The Alpha's Plump Luna의 모든 챕터: 챕터 21 - 챕터 30

[RHIANNON]Strange how that single conversation in the garden had shifted something fundamental inside me. The constant anxiety that usually greeted me each morning felt... lighter. Manageable. Like maybe I could breathe without counting each inhale.'He said we were his,' Nyx murmured sleepily. 'He meant it.'"He also said he wasn't ready to complete the bond." I sat up, pushing hair from my face. "We need to be patient."'We've been patient. We've been surviving. There's a difference.'I couldn't argue with that.The manor was quiet this early. Kael had left before dawn—Emrys had mentioned increased patrols and border checks during dinner last night. Something about tracks near the cursed boundary had everyone on edge.I dressed in simple clothes and headed downstairs, following the smell of fresh bread and herbs toward the kitchen.The space was already alive with activity. Four omegas worked around a massive wooden table covered in flour, dough, and bowls of rising mixture. Sunlig

[KAEL]"You're lying." My voice came out flat. Cold.Melissa's tears faltered. "What? No, I—""I heard every word you said." I stepped fully into the kitchen, shedding distance like armor. "Before I opened the door. Every cruel, calculated word designed to break her."Color drained from Melissa's face.I'd been walking past when Rhiannon's scent had hit me—sharp with distress. The bond had pulled tight, urgent, demanding I find her.I'd stopped outside the door. Heard Melissa's venom through the wood."Damaged. Scarred. Built like you ate your way through a famine."Rage had flooded white-hot and immediate."Alpha, I was just—" Melissa reached for my arm.The growl started deep in my chest. Low. Primal. The sound wolves made before they killed.Every omega in the kitchen froze. Cora's hand flew to her chest. Maris took an involuntary step back.Melissa stumbled backward, fear finally replacing calculation."Get out." Each word dripped with barely restrained violence. "Get out of this

[KAEL]I'd been reviewing border patrol reports when Emrys mentioned the pup training session."Rhiannon's running it," he'd said casually. Too casually. "Thought you might want to observe."I shouldn't have gone. Had a dozen other responsibilities demanding attention. Reports to read. Elders to consult. Defense strategies to refine.I went anyway.The training field stretched across the eastern side of the pack grounds, bathed in afternoon sunlight. Pups scattered across the grass, their excited voices carrying on the wind.And there—at the center of it all—was Rhiannon.She knelt beside a group of younger wolves, demonstrating something with patient hands. Her dark auburn hair caught the light. When she smiled at whatever one of the pups said, something in my chest pulled tight.'Beautiful,' Saen murmured.I ignored him. Focused on the tactical assessment instead. Good spacing between groups. Appropriate challenge levels. Safe but engaging activities.Professional observation. Nothi

[MELISSA]I watched them from behind the training shed, nails digging crescents into my palms.Kael stood too close to her. Again. His body angled toward Rhiannon like she was magnetic north and he'd lost all sense of direction. Storm-grey eyes softened in ways I'd spent years trying to coax from him.For her. The broken omega who'd stumbled into our territory covered in blood and failure.My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached.They weren't touching. Not quite. A careful distance maintained between them that screamed restraint rather than indifference. Worse than touching. That distance meant he was thinking about it. Fighting the urge. Wanting her badly enough to force space between them."It's not real," I whispered to myself. "It's pity. Obligation. Alpha responsibility."The words tasted like lies.Kael's hand twitched toward her, then dropped. She said something too quiet to hear. He laughed—actually laughed, head tilting back, guard dropping completely.I'd never made him laugh

[KAEL]The council room smelled like old wood and territorial tension.I stood at the head of the long table, maps spread across scarred oak, ledgers stacked in precise columns. Elders Thalos, Elowen, and Silas occupied their usual positions—faces weathered by years of pack politics, eyes sharp with assessment."Border reports," I prompted.Thalos unrolled a marked map. "Eastern tree line. Three minor incursions in the past week. Nothing overtly hostile, but scouts report unfamiliar scent markers."My jaw tightened. "Rogue or organized?""Difficult to say." Elowen tapped a section of border. "Too deliberate for random wandering. Too cautious for direct challenge."Testing us. Probing for weaknesses."Double patrols on the eastern sector," I ordered. "Pair younger warriors with veterans. I want eyes on those markers every six hours."Silas nodded, making notes. "Sigil checks?""Every ancient marker. Quietly. Don't alarm the pack unnecessarily."The meeting continued through routine mat