All Chapters of Mated To My Enemy's Rival: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

I took a deep breath, relishing the feeling of a hunt.It wasn't as peaceful as one would expect—the scuff of a boot catching frozen brush, the nervous hitch of a young warrior’s breathing, the scent of fresh sweat cutting through the clean mountain frost."Keep your weight on the balls of your feet, Dennis," I murmured, not bothering to look back over my shoulder. "A blind badger could hear you coming from twenty yards out."Behind me, the younger wolf stiffened, his jaw locking tight as he tried to adjust his stride over the pine needles.I had three of them out here with me on the high ridges of the eastern boundary: Dennis, a raw-boned brawler with quick hands from the lower village; Carrick, a steady scout who could track blood across ice but lacked stomach for close-quarters butchery; and Vince, a veteran’s son whose wolf was fast but wildly undisciplined.Sixteen graves were fresh in the frozen earth down in the Blacthorne ceremonial burial grounds. Sixteen of my best

Dominic was staring at me.He was looking dead at me, his fingers crumpled into the edge of the vellum manifest on his desk so hard that his knuckles were bone-white. His silver-gray eyes had gone completely still, the dark pupils wide, tracking every line of my face as if he were trying to memorize it before someone snatched it away.The quiet stretched until my teeth started to clench."Dominic?" I took a step away from the bookshelf, my boots making a quiet scuff against the rug. "What is it? What did you just realize?"Dominic blinked, and just like that, the curtain seemed to drop.The shock vanished from his features, wiped clean away, replaced by a mask. His jaw squared, his shoulders locked tight, and his eyes snapped down to the desk, refusing to look at me again."Nothing," he said flatly.The lie was so obvious and delivered with such dismissive ease that it felt like a slap right across the face."Nothing?" I echoed, taking another stride toward the desk, anger

“Aaahhh…” I sighed in relief as I sank into the hot bath until the steaming lavender water reached the base of my throat.My head rested back against the curved rim of the copper tub, and for the first time since in a while, I felt completely and utterly relaxed.Beside the tub, Delphine was busy vigorously scrubbing a linen towel against the wooden washboard, talking my ear off as usual—not that I was complaining though. "I’m just saying, if she adds any more of her ‘secret ingredient’ to the morning porridge, someone is going to lose their teeth," Delphine huffed, tossing the towel into a wicker basket with a dramatic flick of her wrist. "She tells everyone it’s an ancient northern remedy to keep the blood warm against the cold, but if you ask me, I think she's completely lost her mind. It tastes like I'm chewing on tree bark.""Maybe she's trying to keep your mouth busy so you stop gossiping near the pantry," I murmured, my eyes staying shut."Rude, my lady. Incredibly

The two guards stationed outside Dominic's private study didn’t even bother raising their spears as I approached. They looked at the heavy silver tray in my hands, then noticed the mark on my neck, and practically scrambled out of the way to haul the doors open for me.I stepped across the threshold, my shoes making almost no sound against the thick dark rug, and let the heavy doors close shut behind me.The study smelled the exact same way it did that day, when I came to tell Dominic about my vision—old parchment, cold stone, and that familiar, maddening scent of pine, cedar, and rain that seemed to live inside Dominic’s skin. Across the room, half-hidden behind a mountain of border manifests and unrolled maps, sat the terrifying Alpha of the Blackthorne pack.He didn't even bother to look up when I walked in.His head was down, his dark brows drawn into a tight knot, and his sandy-brown hair messy where his fingers had clearly been dragging through it all morning. He he

The minutes that followed dragged like grinding stones. I paced the length of the hall, my jaw locked tight. When the heavy doors finally groaned open again, the entire line of servants flinched.Cassandra stepped into the dining hall. She looked from me to the line of terrified servants, her dark eyes sharp, composed, and somehow, completely unaffected by the thick Alpha pressure I was bleeding into the room."You sent for me?" she asked, her voice cool and steady."You told me a scullery maid handed you that tray in the gallery," I said, softening my tone just a fraction for her benefit. "I need you to point her out."Cassandra didn't ask questions. She simply nodded, her gaze sweeping over the thirty trembling faces pressed against the wall. She walked slowly down the line, her presence bringing a strange, but frightening calm to the suffocating room, until she stopped near the far end.She lifted her hand, pointing gently toward a young girl whose face was flushed red wi