Lahat ng Kabanata ng Claimed By The Shadow King: The Betrayed Alpha Heir.: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

Ayla’s POVMy breath stops.“How do you know her name?” I whisper.The towel in my hands was still damp from my shower. I grip it so tightly my fingers ache.“How do you know about Nova?”Lucian doesn’t answer right away. One hand rests against the wall beside my head, blocking the only path out of the bathroom. His eyes never leave mine.“Did you think you could keep her a secret from me?” he asks quietly.A chill creeps over my skin. “I knew the moment she surfaced .”My heart begins pounding violently. The room suddenly felt too small.Nova.I try to reach for her the way I always did through the mind-link.…Nova?… Please... answer me……How does he know you?…Nothing. Not even a whisper. The silence inside my mind feels heavier than before.Lucian watches my expression change. A humorless smile crosses his face. “She isn’t going to answer you.”His voice is calm. “Ask her why she’s hiding.”He tilts his head slightly.“Ask her why she goes quiet every time I’m near.”“Stop.” The wo

Ayla’s POV“Lucian, wait!”The words scrape out of my throat as I force myself upright. Every muscle in my body screams in protest. My ribs ache, my wrists burn, and my knees nearly give out beneath me, but I am too late. Green fire burst from the witch’s eyes, mouth, and nose.There is no heat. No smoke. The flames swallows her whole. In an instant, she is gone. Her body, her robes, even the dagger disappears, leaving behind nothing but a pile of glowing green ash.Lucian’s hand closes on empty air, the ash slips through his claws and drifts across the shattered stone floor before the eerie flames vanish without a trace.Silence settles over the ruined conservatory. I can hear nothing except my own ragged breathing.She had erased herself. No body. No answers. Nothing.Lucian doesn’t move. Still trapped in his Lycan form, he stands in the middle of the wreckage, shadows rolling off him like smoke.Slowly, he turns toward me and his crimson eyes meet mine. The fury burning in them st

Ayla’s POV The heat in my chest spreads before I can even catch my breath. It starts as a small spark, then races through my veins until every part of me feels like it’s burning. …Ayla… Nova’s voice cuts through my mind. …Let me out!… She’s never sounded like this before. There is no fear in her voice. No hesitation. She sounds angry. Very angry. I barely have time to respond before Lucian grabs me. One second I’m standing in the study. The next, I’m in his arms. He doesn’t bother looking toward the figures outside. He turns and run, carrying me through the back exit as the mansion shakes around us. An explosion tears through the upper floor behind us. Green and purple flames burst through the windows. Smoke fills the hallway. The smell is awful — burning stone, sulfur, and something rotten underneath it. Lucian keeps moving. He kicks through the damaged doorway and carries me outside. Several black SUVs are waiting on the driveway. His guards are already armed, spreading o

Elena’s POVI stood in the center of my private sanctuary — a small, hidden chamber beneath the roots of the old willow tree at the edge of the pack house perimeter.The air down there smelled of damp earth, dried nightshade, and ancient decay. A single black candle flickered on the stone altar in front of me, casting long, twisting shadows across the dirty walls.I looked at my reflection in a small, cracked hand mirror resting on the altar. My skin was pale, my hair dull, and my eyes hollow from days of sleepless agony.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ayla.I saw the pathetic, quiet orphan Alpha heir whose crown I stole. And then I saw her as she had been that night on campus.She had glowed. Pure, blinding silver light had poured from her skin, washing over the courtyard like a wave of divine judgment. The air around her had smelled of ozone, starlight, and something ancient. Something that carried absolute authority.It should have been me. I was the chosen Luna of the Shadow B

Ayla’s POVMy hands were still trembling as I sat on the edge of the massive canopy bed in Lucian’s suite.Night had settled over the Italian mountains, leaving the estate wrapped in darkness. Outside the tall, arched windows, the wind howled through the valley. Inside, the only sound was the soft crackling of blue flames in the grand fireplace.Lucian had left an hour earlier to deal with the damage my magic had caused in the training hall, leaving me alone with my thoughts.I reached up and curled my fingers around the oval pendant resting against my chest.Something about it had changed since the incident. Before, the stone had always felt cold against my skin, nothing more than an old piece of jewelry. Now it felt warm. Almost alive. A faint pulse moved through it, matching the beat of my heart and easing some of the restless energy still running through my veins.“My mother...” I whispered. I closed my eyes and searched through the broken pieces of my earliest memories. A woman w