All Chapters of The Wolf King and the Wilted Flower: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

MayaDarkness.It wasn't the comforting darkness beneath the Everlasting Tree. Nor the peaceful darkness of sleep.This darkness was cold. Heavy.It wrapped around Maya like chains she had spent years trying to forget.Rain hammered relentlessly overhead. Thunder split the heavens.The smell reached her first.Wine. Blood. Wet earth.Then...Footsteps.Slow and heavy.Coming closer.Maya's breathing caught.No...Not again.She was small. Far smaller than she was now.Bare feet curled beneath her as she hid inside the cramped wooden cupboard. Through the tiny crack between the doors, only slivers of the room were visible.Lightning illuminated everything for the briefest second.Her mother's bed. The overturned chair. A shattered porcelain cup.Then darkness swallowed the room again.Outside the cupboard, Freya stood perfectly still. She wore a white nightgown. Her dark volumous hair cascaded over t

Pain.That was the first thing Maya felt.Not her own. Someone else's.It struck her chest so suddenly that her knees nearly buckled.The world around her disappeared.The convoy.The snow.The frightened cries of people of Stormfang.Everything faded beneath a torrent of emotions that did not belong to her.Fear. Confusion. Rage.And beneath it all...Desperation.—The dragon screamed. Not with its mouth.With its soul."Help me..."Maya gasped.She saw through unfamiliar golden eyes.The world rushed beneath powerful wings. Smoke filled the air. Fire escaped unwillingly from a massive throat.The dragon tried to turn away.Its own body refused."No...""No...""Stop..."Its thoughts echoed like a terrified child's cries. Dark tendrils wrapped around its heart.Not real chains.Magic.Something cold. Something rotten.Every time the dragon struggled... The invisible chai

Maya The moment Maya's palm rested against the dragon's chest... The world disappeared. No snow. No screaming. No battlefield. Only life. Life rushed beneath her fingertips like an endless river. She felt it all. The tremendous force of the dragon's heart. The heat flowing through thick arteries. The steady rhythm of blood coursing beneath obsidian scales. Every muscle. Every tendon. Every breath. It was overwhelming. Beautiful. Alive. For the first time in her life... She understood what her mother had meant. "Everything lives." Not as words. As truth. She wasn't merely touching the dragon. She had become part of its living song. ///// It was magnificent. Its heartbeat thundered like distant drums. Every inhalation carried the warmth of ancient volcanoes. Power coursed through the dragon's

Grey Grey had always believed an Alpha should never let his people see him despair. Even if he felt it. Even if it consumed him. Even if every instinct screamed that the battle was already lost. An Alpha stood. Until he no longer could. Smoke choked the sky above Stormfang. The scent of burning timber mixed with blood and scorched earth until Grey could scarcely distinguish one from the other. The eastern wall had collapsed. The northern watchtower no longer existed. Three dragons circled overhead while another two tore through the outer districts, setting rooftops ablaze with every sweep of their wings. The sixth… The largest… Hovered above the battlefield like a king surveying prey. Grey wiped soot from his brow with the back of his arm. His legs felt heavier than it had only an hour ago. Around him, Stormfang's warriors fought with everything they had left. They were brave. Far braver t

The dragon banked sharply through the air. Cold wind rushed against Maya's cheeks, carrying with it the smell of burning wood and smoke.Below her, Stormfang no longer resembled the kingdom she had entered only days ago. Ancient trees rose between streets. Massive vines wrapped around broken towers. The living dome she had summoned stretched over nearly the entire capital. Roots intertwined so tightly that dragon fire could no longer penetrate it.Only one opening remained. A circular gap high above the city.Just large enough… For Maya and the young black dragon to fly through.The dragon circled the opening once before landing atop one of the enormous branches forming the dome. Its wings folded carefully against its body.It remained alert. Watching. Waiting.Maya slowly climbed down.The moment both boots touched bark, her knees nearly gave way. She caught herself against one of the thick vines."..."She hadn't expected...This.Her entire body trembled. Her breathing came in shal