Fated to the Shadow Alpha의 모든 챕터: 챕터 81 - 챕터 90

The fire had burned low by the time footsteps approached Natasha’s position again. She had been drifting in and out of fevered consciousness, her body locked in a war it was slowly losing, when the crunch of frozen leaves brought her snapping back to awareness. Two figures emerged from the darkness, Cole with his storm cloud eyes and predator’s grace, and a woman Natasha had not seen before.She was older, with gnarled hands stained dark from years of working with herbs and salves. A healer, or something close to it. The leather satchel slung across her bony shoulder smelled of bitter roots and something chemical that made Natasha’s stomach lurch with instinctive dread.“She’s burning up,” the healer said, her voice flat and disinterested, as if discussing livestock. “The wound’s gone septic. Another day, maybe two, and she won’t be good for anything except the crows.”Cole stopped a few feet away, his gaze fixed on Natasha with that unsettling intensity she was beginning to recognize.

The council chamber doors slammed open with enough force to rattle the ancient stone walls.Every eye turned toward Damien.Marcus and Gideon rose from their seats. Seraphine's hands froze mid-gesture over a sprawling map. The elder advisors drew back in their chairs like wolves sensing an approaching storm.He didn't care."How long?" His voice came out rough, scraped raw from hours of pacing and planning and failing to think past the burning in his chest. "How long are we going to sit here discussing strategy while she's...""Damien."Seraphine's voice cut through his rage like cool water on an open flame.She remained seated, her pale eyes steady despite the tension radiating from every line of his body."Sit down. Please.""I don't want to sit down." He gripped the edge of the heavy oak table, his knuckles white, his claws threatening to break through human skin. "I want to know why we haven't mobilized. Why we haven't torn apart every inch of forest between here and Cole's camp.

Dawn broke grey and cold over the rogue camp. Natasha had not slept. The wound in her shoulder throbbed with each heartbeat, a deep ache that radiated down her arm and into her chest. The healer had cut away the infected tissue the day before, leaving a raw open wound that still wept blood and fluid. Her head swam with exhaustion, but she forced herself to remain alert.She had made progress on the knots. Not enough to free herself yet, but enough to feel the rope fibers starting to give.The camp stirred around her. Guards changed shifts. The lieutenant passed by twice, her eyes narrowing each time she looked at Natasha’s position. But she did not approach. Did not touch.Cole had forbidden it.Natasha did not know whether to be grateful or more afraid.The sun had barely cleared the treeline when voices approached. Cole’s low rumble came first, followed by another voice, louder, slurred with drink even this early in the morning.“So this is the famous bitch.”A man stumbled into her

Damien crouched low behind the ridge, his eyes scanning the valley below where the rogue camp sprawled across a clearing. Morning mist clung to the trees, providing cover for his scouts as they fanned out through the forest. His wolf paced restlessly beneath his skin, desperate to surge forward, to tear through the camp and find Natasha.But he forced himself to wait.To watch."Three main guard posts," Marcus murmured from beside him, his voice barely audible. "Two at the northern entrance. Three patrolling the eastern perimeter. Rotating shifts every two hours."Damien nodded, his crystal blue eyes cataloging every detail. The camp was larger than he'd expected, perhaps forty rogues in total, judging by the number of tents. Supply wagons lined the southern edge. A central fire pit still smoked from the previous night. Near the western edge, partially hidden behind canvas walls, stood a smaller tent with two guards stationed outside.His gaze locked onto it."That one," he said, his

Damien crouched in the underbrush at the edge of the treeline, his crystal blue eyes fixed on the rogue camp sprawled below in the shallow valley. The moon hung low and heavy overhead, casting silver light across the crude collection of tents and fire pits. His wolf clawed beneath his skin, desperate to surge forward, to tear through the camp until he found her. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to fight, to kill anything that stood between him and Natasha.But he forced himself to remain still. To think. To plan."The eastern perimeter has three guards rotating in a circuit," Kael murmured from his left, the Crescent Moon warrior's voice barely audible above the rustle of wind through the leaves. "Two-minute intervals between passes. There's a blind spot near the supply wagons."Damien nodded, his jaw tight. Natasha's brother had arrived with a contingent of Crescent Moon warriors hours after the ambush, his face grim with the news of his sister's capture. The two Alphas had bar