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Todos los capítulos de The Dual Claim: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

177 Capítulos

Chapter 1 Soraya

The chandeliers blazed with hundreds of candles, their flames mirrored in the polished marble until the ballroom looked like the inside of a star. Music drifted from the gallery, bright and full. Perfume, wax, and heat mixed in the air. A bell rang twice and the hall quieted.Alpha Corren rose from his chair at the head table. He was older than I remembered—hair gone silver, shoulders still straight.“Welcome, allies and honored guests. As the Moon turns through her twelve faces, each of the Twelve Allies stands in turn to serve as host before the full moon. Tonight, it is Silverpine’s honor to celebrate the banquet of The Luna’s Calling.”Applause rippled through the room, soft and polite. He lifted his glass in salute, then nodded to the dais.Elder Galdo stood. His voice carried calm authority. “We thank Luna for her bounty and the strength she gives our hunts. May our alliances hold, our hearths stay full, and our hearts remain ready for her choosing,

Chapter 2 Soraya

The girl ahead of me whispered a prayer into her fist and stumbled into motion. She was all nerves and pearls, nearly tripping on the third step before catching herself.He touched her wrist. Waited. Shook his head.She made it all the way back to her mother before she cried.“Next.”My mouth tasted like metal and wax.The room went quieter than it had been all night.I moved because stopping wasn’t allowed. Just five steps. I could do it.I kept my focus on the lowest step and lifted my foot.Lucien Veyrac looked at me, and for a fraction of a second, everything else disappeared. Not because he was beautiful, but because the weight of his attention felt like a hand wrapped around my ribcage.He didn’t smile. He didn’t frown. He watched.I reached the top step. The dress suddenly felt tight and ugly. I stopped an arm’s length from him.The elder shifted closer, the ritual book open, lips pressed thin.

Chapter 3 Soraya

The door stuck. I put a shoulder into it, and it gave with a groan. The courtyard beyond lay dark except for the moon’s soft glow. Thankfully, the music didn’t reach me here, only the sounds of frogs and crickets. I stepped outside and breathed in a huge gulp of the night air. The fountain in the center of the courtyard sprayed water as the droplets hit the pool at its base. Around me the pack lands spread for miles and miles. Orielle! His wolf. Reaching. Orielle surged up inside me, ears pricked, tail high, ready to run back. Mine! Let me go to him. My chest lurched with her. “We ca

Chapter 4 Soraya

I woke before dawn. The sky outside my window slowly turning gray. A glance at the clock on my nightstand said I had an hour or so until sunrise. For a second, it felt like any other morning…then the night came back in a rush.With a heavy sigh, I got out of bed. I knew what I had to do. What ‘we’ had to do in order to survive the degradation and humiliation from last night. I wasn’t naïve enough to think it would end here; it would continue every single time I stepped out of Wane Hall.I found the least frayed clothes from the few I owned, and then packed the rest.I looked at the bed I called mine for almost all of my eighteen years, even though it really belonged to the pack. In one sweep, I cleared the sheets and piled them in a heap near the door.I moved slow, careful not to wake anyone. The kitchen was dark. Stove cold. No voices. No clatter. I stopped at the back door and gave the room one last look.Cold air h

Chapter 5 Soraya

My pack felt heavy on my shoulders, I tried to shift the weight a bit… just in case I had to make a run for it. I told myself to keep walking, keep steady. The sound of boots behind me couldn’t help but make me feel uneasy. I didn’t get the chance to turn before an engine growled. Headlights swept across the cracked pavement as it made a U-turn. A black SUV slid up next to me and stopped hard enough to leave tracks on the road. All four doors opened at the same time. Wolves unfolded out of it—broad, heavy, faces that were focused and mean. Their boots hit the ground and flanked me in seconds. “Soraya Wane,” the tallest said. “You’re coming with us.” I squared my shoulders, tried to sound braver than I felt. “Why.” “You’re wanted for the Alpha’s murder.” The words stunned me and I froze. Hands were on me before I could answer. My pack stra

