Semua Bab Barren Luna Returns with Triplets: Bab 171 - Bab 180

Kharl POVThe crowd had dispersed, but the weight of what Markus said had not.It followed me.Through the halls.Through the guards who tried not to look at me too long.Through the quiet that had settled over the Pack like something waiting to break.You think I was working alone?The words kept repeating in my head, steady and cold, refusing to fade.By the time we reached the lower chambers again, I had already made the decision.Public justice was one thing.Truth was another.And I needed the truth.Markus was already back in chains when I entered the room. This time, the space was smaller, tighter, built for containment rather than display. No crowd. No elders. No voices to interrupt.Just him.And me.He didn’t look up immediately when I stepped in.He already knew I was there.Of course he did.“You took your time,” he said after a moment, his voice calm, almost bored.I didn’t respond.I walked forward until I stood directly in front of him, close enough to see every detail

Ryan POVI watched him more than I wanted to admit.Not because I trusted him.I didn’t.Not fully.Maybe not even halfway.But Kharl had become impossible to ignore inside our lives now. He was there in the mornings when the children came down for breakfast. He was there during training, standing a little distance away as Rune and Blaze practiced basic stances. He was there in the evening when Alora demanded stories and Amelia sat quietly near him like she was still afraid to ask for space, but also afraid to be left out.And Celeste…That was what bothered me most.Celeste was letting him in.Slowly.Carefully.Not with open arms. Not with foolish softness. But still, she was letting him in.At first, she only allowed him near the children when she was present. Then she allowed him to take Alora to the garden for a short walk. Then Rune asked him a question about shifting, and Celeste didn’t interrupt when Kharl answered. Yesterday, Blaze sat beside him for almost ten minutes withou

My head rested against his chest, the steady thump of his heart the only sound in the quiet room. No matter what happens… I won’t let anyone take them again. The thought anchored me, but so did the man holding me. Kharl’s arms were steel and velvet at once—strong enough to crush, gentle enough to heal. I breathed him in, pine and musk and the faint salt of the fear he’d finally let me see.He must have felt the shift in me, because his hand slid up my back, fingers threading into my hair. Slowly, he tilted my face up. Our eyes locked. No words. Just the raw, naked truth between us: we had almost lost everything tonight.Then he kissed me.It started soft—his lips brushing mine like a question, like he was still afraid I might vanish. But the moment I answered, pressing closer, the dam broke. The kiss deepened, turned hungry, desperate. His tongue swept in, claiming my mouth with a low groan that vibrated straight through me. I moaned into him, hands fisting in his shirt, pulling him h

Third Person POV (Kharl / Celeste / Lydia)The alarm didn’t come softly.It tore through the palace like a wound reopening.First the horns.Then the shouts.Then the running.By the time the words reached the upper halls, they had already changed shape, spreading faster than truth ever could.“Security breach—”“The dungeon—”“Guards down—”“Markus—”Escaped.The word settled over the Pack like poison.Panic followed immediately.Not loud at first.But sharp.Controlled chaos.Warriors flooded the corridors, armor half-fastened, weapons already drawn, eyes scanning as if the enemy might still be inside the walls. Orders were shouted, repeated, contradicted, then corrected again as the chain of command tightened around the situation.No one slept after that.No one could.Because this wasn’t just a failure.It was a crack.And everyone could feel it.—Kharl stood in the center of the command hall, his presence alone enough to steady the chaos around him, even if it did nothing to qui

Markus POVThe abandoned church smelled like dust, rain, and old death.Perfect.I stood near the broken window, watching the storm gather outside while the weak candlelight behind me flickered against the cracked walls. The place had once belonged to humans decades ago before being left to rot deep inside neutral territory. Now it belonged to no one.Which made it useful.One of the men entered quietly behind me.“The outer paths are clear,” he reported. “No trackers.”I nodded once without turning.Kharl would search the forests first.Ryan would tighten borders.Ryder would look for patterns.Predictable men.Powerful.But predictable.That was why they kept surviving battles while still losing wars they didn’t even realize existed.“You’re bleeding again,” another voice said.I finally turned slightly.A woman stepped from the shadows carrying a medical kit. Tall. Calm. Dark eyes that missed very little.Selene.One of the few people I trusted enough to stand this close to me.“It