All Chapters of The Bane And The Alpha Beast: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

EliraThere was no use in running. Not this time.I sat quietly on the edge of the bed, his blood drying in the crooks of my elbows and the hollow of my throat. Outside, the wind stirred the frost. Inside, the bond was already unraveling—its final thread snapping like a pulled stitch, leaving silence in its place.The whole pack would know soon. The moment the Alpha bond dissolved, they would feel it like a scream in their chest. And they’d come for me. They always did.So I didn’t run. Instead, I rose from the bed, peeled his cloak from the hook by the door, and wrapped it around myself. It smelled of pine and iron and something faintly sweet beneath it—Auren’s scent, still warm. But not for long. Already, it was beginning to turn.I washed my face in the basin, scrubbing as the water turned red. There was no rush. No need to hide. I braided my hair with steady fingers and laced up my boots.By the time the knock came—hard, impatient—I was seated in the center of the room, hands fold

EliraAfter I finished the last sip of tea and a slice of warm bread thick with honey, Caelan stood and motioned toward the back hall of the lodge. I followed him, still barefoot, my skin warm from the bath, my bones still humming with exhaustion.He pushed open the last door at the end of the corridor. A wide room, dimly lit, with a large bed of furs in the center and a stone hearth on the far wall. A folded blanket and a spare pillow sat on the floor beside the fire.“I’m sorry I don’t have anywhere else for you to sleep tonight,” he said. “There are extra rooms, but they haven’t been aired out. I’ll sleep on the floor. You can have the bed.”I blinked at him. “You don’t have to—”“I want you to be safe,” he said, gently cutting me off. “And I want you to rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”There was no weight to the words. No suggestion. No expectation. Just quiet finality.He stepped aside so I could enter first. The bed was wide enough to swallow me whole. I hadn’t slept on somethi