelight. Silver hair falls in wild tangles past her shoulders, and her eyes glow faintly amber.A witch. A rogue witch living among the outcasts."I'm Roselyn," I say carefully."I know who you are, child." She settles beside me without invitation, her joints creaking. "I'm Elara. And you're wasting your potential.""Excuse me?""Your hybrid nature." Elara's glowing eyes study me intently. "You're using maybe eight, perhaps ten percent of what you're capable of. Like a toddler swinging a sword, all flailing and no technique."My hybrid nature stirs defensively. "I just awakened my vampire side a few days ago. I'm still learning—""And you'll die tomorrow still l

The shrine's interior is worse than I imagined.The walls pulse with dark energy, symbols glowing crimson in the torchlight. The air tastes like copper and rot, making my hybrid senses recoil. Stark and I move through the entrance hall silently, our footsteps swallowed by the oppressive atmosphere."This way," I whisper, pointing toward a descending staircase. "The ritual chamber is below."We take the stairs quickly, my newly enhanced senses tracking every sound. Above us, I hear the battle raging outside. Marcus's team engaging Fang warriors. Screams and howls and the clash of metal. Below us, the chanting grows louder.Pete's voice. And another voice layered beneath it, inhuman and ancient.The demon.We reach the bottom of the stairs and find ourselves in a massive underground chamber. My breath catches.The ritual has already begun.The chamber is circular, easily a hundred feet across. Torches line the walls, casting dancing shadows across intricate symbols carved into the stone