Semua Bab The Lycan's Contract Bride : Bab 11 - Bab 20

Aria's POV The envelope appeared under my door while Dimitri showered, his blood still being cleaned from the training room floor. Plain white, unmarked except for my name in elegant script.I should have burned it unopened.Instead, I broke the seal and found Marcus's familiar handwriting:*My dearest Aria,**Prison treats me well. The guards are so accommodating when properly motivated. Did you know your father shares my wing? We've had such interesting conversations.*My hands trembled. Attached was a small digital recorder, the kind that fit in a palm. I pressed play with numb fingers.My father's voice filled the room, broken and desperate: "I did it. All of it. The embezzlement, the fraud. Aria knew nothing. She's innocent. Please, I'll sign anything, just leave her alone—"The recording cut to Marcus laughing. "He lasted three hours before breaking. Imagine what I could make him say in three days? Or three weeks?"I read on, each word poison:*Your new husband thinks he can pr

Aria's POV The sacred dueling grounds hadn't seen this many witnesses in a generation. They came from every pack, every territory – alphas and omegas, elders and younglings, all drawn to watch blood spill beneath the moon goddess's eye. Silver clouds descended like funeral shrouds, unnaturally low, brushing the tops of the ancient standing stones that marked the circle's edge. The altar at the center, black volcanic glass that had drunk the blood of a thousand challenges gleamed wet despite no rain. The crowd parted as Alpha Blackthorne lumbered toward the center circle. He looked massive, but his usual arrogance was missing, replaced by a sullen exhaustion. ​"Alpha Blackthorne, you accept the terms?" Elder Mara asked, her voice echoing. ​Alpha Blackthorne clenched his jaw. "The terms are accepted." ​He then looked toward the north point, where the challenger should stand. A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd as a figure stepped forward who was decidedly not the Alpha. ​

Aria's POV The council chamber had never been this divided. "Heresy!" Councilman Reeve slammed his fist on the ancient oak table, making goblets jump. "No wolf should wield goddess fire! She's corrupted the natural order!""Corrupted?" Lady Volkov laughed, sharp as winter. "She saved our Alpha. She revealed the Devourers among us. The moon itself answered her call.""Dark magic—""Divine blessing—""Abomination—""Salvation—"I sat at Dimitri's right hand, our marked palms hidden beneath the table, feeling every accusation like needles under my skin. He hadn't transformed back from his Lycan form – couldn't, he'd whispered, not until the moon set. Nine feet of primal power radiating possessive protection beside me."Enough." His voice didn't need to be loud; the Lycan timber made walls shake. "The Queen has proven herself. Anyone who disputes this disputes me.""With respect, Alpha," Elder Nathaniel wheezed from his corner, "what she's proven is that she's dangerous. If her mother t

Aria's POV The dream started the way it always did with silver chains. But this time, they weren't binding me. They wrapped around Dimitri's wrists, his throat, his wolf form writhing as they burned through fur and flesh. Beside him, another figure hung suspended, a man I'd only seen in photographs, his face a masculine echo of my own. My father. "Hello, little moon," he said, his voice exactly as I'd imagined it would be. "You're almost ready to understand." "Understand what?" "Why I had to die. Why your mother had to hide. Why Marcus isn't really dead." He smiled sadly. "The chains that bind us all." The silver chains suddenly sprouted thorns, digging deeper. Both men screamed. I woke gasping, my palm mark burning. Beside me, Dimitri jerked awake, his hand clutching mine. "The same dream?" he asked. "Getting worse." I traced the mark on his palm, feeling the echo of silver chains. "We need to leave for the Sanctum—" "We can't. Not yet." He pulled out his phone, showing m

Aria's POV Sarah's screaming woke the entire compound.I found her convulsing in the medical wing, her body shifting between forms I couldn't name – human, wolf, winter-thing, and something else. Something that existed between spaces, like a door given flesh."Hold her!" James shouted, trying to maintain a containment circle, but his magic kept sliding off her transforming flesh."Don't touch her," Volkov commanded, pulling me back. "She's becoming a Bridge.""A what?""A being that can traverse realms without portals. The hybrid transformation is accelerating beyond what I expected." She watched Sarah with scientific fascination. "Your mother's power mixing with mine created something unprecedented."Sarah's eyes snapped open – all six of them, arranged in patterns that shouldn't exist on a human face. When she spoke, it was in harmonics that made reality shiver."I see her," she gasped. "The Queen. She's not... not where you think.""The Sanctum—""Empty. A decoy. She's in the Void