All Chapters of WICKED PROVIDENCE: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

Madison pointed a chubby finger at the stranger’s bone-carved mask. When the Alpha remained as still as a winter stone, she took the initiative, her small, blunt claws catching the jagged edge of the relic. She was determined to see the face of the wolf who smelled like home.Avery lunged forward, her scent spiking with maternal authority as she pried Madison’s hands away. "Madison! I told you—if you cannot control your wolf’s curiosity, you will stay in the den next time. We do not touch a High Alpha’s armor.""Mommy, sorry," Madison whimpered, tucking her tail and burying her face in Avery’s silks as if her heart had been pierced.Seeing the pup’s distress, the masked man stepped into the fray. "Pups are born with the hunt in their blood," he rumbled, his voice surprisingly gentle. "She isn't being unruly; she is exploring. I take no offense, and you should not let your hackles rise against her."Avery lifted her amber eyes to meet his piercing gaze through the bone slits. "You have

Avery’s skin turned a ghostly white. The agony was an ocean, and she was drowning. Her escape, crippled by her mangled leg, had slowed her progress to a pathetic crawl, making her feel like a wounded animal waiting for the final blow.Avery was quickly hemmed in by a wall of gray-uniformed enforcers.The circle parted, and Noemi stepped into the center. Her eyes, cold and predatory, fixed on Avery’s bloodied limb. "Jumped from the high tower, did you? You have the heart of a lone wolf, I’ll give you that. But the Alpha’s decree was absolute: if you tried to run, we were to break your stride. It seems you’ve saved us the exertion by shattering your own bone."Avery ground her teeth, her voice a low, dangerous snarl. "You can weave your lies, you can tarnish my name with your false scents, and I will endure it. But Madison? She is a pup of the pack, innocent of your rot. Ewing and the High Alpha will return. How will you explain these wounds then? The Silver Ridge is not a playground fo

"If the stars had aligned as I intended, your precious pup would be a broken, mute stray—just as you were when you first crawled into our territory!" Victoria snarled. With every syllable, her manic energy spiked, peaking in a jagged, self-satisfied cackle as she tasted the imagined victory of her scheme.Avery’s amber eyes flickered toward Ewing, her maternal instincts screaming for Madison’s safety.Ewing, scenting her rising panic, reached out to steady her. "Steady, Avery. Madison’s voice is not lost. Her throat was scorched by the silver-taint, but the healers believe her wolf’s vitality will mend the tissue in time. Though we breached the den late, we were fast enough. Not all the toxin was forced down her throat."Avery let out a long, ragged sigh that sounded like a mourning howl, closing her eyes as the weight of the betrayal settled. In that moment, the cryptic warning in Sadie Monroe’s final blood-scroll finally became clear.Her mother had written: "Avery, if you ever retu

Initially, Avery hadn’t planned on placing a single bid. Her goal was purely to scout the scent of the local market and gauge the appetites of the Avalon high-bloods.Unexpectedly, a relic of the Old World caught her eye. The Master of Ceremonies unveiled a Lunar Harp, an ancient instrument of the First Packs, fully restored and pulsing with a faint, melodic resonance. Lately, Avery had found solace in the ancient songs of their kind; with both the time and the spoils of her recent lineage at her disposal, she felt the pull to claim it.The competition was thin, as most wolves in the room were hunting for silver-blades or territory maps. Avery signaled her bid—a substantial sum of raw gold-credits that made the room grow silent.Just as the gavel was about to fall, a howl of a bid came from the Apex Suite. It was a mere two hundred thousand credits higher than Avery’s.Avery’s eyes narrowed behind her veil. She scented a trap. She tentatively raised the price a few more times, testing

The pillars of smoke from the burning carriage stained the lunar horizon.Avery’s stunned gaze shifted from the pyre of twisted metal to the bone mask of the man holding her. "Why?" she whispered, her voice cracking like dry timber. "Why would you throw your life into the path of a transport for me?"The only answer was the sudden, dead weight of his body.The abrupt loss of his strength made Avery instinctively lock her arms around Hudson’s neck to keep from sliding. Hudson sank to his knees on the forest floor, his breath coming in ragged, wet rattles. Even in his exhaustion, his grip on her waist didn't slacken. He let out a low, guttural grunt, the thick veins in his arms bulging with the effort to keep her off the damp earth.Avery tried to pull away to check his vitals, but Hudson slumped forward, losing consciousness entirely.She was paralyzed for a heartbeat before her hands began to tremble. She shook his shoulders urgently. "Mr. Lando? Hudson?" she called, her voice rising