All Chapters of The Ashen Veil: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Nyxara POV It was supposed to get easier, but instead the bond is starting to feel like hunger. ⸻ The moment we move away from the clearing and the weight of everyone’s attention fades behind us, I expect the pressure to lessen, to settle into something quieter now that there is distance between us and the eyes that watched and judged and began to understand more than I ever intended them to, but instead the opposite happens, because the bond tightens in a way that is no longer subtle or easily ignored, sharpening rather than fading, narrowing my focus until it feels like everything is pulling inward toward him with a quiet insistence that is becoming harder to dismiss with each step I take. I slow without meaning to, not enough to draw attention from anyone else, but enough that I feel the difference immediately, the way something beneath my skin begins to coil and react to even the smallest shift in distance between us, and it is not pain or weakness or even instability th

Rowan POV Hunters were never the real threat. We were just too busy surviving— To notice the war building around us. I don’t respond right away, not because I don’t understand what she’s saying, but because I do, and that makes it harder to answer in a way that doesn’t immediately turn this into something worse than it already is, because everything she just laid out fits too well with what I’ve seen over the past few years, the way the attacks have changed, the way the humans have adapted faster than they should have, the way things that never should have crossed into our territory started appearing without warning, without explanation, like something was pushing them forward instead of them finding their own way. “You’re saying this isn’t just survival for them,” I say finally, my voice steady but quieter now, more deliberate as I work through the implications rather than reacting to them. “It’s a plan.” “It always was,” she replies without hesitation, her tone just as

Nyxara POVI’ve never belonged to anyone.So why does being away from him…Feel like I’m falling apart?⸻The problem isn’t the pack, or the hunters, or even the threat of something worse coming for all of us, because those are things I understand, things I know how to navigate, things that can be avoided, outmaneuvered, or eliminated if necessary, but this—this constant, irritating, relentless awareness of him—is something entirely different, something I can’t outthink, can’t outrun, and most frustrating of all, can’t ignore no matter how much I try.It’s subtle at first, just enough to be inconvenient, just enough to remind me that every step I take without him feels slightly off, slightly unbalanced, like something essential has shifted out of place without my permission, but the longer I move away from him, even within the same space, even within the same clearing, the more noticeable it becomes, the more the bond tighte

Nyxara POVThe last time I felt danger like this…Everyone I cared about died.⸻The feeling doesn’t come all at once, not like the bond does when it tightens or pulls or demands something immediate, but slower, quieter, like something slipping beneath the surface of everything else until I can’t ignore it anymore, and I hate that I recognize it so quickly because that means it’s real, because that means it isn’t just instinct or paranoia or the lingering aftermath of everything that’s already happened here.It’s something worse.Something familiar.And I haven’t felt it like this in a very long time.I keep my expression neutral, my movements controlled as I walk the edge of the clearing while Rowan continues directing his pack, his voice steady and grounded as he adjusts patrols, reinforces positions, shifts people where they’re needed most, and I find myself watching him again without meaning to, no

Rowan POVShe didn’t tell me what she saw.But I felt it—And whatever it was… it terrified her.⸻I feel it before I see it, the bond snapping tight like something just pulled too hard on it, not the steady pull I’ve gotten used to, not the quiet hum that settles between us when she’s close, but something sharp and reactive that hits without warning, and my focus drops from the wolves in front of me instantly, every instinct redirecting without hesitation. Nyxara hasn’t moved, and that’s the first thing that tells me something is wrong, because she’s still standing exactly where she was, but there’s a tension in her posture that doesn’t belong there, something too controlled, too rigid, like she’s locking everything down before it has the chance to show, and I’ve seen enough of her now to know that when she does that, it’s not because she’s fine, it’s because she’s not.“Nyxara.”I step closer, ignoring everything else happening around us, the movement of the pack, the quiet urgency