Semua Bab The Rogue’s Savage Claim on Me: Bab 111 - Bab 120

ELOWENDay seven. Dr. Chen finally cleared me."The wound is closed," she said, unwrapping the bandage for what I hoped was the last time. "Scar tissue is forming nicely. You'll have a mark, but it'll fade over the next few months." She looked up at me. "You can resume normal activity. Light training. Nothing that puts excessive strain on the leg for another week.""Define excessive.""No sparring. No running. Stretching, basic forms, conditioning exercises." She gave me a look that said she knew exactly what I was planning. "I mean it, Alpha. Push too hard and you'll tear it open again.""I'll be careful.""Mm-hmm." She didn't sound convinced. "I've told Garrett to keep an eye on you."Great. A babysitter.But I didn't care. I was finally getting out of that wheelchair, finally getting to do something besides read history books and watch from the sidelines.I practically ran to find Fao.He was in a council meeting when I found him — seated at the round table with Sylvia, Corvin, and

That night, I called Ro."You're still alive!" she shouted before I could even say hello. "I was starting to think the wolves ate you.""Ha ha." I settled back against the headboard, phone pressed to my ear. Fao was in the shower — I could hear the water running — giving me some privacy. "I'm fine. Better than fine, actually.""Yeah? How's werewolf wonderland treating you?""It's... a lot. But good, I think?" I pulled my knees up to my chest. "I started training today. Learning how to fight.""Fight? El, you already know how to fight. Remember when you broke that guy's nose at the bar?""That was different. This is fighting wolves." I paused. "It's a lot harder. And scarier. But also kind of amazing? There's this old warrior named Garrett who's teaching me, and he's gruff but also weirdly supportive, and I think I'm actually getting good at the evasion stuff—""El." Ro cut me off, laughing. "Breathe. You sound happy."I stopped. Thought about it."I think I am," I said slowly. "I mean

FAOI found Corvin in his office the next morning.He looked up when I entered, unsurprised. Like he'd been expecting this conversation."Alpha. What can I do for you?"I closed the door behind me. "We need to talk. About the things you've been keeping from me."Corvin set down his pen. "I see Jasper's been filling your head with—""Jasper told me about the scouts. Which you should have told me about first." I sat down across from him, holding his gaze. "I understand why you did it. I was new, overwhelmed, still learning. You wanted to protect me from the worst of it until I was ready.""That's correct.""I appreciate the intention. But it stops now." I leaned forward. "I can't be the Alpha this pack needs if I'm working with incomplete information. Every threat, every rumor, every piece of intelligence — I need to know. Even if you think I'm not ready."Corvin was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly."You're right. I overstepped." He met my eyes. "Your father trusted me wi

The dress fit perfectly.It draped over my shoulders, leaving my arms bare, and fell to the floor in waves of crimson silk. The back was low — deliberately, Sylvia had said — exposing the claim mark on the nape of my neck where shoulder met throat. The pack needed to see that Fao had marked me as his.Nina did my hair — loose waves pinned back from my face — and the pink was vibrant again, finally. I'd found the salon in the little town center three days ago, and the stylist — a wolf named Jade who'd been delighted to work on a human — had revitalized the color until it practically glowed. It felt like reclaiming a piece of myself, the girl I'd been before bullets and fire and running for my life.Nina added subtle makeup that made my eyes look larger, my cheekbones sharper. When I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized myself — but in a good way. The pink hair, the crimson dress, the claim mark on display. I looked like someone who belonged here."You look like a queen," Nina said

ELOWENI watched Alaric — Fao, I reminded myself, he was still Fao to me — howl with his pack, and something cracked open in my chest.This was what he'd been missing. For twenty-one years, alone in the wilderness, he'd been incomplete — a wolf without a pack, an Alpha without people to lead. And now, finally, he had them.They had him. They had Alaric. The name the pack would know him by, the name that connected him to his father and his bloodline and everything he'd lost.When the howling faded, the energy in the clearing shifted — from solemn ceremony to something wilder, more primal."The binding is complete," Sylvia announced, her voice carrying over the crowd. "Alaric de Grandmesnil, Alpha of Silverpine Ridge!"The pack howled again, and this time it wasn't just celebration — it was invitation. A call to run.All around us, wolves began to shift. Clothes fell to the ground, bones cracked and reformed, and suddenly the clearing was filled with fur and gleaming eyes. The pack was