All Chapters of Mated to the Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Moana’s POVThe darkness wasn't peaceful. It was filled with the sound of running water, the distant echo of my father’s laughter, and the sharp, distinct scent of burning paper.In my dreams, I was back in the cellar. The stone walls were pressing inward, the moisture dripping from the ceiling turning into red blood that pooled around my ankles. I kept searching for the letter, my hands tearing at the moldy corners of the floorboards, but every time my fingers touched the paper, it dissolved into gray ash.If you are reading this, Alpha Eldrick has already lied to you.The words burned into the back of my eyelids like brand marks. Why had my father written that? If he had died trying to protect Eldrick from Marek's conspiracy, why did his final letter warn me that the Alpha was a liar? What had Eldrick done ten years ago that my father needed to hide within the layers of a map?"Her fever isn't dropping," a voice murmured from the fog. It was soft, hesitant, and carried the familiar

Moana’s POVThe stables of the Nightclaw Hold smelled of sweet cedar shavings, wet leather, and the heavy, calming scent of the draft horses used for the winter supply sleds.It was past midnight. The moon had cleared the eastern peaks, casting long, skeletal shadows through the high wooden slats of the barn doors. The rest of the hold was locked down, warriors patrolling the perimeter walls in tight, aggressive rotations after Marek's assassination. Eldrick had spent the last fourteen hours tearing the council chambers apart, interrogating the remaining elders until the stones themselves ran red.I slipped through the side door of the barn, my breath coming in short, quiet puffs. My bandaged hands were hidden inside the pockets of my heavy wool cloak, my fingers gripping a small iron kitchen knife I had slipped from the wash area. I wasn't a warrior, but I was done being a victim."You actually came," a voice called out from the darkness of the rear stalls.Sela stepped out into the

Moana’s POVThe lower levels of the northern watchtower were abandoned, smelling of rust, old iron, and the cold draft that blew in from the mountain peaks.Kaelen held a small torch, the yellow flame casting long, dancing shadows against the rough stone walls as we descended a spiral staircase that seemed to go deep into the bedrock of the mountain. My bandaged hands were throbbing, the sweat from our run causing the silver burns to sting under the linen, but I pressed my arms against my chest, refusing to slow down."The old scout chambers are just ahead," Kaelen whispered, his voice echoing off the damp stone. He paused at the base of the stairs, looking at a heavy iron door covered in a thick layer of cobwebs and dust. "My father told me Kyrian used this room to dry his parchment before the council locked it down. No one has been down here since his execution."He shifted the torch to his left hand, using his right to press against a hidden release stone near the door frame. With

Moana’s POVThe blood on my bandages was a mixture of Kaelen’s and my own, the cold air turning the wet fabric into stiff, icy sleeves that restricted my movement.Eldrick had lifted Kaelen’s heavy body onto his shoulders, his bare skin glistening with frost and the sweat of pure, physical exhaustion. The entity inside his mind seemed to have retreated, driven back by the sudden, massive spike of adrenaline and the realization that his territory was being burned to the ground."We use the tower lift," Eldrick ordered, his voice tight and gravelly as he led the way toward the rear of the watchtower where an old, iron-chain elevator used for hauling firewood descended into the lower valley cliffs. "It bypasses the main roads. If Silas has the perimeter blocked, the lift will drop us directly behind the storage holds, fifty yards from the kitchen entrance."I grabbed Kaelen’s dropped broadsword from the snow, my burned palms screaming in protest as I forced my fingers around the leather

Moana’s POVThe green fire on the tip of Silas’s spear looked like a falling star in the cramped, burning space of the kitchen.I braced my feet against the stone floor, lifting the ancient gold torque to form a defensive shield, but the sheer velocity of his desperation was too fast. The wolfsbane fumes hit my face first, a toxic, suffocating vapor that instantly caused the golden light in my vision to flicker and waver. The ancient power inside me was strong, but my human body was still untried, my reflexes untrained for a warlord’s final, suicidal strike.The spear point was inches from my throat.Then, the world turned midnight black.Eldrick didn't use a weapon. He didn't use his hands.With a final, desperate roar that sounded like his soul was tearing in half, his massive black wolf form erupted from his human skin, defying the paralyzing silver smoke through sheer, unadulterated willpower. He threw his massive body directly between me and the green flame.Crunch.The silver-pl