Semua Bab Now, The Alpha Wants Me Back: Bab 11 - Bab 20

Lyra POVThe silence that followed that meeting was not peaceful.It was the kind of quiet that crept under my skin and stayed there, buzzing, waiting. The pack house felt hollowed out—like a body after the soul had stepped aside. Servants spoke softer around me. Guards avoided my eyes. Even the walls felt like they were listening.My wolf stirred, heat gathering in my ribs, my muscles pulling restlessly. An ache that felt nothing like direction.The urge to return to the forest hit me so sharply I had to grip the edge of the dresser to stay uprightThe command wasn’t external. It came from inside me, deep, from my wolf. My body responded before my mind could catch up. I got up and took a deep breath, and wore my sneakers, ready to head there…. At least camp there for a way… maybe a week.But Fear followed immediately.If I let go, if I surrendered to that pull, it would confirm everything they believed about me. That I was weak. Unstable. A Luna who couldn’t control herself without

Lyra povI had barely made it halfway up the stairs when I heard heels clicking behind me, slow, deliberate, like someone who wanted to be noticed.“Running away already, Luna?” Sable’s voice floated up, soft and sharp all at once.I closed my eyes for half a second, then turned. She stood two steps below me, one hand resting lightly on the railing, her lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.“What do you want?” I asked quietly.She tilted her head. “That’s no way to greet the woman who’s about to be your Alpha’s wife.”My jaw tightened. “Move, Sable.”“Still giving orders?” she asked, mockingly. “How adorable. You really don’t know when to stop pretending, do you?”“I’m not pretending,” I said. “I’m just tired.”“Oh, I can tell,” she said, her gaze sweeping over my clothes, my bag. “You look… small. Like someone who finally realized she lost.”“I didn’t lose anything,” I replied. “I was taken from.”She laughed, a soft, brittle sound. “You were never anything to take. Yo

Draven pov The first thing I noticed was the blood.Not fresh blood , faintly scattered across the path like a warning. My wolf lifted his head inside me, muscles tightening, senses sharpening.Feral, he growled.“I know,” I muttered under my breath as I crouched, brushing my fingers over a broken leaf. The smell was wrong, wild, unbound, carrying the stench of hunger and madness that only feral wolves had. The kind that forgot packs, forgot reason, forgot everything except the need to tear.They had crossed into my boundary.That didn’t happen often. And when it did, it was never a coincidence.I rose slowly, eyes scanning the trees. The Silverpine border lay several miles to the east, the Silverfang pack’s territory beyond that. Everything in between was mine to protect, or to burn if necessary.“Come on,” I murmured, stepping deeper into the forest. “Let’s see what you think you’re doing here.”My wolf moved beneath my skin, restless, eager. He loved this part, the hunt, the chase

Cassien POVI did not sleep.Not really.I lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling while Sable’s soft, even breathing filled the room beside me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lyra’s face the way it had looked the night before she disappeared, guarded, wounded, still stubbornly proud even as I’d torn into her with my words. I kept hearing her voice in my head. Kept seeing the way she’d looked at me when I accused her of something so ugly.What if that was the last thing I ever said to her?My wolf paced inside me, restless and frantic, scraping at the inside of my chest like it wanted to tear free. Mate. Mate. Mate. The word kept echoing through me, a low, aching pulse that wouldn’t quiet.When the sky finally lightened, I felt like I had aged a year in a single night.At exactly eight, a knock came at the door. One of the messengers bowed quickly.“Alpha, the council of elders requests your presence. Immediately.”I was already on my feet.Sable stirred. “Cassien?” she murm

TESSA'S POVThe vampire cultural center was gorgeous, all dark wood and elegant architecture that paid homage to centuries worth of vampire aesthetic tradition. I stood in the main hall watching vampires young and old peruse displays of vampire history, art and ways.“The is amazing,” Lady Cassandra murmured, moving through the gallery of vampire paintings and sculptures. I was afraid that integration would mean wiping out our culture altogether. But this celebrates it."“Integration is not erasure,” I told them. "It means evolution. Celebrating your roots while making a connection with others.”An old vampire walked up and his time-ravaged eyes welcomed the exhibits. “Back in my day, I would have never imagined a group of young vampires giving a shit about our history. Many were so busy trying to be modern, and shedding everything in the past.”They felt that tradition and change were opposites,” I said. "We're showing them you can have fun with what makes vampires special and open