All Chapters of The Alpha’s 99 Days Surrogate : Chapter 41 - Chapter 47

"Hold the iron," Killian said.His voice was a low grunt. He stood at the edge of the gap, his boots sinking into the deep snow. His bare shoulders were red and swollen where the wild wolf had bitten him, the blood slowly turning thick in the cold. He held the heavy iron chain that hung across the opening, his muscles bunching as he pulled the links tight.On the other side of the gap, Kael and the twenty Reawakened guards stood in a line. Their dead hands were wrapped around the iron winch, their bodies leaning back to keep the chain from falling into the dark space below."Get across, Silas," I said.My hands were raw from holding the metal links. The cold was a sharp pain in my chest, my silver pulse pulling hard at the twenty dead guards who held our only way back. I did not look down into the dark. I focused on the iron, my fingers cramping as I kept my grip.Silas did not argue. He grabbed the iron chain, his massive frame shaking the metal as he swung his weight over the gap. H

"Do not touch him, Rona."My voice was flat, cutting through the cold air of the courtyard. I stood with Lucian pressed against my collarbone, the boy’s light breathing a small, warm pulse against my skin. The silver in my veins was no longer a quiet hum, it was a heavy, cold drag, like an iron anchor hook sunk deep into the meat of my ribs. Every step Silas took, I felt the pull in my own chest.Rona did not listen. She took another step toward the towering Alpha, her hands shaking as she reached for his charred sleeve."Silas," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Look at me. Silas, speak."The massive warrior did not blink. His face was half-masked in dark red crust from the gash on his forehead, his hide coat black and smoking from the heat of the collapse. He did not look at her with the sharp, angry eyes of the Iron-Claw leader. His eyes were wide, solid silver, glowing with the cold light that belonged to my blood. He stood perfectly still, his massive arms hanging at his sides,

"Killian!"I screamed his name, but the sound was instantly swallowed by the wind. I scrambled to my knees, my fingers clawing through the frozen red slush as I looked at the broken wall where Torvald had leaped. The cold was a sharp blade in my chest, my veins burning with the backlash of my broken connection to the Reawakened guards.Beside me, the black Lycan beast that was Killian roared.The sound was pure, animalistic agony. He did not look at the Southern enforcers who were flooding the courtyard, their iron axes swinging at Rona and the remaining survivors. He did not look at his own smoking, blackened back. He turned his massive head toward the open gap, his amber eyes locking onto the trail of blood stained snow left by the white beast.With an explosive leap, Killian launched himself over the ruined wall, diving straight into the white vortex of the blizzard.I did not hesitate. I gathered the last of my silver pulse, forcing the cold energy into my thighs and knees to driv

"They did not die of the winter cold, Rona."I set the iron needle down, the thick hide coat sliding from my lap. The iron ring she had dropped on the skins was cold, but when my fingers brushed the metal, the silver under my skin throbbed. I picked it up, feeling the uneven, hand-chiseled grooves on the inner band."The Council built the first iron cages in the low valley," Rona said, her voice flat as she sat by the fire. She did not take off her heavy fur coat. "They called them sanctuaries, but they were slaughterhouses. My grandmother told me stories of the three-tailed wolves. They did not shift like we do. Their change was slow, a heavy, painful grinding of their skeleton that took hours. The Council took them while they were locked in the transition, unable to run or fight."Killian stood by the door, his eyes fixed on our son.Lucian had not stopped playing with his pebble. He had laid it on the iron ring, his small fingers tracing the chiseled grooves with a strange, rhythmi