جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 30

The evening air was heavy with the scent of pine and distant rain, curling around the estate with a tension that matched the storm building in my chest. Damien had invited me to the main hall of the Alpha’s estate to discuss the Elders’ warnings, but as soon as I arrived, I realized that Selina’s presence was no coincidence. She lingered near the grand fireplace, her dress dark and elegant, her eyes alight with a predator’s calculation. She had the kind of beauty that could captivate, but beneath it was something dangerous—something she wielded like a weapon. Damien stood near the doorway, black suit tailored to perfection, his presence commanding the entire room. Even standing apart from everyone else, the Alpha aura radiating from him was impossible to ignore. Every inch of him screamed dominance and authority, but to me, he was more than that—he was safety, desire, and an unshakable force I had begun to trust, maybe too deeply. Selina’s smile was deliberate, a slow, calculated cu

Dawn came slowly in the mountains. Not with softness, but with weight. Mist curled around the trees like something alive, clinging to bark and stone, refusing to let go of the night. From the high windows of the Alpha house, the valley below looked deceptively calm—green, endless, peaceful. But Lia knew better now. Peace was only ever borrowed. She stood near the wide window, Leo seated at the small table behind her, coloring with intense focus—tongue slightly out, brows knitted in determination. The doctor had reassured her during yesterday’s checkup. He was healing well. Strong. Resilient. Wolf-strong, though she would never say it aloud. Damien stood across the room, arms folded, body rigid. He hadn’t slept. She could tell by the way his gaze kept drifting—calculating angles, distances, threats that hadn’t yet arrived. The Alpha didn’t rest when the pack was restless. And the pack was restless. The events of the previous night had spread through the territory like wildfir

Dawn crept into the pack territory like an uninvited witness. Mist lay thick between the trees, curling around the stone paths and the low roofs of the Alpha compound. The air smelled of pine, wet earth, and something else—anticipation sharpened by unease. Wolves moved quietly, their steps deliberate, eyes observant. Word of the night’s meeting had already spread. It always did. Lia woke before the sun fully rose. Leo was still asleep beside her, his small chest rising and falling steadily. She watched him for a long moment, grounding herself in that rhythm. It reminded her why she endured the stares, the whispers, the isolation. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll be back before lunch,” she whispered. “Be brave for me.” He stirred but didn’t wake. The healer’s lodge was on the far side of the territory, closer to the river. The walk there gave Lia time to think—and to feel the weight of being watched. Wolves paused when she passed. Some nodded stiffly. Ot

The pack grounds did not quiet after Damien carried Lia away. They hummed—low, uneasy, alive with tension that slipped through roots and stone and bone. Wolves gathered in clusters, voices kept low out of instinct rather than obedience. A challenged Alpha did not need to snarl to be heard. His silence alone was warning enough. Damien did not stop until the trees thickened and the path dipped away from the heart of the territory. Only then did he set Lia down, carefully, as if the act itself were sacred. Leo shifted sleepily in her arms, murmured once, and settled again. Lia’s breath was still unsteady. “You didn’t have to—” she began. “I did,” Damien cut in, voice firm but not sharp. “And I would again.” She looked up at him then, really looked. The Alpha was tightly leashed fury, his jaw set, eyes dark, shoulders rigid beneath the weight of the crown he never asked for but could never shed. “They looked at me like I was something dragged in on your boots,” she said quietly. “L

The forest held its breath. Moonlight spilled across the jagged ridges, silvering the trees and painting long, trembling shadows. Lia’s fingers brushed the strap of her bag, not from fear, but from instinct. Something was wrong. She could feel it—like a thread pulling at the edges of her awareness. Damien, walking just a step behind her, had his eyes on the path, scanning for any threat, but he didn’t sense it yet. He was confident. Overconfident. And Lia didn’t have the heart to tell him she could see the flicker in the shadows—the movement that didn’t belong. A rustle. Just a whisper, but enough to make Lia freeze mid-step. “Lia?” Damien’s voice was low, steady, protective. He stopped, his gaze sweeping the clearing. “You’re quiet. Did something happen?” She forced a laugh, shaking her head. “Just… the wind, maybe.” But the shadow didn’t move like the wind. It moved with purpose. Slow, deliberate, watching them from the edge of the forest. Her pulse quickened. A warning tighte