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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Saved by the Alpha: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

124 Kabanata

71

Elaine“Arsel? Elaine? What’s going on? Did something happen to the twins?” Selene asked, jumping to her feet at once, maternal panic flashing in her eyes.“The twins are stable, Mom,” Arsel said, reassuring her and closing the heavy door behind us to ensure the room’s complete privacy. “It’s Elaine. She’s had a vision.”Izan frowned, straightening his imposing posture.“A vision? I thought Claris had checked on Elaine; she’s human. Humans don’t have magic cores to receive visions, unless a sorcerer is mentally attacking them,” said my father-in-law, stepping closer to us with a protective instinct.“It wasn’t an attack, Izan,” I said, finding my own voice. I stood firm beside Arsel, feeling the weight of the Goddess’s words still burning in my mind. “It was the Moon Goddess. I’ve

72

ArselMy parents’ study fell silent after Elaine finished speaking.My mother was staring at Elaine; my father didn’t move; and I could hear my mate’s breathing as if it were the only sound in the entire house.Elaine had spoken a truth so calmly and powerfully that my wolf, who had been walking on the edge of his own fury for days, froze inside me.The Goddess has chosen her, Leo said furiously.I didn’t want to answer him because that was precisely what terrified me.The Goddess had spoken to Elaine and called her a bridge.She had shown her a war where the hunters were no longer just frustrated humans with rifles, technology, and stolen symbols.And now my mate, my human, my miracle with trembling hands and a heart of steel, was at the center of the chessboard.My mother was the first to move.She approached Elaine with slow steps and cupped her face in her hands. She didn’t examine her as a healer but as a mother. There were tears in her eyes, but they weren’t tears of fear.“My c

73

ElaineKiel ordered trackers to be deployed. Liv cursed with a creativity I would have admired in a different context. Izan demanded names, routes, and reports. Selene approached Amelie to ask her questions I could barely follow.Arsel said nothing.He stood by my side, too still, too intense, his hand resting on my lower back as if that touch were the only thing keeping him from splitting the world in two.I looked at the map.The dots didn’t mean anything at first. Just little lights over territories that were, to me, still just recent names. Silverfang. Shadowy Valleys. A community of lesser fairies north of Eclipse. A village of rural witches near the human border. Two mixed settlements that had barely made the news because they lacked the political clout of a major pack.Small places.Maxon had always loved small things when they served to build a big cage.Remembering that sent a sharp pang through my head.It was mild at first, like pressure behind my eyes. I blinked several ti

74

MaxonHerman was an idiot.A useful idiot, to be sure, but an idiot nonetheless.And if there was one thing I’d learned from my father, it was that useful idiots shouldn’t be destroyed too soon. They should be used, squeezed dry, pushed to their limits, and then turned into silent pieces on a much larger board.I didn’t waste tools.I never did.And he was a very useful tool, all things considered.I smiled because what I wanted from him was right there, in front of me.The Thorn of the Bond rested on the black iron table in front of me, enclosed in a dark glass case that didn’t belong to the human world. The relic pulsed with a reddish glow, as if it had a sick and hungry heart. Every beat of that thing made the air around me vibrate, and for the first time in many years, I felt a pure, clean, delicious emotion.Power.

75

MaxonHerman’s pain gave me pleasure on every level.It was a pure, profound, almost religious pleasure.Herman convulsed without falling, held aloft by Talus’s magic. His eyes turned completely black, and several dark lines appeared beneath his skin, like veins filled with ink. The Thorn of the Bond throbbed inside the glass case, responding to the sorcerer’s pain as if it relished what it was witnessing.Maybe he did like it.Maybe the ancient weapons were hungry, too.“Your mind is an interesting dumpster,” Talus muttered with disgust, his expression turning stern. “So many secrets, so much resentment, so many little betrayals stored in jars, and none of that shit really did you any good. You’re a mockery of what it means to be a sorcerer. You’re a pathetic attempt, and the truth is, not even the covens truly respect you. It sickens me t

