All Chapters of A Different Kind of Alpha: Blood Oath: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

200 Chapters

Chapter 171 – The Map

KieranThe candle on my desk is dying. It gutters in a pool of wax, the flame drowning in its own fuel.I should light another. Or better yet, I should go to bed. The healer gave me a draught, something thick that smells of valerian, that he promised would grant me six hours of dreamless oblivion. It sits on the corner of the desk, untouched.I’m afraid of sleep.In the waking world, I have defenses. I have walls of ice and logic. I have audits and trade tariffs and the endless, numbing arithmetic of survival. But in sleep, I have no shield. In sleep, he is there.Sometimes he’s laughing, that deep, rumbling sound that used to vibrate through my body. Sometimes he’s shouting, his eyes flashing with that terrifying, beautiful fury. And sometimes, in the worst dreams, he’s walking away. I’m screaming his name, my throat raw, but he doesn't turn. He just walks into the white mist until he dissolves.I wake up from those dreams gasping, my hand reaching for the empty side of the bed, my

Chapter 172 – Feral

AlexeiRun.The command is simple. It is the only thing that makes sense.My paws strike the frozen earth, a rhythmic drumbeat that vibrates up my legs and into my chest. The impact jars my bones, sending shocks of pain through shins that are already splinted with exhaustion, but I welcome it. The physical sensation is a distraction. It drowns out the howling void in my chest where my heart used to be.I am a blur of gray fur and muscle moving through the undergrowth. The forest here is dense, an ancient tangle of roots and rot that doesn’t welcome strangers. The air is sharp, biting at my nose, smelling of pine, wet decay, and the metallic tang of snow that hasn’t fallen yet.I push harder. I lengthen my stride, my claws tearing up the permafrost. I run until my lungs burn, until the muscles in my haunches scream for mercy.Faster.If I run fast enough, maybe I can outrun the memory of his face.Kieran.The name echoes in my wolf-mind, a high-pitched whine of distress that I refuse

Chapter 173 – The Poisoner

AlexeiThe scent of woodsmoke is the first mistake.In the Wild Lands, fire can be life, but it is also a beacon. It screams here I am to every predator with a nose. And right now, I am the hungriest predator in these woods.I lie flat on my belly on a ridge of jagged shale, looking down into the ravine. My fur blends perfectly with the stone. My breath is shallow, quiet, misting slightly in the frigid air.Below, tucked into a shallow depression beneath a rocky overhang, is a small fire. Huddled next to it is a man.Rowan.He looks miserable which is as it should be. He’s wrapped in a ragged fur cloak, shivering, poking at the fire with a stick. A poorly butchered rabbit spit-roasts over the flames. His heavy leather boots, with a distinct notch in the left heel, are drying near the heat.I watch him for a long time.I watch the way he looks around fearfully every few seconds. I watch the way his hand stays close to the short sword at his belt. He’s paranoid. He knows he’s being hu

Chapter 174 – The Final Piece

AlexeiThe scent of the enemy is a physical weight in the air.It smells of stale ale, unwashed bodies, and the iron tang of weapons that have been sharpened too often. It smells of arrogance.I crouch in the brush, the freezing mud seeping into my knees, watching the mouth of the cave. It’s well chosen, high up on a ridge, protected by a scree slope that would make a silent approach impossible for anyone but a wolf or a ghost.Currently I am both.There are six of them. I don’t know what happened to the rest. Dead or deserted, but these are what’s left of the group of mercenaries.Three are sitting around a fire just inside the cave entrance, gambling with bone dice. Two are sleeping on bedrolls further back. One is standing guard, leaning against the rock wall, staring out into the darkness with the bored glaze of a man who thinks he’s safe.I’ve never seen them before, but there’s no doubt that this is them. These are the men who led ten terrified boys into a box canyon and slaught

Chapter 175 – Home At Last

AlexeiI’m not a man anymore. I’m a collection of aches held together by mud and spite, attached to a length of hemp rope.Three days.Three days of dragging these two useless sacks of shit through the Wild Lands. Three days of sleeping in snatches while keeping one eye open. Three days of listening to Rowan whine and Kyle weep until I seriously considered cutting out their tongues just to get some peace.I didn't, of course. I need their tongues.Silvercrest looms out of the mist like an oasis in the desert. The walls are high, imposing, and familiar. The sight of them hits me in the chest with the force of a physical blow.Home.It smells of woodsmoke and damp stone. It smells of the river. It smells of him.I stumble, my boot catching on a root, but I don't fall. I yank on the rope. Behind me, Rowan and Kyle groan and shuffle forward. They’re a wretched sight. Their clothes are shredded, their feet are wrapped in bloody rags, and they look like they’ve been chewed up and spat out

