Library

Home / MM Romance / The Forbidden Alpha’s Mate / Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Forbidden Alpha’s Mate: Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

84 Kabanata

Chapter 51

LEVI’S POVEleven o’clock came fast.The northeast yard was dark and cold. Six wolves positioned exactly where Chris had placed them. Invisible from the gap entry point. Covering every exit.Daniel stood to my left. Chris to my right. Ray beside me.We waited.“What if they don’t come,” Daniel said quietly.“They’ll come,” Ray said.“You don’t know that,” Daniel said.“The coordinator said tonight,” Ray said. “They’ll come.”“The coordinator spent four years lying to everyone,” Daniel said.“Daniel,” I said.“I’m just saying,” he said.“I know,” I said. “They’ll come.”Silence.Ten minutes passed.Then Chris said — “Gap’s open.”A figure stepped through. One wolf. Alone. Stopped when he saw us.Young. Maybe twenty five. Not a fighter.“You were expecting us,” he said.“Yes,” Ray said. “Who sent you.”The wolf looked between us. Reached into his jacket. Pulled out a folded letter. Held it out.Nobody moved.“Bring it here,” Ray said.The wolf crossed the yard. Handed it to Ray. Stepped

Chapter 52

RAY’S POVThree weeks.That was what we had. Twenty one days to prepare for a summit with a man who had spent months building something in the shadows while we were dismantling what his predecessor left behind.I was up at five.Levi was already at the desk.“The patrol logs,” I said.“The summit preparation,” he said.“It’s five in the morning,” I said.“I know,” he said.“Levi,” I said.“Ray,” he said.I sat down across from him. “Show me what you have.”He turned the papers toward me. A map. The eastern meadow marked. Three approach routes highlighted. Two natural chokepoints on the northern and southern edges.“Ryan will scout it before the summit,” I said.“Yes,” he said. “Which is why we send the location a week before. Give him time to scout. Let him feel comfortable.”“Comfortable people make assumptions,” I said.“Yes,” he said.“What assumptions do we want him making,” I said.“That we’re coming to negotiate in good faith,” he said. “That we’re taking his offer seriously.” He

Chapter 53

RAY’S POVShadowmoon on Saturday.Eight columns. Chris had everything ready before sunrise. Materials laid out. Base mortar mixed. The carved capstones wrapped individually in cloth and placed in order of the column positions.The order mattered. I had sent Chris the list three days ago. Every name. Every position. Every detail about where each wolf stood in relation to the others when Shadowmoon was still standing.Chris had followed it exactly.I walked the positions before we started. Levi walked beside me. Neither of us speaking.“Here,” I said. Stopping at the first position. “Sera’s column goes here. East facing. Morning light.”“Yes,” Chris said behind us.We moved to the next.“Tom,” I said. “He always stood here during morning assembly. Right side. Never moved. Twenty seven years and he never once stood anywhere else.”We moved through all eight positions. I said a name at each one. One detail. Chris listened to every word.When we finished Levi looked at me.“Ready,” he said

Chapter 54

LEVI’S POVNobody slept well that night.I knew because Ray was still awake at two and I was still awake at two and we both knew the other was awake and neither of us said anything about it for a long time.Then Ray said — “How many do you think.”“I don’t know,” I said.“Guess,” he said.“Sixty,” I said. “Maybe seventy.”“That’s not a guess,” he said. “That’s a concern.”“Yes,” I said.“We bring six,” he said. “If he brings seventy—”“He won’t attack at the summit,” I said.“You don’t know that,” he said.“No,” I said. “But think about it. He sent one wolf through the gap. He sent a letter. He confirmed the location without negotiating it.” I paused. “Everything he’s done has been— it’s been measured. Controlled. He’s not Victor but he learned from Victor.”“Victor was measured and controlled too,” Ray said. “Right up until he wasn’t.”“Yes,” I said. “But Victor had a specific mechanism. The document. The bond transfer. Without those things his plan collapsed.” I paused. “Ryan doesn’

Chapter 55

RAY’S POVThe summit preparation had three parts.Intelligence. Positioning. Performance.I explained this to Daniel and Chris at breakfast Monday morning while Levi sat beside me eating and not contributing because he had already heard all of it at two in the morning and had opinions he was saving for later.“Intelligence,” I said. “We need to know everything about Ryan Blake’s current position before we walk into that meadow. Where he’s based. How his pack is structured. Who the three independent contacts actually are beyond names.”“I’ve been working on that,” Daniel said.“How far along,” I said.“The three contacts,” Daniel said. “I have backgrounds on two of them. The third is harder to trace. Operating out of the far northern territories. Minimal council record.”“Keep pulling,” I said. “I want something on all three before the summit.”“Positioning,” Chris said. “You said positioning.”“Yes,” I said. “We arrive at the eastern meadow before Ryan. Two hours minimum. We know the t

