All Chapters of Queen of Wolves : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

ALUNA'S POVI knew something was wrong the moment the guard stopped beside me.I was kneeling on the cold stone floor, scrubbing until my fingers were raw. The scent of iron and polish clung to the air. Brianna was two spaces away, silent, careful. We had learned silence was safer.A shadow fell over me. “Stand,” the guard said.I did not look up. “Yes.”My hands trembled slightly as I rose. The room had gone quiet. Too quiet.“You’re wanted.”Wanted.That word alone made my stomach twist.“By who?” I asked before I could stop myself.The guard’s grip on my arm tightened. “Do not ask questions you already know the answer to.”My heart began to pound.No.Not like this.Not now.Brianna’s eyes flickered toward me for half a second before she forced them down again. She looked pale.The guard dragged me out of the work hall without another word.The deeper we walked into the main building, the darker it became. The torches along the corridor were fewer. The air felt heavier, thicker. I

ALUNA'S POVAlpha Ryder had not called for me in three months. That fact alone still felt unreal.Every morning I woke expecting the door to burst open. Every night I lay down bracing myself for boots in the corridor, for a guard’s rough hand, for that cold voice that enjoyed watching fear bloom in my eyes. But it never came.Three months. No summons. No lingering stare from across the courtyard. No message delivered in that careless tone that always meant danger.The absence did not mean safety. I knew that. A predator that disappears is not gone; it is simply waiting.Still, I breathed easier. Sometimes, in the quietest part of the night, I would whisper to myself, Maybe he has forgotten me. And then I would hate myself for hoping.Work continued as it always did. Dawn before light. Orders before breakfast. Punishment before rest.Cory supervised like she always had. From the first day we arrived, she had made the rules clear. Bow when a superior passes. Eyes down. Speak only when s

ALUNA'S POVThe alarm was not a bell.It was a metal rod dragged violently across iron bars.The sound tore through the compound every morning before the sun rose, sharp and unforgiving, like the pack itself. The first time I heard it, five months ago, I thought something was breaking.Now I knew better.It was us.If it rang and you were not already on your feet before the third scrape, double punishment. No excuses. No mercy. I had seen a girl collapse from fever and still be forced to kneel on gravel until her skin split.So when the metal screeched that morning, my body reacted before my mind did. I sat upright instantly, breath shallow, heart pounding as if I had been running.Five months.It had passed in what felt like a blink and yet felt like a lifetime.The room was still dark, but I could already hear movement from other quarters. Shuffling feet. Low groans. The rustle of thin blankets being thrown aside.Beside me, Brianna did not move.My eyes shifted toward her.Her face

Aluna’s POVI do not remember how I walked out of Alpha Ryder’s chamber. One moment I was standing there, the woman in black studying me like I was something rare and dangerous, Alpha Ryder’s composure cracking in a way I had never witnessed before. The next moment, I was in the corridor, the heavy doors closing behind me with a hollow thud that echoed inside my chest.My clothes were disheveled, my hair half undone, my cheek still burning from the guard’s slap. But none of that felt real. My body moved forward, yet my mind remained trapped in that room. I walked slowly, almost aimlessly, trying to piece together what had just happened.Her voice would not leave me.Interesting.And then quieter, deliberate, as though she was stating a fact that had already been written somewhere beyond us.She is the key.The key to what?The words pressed against my skull until it hurt. I replayed every second. The way she stepped closer. The way her eyes did not judge or mock but examined. The way

Dalton’s POVThe sound of fists colliding echoed across the training grounds long before the sun fully claimed the sky. Dust rose with every fall. Sweat burned into open cuts. The scent of iron and dominance lingered thick in the air. I liked it that way. Controlled chaos. Measured brutality. Preparation.Because something is coming.I do not know what it is yet, but I can feel it. The air has been heavy for days. The forest is too quiet at night. Even the birds hesitate at dawn. A ruler who waits for danger to knock is already dead. That is why I train harder than my warriors. Why I demand more than they think they can give. Why I refuse to be caught off guard. It is why they call me the strongest. The bravest. The strategist who sees ten steps ahead.But today my mind is not steady.Strike. Block. Twist.I throw Max to the ground again. His back hits the earth hard enough to send dust flying. He grunts but rises quickly, loyal and determined as always. One of my best.Yet my chest f