Semua Bab The Alpha Who Rejected Me: Bab 61 - Bab 70

ELENA'S POV ​"It’s going to bury the lower ring!" Silas shouted, his human voice barely carrying over the apocalyptic thunder echoing through the canyon. He grabbed a handful of retreating warriors, trying desperately to push them back into the fortress courtyard. "Fall back to the interior vaults! Get inside!" ​"There is no time to evacuate the caverns!" I screamed, my voice cutting through the panic like a jagged pane of glass. ​I didn't run toward the shelter of the heavy iron fortress doors. Instead, I bolt in the opposite direction, my leather boots sliding over the blood-slicked stones as I sprint toward the very edge of the eastern cliff edge, directly into the path of the descending mountain. ​"Elena, no!" Nikolai roared from behind me, his massive hand reaching out, missing the fabric of my cloak by a mere hair's breadth. He broke into a frantic run, his boots pounding against the ice, but the sheer momentum of my resolve had already carried me out onto the exposed p

ELENA'S POV ​A sharp knock rattled the heavy oak door. ​Nikolai stood up instantly, his posture snapping back into that of an unyielding general. He threw a heavy, fur-lined blanket over my rigid body and tear-stained face, obscuring me from view. He checked his own reflection in a polished shield hanging on the wall, smoothing down his tunic and wiping any trace of panic from his features. If the army saw him falter, the rebellion would die before the week was out. ​He cracked the door open just enough to slip through, stepping into the dim, torch-lit corridor and shutting the heavy wood firmly behind him. ​Silas stood in the hallway, snow still melting on his dark leather pauldrons. The spymaster’s sharp, analytical eyes immediately darted to the door, then to the tight, white-knuckled grip Nikolai maintained on the iron handle. ​"The battalion leaders are gathering in the great hall," Silas reported, his voice a low whisper. "They are waiting for Elena. Word has spread tha

KAELEN'S POV ​The howling northern gale ripped across the jagged peaks of the Frost-Spire mountains, carrying with it a blinding sheet of white ice. At the base of the massive cliffs stood the Obsidian Fortress—a monolithic bastion of dark, enchanted stone that looked less like a castle and more like a jagged tooth tearing out of the frozen earth. Its colossal iron gates were reinforced with heavy defensive runes, glowing with a faint, threatening blue hue through the swirling snow. ​Through the whiteout, I staggered forward on foot. My black stallion had collapsed hours ago from exhaustion two miles back, forcing me to push through the waist-deep snow drifts alone. My regal Western cloak was shredded, caked in heavy frost and frozen blood. The brutal journey north had undone much of my wolf’s hasty healing, reopening the deep lacerations my father had carved into my back. Every breath felt like inhaling crushed glass. ​Yet, my frozen fingers remained clamped tightly around the h

ELENA'S POV The darkness shattered, replaced by the scent of dried lavender and old blood. I couldn't move my fingers. I couldn't open my eyes. But I could hear everything. The heavy oak doors of my infirmary chamber banged open against the stone wall. The panicked gasps of the pack healers filled the room. "Alpha! You cannot bring him in here!" Healer Martha’s voice trembled with a mix of terror and absolute outrage. "He is the enemy! His father’s guards slaughtered—" "Out," Nikolai commanded. His voice was a vibrating rumble that brooked no argument. It carried the full weight of his Alpha aura, forcing the healers to bow their heads and retreat. "Everyone. Out. Now." The hurried scuffle of footsteps faded. The heavy doors clicked shut. A new sound filled the sudden quiet: a body dragged itself, or was dragged, across the cold stone floor toward my bedside. "If this is a trick, Kaelen," Nikolai growled, his breathing heavy and ragged, "I will peel the flesh from your bone

ELENA’S POV ​The corridor outside my private chambers was freezing, but the sweat rolling down my neck felt like liquid lead. I marched toward the Great Hall, my leather boots clicking heavy and uneven against the stone. I kept my left hand shoved deep inside my jacket, pressing my palm hard against my collarbone. ​Beneath my fingers, the skin was splitting. ​It wasn't a phantom sensation anymore. A thin, jagged line was weeping a mixture of dark shadow fluid and a hot, golden-tinted crimson through my shirt. It was a direct, physical reaction to the distance the guards were placing between Kaelen and me. The closer he got to the Eastern Tower, the harder the iron wire inside my chest pulled, shredding my internal channels from the inside out. ​The needle, a dark, predatory instinct whispered from the depths of my mind. My shadow wolf was pacing frantically behind my ribs, her massive starlight form snapping at the edges of my consciousness. She didn't recognize the power humming i