All Chapters of Rejected by the Alpha Heir, Mated to His Rival Brother: Chapter 141 - Chapter 146

The hours crawled by like centuries.The sun had risen and begun its slow descent toward the horizon, painting the sky in shades of amber and gold. I had been searching for six hours. Maybe seven. Maybe more. I had lost count somewhere in the tangle of trees and shadows, somewhere between the desperate howls and the crushing silence that followed.My body was failing me. Every step sent fire through my wounds, every breath a sharp reminder of how close I had come to death the night before. The bandages were soaked through with blood—some old, some new. I had torn stitches hours ago, reopening wounds that should have been healing. I didn't care. I couldn't care. Not while she was still out there.I had shifted hours ago, forcing my broken body into my wolf form because it was faster, because my senses were sharper, because I needed every advantage I could get. But even in this form, I couldn't find her. Her scent had vanished into the wind, swallowed by the forest. No trail. No tracks.

Ciara's POVI raised my hands slowly, palms open, the universal sign of surrender. The wolves around me didn't relax. If anything, they tensed further, their growls deepening, their bodies coiling like springs ready to snap."I'm not a threat," I said, keeping my voice calm and steady. "I'm lost. I crossed your borders by accident. I didn't know where I was going."The scarred man who had shifted studied me with cold, calculating eyes. He didn't believe me. I could see it in the hard set of his jaw, in the way his fingers twitched at his sides."Lost," he repeated, the word dripping with skepticism. "A lone she-wolf, wounded and unarmed, wandering through our territory at dawn. You expect me to believe that?""It's the truth." I met his gaze without flinching. "I was running from something. I didn't mean to cross into your lands. I'll leave now. I'll go back the way I came. You'll never see me again."I took a step backward, toward the stream. The wolves closed in, tightening the circ

Ciara's POVThe guest quarters were modest but comfortable—a small room with a bed piled high with furs, a washbasin, and a window that looked out over the training grounds. The servant who led me there bowed and left without a word, closing the door softly behind her.I stood in the middle of the room for a long moment, my body aching, my mind spinning. The events of the past day crashed over me in waves—the battle, the shift, the running, the capture, the reunion with my uncle. It felt like a lifetime had passed since I had woken up in that forest, alone and confused.Then I stripped off my torn, filthy clothes and stepped into the bath that had been prepared for me. The water was warm, almost hot, and I sank into it with a groan of pure relief. The heat seeped into my muscles, loosening knots I hadn't realized were there. I watched the water turn pink, then red, then pink again as the blood—mine and others'—washed away. The metallic scent of it filled my nostrils, a reminder of eve