Mated To My Captor의 모든 챕터: 챕터 161 - 챕터 170

 (Dante POV)The echo of the heavy door slamming shut hadn't even faded when the lock clicked again. I expected Silas to return, perhaps to deliver one last pontificating lecture on the necessity of my demise, but the figure that stepped into the violet gloom was smaller, her silhouette framed by a halo of artificial light from the stairwell.Alpha Lyra. The Nightbreeze matriarch. The woman who had sat at our council table for years representing the Gardens, whispering "unity" while sharpening the blade for our collective throats.She didn't take a seat. She walked with a predator’s grace, her heels clicking against the concrete like the ticking of a countdown clock. She stopped in front of me, her gaze drifting past my bruised face to the girl slumped against the pillar."She’s still under," Lyra remarked, her voice a low, mellifluous purr. "Juniper always was a heavy sleeper. It’s the Ironclaw blood, sturd

 (Kira POV) "Cassidy, now!" I screamed, my voice barely audible over the gale. Cassidy didn't hesitate. She abandoned her cover, her movements a blur of tactical precision as she charged Silas. She didn't use her gun, it was useless against the kinetic shield, instead, she drew a pair of short, silver-weighted batons. She slid across the frost-slicked concrete, coming up under Silas’s reach and swinging with a ferocity that made the air whistle. Silas snarled, forced to divert his attention from the ritual to parry her blows. "You’re a flea biting a titan, Cassidy!" he roared, lashing out with a burst of kinetic force that sent a nearby industrial crate flying toward her head. She ducked, the crate shattering against a steel beam behind her, and kept swinging. She wasn't fighting to win; she was fighting to buy me seconds. "Sage! The sout

 (Kira POV) The silence that followed Silas’s passing was heavier than the noise of the battle had ever been. The wind had died down to a melancholy whistle, weaving through the jagged rebar of the Spire like a funeral dirge. I stayed on my knees, my hands stained with a mixture of my own blood and the gray ash of Silas’s remains. Dante stood up slowly. His movements were languid, his body still recovering from the violent influx of essence I had forced back into him. He didn't look at me. His gaze was fixed on a point near the service lift. I followed his line of sight. Alpha Lyra lay sprawled against the metal doors, her neck bent at an unnatural angle. The white light of the ritual’s collapse had been unforgiving. Dante walked toward her, his boots clicking softly on the concrete. He reached down and lifted her hand. He held it for a heartbeat, his expression unreadable,

 (Dante POV) The wind on the observation deck had turned from a howling beast to a soft, grieving whisper. I stood at the edge, looking at the two women who had bled and fought alongside us through the longest night of our lives. Sage was still trembling, her eyes fixed on the horizon as if she could already see the quiet life she was dreaming of. Juniper looked smaller than I had ever seen her, the weight of the Ironclaw legacy sitting heavy on her slumped shoulders. "Sage. Juniper." My voice was a dry rasp, but it carried in the still morning air. They both looked at me. "You heard what I told Kira," I said, my chest tight. "The same goes for you. If you want to walk away from this, if you want to leave the Spire and the Depths behind and never look back, you can. I’ll make sure the records reflect that you died in the explosion at the Civic Hall. You can be ghos

 (Dante POV) The antiseptic chill of the mortuary clung to my skin even after we stepped back into the hallway. My father remained behind the heavy double doors, a solitary figure standing between the bodies of his brother and his greatest ally-turned-enemy. Through the small observation window, I saw him bow his head, the weight of the Silvercrest crown finally looking like the burden it truly was. "He looks smaller," Kira whispered, her hand finding mine in the dim light of the corridor. "I didn't think an Alpha could look that small." "He’s not an Alpha right now," I replied, my voice sandpaper-dry. "He’s just a man burying his life." We reached the main foyer, where the morning sun was now streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the dust motes that danced in the air. Sage and Juniper were leaning against the marble staircase, their fa