Chapter 56

LEVI’S POVRay read the file standing up.Same way he always read things that hit hard. Like sitting down would mean surrendering to it.Daniel stood at the door. I stood beside Ray.Nobody spoke while he read.He finished. Closed the file. Set it on the desk. Stood there with his hands flat on the surface and said nothing for a moment.“Ray,” I said quietly.“The pack name,” he said. “My father’s original pack. Before Shadowmoon.” He paused. “He dissolved it when I was four. I don’t remember it. I only know it existed because he mentioned it once when I was maybe twelve.” He stopped. “Once. In twelve years.”“You never asked about it,” I said.“He didn’t want to talk about it,” he said. “I could tell. So I didn’t ask.” He paused. “I wish I had asked.”“The Alpha registering under that name,” Daniel said carefully. “He could be using it as a signal. Trying to get your attention.”“Or trying to tell me something,” Ray said.“What could he tell you,” I said.“I don’t know,” Ray said. “B

Chapter 57

RAY’S POVHis name was Eli.Aaron found it in the old council records. Sealed thirty five years ago. Buried under administrative language and the particular coldness of an institution erasing something inconvenient.Eli Cross. Thirty eight when the council acted. Seventy three now.Alpha of a small pack on the southeast border of Shadowmoon territory. Twelve wolves. Registered three years ago under a name that had meant something to my father once.I sat with that number for a long time.Seventy three.My father would have been seventy one if he had lived.“Ray,” Levi said.“He’s been on that border for three years,” I said. “Shadowmoon burned five years ago. Which means he was there before the fire.”Levi went still.“He watched it burn,” I said.“Ray—”“He was right there,” I said. “On the southeast border. And he couldn’t—” I stopped. “He had no standing. No connection. Nothing.”“He lost your father decades before the fire,” Levi said quietly. “And then watched the last thing your

Chapter 58

LEVI’S POVEli’s response came on the fourth day.Aaron placed it on the desk between us without a word.Ray picked it up. Read it standing. Handed it to me.Four lines. The handwriting of someone who had crossed out several words before settling.I know who you are. I have known since Shadowmoon burned. I did not think you would ever write. I will come. Not for the summit. For you.I set it down.“He knew who I was,” Ray said. “Since the fire.”“Yes,” I said.“Five years,” he said. “And said nothing.”“He didn’t know what your father told you,” I said. “He was protecting your choice.”Ray looked at the letter for a long moment.“Not for the summit,” he said quietly. “For you.” He paused. “He wrote that specifically.”“You’re the last piece of someone he loved,” I said.Ray said nothing.I said nothing.We sat with it.“When can he come,” Ray said finally.“Three days if he leaves today,” I said.“Tell Aaron to tell him to leave today,” he said.I went to find Aaron.****Daniel found

Chapter 59

RAY’S POVI woke up with the bond already wrong.It wasn’t quiet or steady, but tight in my chest like something had wrapped around it and pulled hard. It didn’t ease when I shifted, and it didn’t settle when I tried to breathe through it.Levi was still asleep beside me.That didn’t happen often.I stayed still for a moment, watching him, waiting for the feeling to pass, but it didn’t. If anything, it pressed deeper, sharper, like it was trying to pull my attention toward something I couldn’t see yet.I got up without waking him and left the room.The compound was quiet, caught between night and morning, and I headed straight for the training yard. Movement usually helped me think. It gave me something to control.This didn’t feel like something I could control.I picked up a staff and moved through the first strike without hesitation, letting instinct take over. I turned, stepped, and struck again, faster, harder, but the rhythm didn’t ground me the way it usually did.The bond stay

Chapter 60

LEVI’S POVA second explosion struck before the first had fully settled, driving a harder shock through the floor as the walls trembled and dust fell from above.The compound no longer felt stable. It felt compromised.Guards reacted immediately, sealing exits and calling positions, but control was already slipping. This was not an external attack. Whatever had started was already inside and spreading fast.Ray did not move.His attention remained fixed on the man chained to the wall, as if nothing else existed.Tension tightened through the bond, stretched and unstable, reacting to something neither of us could name yet.Daniel stepped closer, breathing harder than usual but steady enough to report. Multiple blast points had been confirmed inside the compound, and nothing about it suggested an accident.That settled it.This was planned.I closed the distance and forced the prisoner’s head up, making him meet my eyes. His breathing was uneven, but the faint smile remained.“Who else

PREV

...

NEXT

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status