Chapter 176 – The Punch

KieranI’m terrorizing a junior scribe, and finding it immensely satisfying."This is illegible," I say, my voice calm, smooth, and utterly lethal. I hold up the ledger for the western granary stores. "Is this a five, Elian? Or is it a spider that has been crushed to death on the page?"Elian is trembling so violently I worry he might vibrate out of existence. "It’s-it’s a five, Alpha.""A five," I repeat. "So we have five hundred bushels of wheat? Or do we have spider-hundred? Because if I have to guess, Elian, I will guess the lower number, and when the winter rations run out, I will personally direct the hungry families to your quarters for dinner.""I will rewrite it, Alpha. Immediately.""You will rewrite the entire ledger," I correct him. "And you will do it without ink blots. If I see a single smudge, I will have you reassigned to the latrine detail. Am I clear?""Crystal, Alpha."He snatches the book and flees.I watch him go. It’s petty to take my mood out on the staff, but i

Chapter 177 – The Guest

AlexeiMy jaw aches.It’s a dull, throbbing pulse that beats in time with my heart. I press a wet cloth against the side of my face, wincing as the cool water hits the bruised skin."He has a hell of a right hook," I mutter to the empty room.The guest room Kieran assigned me is, as promised, not one of the nice ones. It’s a box near the stables, usually reserved for visiting grooms or squires who have annoyed their knights. It smells of hay and horse manure, the mattress is lumpy, and the tiny window looks out onto a brick wall.It’s petty. It’s vindictive. It’s absolutely perfect.If Kieran was indifferent, he would have put me in a normal room and ignored me. Putting me here, in the corner of shame, requires effort. It requires spleen. It means he’s furious, and fury is an emotion I can work with. Indifference is the only thing that scares me.The door opens, and Marcus walks in carrying a bundle of clothes."You look better," he observes, kicking the door shut with his heel. "Less

Chapter 178 – The Fury

KieranI’m dissecting a supply request for the southern watchtower, and I’m doing it with a level of vitriol usually reserved for war crimes."Lyra," I say, my voice smooth and dangerously quiet. "Please explain to me why the garrison requires forty new blankets. Did the old ones spontaneously combust? Or did the recruits simply decide that wool was too abrasive for their delicate sensibilities?"Lyra, standing on the other side of my desk, doesn’t flinch. She’s used to my edges. What she’s not used to is the six-foot-four wall of muscle currently leaning against the doorframe of my office, radiating heat and stubbornness."The winter has been harsh, Alpha," Lyra says diplomatically. "The night watch is freezing. Cold soldiers are slow soldiers.""Fine," I snap, dipping my quill into the ink. "Authorize the purchase. I can’t have them shivering, a shaking hand misses the target. But deduct the cost from the officers' wine budget."I sign the order with a flourish that nearly tears the

Chapter 179 – Overstepping Boundaries

AlexeiThe room near the stables smells of hay and old leather, which I suppose is fitting since Kieran currently views me as somewhere below livestock.I lie on the narrow cot, staring at the cracks in the plaster ceiling. It’s three in the morning. The Keep is silent, save for the occasional stamp of a hoof from the stalls next door.I’m not locked in. I could walk out into the courtyard, climb the wall, and disappear back into the woods if I wanted to. Kieran hasn’t imprisoned me, he’s just put me in a box and told me to stay there until he decides if I’m worth keeping."Fuck this," I whisper.I’m done waiting. I’m done being the penitent ex-lover sleeping in the straw while my mate starves himself in a tower. I gave him space. I let him punch me. I let him humiliate me in the hallway.But I know him. He thinks he’s hardening into diamond, but he’s actually turning into glass. One wrong tap, and he won’t just break, he’ll shatter into dust.I sit up. I’m wearing the scratchy wool b

Chapter 180 – Hunger

KieranThis isn't love making. It isn't even sex. It’s a demolition.We’re a tangle of limbs and teeth on a bed that feels too large for one person and barely big enough for the violence of this reunion. I’m on top of him, straddling his hips, my hands tangled in his hair, yanking his head back to expose his throat.I want to tear it out.I want to bite down until I taste copper. I want to leave a mark that will never fade, a scar that screams mine."You," I snarl, the word tearing out of my throat.I don't have the breath for a sentence. I don't have the words for the magnitude of my hatred, which is currently indistinguishable from the magnitude of my need.I kiss him. I bruise his mouth. I force his lips apart with my tongue, invading him, claiming the space, demanding he taste the blood from my split lip and the bile of my three weeks of starvation.He takes it.He takes everything. He lies there, his hands gripping my waist, his thumbs digging into my hip bones, anchoring me. He m

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