Semua Bab Wolf Kiss: Alpha's Mate Is A Human: Bab 11 - Bab 20

The drawing room of the estate is filled with a tension so thick it feels like a physical pressure against Juniper’s lungs.She sits in a velvet armchair, her back as straight as an iron rod. On the low table in front of her sits a heavy silver tray. The tea is steeping—a mixture of valerian root for calm, and a rare, sharp bark from the Iron-Wood that clarifies the mind. Steam rises in thin, swirling ribbons between her and the man sitting across from her.Malakai looks even more dangerous up close. He has shed his heavy coat, revealing arms corded with muscle and covered in strange, geometric tattoos. He leans back in his chair, his icy blue eyes never leaving Juniper’s face. He doesn't look at her like a person; he looks at her like a puzzle he wants to take apart.Alaric is standing directly behind Juniper’s chair. He hasn't sat down. He hasn't even blinked. His hand is resting on the back of her seat, his knuckles white. He looks like a thunderstorm waiting to happen. If Malakai

News travels through a werewolf pack faster than a forest fire in a drought. By the time Juniper has showered the scent of sulfur and lye off her skin, every wolf on the Sterling estate is whispering her name.She stands in front of the vanity mirror in her room, trying to ignore the way her skin seems to hum. The "leaf" mark on her wrist has settled into a deep, emerald green, looking more like a tattoo than a bruise. She covers it with a wide silver cuff bracelet—a gift from Alaric’s mother’s collection—and pulls on a thick knit sweater."Gardening techniques," she mutters to her reflection. "Just a high-intensity chemical reaction. Nothing more."But her reflection doesn't look convinced.A sharp knock at the door makes her jump. It’s Alaric. When he enters, he isn't wearing the relaxed sweater from earlier. He is in full Alpha regalia—a charcoal suit that fits his massive frame perfectly, his silver pack-pin glinting like a warning on his lapel. His expression is grim."The Counci

"How did you find us?" Alaric growls, his body coiled like a spring. He doesn't shift, but his voice has the weight of a mountain. "This cloister is off-limits to visiting Alphas."Malakai smiles, tilting his head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small, silver coin. He tosses it into the air and catches it. "You Sterling wolves are so sentimental. You keep your mother’s old jewelry in the guest rooms, don't you? The silver cuff the girl was wearing? It has a very distinct... resonance. My trackers could find that scent in a hurricane."Juniper gasps, her hand flying to the silver cuff she’d discarded on the table. It wasn't a gift; it was a bug. Malakai had been "listening" to them through the metal. He’d known they were coming to see Hestia before they’d even left their room."You're a coward, Malakai," Alaric spits."I’m a strategist," Malakai counters. He signals to the two shadows behind him. "The Council is slow. They want to talk and test. I prefer to take. Grab her.

Alaric drove the SUV through the service entrance, a dirt track obscured by overgrown brambles that only the Alpha knew. He didn't slow down for the gates. The engine roared, a low, predatory growl that matched the expression on his face. Beside him, Juniper sat with her hands clamped in her lap, her eyes fixed on the distant silhouette of the pack house.The "leaf" mark on her wrist was no longer pulsing. It had become a steady, burning brand of emerald light."Stay close to me," Alaric said, his voice dropping into that primal frequency that made the air vibrate. "Vesper, you take the east flank. If you see Vance, do not kill him. I want that honor myself."Vesper, sitting in the backseat with a jagged silver blade across her knees, gave a sharp, wolfish nod. "And the Council guards?""Break them," Alaric commanded.They ditched the car near the greenhouse and moved through the shadows. The estate felt wrong. The air was stagnant, and the usual sounds of the pack—the laughter from t

Two days later:The cabin smelled of cedar resin and the cold, sharp scent of mountain air. Outside, the Azure Peaks were jagged teeth against a purple sky, but inside, the fireplace was a hungry beast, devouring logs and casting flickering orange shadows against the walls.Alaric set the bags down with a heavy thud that seemed to echo the finality of their escape. He didn't turn the lights on. He didn't need to. His eyes, still shimmering with a faint amber glow from the adrenaline of the drive, tracked Juniper as she walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows."You're shaking," Alaric said. His voice was a low rumble, vibrating through the quiet room.Juniper wrapped her arms around herself, staring at her reflection in the glass. She looked pale, her hair a wild tangle of copper and forest debris. "It’s just the cold. Or the silence. I think my ears are still ringing from the roots breaking through the gravel."She felt him move before she heard him. Alaric crossed the room with th