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All Chapters of The Alpha’s Bastard Bride: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

200 Chapters

171

KAELEN BLACKTHORNE"You should be knotting your true mate at the lodge right now, Alpha, not stalking into my private quarters," Shawn says, tightening his enforcer belt over his wet, muscular torso. "Why are you down here?"I lean against his heavy wooden doorframe, my claws sinking into the wood until it splinters. "The she-wolf in my chamber is a fraud.""Are you losing your shifting senses?" Shawn drops his drying cloth, his golden eyes wide with shock. "We literally dragged her out of a burning transport van near the border lines. Her scent, her face, her eyes—it is Lyra Nightbane.""The scent is a chemically masked blend, and the soul behind those eyes is completely rotten," I growl, pacing across his floorboards as my inner wolf claws at my chest. "Tell me every single detail of the extraction again.""My enforcers tracked the tire treads right to the edge of the Duskwild Expanse," Shawn explains, pouring a glass of raw wolf-whiskey. "The vehicle was engulfed in gasoline flames

172

KAELEN BLACKTHORNE"Do you want me to drag that fake she-wolf to the silver-lined cells for interrogation?" Shawn growls, his thick chest expanding as his claws scrape the concrete of the Obsidian Den Garage. "I can tear the truth about Lyra right out of her throat."I close my eyes, my raw alpha energy pulsing with absolute exhaustion. "No need."That imposter is still my only tether to the rogue scent trail. Shawn knows my tactical instinct is absolute, so he falls back into formation without another sound. The entire setup screams of a multi-tiered betrayal; first Mirelle Ashen, then Liora Nightbane, and now this constructed clone planted right inside my master bed. How does any of this serve Mirelle’s faction? She isn't a wolf who risks her own neck without a guaranteed blood-bribe. There is a missing link in this pack war."This is completely fucked," I snap, my eyes flashing open as the puzzle pieces grind together inside my head.Mirelle’s family has no real power left in the D

173

KAELEN BLACKTHORNE"The enforcers have the rogue blood-traitor heavily guarded in the lower cells, Alpha," Nick reports, bowing his head as I storm into the Silverclaw Wing. "No pack member has been permitted inside, and her physical form is stable. She will remain breathing until your judgment.""Secure the perimeter," I growl, my chest flat and heavy with lethal intent. "Keep her heart pumping. Do not let her find an escape through death.""Understood, Alpha Blackthorne," Nick says, his eyes sharp as he locks down the corridor. "I will manage the watch myself. No trace of her scent will leak outside."I slide open the heavy oak door of the pack office.Inside, the silence is thick and agonizing. No matter how many wooden hockey figurines or silver training pucks Shawn slides across the desk, Orion refuses to look up. He stands rigid against the edge of the table, his tiny fingers repeatedly flattening the black-and-silver pack flag pinned to the map. His small shoulders are locked,

174

LYRA NIGHTBANE"You think your pathetic scent-blockers can fool a true alpha hound?" Alistair snarls, his bare chest heaving as his silver-tipped claws tear into the synthetic leather of the couch. "If Kaelen Blackthorne breaches the southern tree-line, your life forfeits first.""I am completely blind to his tracking routes," Bess whispers, dropping her muzzle toward the floor planks. "No rogue will ever trace the scent back to this valley block."Alistair glares at her, his predatory chest expanding with a lethal vibration before he waves her toward the lower cellar. My wolf screams inside my head, matching the agonizing pulse of my stomach. The heavy udon noodles sit like molten lead in my throat, rejecting my system completely because my inner wolf is rejecting him."My core is seizing," I moan, gripping the edge of the wooden post as I drag myself toward the stairs. "Leave me inside the shadow space alone."Alistair locks his jaw, his eyes flashing a dominant gold as he scans my

175

BOOM!The surprise blow knocks him backward onto the floor planks. I scramble across the mattress, lunging toward the heavy oak door. I twist the brass handle with all my might, but the external bolt remains firmly locked."There is no path out, Lyra," Alistair says, rising slowly from the floorboards behind me. He stands completely naked, his pale skin glistening with sweat, the mask of the gentle doctor completely gone, leaving only a ravenous predator.I press my back against the locked door, crossing my arms over my bare chest to shield my flesh from his gaze. A cold, bitter smile touches my lips.I used to think finding Alistair’s medical lab during the war was my salvation, but it was nothing but a blood-trap.My eyes lock onto the sharp corner of the stone fireplace mantle behind his shoulder.Alistair sees the definitive, lethal look in my eyes and stops. "Lyra..."I don't want to hear his voice again. The sound makes my stomach turn with absolute disgust.I dodge his extended

