Lahat ng Kabanata ng Fated to my Alpha nemesis : Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Grief did not come like a storm.It did not split the sky open or drag me to my knees.It settled.It unpacked its bags.And then it refused to leave.Two months after my father’s execution, Rafe died.The Doctors called it mutation instability. Cellular collapse. Progressive wolf-form degradation. They said it with steady voices and folded hands, as if technical language softened the blow.It didn’t.Rafe had been getting weaker for weeks. Tremors in his hands. Uncontrollable and immensely painful shifts. His eyes yellowing in a way that wasn’t natural. I had started drawing his blood samples before anyone officially asked me to. I told myself it was research.Truthfully, it was desperation.The Day Rafe died, the air in the house felt wrong. Thick. Pressed down. The house became something unrecognizable.It became quieter, if that was even possible. Mum stopped speaking in full sentences. Some days she didn’t speak at all. She moved through rooms like something half-remembered, tou

The hall was built long before I was born.The ceiling arched high overhead, beams blackened by decades of smoke and ceremony. Iron chandeliers hung low, their light too warm to be comforting. The stone floor had been scrubbed until the pack crest carved into its center gleamed like something sacred.At the far end, the ceremonial platform rose three deliberate steps above the crowd.Not high enough to call it a throne.High enough to remind everyone who stood above them.It is all beautiful in the way ice is beautiful.Polished. Pristine.Lethal.But beautiful nonethelessBanners lined the walls. Allied packs. The Council insignia. Our own sigil, enormous and unapologetic behind the platform.Power, carefully framed.Guards stood at each entrance.Two more by the eastern pillars.Still predictable.I take my place where the shadows from the banners fall thickest. My eyes stay fixed on the dais. A glass of dark liquid rests in my hand. I lift it occasionally, letting it touch my lips

I’m not sure when I send the blade flying, but in one second my hand is empty. I vaguely hear the sound of metal cutting through the air. In the next second, It slices through candlelight, haze and history. Then— Impact. Not the clean, hollow plunge I rehearsed a hundred times in my head. There’s resistance. A sickening scrape. Metal meeting flesh, then bone. A sharp, strangled inhale. The blade does not sink where it should. It does not reach his heart. It lands lower. And Damon does not fall. I have played this moment in my head far too many times for it to be healthy. He always falls in my imagination. Clutching his chest as blood spurts out. I don't have enough time to investigate anything. I run. Not a graceful retreat. Not calculated. Run. My body moves before my mind catches up. Soon I'm out of the hallway and back into the crowded hall. I maneuver my way through the people, trying to get myself as far away from Damon as possible. The h

I write a letter addressed to Mum and then one to Talia. I hand it to Sandy, who eyes the paper like it’s a live grenade. Her fingers hover over it before she takes it, slow and reluctant. I offer a weak smile. “Thank you for all your help, Sandy. I owe you.” She snorts, barely hiding her scowl. “You bet you do. But I don’t see any way of you paying up, so you might as well be on your way.” I turn toward the door, resigned. There’s no friendship here—not when I’m putting Cole’s life at risk. “Mia.” I freeze, hand on the door handle, and glance over my shoulder. “Be careful,” she says, her tone softer now. “And don’t let Cole get into too much trouble. Some trouble’s okay… but not too much.” I return her smile. “I won’t.” She nods, exhales a long, measured breath, and waves me off. Outside, Cole is already pulling the car out of the shadows. It isn’t his usual vehicle. A rare, unassuming one—perfect for tonight. I slide into the passenger seat, heart hammering. “Se

My thoughts refuse to calm as I lower myself onto the rough floor of my cell. I wonder if I’ll be summoned anytime soon. They can’t possibly leave me here forever. I’d have to be tried by the Alpha, before the were council. I wonder what would happen to Cole. He didn’t know anything about my plan, but he’d be considered an accomplice because he tried to help me escape. And there’s the fact that he is the Gamma. He betrayed the pack for me. “You’re thinking too loudly.” The voice cuts through me. Low. Low but certain. My body reacts before my mind does. I freeze. Not fully at first. I turn towards the direction of those words. Then I freeze completely. I’m not alone. Bars. Shadows. Stillness. And then— A shape. I hadn’t noticed it before. I should have. All this while, I couldn’t have been alone. Because voices do not grow out of stone walls. I study the cell closely, my throat tightening. I don’t speak. Not because I choose not to. But because some