Bonded to the Bastard: My Rejection, His Obsession의 모든 챕터: 챕터 201 - 챕터 210

Alanza’s POV"I still don't get it. How did you even find this book, let alone the necklace? How did you get inside the pack grounds?"Mrs. Elena didn't look flustered by my rapid-fire questions. She simply let out a long, weary breath and reached over to pat the back of my hand. Her skin felt like crinkled parchment, but the gesture was as familiar as the smell of the old library back in Cedarwood."Well, now," she began, her voice steady. "Tell me, Alanza. Do you put any stock in dreams that show the future?"Libbie moved closer, her eyes narrowed in a mix of confusion and sharp curiosity. She looked the old woman up and down, clearly trying to figure out if she was a threat or just lost."Are you saying you're a seer, ma'am?" Libbie asked. Her voice had that high, skeptical pitch she used when she thought someone was pulling her leg."Oh, nothing so grand, dear." Mrs. Elena offered Libbie a smile that was so genuinely kind it seemed

Alanza’s POV"It stinks of old power," Sombra whimpers.She cowers near the rug, her eyes rimmed with red. Tears track through her fur, making her look small and pathetic despite her size. The air in the room has grown thick, humming with a frequency that vibrates in my teeth.I look at the heavy book on the floor, then back at my wolf. The realization hits me like a physical blow to the stomach. Mrs. Elena didn't just give me a family heirloom. She gave me a weapon, or maybe a cage."What did she do?" I whisper.I kneel, reaching out with trembling fingers. I pick up the volume with a new sense of dread. The leather feels warm, almost like skin, and the embossed symbol on the cover seems to pulse. In the pale morning light, the gold leaf catches a stray beam and flares. It feels like the book is watching me back.I glance over at the corner where Sombra is still vibrating. "I can’t do this alone. I don’t even know what I&r

Alanza’s POV"He’s ready to see you now," the boy behind the counter muttered.Steve didn't look up from her desk. She just kept clicking her pen against her teeth while the kid whispered in her ear. I watched her eyebrows climb toward her hairline. Whatever he told her, it changed the way she looked at me. When her eyes finally snapped back to mine, they were way too sharp.I shifted in the hard plastic chair and tried to catch Karlos’s eye. I needed a nod or a small smile, something to tell me we weren't about to get jumped. Instead, I saw the way his jaw was locked. There were fresh lines of exhaustion around his eyes and a tiny muscle jumping in his cheek.Karlos was vibrating with tension. It hit me right then that being here wasn't the same as being safe. He was working with these people because he had to, not because he liked them."Who are these kids, anyway?" I whispered.Karlos didn't answer. He just stared straig

Luciano’s POV"We need a blunt display of power or they won't stop," I said, looking each Alpha in the eye. "If we don't coordinate, we're just waiting to get picked off. Every pack here needs to double their patrols. I want your best trackers touching every inch of the border. We need to know which cities are hiding them, who is signing the checks, and where the next hit is coming. We need to know exactly where to stand our ground."I shifted my focus to Alpha Talon. He was leaning back, looking bored, but I knew he was listening. "Echo-System is right in the path if Crystal Lake collapses. It serves you to help us hold that line. Send me scouts and enforcers. Help us build a wall they can't climb."Talon let out a short, dry laugh. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the ceiling. "So you want my men to leave their homes and play security guard for your backyard? That is a lot to ask, Luciano."I felt the heat rising in my neck. I forc

Alanza’s POV"I had to dig through the old archives for this," Luciano says, his voice grainy over the line."And? What are they actually like?""Selfish. Entitled. They live for secrets and mind games. A Fae won't ever take a bet they might lose, and they have ways of making sure they never do. Some accounts say they are physically incapable of lying, while others claim they breathe deceit. The only thing every history book agrees on is that you should never, under any circumstances, trust one."The bit about the lying makes me pause. A thought starts to click into place. "Maybe that's where the reputation comes from," I say, thinking out loud. "The food. If their food forces you to tell the truth, people might just assume the Fae are honest by nature."The idea makes my skin crawl. If they have snacks that can strip away your free will and your secrets, what else can they do? Steve mentioned that the people calling me seemed to be using Fae