All Chapters of The Alpha’s Sanctuary: His Forbidden Mate: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Lena's POVDarion stared out the window for a long time before he spoke.Rain beat against the glass. Hard. Relentless. Could hear it echoing down the empty hallway. Could feel the weight of what he was about to say pressing down on both of us like the air itself had gotten heavier."We were strong," he finally said. Voice quiet. Distant. Like he was talking from somewhere far away. "The Northwood Pack. One of the strongest in the northern territories. Three hundred wolves. Maybe more. Old bloodlines. Ancient territory. We held those lands for generations."He paused. Jaws working like the words were physically difficult to get out."I was heir. Only son of the Alpha. I trained my whole life for it. Strategy. Combat. Pack politics. All of it." His hands gripped the windowsill. Knuckles white. "And I was good at it. Really good. Everyone said so. My father. The elders. Even wolves from other packs. They said I'd be the greatest Alpha the Northwood Pack had ever seen."I could hear the

Lena's POVI was still on the roof when I heard the commotion downstairs.Loud voices. Footsteps. The kind of organized chaos that meant trouble had just walked through my front door.Climbed down the ladder. Headed back inside. Could hear Tormund's voice rising above the others. Calm but firm. The tone he used when he was trying to keep things from escalating.Reached the main hall. Stopped at the doorway.Elsa stood in the center of the room. Same black dress. Same cold smile. But this time she wasn't alone. Two people flanked her. A man and a woman. Both are older. Both carrying themselves with the kind of authority that said they didn't need to prove anything to anyone.Council representatives.My stomach dropped."Ah, Lena," Elsa said when she spotted me. Voice dripping with false sweetness. "How wonderful. We were just about to come find you."I walked into the room. Kept my face neutral. "Elsa. I wasn't expecting you so soon.""The council moves quickly when matters of public s

Lena's POVMorning came too fast.I barely slept. Kept thinking about Julian. About the curse. About the way Darion's eyes had looked when he'd talked about the massacre. The guilt eating him alive from the inside out.Got up before sunrise. Went downstairs. Found Tormund already awake in the kitchen making coffee."Couldn't sleep either?" he asked without looking up."No."He poured two cups. Slide one across the counter to me. "So. We're doing this then? Digging into Julian's past?""We're doing this."He nodded slowly. Taking a long sip of his coffee. "Then we need to go somewhere most people don't know about.""Where?""The archive."Blinked at him. "What archive?"Tormund smiled. Small. Knowing. "You think I've been working here for decades without building a collection? Without keeping records?" He set down his cup. "Come on. I'll show you."Followed him through the kitchen. Through a door I'd walked past a thousand times but never really noticed. Down a narrow staircase that cr

Lena’s POV Morning came with gray skies and the smell of rain. I found Darion already in the archive when I got there. Sitting at the small table. Surrounded by the same books and journals Tormund and I had gone through yesterday. His eyes were bloodshot. Hair a mess. It looked like he hadn't slept at all. "How long have you been down here?" I asked. "Since you left last night." He didn't look up from the journal he was reading. "Tormund showed me where everything was. Told me what you'd found." Sat down across from him. "And?" "And you were right. The pattern is there. Clear as day once you know what you're looking for." He finally looked up. Met my eyes. "But there's more. Things I didn't tell you last night. Things I didn't even realize mattered until I started reading through all this." "Like what?" He closed the journal. Pushed it aside. Leaned back in his chair. "Julian didn't just show up after the massacre. He was there. Right after. Like he'd been waiting for it to ha

Darion's POVThe curse always gave warning.Started as a whisper at the edge of my mind. Cold. Slithering. Then spread. Through my chest. Down my arms. Into my bones like ice water in my veins.Felt it starting around midnight. Was in my room reading through another one of Tormund's ancient journals. Trying to find more pieces of the puzzle. More clues about why Julian hated my bloodline enough to spend centuries destroying it.Then the whisper came.Dropped the book. Hands going to my chest. Pressing against the spot where the curse lived. Could feel it waking up. Stirring. Getting ready to manifest."No," I breathed. "Not now. Not again."But the curse didn't care what I wanted. Never did.Black veins started spreading across my skin. Could see them in the mirror. Crawling up my neck. Across my face. Like roots of some poisonous plant growing under my flesh.Pain hit next. Sharp. Brutal. Like someone was reaching into my chest and squeezing my heart with frozen fingers.Collapsed to