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Kael’s POVI woke in the dark. Liora was sitting up, eyes open, staring at nothing.“Did you find something?” I asked quietly so I would not wake the others.She turned her head. “A seam. Small. Fragile. But real. If I can reach it while he is close, and if the three of you anchor me the way you did before, I might be able to cut the link without killing him or waking the seeds.”Hope and fear mixed in my chest. “Might.”“Might is better than nothing,” she said. “We still have until sunset. I need to practice the exact motion in my mind until it feels natural.”Elias stirred on the other side of the bed. “We’re listening. Tell us what you need.”Ronan sat up as well. The four of us formed a small circle in the dim room. Liora explained the seam as best she could—how it felt, where it sat between Lucien’s life force and the cold life of the seeds, what the cutting would cost her.“It will hurt,” she said simply. “And if I miss, the seeds will feel it. They might wake partway. We have t

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Elias’s POVWe carried Liora back to the compound under a clear night sky. She drifted in and out of consciousness, but her breathing stayed steady. The bond told us she was exhausted, not broken.Cecile met us at the gate with a lantern and a sharp expression that softened when she saw Liora was alive. “Main hall. Now. I want to check her properly.”We laid her on the same bed she had used before. Cecile worked quickly, hands steady, voice low. When she finished she looked at the three of us.“She’s drained again, but nothing is tearing at her from the inside. Sleep, food, and no more heroic cuts for at least two days. Clear?”“Clear,” Kael said.Allaric stood at the foot of the bed. “Lucien?”“Dead,” I answered. “The link is gone. The seeds are still present but no longer tied to him.”Allaric exhaled slowly. “Then we have a cleaner fight ahead. Hard, but cleaner.”Word spread through the compound in quiet waves. People did not cheer. They simply stood a little taller. The man who h

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Ronan’s POVThe days settled into a hard, steady rhythm. Morning practice. Midday coordination with the other packs. Afternoon work on the containment lines. Evening rest that never felt long enough.Liora grew stronger with each practice session. The light she called became brighter and more precise. The three of us learned how to feed her strength without drowning her in it. By the seventh day after Lucien’s death she could hold the full sealing pattern for nearly a quarter hour.“That’s enough,” she said when she finally released the light. Sweat ran down her temples, but her eyes were clear. “Any longer and I risk burning the edges. We’ll build the real circle in pieces on the night itself.”Kael handed her a water skin. “You’re sure the words are complete?”“As sure as I can be. The last pieces came in a dream two nights ago. They feel right.”Allaric received daily reports from the allied packs. Most of the surface burns were holding. A few patches needed a second treatment. No

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Liora’s POVThe day before the full moon felt longer than any day that had come before it.I woke early and walked the eastern containment line with my mates while the sky was still gray. The coldness in the soil had grown overnight. It was no longer sleeping. It was listening.“It’s aware of the moon,” I said. “It knows something is coming.”Kael kept his hand on my back as we walked. “Does it know what we plan?”“I don’t think so. It only knows the pull of the blood and the rising light.”We finished the circuit and returned to the compound. The representatives from the other packs were already gathering in the training ground. Bren and Joss nodded when they saw us. Mara and Talia were checking the salt and herb supplies Cecile had prepared. The western and northern pairs stood talking in low voices.Allaric called everyone together one last time.“Tonight we end the threat that began under the blue moon,” he said. “We do it together or not at all. Follow the plan. Hold the circle.

All Chapters of Fated Alpha Stepbrothers: Chapter 171 - Chapter 174

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