176

"Our Luna is out there bleeding in the wilderness, and you are standing here playing coy with her tracking scent?" I growl, dropping my heavy hockey-bag onto the polished slate floor of the Blackthorne Hounds HQ. My alpha blood is boiling under my skin, my wolf itching to claw the truth straight out of Elowen Frost's throat."Lyra Nightbane is my line-mate on the ice," Elowen snaps back, her chest rising and falling beneath her thick team jersey as her eyes flash an aggressive, defensive gold. "Do you honestly think I would let some rogue pack leader paint her target? What kind of sick game are you running, Shawn?""I don't play games when the alpha’s bed is empty," I sneer, stepping directly into her personal space. The scent of winter frost and terrified omega rolling off her skin tells me she knows exactly how deep this trap goes."Is your tracking instinct really that degraded?" she asks, her lips pulling back in a silent snarling threat."Do you want to test my claws on your thro

177

"The imposter's frequency is coming through right now," I grunt, extending the communication device toward Kaelen as the signal bounces off the deep cell towers.Bane stretches his massive neck, his wolf ears twitching as he tries to catch the audio frequency rolling off the receiver.Kaelen cuts a lethal look sideways, his gold eyes flashing with an unhinged, dominant pressure as he forces the device into my palm. "You track the vocal vibrations. I want to hear how deep her rogue pack ties run."My chest heaves as I catch his command, shaking my head instantly as my knuckles turn white against my hockey-jersey. "You deal with the clone, Alpha. My wolf doesn't handle synthetic scents well."To prove my compliance, I take three massive strides back, my boots scraping the stone floor as I distance myself from his suffocating alpha aura."When are you returning to the Crimson Fang Lodge? My heat cycle is approaching, and the bed is freezing without your coat," the clone’s voice whines thr

178

"Yeah. Just look at Mirelle Ashen," I say, pointing toward the glass. "She lied to the Alpha, claiming her line carried his deceased mother’s silver-locket after the raid, but she had already sold it to the rogue factions. The Nightbane elders begged for her life during the winter summit, which is the only reason she kept her skin, but tonight, not even the Moon Goddess can save her core."Liora lunges forward, grabbing Kaelen's massive forearm with both hands. "Kaelen, let us return to Ember Hall. I cannot look at this filth. My wolf is terrified."Kaelen’s brow furrows slightly, his eyes remaining fixed on the glass as a cold, calculating look settles over his features. "I recall my mate being far more bloodthirsty on the ice, Liora. Why are you suddenly so fragile? Don't you want to watch the wolf who tore your skin bleed for her crimes?""I don't! The trauma is too heavy!" Liora cries, her fingers digging into his immaculate white sleeve, wrinkling the fabric.Kaelen’s gaze drops

179

KAELEN BLACKTHORNE"You think my wolf is blind to the scent of a shifting boundary lines?" I growl, my claws snapping out as I step over Mirelle’s broken form to look down at the clone. "Your pack bonds are rotting from the inside out."Shawn tightens his grip on Liora’s bound throat, his knuckles whitening against her synthetic flesh. "She doesn't know where the Luna is hidden, Alpha. The Nightbane bloodline is completely dry.""Bitch, how can your dying muzzle claim I am empty of coordinates?" Liora spits, her gold eyes flaring with an unnatural, chemical heat as she struggles against the wall restraints. If her limbs were not pinned by silver-runes, her fangs would be sinking into Mirelle’s neck. Their alliance was forged in the rogue labs of the southern valley, built on nothing but greed and mutual betrayal, and it takes only a single match to burn their shared den to the ground."I tracked your brother's unit when they moved Lyra out of the iron cages," Mirelle wheezes, a dark,

180

LYRA NIGHTBANE"Stop fighting the bindings and let the lunar medicine bind to your flesh," Dr. Alistair Viremont commands, his gold eyes flashing in the dim light of the cabin as he peels the blood-soaked gauze from my forehead. The gash from the silver-tipped hockey stick during the Ironvale team ambush is raw, but my half-blood wolf genes are already stitching the skin together, forcing a thick layer of sweat to bead across my collarbone.I sink deeper into the heavy wolf pelts, gritting my fangs against the burning heat of the crushed moonstone salve. "I don't need your pity, Alistair.""Your wolf is screaming in agony, Lyra," he murmurs, his fingers tracing the edge of my jaw as he forces the medicinal heat into my veins. "Cry out. The pack house is empty.""Never." I yank my chin away, locking my jaw until my teeth click, letting the agonizing pulse of the healing process wash over me in waves of pure heat.Alistair steps back, his chest rising as he inhales my scent, his eyes da

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