All Chapters of The Wolf's Game: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

AriaThe night hasn’t ended yet, but I can’t breathe in my cabin anymore.The humiliation still clings to me like skin that can’t be shed. Every time I close my eyes, I see Riven’s hand closing around Morgan’s instead of mine, see the pack’s faces turning away as if my heartbreak were contagious.I need my father.The stone path to his house seem to glow in the early morning light. My boots scrape against it, loud in the silence. The forest feels emptier than usual, like even the trees are ashamed for me. The lights of the Beta’s estate flicker through the mist, and I think absurdly that it looks like salvation.When I reach the porch, the door opens before I can knock.“Aria.”His voice stills everything inside me. Elias Vale, Beta of the Jasper Pack, the man who raised me to stand tall even when bleeding, fills the doorway, shoulders squared, jaw tight. His wolf is close; I see it in the yellow rim of his eyes.“I didn’t want you to see …”“I saw enough.” His hands clench into fists.

AriaThe forest stills the moment I reach the clearing. I followed the map that appeared on the back of the invitation carefully, but there is nothing here. No archway, no castle, nothing. Just an empty clearing with decayed trees. I stomp my foot on the ground, mumbling a curse under my breath. Suddenly, the air begins to hum around me. Music, too low for human ears, fills the space, echoing in my head. Mist curls between the trees, glowing like silver, and when it parts, I see it. The heart of the veil. An arc of light that ripples like water. It is both beautiful and wrong, and most definitely calling my name. I pause a few feet away, my pulse pounding in my chest. The invitation’s words repeat in my mind: Survive the Game. Win what your heart desires most.I don’t know what that means exactly. I only know the bond still burns faintly beneath my skin, and I can’t live with it anymore. I can’t be reminded of what Riven promised and then stole away. If what is through that

KaelI should let her walk away. That’s the rule. No interference, no favoritism, no attachments. But rules have never suited me, and Aria Vale already looks like one rule I’m going to break.She leaves the mirrored hall without looking back, shoulders tight, jaw set. The others drift off in clusters. The wolves are sniffing out alliances, the humans are whispering about the first trial, but she moves alone.The torches along the corridor flare as she passes, sparks licking higher as if the castle itself wants to light her way. The place likes her. Of course it does. The castle always did have impeccable taste.I follow at a distance, quietly, so I don’t startle her.“Following contestants again, are we?”Nyxara’s voice slides into my mind, sweet as honey and twice as sticky.“Just making sure she finds her room,” I murmur.“How noble. Or is this the part where you trip over your principles and fall in love again?”I roll my eyes. “You wound me. You know I don’t have principles.”

AriaThe forest doesn’t start so much as it swallows.One step past what used to be the hall of mirrors, and the ground changes. The stone turns to moss, and the air thrums against my chest like a breath. The trees rise out of fog, tall and pale, with their trunks smooth as bone. They stretch up forever, vanishing into light that isn’t sunlight at all. Every leaf glows faintly, and the sound of the wind is wrong. It whispers names instead of rustling the leaves.The others fan out behind me. No one speaks. The Herald’s command still echoes in my head: Return with one rabbit and only one.White shapes flicker in the mist ahead. Too quick to follow.Violet presses forward under my skin, scenting the air, trying to catch the scent of rabbits, but it is impossible. Everything smells alive here. It is too strong and too overwhelming to distinguish between them.Kael ends up beside me again. Of course he does.“Lovely morning for a murder,” he says quietly.“Go hunt your own rabbit.”“Tem

AriaDawn comes slowly in the Living Forest. The sun does rise above the trees. It seeps in like a thief. Light filters through leaves that glow from within, washing everything in a cold, golden hue. My bones ache from sleeping on roots, and the air tastes like dew and earth. Kael stirs at the entrance of the hollow, stretching as if we didn’t almost die yesterday. Typical.“You snore,” he says.“I have a knife.”He grins. “Noted.”I crawl out into the clearing, every muscle tight from tension instead of rest. The forest hums softly, more awake than it should be. Far off, a crow, or possibly something pretending to be one, calls once. It marks the beginning of the second day of the hunt. Then there is silence.I wonder if anyone has found a rabbit and returned to the hall of mirrors, and my brows furrow at the thought. I am not sure I would be able to find my way back to the hall if I tried. I push down the feelings of doubt and push forward. I am here to win. Kael walks beside