All Chapters of The Alpha's Secret Witch : Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

Cressida's pov The dormitory room was cold and the fire had burned low and the candles were flickering and the shadows were long.I sat on the edge of my bed with my knees pulled to my chest and my arms wrapped around myself and my eyes fixed on the wall. Ember was curled beside me and her purr was soft and steady and her warmth was a comfort. The frost was still there and the cold was still there and the fear was still there. But the quiet was there too. The quiet of the empty room and the quiet of the night and the quiet of being alone. The silence pressed in on me from all sides and the weight of it settled on my chest like a stone.I had been sitting here for hours and my mind was drifting and my thoughts were wandering and my heart was heavy. The weight of everything was pressing down on me and I could not shake it. The witches and the war and the frost. The council and the enforcers and the hunters. Lucian and Raven and Benita and Tasha. Niko and his return and his apology and

Sha's povThe estate was cold and the halls were empty and the silence was suffocating.I sat in my room and the windows were tall and the view was vast and the world outside was white and still. The fire was crackling and the candles were flickering and the room was warm. But the warmth did not reach me and the comfort did not touch me and the peace did not find me. I was trapped in a gilded cage and I was rotting from the inside out. The walls were covered in expensive tapestries and the floors were covered in thick carpets and the furniture was carved from dark wood. But none of it mattered. None of it could fill the emptiness that had taken root in my chest.My father had summoned me home and my mother had pretended to be concerned and my siblings had pretended to care. But I knew the truth. They were ashamed of me and they were embarrassed by me and they were waiting for me to disappear. The suspension was meant to be a punishment and it was meant to be a lesson and it was meant

Cressida's pov I woke up cold.That was the first thing I noticed. The cold that had nothing to do with winter and everything to do with absence. The cold of reaching for something that was not there and the cold of expecting warmth that never came. My hand moved instinctively across the pillow, searching for the familiar weight, the soft fur, the steady purr that had become as essential to my survival as breathing.Nothing.My eyes flew open and I sat up and the blanket fell to my waist and the room was quiet and the bed was empty. The fire had burned low and the candles had guttered and the shadows were long and deep. The pillow beside me was cold and the sheets were cold and the silence was absolute. The frost was already spreading across the window and the cold was seeping into my bones and the fear was rising in my chest."Ember?" My voice was rough and my throat was tight and the word felt wrong in the empty room.No answer.I swung my legs over the side of the bed and my feet

Cressida's pov The forest was cold and the trees were bare and the snow was deep and the world was silent.I had been walking for hours and my feet were numb and my hands were shaking and my eyes were burning. The frost was on my skin and the cold was in my bones and the fear was in my heart. Ember was gone and I could not find her and I could not stop searching. The branches clawed at my face and the snow soaked through my boots and the wind cut through my coat like knives. But I did not stop. I could not stop. The thought of her out here alone, cold and scared and waiting for me to find her, was the only thing keeping me moving.The snow crunched beneath my boots and the wind howled through the trees and the branches creaked and groaned. The world was white and still and empty and I was alone. The frost was spreading across my skin and the cold was deepening in my chest and the fear was growing into something I could not control."Ember!" I shouted.No answer."Ember!"No answer."

Sha's pov The estate was quiet and the halls were empty and the silence was suffocating.I sat in my room and the windows were tall and the view was vast and the world outside was white and still. The fire was crackling and the candles were flickering and the room was warm. But the warmth did not reach me and the comfort did not touch me and the peace did not find me. I had been confined to this room for weeks and the walls were closing in and the days were blurring together and the anger was burning.I had been refusing food and the servants had stopped bringing trays and my mother had stopped trying and my father had stopped caring. I was wasting away and I was fading and I was disappearing. But I did not care. I did not care about anything except the hatred that was consuming me.The door opened and a servant walked in.Her face was pale and her hands were shaking and her voice was small."Miss Sha," she said."What?""Your mother has sent a tray.""I am not hungry.""She insisted