《Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha》全部章節：第 21 章 - 第 30 章

Celeste crushed dried lavender between her fingers, the familiar scent rising around her like a small piece of home. The healing wing was quiet this afternoon, sunlight streaming through the tall windows and warming the wooden tables covered with herbs, salves, and neatly organized bandages.She glanced at her mother, who was carefully measuring out feverfew into small pouches. For the first time in days, Maera’s shoulders weren’t tensed with fear. A soft smile played on her lips as she worked.“Do you remember,” Maera said suddenly, voice warm with memory, “when you were six and tried to ‘heal’ the neighbor’s old hound by feeding him every sweet berry you could find?”Celeste let out a surprised laugh, the sound light and genuine. “He got sick for three days! And you had to make that awful charcoal tonic while scolding me the entire time.”Maera’s laughter joined hers. It was soft, tired, but real. “You were so certain berries cured everything. You looked at me with those big grey e

Celeste’s fingers trembled as she clutched the small bouquet of wildflowers Kaelan had given her earlier. The pale blue petals with silver edges were already starting to wilt at the tips, but she couldn’t bring herself to set them down. They sat on the small table beside her bed like a fragile reminder that the ruthless Alpha of Ravencrest had done something unexpectedly gentle. She had spent the last hour pacing her room, heart still racing from their kiss in the library. The way the bond had bloomed between them. It was warm, soothing, almost peaceful  and had shaken her more than any vision. For those few precious seconds, the constant tug had disappeared. It felt like coming home. She needed to talk to him. Not to confess anything dramatic. Just…

The garden felt smaller today, as if the stone walls had crept closer overnight, determined to trap her inside her own conflicted heart. Celeste sat on the familiar stone bench where Kaelan had once given her those delicate wildflowers. The same pale blue petals with silver edges. She had pressed them between the pages of an old healing tome in her room, unable to throw them away even after what she had overheard. They were a cruel reminder. Proof that the ruthless Alpha could be gentle when he wanted to be. Or when it served him. She stared at the winter roses clinging stubbornly to the trellis, their thorns sharp and unyielding. Much like the man who had kissed her so tenderly days ago. The memory refused to fade. For those few precious seconds, everything had felt right.

The night air was sharp with pine and the metallic smell of blood.Thorne crouched behind a cluster of boulders overlooking the narrow mountain pass, his breath fogging in the cold. The scar along his forearm throbbed in time with his racing heart. Below them, the Ravencrest supply carriage rumbled along the dirt road. It was heavily guarded, but not heavily enough. Six armed escorts on horseback flanked the wagon, their black armor gleaming under the moonlight.This was the fourth raid.This time, they would make it count.“Steady,” Thorne whispered to the twenty men and women crouched around him. Their faces were painted with streaks of ash and mud for camouflage. Many were the same survivors he had trained in the cave. Young warriors with fire in their eyes, elders who refused to be left behind, women who had lost everything and now carried blades instead of babies.Garrick was at his right, Lira at his left. His father, Cael, had stayed behind to guard the main camp. This raid was

The wine burned a slow, familiar path down Kaelan’s throat. He stood alone on the shadowed terrace overlooking the eastern gardens, a half-empty cup dangling from his fingers. The night air was crisp and cold, carrying the sharp scent of pine and distant snow from the mountains. Below, the garden lay bathed in moonlight, silver-tipped roses glowing faintly, the fountain trickling softly like a forgotten lullaby. And there she was. Celeste. She walked slowly along the stone path, wrapped in a simple shawl, her hair swaying with each step. She didn’t know he was watching. Or perhaps she did. The bond between them had grown too strong to hide anything completely.