All Chapters of The Ruthless Alpha's Unwanted Bride : Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

SYLVIAThe guards checked on me every morning, and every morning I gave them the same show."Still here," I mumbled, letting my head drop against the frame, my wrists loose against the cuffs like I no longer had the strength to fight them."Good girl." The older one smirked, tossing a piece of bread onto the bed before locking the door again.I waited until his footsteps faded down the hall before I let myself sit up properly.Willow walked past my door twice a day carrying trays for Stolas, and both times she looked straight through me like I wasn't even there. I called her name once, softly, and she didn't so much as blink. Her eyes stayed empty, fixed on whatever task he'd given her that hour."Willow." I tried again the second time, louder, leaning against the cuffs until they cut into my skin. "It's me. Sylvia."Nothing. She kept walking, the tray balanced perfectly in her hands, and disappeared around the corner without a single glance back.I gave up calling after the third day

SYLVIATwo guards walked me down the aisle, one hand on each of my arms, like they expected me to run the second they let go.I kept my eyes forward, past the rows of council members and nobles packed into their seats, past the gold banners hanging from every column, to where Stolas stood waiting at the altar.He smiled the second our eyes met, the kind of smile that made my skin crawl."You look beautiful," he said as the guards released my arms and stepped back into the crowd.I didn't answer him.The officiant stood between us holding a book bound in leather, clearing his throat before beginning to speak, something about union and bloodlines and the will of the crown. I let the words wash past me, counting my own breathing instead, feeling the power under my ribs sit patient and ready, waiting for its turn the way it had every night in training.Stolas reached for my hand, and I let him take it, keeping my face blank the way I'd practised for weeks now."Nervous?" he murmured, runn

SYLVIASomething cracked open inside me the second Cyprian's chest stopped moving.I felt it before I understood it, a pull deep under my ribs turning hot and fast, spreading through my arms until my skin felt too tight to hold whatever was building underneath it."Sylvia." Vane's voice came from close beside me now, careful, low. "Sylvia, look at me."I couldn't. My eyes stayed locked on Cyprian's face, on Willow still sobbing over his body, and the hot thing under my ribs kept climbing, faster than anything I'd felt in training, faster than anything my father had prepared me for."Sylvia." Vane reached for my arm, and the second his fingers touched my skin, something snapped around us, a crackle that made him pull back fast, his eyes going wide.The candles lining the hall guttered out one by one, plunging half the room into near dark, and the marble beneath my knees splintered in a spiderweb crack that spread outward from where I knelt."You need to breathe." Vane's voice climbed w

SYLVIAMy father appeared beside me, barely there, his shape thin against the black light pouring off my skin."Sylvia." His voice reached me from somewhere far away, even though he stood right beside me. "Stop. You need to stop right now.""Leave me alone." My own voice came out wrong, layered, something underneath it that wasn't fully mine."This isn't the power I trained you to use." He reached for my arm, and his hand passed through without touching anything. "This is the other side of it. The one I warned you never to release. You promised me you'd hold the line.""He killed him." I turned toward Vane's body without meaning to, the black light around me pulsing harder at the sight of him still on the ground. "He killed him in front of me. You told me to hold the line, but there's no line left. There's nothing left to hold.""There is." His voice climbed, desperate now. "You're still in there, Sylvia. You have to fight your way back before this takes everything from you, before it

SYLVIAI pressed both palms down onto Vane's chest, forcing every drop of energy left in my body into his open wound. The corrupted black light poured from my skin in thick, volatile waves, mixing directly with his blood as his whole body jerked beneath my touch."Stay awake!" I shouted into his face, my voice cracking violently as tears ran down my cheeks, cutting pale tracks through the crimson stains on my skin. "Look at me, Vane! Look right at me! You survived the border! You survived his commander! You cannot close your eyes now! Do you hear me? Keep them open!"Vane's lips parted, a small line of dark blood trailing down his chin and pooling in the hollow of his neck. His hand twitched against my wrist, his fingers feeling freezing cold against my burning skin. His eyes were unfocused, glassy and wet, struggling to hold mine as his chest rose in short, uneven, agonizing pulls."I am trying, Sylvia," he rasped, his voice barely a breath above the sound of my heaving lungs. "I am.