Chapter 41

The Viper and the ShadowPOV: Alpha Kaelen BlackwoodThe ride back to Blackwood Manor was a blur of freezing rain and boiling, unchecked rage.I did not wait for the horses to be fully stabled in the courtyard. I threw my leather reins to a terrified squire, completely ignored Doc Gale—who had emerged from the medical wing shouting frantically about my torn shoulder bandages—and marched directly into the grand foyer of the manor.My boots left muddy, bloody footprints across the polished marble floors, a stark contrast to the pristine facade of my home."Alpha?" Beta Marcus jogged down the corridor to keep up with me as I took the grand staircase two steps at a time. "Kaelen, slow down! Vesh sent a runner ahead saying you’re going after Zara. Are you out of your mind? If you execute the Luna without a Council trial, the Elders will revolt!""I’m not going to execute her, Marcus," I snarled, my aura leaking out in heavy, suffocating waves that made the servants press themselves

Chapter 42

The Wolf in the RanksPOV: Alpha Kaelen BlackwoodThe War Room was bathed in the flickering, unsteady light of oil lanterns. It was three in the morning, and the manor was deathly quiet, save for the rhythmic howling of the wind against the stone walls. I stood over the massive topographical map of the Northern Territories, tracing the twisting, blue line of the Silver Creek river with my index finger. "It doesn't make sense, Kaelen," Marcus murmured. He sat heavily in one of the oak chairs, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. "Vesh only decided to inspect the bridge an hour before you rode out. Even if a spy overheard the order in the courtyard, how could they possibly get a message to the Crimson Court fast enough for the vampires to mobilize thirty elite Shadow-walkers?" "They couldn't," I said, my voice grave. I tapped the map where the bridge was marked. "Not on foot. Not even a Feral run

Chapter 43

The Wooden Blade POV: General Vesh (Elara Vance)He was going to kill himself, and he was going to take my sanity with him.I stood under the canvas awning of the command tent, watching Kaelen run the obstacle course for the fifth time. His dark thermal shirt was plastered to his massive torso, slick with rain and sweat. Mud coated his arms and face. His bandaged shoulder was bleeding through the linen, a dark crimson stain spreading across his left side.And yet, he didn't stop. He didn't complain. He took every harsh command, every brutal punishment I threw at the squad, and he executed it with a terrifying, silent devotion.He is beautiful, Astra sighed in my mind, her violet eyes tracking his every movement with unabashed hunger. He fights through the pain for us.He is manipulating us, I snapped at my wolf. He’s trying to make us feel guilty.But it wasn't working. I didn't feel guilty. I felt frantic."You need to pull him off the field, Elara," Alaric said, standing be

Chapter 44

The Blood of the Mountain POV: General Vesh (Elara Vance)Mate.The word hung in the freezing, rain-swept air of the training yard, heavier than the iron armor strapped to my chest. Kaelen had dropped his wooden sword into the churning mud. He had laid his pride, his Alpha dominance, and his very life bare at my boots, refusing to strike the woman he had finally recognized beneath the terrifying facade of the Warlord. My hands shook as I gripped the crumpled, blood-stained parchment Alaric had just handed me. The heavy iron amulet resting against my collarbone seared my skin, fighting a losing battle to contain Astra. My massive white wolf was howling in a frenzy of protective, possessive rage, slamming against the cage of my ribs. The vampires had taken the Northern Mountain Keep. They had the women. They had the children. They had the innocent, vulnerable civilians of the Blackwood

All Chapters of The Alpha's rejected mate: Chapter 41 - Chapter 44

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44