جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 9

CHAPTER ONE: The Betrayal Tatsumi’s Pov It’s a funny thing, dying. You expect darkness or peace, but I only got a strange, cold beginning. That chilling numbness wasn’t from the winter air; it was the mind-numbing cold that seeped into your bone when betrayal cuts deeper. I remember every second. I lay there, broken and helpless, my blood flowing down the stone altar where they had placed me; a sacrificial lamb for a goddess whose name I had stopped whispering years ago. It was useless to pray. I looked up with tired, red eyes. The full moon was out and indifferent above me. It just watched. I turned my head, and my gaze met his. Alpha Storm Thor. My mate. My Alpha. He stood there, watching my final moments with icy eyes, unmoved, devoid of emotion. Then, I saw her. Liora. God, the smile on her face as she drove the blade deep into my heart, not her final blow, but the one that sealed my death. That smile will forever haunt me, even if I live a thousand more lives. I died that

Meanwhile, Tatsumi sat on the cold, musty ground of the dungeon. The air stunk heavily of rotten flesh and stagnant water, a stark contrast to the pine and earthy scent of the pack house above. In the dark corners of the cell lay piles of ancient bones, dark reminders of the prisoners who had come before her. The suffocating air forced her to press her face against the iron railings just to breathe in a draft of fresh air. It was still musty, but it was manageable. Just last night, she had fallen asleep dreaming of her upcoming wedding. She had seen Storm holding her in his large, protective arms, kissing her so tenderly she hadn't wanted to wake up. Yet, in a cruel twist of reality, he had burst into her room hours later, ordering for her to be thrown into prison for a heinous crime she knew absolutely nothing about. Today was supposed to be a joyous occasion. As the Grand Heiress, she was meant to perform the pack ritual and bless those thirty precious pups. Now, they were all go

Tatsumi watched her sister closely, the crushing weight of the silver chains on her wrists completely forgotten as the pieces of the puzzle violently crashed together in her mind. The suffocating, musty air of the cell no longer mattered. The piles of ancient bones in the corner blurred into nothingness. The terrifying fear of being unjustly executed, of being dragged to the gallows for a slaughter she had absolutely nothing to do with sent a massive jolt of fury through her veins. It was an awakening, for someone who had spent twenty-five years being passive, submissive, and quiet. 'Why did Liora know the exact minutes the pups died before the pack healers even finalized the autopsies?' 'Why was she wandering the royal corridors so late, completely ignoring a childhood bedtime routine she had fiercely defended for over a decade?' 'Why was she so desperately, fiercely eager to point the finger, jumping to the conclusion without a single shred of hesitation?' The twisted logic

The wind roared in Roran’s ears as ascended, his knees almost giving away from running. He didn't care about the pain. He didn’t care about the fractured bones or the bruised muscles. His dark irises were locked entirely on the elevated wooden platform where Tatsumi knelt, her fragile body trembling under the weight of the silver suppression chains. He fought his way through the suffocating crowd like a man possessed, his massive shoulders throwing screaming pack members aside. He had to reach her. He had to stop this madness. "Get out of the way! Move!" Roran bellowed, his voice raw, flaring to clear a path. When he finally breached the perimeter of the royal guards and scrambled up the wooden steps of the scaffold, the sheer horror of Tatsumi's state struck him like a physical blow to the chest. It broke him completely. She was a shell of herself. Her knees were scraped and bleeding from being dragged across the rough wood. The heavy silver collar around her neck was biting d

The darkness pressed against Tatsumi’s lungs, refusing to let her breathe, refusing to let her wake. She remembered the silver blade. She remembered the sickening stab of metal through her heart. She remembered looking up at the sky, watching the sunlight die out, and feeling the soul wrenching snap of her bond with Storm. Then, there was only the void. Until the sound started. It sounded like a thousand voices chanting in a language she couldn't understand. A sharp, stinging heat ignited on her left shoulder, spreading across her skin like liquid fire. She gasped, her back arching, her lungs finally pulling in a massive, ragged breath of air. Tatsumi’s eyes snapped open, staring up at the familiar, hand-carved mahogany ceiling of her own bedroom in the royal wing. The sunlight was pouring through the balcony curtains and her warm quilt around her. She sat up, her heart hammering so hard against her skin. She grabbed her chest, her hands trembling, expecting to feel th