Chapter 6 Soraya

I lay back and stared at the ceiling until it blurred, then blinked it sharp again. It became a game, or at least something to do.Footsteps approached quietly, as if someone didn’t want to be heard until they were right at the door. I didn’t bother sitting up. I turned my head to see who would sneer at me next.Two guards entered and took up space on either side of the doorway.Lucien stepped in.Power and anger radiated from him. His Alpha power stretched to all corners of the room. I felt it close in like a blanket, but not a nice fluffy one. One that suffocates.His eyes were like steel, the gray before a storm breaks. For a heartbeat something pressed under his skin—golden and wild—and then shut down as he shoved it back.But I saw it, his wolf leaped forward.Orielle damn near broke through my skin to get to it. Ori, stop! No! He’s ours!Lucien stopped an arm’s

Chapter 7 Soraya

The stone cell was cold, but it wasn’t designed to keep prisoners comfortable.It seeped through the cot, through my clothes, and me until my bones ached and my muscles stiff.The shackle at my wrist chafed if I moved too far from the cot. Every so often boots passed in the corridor and then faded, I wondered if there was another prisoner down here.Orielle paced inside me. She bumped against my ribs like as if trying to be let out. I told her to stop. We weren’t escaping.Light under the cell door thinned. I dozed and woke with a jolt, heart running fast.The guard’s keys jangled, and the bolt scraped. I sat up fast, thinking it was Lucien coming back to blame me again, and scooted until my back pressed to the cold stone wall.The door opened.An Elder stepped inside with two guards. His hair was white, his eyes sharp. They didn’t soften when they looked at me. I searched for Lucien, but he wasn’t there.

Chapter 8 Soraya

The bolt scraped again. I snapped upright, My feet dangled off the cot, toes grazing air. I think I’d been here for a few days, or at least I smelled like I’d been here for a few days. I longed for a shower or a good soak. The thought of a bubble bath made me smile, even though I knew that wasn’t happening. Lucien walked in first. He didn’t look at me. He looked past me, like there was something on the wall worth more of his attention. All seven elders followed. Robes. Bowls. Bundles of herb tied with twine. One had silver chalk in his hands. Another kept his eyes on everyone, but hung in the back near the door. Another with white brows sharp over steady eyes, stayed next to Lucien. The one with the chalk threw something at me. As my hands lifted it, I saw it was just a plain beige tunic. Thinner than thin. “Change,” he instructed. Wolves

Chapter 9 Soraya

The door opened again, but the hallway beyond was darker than before. I lay on my cot watching them without lifting my head. The door swung inward. Four elders entered. Selwyn first with a leather bag. Marius came next, arms full—two shallow iron bowls balanced in one hand, a wrapped bundle of herbs in the other. Rathus had a case of chalk sticks and a copper dish with a tight lid. Hale shut the door from the inside. No one else followed. The corridor remained silent. “The bond still holds,” the short shifty one said. “Ansel was right.” “Where’s Lucien,” I asked, wary of these men. Selwyn approached my cot with a determined look in his eyes. “Then we will perform the reverse of the mating call,” he began, completely ignoring my question. Then continued, “Ancient magick designed to bring two wolves

Chapter 10 Soraya

I shifted until my back faced him at the foot of the cot. He pulled the tunic down over my left shoulder. He made a short, sharp cut. Selwyn turned to Lucien. “Do you accept?” Lucien nodded, his eyes fixed on me. I could tell he was physically turned on. That made me tingle all over. With the same knife, he slashed the palm on Lucien’s other hand. Lucien stepped in close, to the line where the chalk came nearest the cot. He placed his palm on my shoulder, sealed the wounds together, and forced his wolf forward. There was no preamble, no warm-up. He simply came up behind me while the others turned their backs. Never giving up their chanting. Heat moved from the cut down into my chest. It wasn’t a flash. It traveled in a straight path to a single point and stopped there, heavy, and hot. My ribs tightened around it, the space in my

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