76

ArselI didn't sleep.Elaine did, but it was a light sleep, full of little startles that kept me sitting on the edge of the bed for hours. Every time her breathing changed, I’d lift my head. Every time her fingers clenched the sheet, Leo would stir on my chest. Every time she murmured something I couldn’t quite make out, the rage would return to me with a clarity so sharp it was frightening.Maxon had ordered them to break her.And the world kept turning as if that fact didn’t demand a fire.At dawn, my mother slipped in quietly with a tray of tea and an expression that brooked no argument. She approached Elaine, checked her pulse with the gentleness of a healer, and then looked at me.“I need to talk to you in the archives.”“Now?”“Now,” she said firmly.I looked at Elaine.“Liv is o

Chapter 77

ElaineI didn’t scream.The Guardian must choose before the door awakens.The words continued to vibrate in the air even after the light from my mark went out.Arsel was kneeling in front of me.Everyone was looking at me, and that was the problem.Everyone’s mind was beginning to piece together new fragments around me.Guardian.Veil.Door.War.Choice.I ceased to be a woman sitting on a bed, her body still recovering and her mind full of locked rooms. I became an answer.And in times of war, answers rarely stand on their own.“I need some air,” I said.Arsel stood up immediately.“I’ll come with you.”“No,” I replied faster than I intended.The word hit him hard.I saw it in his eyes, in the way his wolf surged forward for a second and then pulled back. It hurt me. Gods, it hurt as if I’d driven something into his chest. But if I didn’t say no right then, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to say it again.“I need a moment alone,” I explained, even though my voice was shaking. “Plea

78

ArselThe declaration of war arrived bearing the capital’s human seal.I entered the strategy room with Elaine by my side.She was pale from the run and from the oath that had just been reawakened, but she didn’t step back. Mom and Dad were already there. Kiel was holding a runic tablet, Liv was reviewing human broadcasts on three different screens, and Amelie stood with her arms crossed, watching a map that updated every few seconds.The first image I saw was a public broadcast.Maxon Scott, dressed in a dark suit, standing in front of a human flag and surrounded by cameras.Maxon didn’t look like a monster.He looked like a young man, steady and composed, his face etched with patriotic concern. The kind of face that frightened humans might look at and mistake for leadership. Behind him stood several senators, three border mayors, and representatives of business f

79

ElaineMy father was dead.I didn’t know what to feel.That struck me as monstrous.Arsel pulled me out of the strategy room before I could collapse.He simply stood beside me and said, “Come.”We walked to a small room. It was a neutral space, with a lit fireplace and a wide sofa covered in blankets. I sat down, drained of energy. Arsel stood in front of me, as if unsure whether to approach me or keep his distance.“You can sit down,” I said.He sat down beside me, but he didn’t touch me.I appreciated that consideration.And I hated it a little.Because I needed him to hold me, and at the same time, I needed not to break down in his arms.“I don’t know who I am if I don’t cry,” I admitted.Arsel was silent.“My father died. Maxon kill

78

ArselPaul Thorn’s death set the human world ablaze before noon.Not with visible flames, but with that kind of modern fire that spreads across screens, headlines, and voices that feign objectivity while stoking the flames. Within hours, Paul’s name had become a rallying cry. His face appeared on social media, on news channels, and on giant screens throughout the capital. Human analysts repeated the word “security” with the same devotion with which the ancients invoked gods.To them, Paul Thorn wasn’t a man who had sold his daughter and then tried too late to stop the monster.He was a martyr.And Maxon was ready to crown himself with his blood.From Eclipse’s strategy room, I watched as the humans spun a lie around a corpse.“We have to leak the audio,” Liv said for the third time.“No,” Elaine replied.She was sitting in front of the map, with a blanket draped over her shoulders and a cup of cold tea in her hands. She hadn’t taken more than two sips. My mother watched her from a cor

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