Lahat ng Kabanata ng Vying For The Alpha's Heart: Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

The Great Hall was no longer a place of feasting. It was a freezing purgatory.It was two hours past midnight. The torches had been extinguished, save for a massive brazier burning white-hot behind the altar. The only sound was the droning, hypnotic voice of Lady Miya and the collective, suppressed whimpering of two hundred people kneeling on granite."Pain is the chisel," Miya intoned with her eyes closed and her hands raised to the ceiling. "It carves away the excess. It shapes the soul into a vessel for the Light."Finn stood beside her, his arms trembling as he swung a heavy censer of frankincense. The smoke was thick, acrid, and choking. His eyes were red and streaming, but he didn't dare stop. He swung. Clink-hiss. Clink-hiss.In the back row, huddled among the scullery maids, Lyra felt like her kneecaps were about to snap."If the Goddess wanted us to suffer this much," Lyra muttered under her breath, "she wouldn't have given us buttocks to sit on.""Shhh!" Matron Henga hissed

The secret tunnels beneath Ashwood Castle were older than the stones themselves. They smelled of damp earth, ancient secrets, and the terrified sweat of ancestors who had used them to flee sieges.Oreon moved through the darkness without a torch. He knew the way by touch, counting the stones on the left wall until he felt the rough timber of the hidden door.He pushed. The wood groaned, then swung open.Heat and steam blasted his face.He stepped out from behind a stack of barrels and into the scullery pantry. It was quiet. The main ovens were cooled for the night, leaving only the dim glow of the embers and a lantern hanging near the sink.He saw her.Eltonia was standing at the deep stone basin. She was scrubbing a massive cauldron that was nearly as big as she was. Her grey penitent’s dress was soaked at the front. Her hair was messy, escaping the twine she used to tie it back.She looked exhausted. She looked beaten down.But to Oreon, after hours of enduring Miya’s suffocating, p

The Great Hall was filling up for the second time that day. The summons had been absolute: Every soul in Ashwood. No exceptions.In the crowded corridor leading to the servants' entrance, Eltonia stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over the heads of the stable boys. She felt a sharp elbow in her ribs."Stop wiggling," Lyra hissed, though there was no real bite in her tone.Eltonia turned to her friend. Lyra was red. Her cheeks were a bright, suspicious shade of pink that had nothing to do with the heat of the ovens. She kept fidgeting with her apron strings, and her eyes kept darting toward the front of the hall, where the guards were assembling.Specifically, toward the Beta."You look... warm," Eltonia whispered as a small smile touched her lips for the first time in days."It's hot in here," Lyra snapped, fanning herself aggressively. "Too many bodies. Too much incense.""Is it?" Eltonia teased gently. "Or is it because Beta Kael is looking at you like he wants to eat you?"Lyra ch

The sun moved across the sky like a slow, burning eye, but Oreon did not move.He sat cross-legged on the cobblestones with his back pressed against the bamboo bars of the Purification Cage. Sweat soaked his hair and ran down his neck, stinging the fresh cuts from the silver spears. His skin was red, radiating heat, but he didn't flinch.Inside the cage, Eltonia watched him through the slats. Her heart ached with terror and overwhelming gratitude."Alpha," she whispered, her throat dry. "Please. You will get heatstroke. Go inside.""I am comfortable," Oreon rasped. He reached back through the bars, and his hand found hers. "Are you?""I am fine," she lied, squeezing his fingers.A shadow fell over them.Beta Kael stood there. He was in full uniform, despite the heat. He looked at Oreon sitting in the dirt. He looked at the wall of Council Paladins standing guard with their silver spears.Kael didn't say a word. He unbuckled his sword belt and laid it on the ground.Then, he sat down n

Lyra grabbed for Finn’s collar, but the boy was slippery as an eel."No!" Finn yelped, twisting his body with a desperate strength. He ducked under her arm, his eyes wide with panic. "I have duties! She is waiting!""Finn, stop!" Lyra shouted and lunged for him.But he was gone. He bolted down the corridor and disappeared around the bend toward the scullery exit, leaving Lyra holding nothing but air and the lingering scent of stale incense.Lyra stood there, her chest heaving. She gave it to him, Lyra thought as a sick feeling rose in her gut. The High Priestess is marking him.She couldn't chase him now. The sun was setting, and Matron Henga would be prowling for slackers. Lyra cursed under her breath and stomped back toward the main kitchen.The kitchen was winding down for the night. The fires were banked, and the smell of roasting meat had faded to the scent of scrubbing soap.In the corner, a young maid named Tess was grinding something in a mortar and pestle. It wasn't spice fo