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Home / Werewolf / Broken: Claiming her place / Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

All Chapters of Broken: Claiming her place: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

98 Chapters

Chapter 31

Ariana’s POV“She’s back and I wonder how she feels seeing her ex-boyfriend getting married to her stepsister.”The words were hushed, careless, thrown into the air like they couldn’t cut skin.“Awful,” another maid replied softly. “I cannot even imagine being in her shoes right now. I wouldn’t be able to watch it happen”Of course, they couldn’t.I slowed my steps, my fingers curling into the fabric of my dress. For a brief moment, I considered walking away, letting their voices fade into the background like every other cruel whisper I had endured since my return. But a Valenti always had something in-bred, pride, and this made me stop.It took a lot of willpower to turn around.When I did, I smiled.A soft, composed smile. The kind that hid storms and made people uneasy because they couldn’t tell what it meant.“You sure don’t want this to flop, right?” I said lightly, my tone almost cheerful. “Let’s get to work. Chop chop" I said as I clapped my hands matching the rhythm in my tone

Chapter 32

Ariana’s POVThe light was unforgiving.It pinned me in place, white and blinding, restricting my movement and washing out every possible escape route. I knew instantly that running would be pointless. If I moved too fast, if I even shifted wrong, Victoire would see me run and she already had too many secrets for me to become one of them.Slowly, the beam shifted.And there she was.Victoire stepped out from the shadows of the balcony, her silhouette stiff, her movements unusually sharp. Whoever had been with her was already gone. Vanished like smoke. But she remained.And she looked… terrified.Not the polished, venomous woman I’d grown up fearing. This was different. Her eyes darted, calculating, searching.The guard stiffened when he noticed her. “Luna Victoire,” he said quickly, bowing his head. “My apologies. I didn’t realize..”“Leave,” she snapped, adjusting her robe with trembling fingers. “You’re done here.”He didn’t question her. He never could. He muttered another apology

Chapter 33

Fernando’s POVDays had passed since Ariana pulled off that reckless act, slipping out of reach like smoke through clenched fingers. And in all those days, there had been nothing. No signal. No coded message. No whisper carried through the channels I’d memorized like prayer beads.Silence.I never knew silence could be this loud.It gnawed at me during council briefings, crept into my training sessions, dulled the edge of my blade. I would start a thought and lose it halfway, my mind wandering back to the same questions over and over again.Was she alive? Was she being treated properly?I told myself she was smart. Smarter than most of us. Ariana didn’t survive the Valenti pack by luck. She survived because she learned how to disappear when it mattered. Still, knowing that didn’t stop the unease curling in my chest like a slow poison.My concentration span reduced gradually, slipping through my grasp like oil no matter how tightly I tried to hold on. The elders noticed. Raymond defini

Chapter 34

Ariana’s POVConsciousness came back to me in fragments, dull throbs, slow breaths, the heavy taste of metal at the back of my throat. My eyelids fluttered open, and the ceiling above me was unfamiliar. Smooth stone. Reinforced beams.The holding room.I shifted and hissed as pain flared up my leg, sharp but controlled, like a warning rather than a threat. When I looked down, I was relieved to see the snake bite had been cleaned and wrapped expertly, fresh bandages snug against my skin. Someone had taken care of me.Beside the bed sat a teacup, steam long gone, the faint scent of herbs still clinging to it.Fernando.The thought grounded me and panic followed immediately. I pushed myself up, heart racing, hands flying to where the Black Ledger should have been.Nothing.My chest tightened. I scanned the room wildly, ignoring the ache in my body, until memory crashed back in, his face at the border. The way his eyes had widened before he masked everything. The way I had smiled, knowing

Chapter 35

Fernando’s POVThe moment the truth left my mouth, I saw the immediate change in her demeanorAriana’s eyes lost their sharpness, like a flame deprived of oxygen. She stared at nothing for a second too long, her fingers clutching the sheets as though she needed something solid to remind her she was still here. Anyone else might have thought she was angry. I knew better.She was calculating loss.I shouldn’t have told her so bluntly. But lies, even gentle ones, had no place between us anymore.“You look like you’re about to convince yourself all of this was for nothing,” I said quietly.Her lips parted. Closed again. When she finally spoke, her voice was hoarse. “If the ledger is fake… then what exactly did I almost die for?”I exhaled slowly. “Time.”She frowned. “Time?”“Time to destabilize the Valenti pack. Time to force people like Victoire and Liam to move when they weren’t ready.Before she could respond, the door opened.One of my guards stepped in, posture rigid. “Alpha.”I tur

