All Chapters of Cruel Alpha’s Refuge: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Corin The air in the great hall almost trembled with tension. Mason stood beside me, his strong body like a warm shield, but his eyes were fixed on the entrance. He was not the only one who was suspicious. The warriors of the pack were gripping the handles of their weapons. In a shadowed corner of the hall my mother, Vanessa, was sitting. She looked exhausted. Her face was pale after the escape and the horrors of Northwood, but her eyes were alert. From the beginning Mason had made sure she was safe. He had sent his own men with her at the border when we rescued her, and now he nodded to a guard to bring her a glass of water. Mason knew that if my mother was safe, I would be calmer too. Then Silas entered. Even with his white hair and worn fur over his shoulder, he carried such authority that the hall fell silent. He stopped in front of the table covered with maps. His icy blue eyes moved over all of us, then rested on my mother. “Silas,” my mother whispered, her voice sha

Corin The journey to the mines passed in tense silence. The sound of the horses’ hooves on the frozen ground was the only rhythm that broke the quiet of the forest. Mason rode in front, his shoulders tight, his eyes scanning the trees as if Glacier’s killers could be hiding behind every bush. My mother, Vanessa, rode close beside me, and Silas followed at the back like an ancient shadow. As the land grew harsher and the cliffs rose high above us, we finally saw the entrance. The old mine opened in the side of the mountain like a dark wound. The air was colder there, and a strange metallic scent filled the space, the smell of old magic and deep stone. We stopped the horses. The warriors quickly formed a line and secured the area. Mason jumped down from his saddle, and before I could say anything, he was at my side to help me down. His hand gripped my waist firmly, and I felt his strong protective instinct almost suffocating me. “Stay here with the guards,” he ordered the othe

Mason The scream that tore from my throat was no longer human. I could not endure the helplessness any longer, nor the pain that burned through the bond as Corin’s suffering. My skin tightened, my bones cracked and shifted as rage destroyed the last piece of reason inside me. In a heartbeat a massive black wolf stood before the ruins. My warriors followed my lead. The air filled with the sound of stretching muscle and deep animal growls. “Move the rocks,” I commanded through the pack mind, and I threw myself at the heavy stones first. My claws tore against hard granite. Blood ran from my paws, but I felt nothing. I saw only one image in my mind. Corin in the dark, surrounded by those worms. Every stone we dragged away felt like an eternity. Dust covered our fur. Our lungs burned from the effort. Rage pushed us forward. Slowly, painfully slowly, we made progress. But the mountain remained silent. Then something change

Corin The darkness was soft and velvety, like a heavy blanket wrapped protectively around me. When my eyes opened, the first thing I felt was not the suffocating dust of the mines or the scorching burn of the fire, but a deep, all-encompassing calm. The silence of the room was broken only by the last crackling sounds of wood in the fireplace and the steady, deep rhythm of someone breathing. I was lying in Mason’s arms. One of his large hands rested on my waist, and his legs were tangled with mine as if, even in his sleep, he feared I might slip away or vanish into mist. The warm wall of his chest pressed against my back, and with every breath he took I felt his strength, which now was not threatening, only endlessly comforting. It felt strange. My body should have been aching from exhaustion, and my soul should have been in ruins after the betrayal and the slaughter. But it was not. I felt completely fine. Better than fine, actually. It felt as if the fire that

Mason My heart pounded in my throat, and every muscle in my body was tense as if I were holding up enormous weights. Corin’s sharp gasp and the tears of pain shining in her eyes hit me like a bucket of ice water poured over raging fire. I froze. Inside me my wolf howled and clawed beneath my skin. The possessive instinct demanded that I finish what I had started, that I mark her completely and claim my mate forever. But my Alpha, the man who loved this girl more than anything, was stronger. “Corin…” I whispered, my voice trembling in a way it never had before. I saw the red stain on the white sheet, the proof of her purity and her sacrifice. The realization stunned me. In the dark pit of Silver Stone, where cruelty ruled, she had preserved herself. She had not allowed them to defile her. She had saved this gift for me, and I had almost shattered it with my wild hunger. Desire nearly tore my body apart. The need pulsing in my lower stomach was painful, and the sweet scent o