บททั้งหมดของ The Ashen Veil: บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

Nyxara POVI don’t fall apart.I don’t need anyone.I don’t break.So why—Is he the one thing that makes me feel like I might?⸻I should be gone.That thought is the first thing that settles into my mind after his words stop echoing through the room, after the weight of everything he just said presses into something far too fragile beneath the surface of control I have spent centuries perfecting.I should have left the moment I woke.I should have erased him.I should have disappeared before any of this had the chance to become something real.Something dangerous.Something I cannot undo.And yet—I’m still here.Standing in the same room.Facing the same man.Feeling the same bond that refuses to quiet no matter how much I try to ignore it.“You shouldn’t have seen that.”My voice is quieter than I

Nyxara POV She thought I would step aside. She thought I would walk away. She thought wrong. ⸻ I know she’s there before she speaks. The shift in the air is subtle—lighter than a hunter, sharper than a witch, edged with something distinctly wolf and distinctly territorial—and I don’t need to turn to understand exactly who followed me out here when I chose distance over proximity, when I thought I would have a moment to think without interruption. Of course I don’t get that. I rarely do. “You shouldn’t be here alone.” Her voice cuts through the quiet behind me, smooth but laced with something just sharp enough to make it clear this isn’t concern. It’s a challenge. I don’t turn right away. Instead, I let the silence stretch just long enough to make it uncomfortable, just long enough to remind her that I don’t answer to her, that I don’t react on command, that whatever she expects from me— She’s not getting it easily. “I’m exactly where I want to be,” I reply finally, my to

Rowan POVA pack divided doesn’t survive.And tonight—They’re about to decide if Nyxara stands with us…Or against us.⸻The fire burns low and steady at the center of the room, its glow stretching across worn wood and quiet faces, illuminating the fragile thing we’ve managed to build here out of loss, instinct, and the stubborn refusal to die out completely.It isn’t much.Not compared to what wolves once had.But it’s ours.And right now—It’s all we have.I sit at the head of the long table, shoulders squared, presence settled into something unmistakable, something that leaves no question about who leads here, even without a formal pack, even without the structure we once relied on to keep order and loyalty intact.They still look to me.They still wait.And tonight—They need answers.Movement settles as the last of them t

Nyxara POVMy body wants him.My magic demands him.But if I give in this time—There may be no going back.⸻I almost break.That’s the part I can’t ignore.Not the tension.Not the pull.Not even the way my body betrays me when he’s too close, when his presence presses into mine like something inevitable.No—It’s the fact that for a moment—A real, dangerous moment—I almost give in.And that…That is something I don’t do.Not for anyone.Not ever.I shove him back.Harder than necessary.Not enough to hurt him.Just enough to create space.Just enough to breathe.“I need to wash,” I say, my voice sharper than I intend, edged with something too close to panic for my liking. “Stay here.”He doesn’t move.Doesn’t argue.Doesn’t follo

Rowan POVI told myself I would give her time.But the bond doesn’t care about patience.And tonight—It’s done waiting.⸻The silence doesn’t break after that.It stretches.Settles.Wraps around us in a way that feels heavier than anything we said, heavier than anything we admitted, heavier than the truths we didn’t.Because now—There’s nothing left to hide behind.Not the past.Not other people.Not distance.Just this.Just her.Just us.Nyxara doesn’t move.She stands across from me, still, composed, controlled in a way that most would mistake for calm—but I can feel it, the same way I felt it earlier, the same way I felt it through the door when she thought she was alone.Something is wrong.And it’s getting worse.“You’re not leaving tonight.”It comes out quiet