All Chapters of To Kill Alpha Roderic: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

- RAVENAThe journey deeper into the woods felt like a slow, agonizing march through a labyrinth designed to swallow people whole. The tall woman kept her silence as she marched ahead at a relentless pace. Rayna trotted silently beside her with her tiny bare feet.I had to struggle just to keep from falling behind. The oversized trousers kept slipping down my hips, forcing me to clutch the thick waistband with one hand while using the other to hoist myself up the steep incline. My legs were still shaking from days of running without food, but the real agony was the deep, throbbing ache left by the Crimsonridge cells. My wrists and ankles were still raw and bloody from the heavy silver-iron shackles they’d chained me with, and my back was stiff from the beatings the enforcers handed out like daily rations. The Council’s binding ritual had left my entire nervous system feeling like it had been set on fire. Every step reminded me of the hell they'd put me through.We climbed higher,

- RAVENAThree months in the Hollow-Eye Remnant had done more than just heal my broken bones; it had given me a strange sort of peace. For the first time since the slaughter at the Valecrest estate, I wasn't looking over my shoulder every five seconds, waiting for a Crimsonridge executioner to drag me back to a cell.Life among the outcasts was quiet, built on a gentle rhythm of shared survival. It turned out that being a wolfless rogue was the only passport I needed to be trusted here. We all shared the same hollow space in our chests, the same quiet grief of being discarded by the high pack houses. Every day, I carved out a place for myself, helping in the communal kitchen and working in the small stone infirmary.I was honestly amazed the first time I walked into that clinic. For an underground village hidden in a volcanic crater, their shelves were incredibly well-stocked. They had clean bandages, high-grade surgical tools, and rows of rare tinctures that most rogue camps would h

- RAVENACold got into places I didn't know anybody had.The dream came before the cold did. It always did, lately.Fire first. Then her mother's voice cut through the smoke, calling out my name like it was the last useful thing I'd ever get to do. Boots stomped on the stairs. Somebody screaming that wasn't me. I saw the crest above the hearth crack and blacken. Then I saw a hand, not her family's but a stranger's, reach for her through the dark. I couldn't tell if it meant to save me or finish what the fire started. I never got far enough into the dream to find out. It always ended in the same place: my own throat was hoarse from screaming a name I wasn't allowed to say anymore, even in sleep.But then I came back into myself in pieces, first the ache in my jaw, then the burn in my fingers, then a voice that sounded like it was talking through gravel. I faintly heard familiar voices."She's awake.""She's barely awake. Don't crowd her."I cracked my eyes open. Ice walls, blue-lit, s

- RAVENAThe three weeks had passed in a blur of bruised ribs, bleeding knuckles, and the sharp scent of pine needles ground into the frozen earth. Edith hadn’t been gentle. She’d spent every daylight hour tracking my movements, tripping me when I leaned too heavily on a balance I no longer possessed, and correcting my stance with the blunt end of a wooden staff until my arms felt numb.But today, the training grounds were completely empty. The entire valley had ground to a halt.An invisible force stirred through the dry and barren caldera, setting everyone on edge. It was selection day. The day the shadow of the northern ridges finally stepped out of the fog to judge the broken.I stood near the edge of the central square, shoving my hands deep into the pockets of the massive grey winter coat Edith had left for me. My breath hitched in small, white plumes as I watched the crowd gather. Dozens of outcasts had lined the perimeter of the wooden platform, their faces tense with intens

- RAVENA"If you stare at that wooden bowl any harder, you're gonna burn a hole right through the bottom of it, Zave."I blinked, the sudden chirp breaking my trance. I almost forgot that Zavier Alford was my disguised name now. Other than Rayna and Edith, none knew my real name, and I forbade them to call me by it.Rayna was leaning over the edge of the long kitchen table, propping her small chin in her palms, staring at me with the kind of unblinking intensity only a nine-year-old could manage."I'm just thinking," I said in a low, rough voice. I’d been forcing myself for weeks. I took the wooden spoon and shoved a chunk of boiled turnip into my mouth. It tasted like hot dirt, but it was fuel."My mom says people who think that much usually have a bounty on their heads," she said, completely casual. "Or they're just crazy. Which one are you?""Bit of both," I muttered, leaning back on the bench. "Hey, shouldn't you be helping Edith with the laundry or something? Go plague someone el