Semua Bab Betrayed By My Mate, Now Claimed By The Lycan King : Bab 31 - Bab 40

She paused and glanced at us before continuing. "Some will turn on their own Alphas. Others will march straight to the elders' side out of pure terror. They've spent two hundred years telling everyone the mixed blood is poison. Now they're going to prove it by letting that monster eat the proof." I twisted to look at her. The moonlight caught the silver scales on my neck and she stared like she still couldn't believe it was real. "You're saying it could turn the whole continent against us," I said. Merja nodded. "Or it could wake the ones who still remember what the Old Kings actually stood for. The bond you two sealed tonight… it's the only thing that can stop the sire. One queen. One king. The moon's answer to two hundred years of lies. That's why Jakob is losing his mind. He knows if you survive the next week, his entire life's work collapses." Gunnar's hand tightened on my waist. The bond flared hotter. I felt the same fierce protectiveness roll off him that burned in my own c

We gathered around the table. Gunnar stayed glued to my side, hand brushing my lower back every few seconds. The bond kept the power quiet and ready, no wild surges, just a low steady burn. Merja tapped the map. "The ritual site is here, in the biggest cavern. They've got the sire chained over a blood pit. Every suppressed Old King descendant they've captured is feeding it. If you destroy the heart stone at the center of the pit before the next full moon, the sire dies in its cradle. But the elders will be guarding it with everything they have left. And the new packs are only two days behind them now." I studied the tunnels. Narrow in places. Perfect for roots and crevices. "We go in through the side entrance you marked. Fast. Gunnar and I take the pit. The rest of you clear the guards and get Merja's contacts out if they're still alive." Sunna spun her dagger. "I've got your left flank." Nina checked her crossbow. "Right flank is mine." Matthías grinned through his bruises. "I'l

The horse's flanks heaved under us, lathered and blowing hard, but Gunnar didn't ease up. His arm stayed locked around my waist like he could hold the whole damn world together if it tried to pull us apart. The sealed bond between us thrummed steady and hot, feeding strength back and forth so neither of us felt the exhaustion that should have dropped us hours ago. Behind us the ridge still groaned and cracked like something massive was trying to claw its way out of the earth. The Sire's roar cut through the night again, closer than before, raw and hungry. Merja clung to her saddle on the spare horse, face pale in the moonlight, but she kept pace. Sunna and Nina flanked us, blades out, eyes scanning the trees. The rest of the team rode tight behind. No one spoke. The only sounds were hooves, heavy breathing, and that distant roar that made my scales ripple across my ribs and thighs. Two hours later the keep walls finally rose ahead of us, torches blazing along the battlements li

Dawn bled red across the horizon as we thundered up the last slope toward the ridge. The horses were lathered and blowing but the sealed bond between me and Gunnar kept us sharp, feeding strength back and forth like it refused to let exhaustion touch us. Merja's warning rang in my head with every hoofbeat. Two days. That was all we had before the new packs rolled in and the Sire finished waking. We weren't giving them two days. Gunnar's arm stayed locked around my waist. The bond hummed steady and bright between us, letting me feel every shift in his focus, every spark of protectiveness. My scales caught the weak morning light and gleamed silver across my arms, collarbone, and thighs. No wild surge. Just power, controlled and ready. We left the horses in the same thick brush as last night and moved on foot. Twenty of us. Cloaks dark. Weapons quiet. Sunna and Nina took the flanks. The rest of the team spread out behind us in tight pairs. The ridge loomed ahead, still smoking fr

We rode through the gate to the sound of cheers and shouts. Warriors lined the courtyard, fists in the air, voices raw with relief. Someone started banging a shield against stone like a victory drum. For a second it felt good. We'd burned the mill, broken the heart stone, crippled the Sire before it could fully wake. Merja was alive and safe behind me on her horse. The sealed bond between me and Gunnar thrummed steady and bright, feeding strength into both of us so the exhaustion from the fight didn't drop us in the dirt. Then the cheers died as they saw the state of us. Matthías limped forward first, face tight. Blood soaked the fresh bandage on his thigh. Two of our riders had to be helped off their horses. One young warrior—barely eighteen, name I couldn't even remember right now—lay slung across a saddle, body too still. The cheers turned to low curses and quiet anger. Someone covered him with a cloak. No one spoke his name out loud. Not yet. Gunnar swung us both down. Hi