Chapter 36

Ariana’s POVThe first thing I felt was overwhelming heat.It crawled over my skin like fire ants, seeping into my bones. I jerked awake with a sharp gasp, my chest heaving as though I’d been underwater for too long. Sweat drenched my hair, my clothes clinging uncomfortably to my body like a second skin. For a terrifying second, I couldn’t remember how to breathe.“In… out, one..two,” I whispered to myself, pressing a hand to my chest.My heart slowed gradually, though it still hammered painfully against my ribs. The room came into focus, the stone walls, the barred window, the faint scent of herbs lingering in the air. The tea. I remembered taking it… or at least starting to.Fernando.My eyes frantically glanced around the room. The chair by the wall was empty. No sign of him. No trace of his presence except the faint, familiar scent that always seemed to linger even after he was gone.Panic bloomed in my chest.I swung my legs off the bed, ignoring the lingering dizziness, and stoo

Chapter 37

Fernando’s POVThe moment I stepped fully into the corridor, the air shifted.I saw it in the way Raymond moved his shoulders, they stiffened before he even turned to face me. Hostility lingered thickly between him and Ariana, sharp enough to taste. Whatever had been said before I arrived, it hadn’t been harmless.“My brother is here!” Raymond said with a laugh, spreading his arms as if the tension were nothing more than a misunderstanding. “Perfect timing.”I didn’t return the humor.My eyes stayed on him, steady and cold. “Step away from her.”Raymond blinked once, then chuckled. “Relax, Fernando. We were just talking. We were just…getting to know each other.”Ariana said nothing, but I could sense how tightly she was holding herself together. That alone told me enough.“I gave orders,” I said quietly. “Clear ones. She is not to be questioned. Not to be cornered. And certainly not to be intimidated.”Raymond’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second. “Intimidated? That’s rather ha

Chapter 38

Fernando’s POVIs everyone set?” I asked, my voice carrying across the clearing.“Yes, Alpha!” they echoed in unison.The day of the postponed annual meeting had finally arrived, and despite the tension that still clung to the pack like a shadow, everything was in place. The elders stood to the east, the bikers flanked the perimeter while revving their engines, and the sentries were alert. As they should be.My eyes moved instinctively through the crowd, scanning faces, counting heads.“Where’s Ariana?” I asked, frowning slightly.Before anyone could answer, a familiar voice rang out, bright and unapologetic.“Here!”She squeezed through the gathering, her hand raised slightly as if she were afraid I wouldn’t see her. There was joy on her face; pure, reckless joy that didn’t belong in a place filled with suspicion and politics. For a second, it disarmed me.“You’re late,” I said, keeping my tone neutral.She smiled wider. “You didn’t say I couldn’t be.”A few murmurs rippled through t

Chapter 39

Ariana’s POVWe looked further into the shadows and I instantly recognized that build.Liam.He stood by the stone pillar like a ghost dragged out of my past, his posture rigid, his eyes fixed on me. Not just on me, but on how close I was to Fernando. On the way Fernando’s body angled subtly in front of mine, protective without even trying. The look on Liam’s face twisted into something ugly, something that made my stomach drop. Heartbreak was clear, but beneath it, something far more dangerous. Jealousy sharp enough to kill.“So this is where you’ve been,” Liam said as he stepped forward, his voice trembling with rage. “Brainwashed. Paraded around like a trophy.”Fernando didn’t move. His presence alone felt like a wall. “Choose your next words carefully,” he said coldly. “You’re trespassing.”Liam laughed, harsh and broken. “You kidnapped her, poisoned her mind. You’re keeping her here like a prisoner.”“That’s a lie,” Fernando replied, calm but lethal. “And you know it.”The air sn

Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40Ariana’s POVThe competition began with chaos and fire.Engines screamed as bikes launched off ramps, metal cutting through air before crashing back onto the dirt with brutal precision. Riders twisted midair, landing impossible stunts as the crowd roared loudly in approval. Then came the combat trials; hand-to-hand clashes that stained the dust red and pride hanging by a thread.I watched it all in agonizing silence.Fernando sat beside me like a stranger. His presence was overwhelming and distant at the same time. He didn’t speak. He didn’t look at me. When one of his men took a risky turn, he rose to his feet instantly, Alpha instincts flaring, shouting sharp commands. The crowd responded to him. Power rolled off him effortlessly.But not once did he acknowledge me. He acted like I was anything but visible.Each time he stood, my heart lifted stupidly, hoping he might turn, even briefly. He never did.I folded my hands tightly in my lap, nails biting into my skin, cursin

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