All Chapters of The Blood Alpha’s Captive Mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

EMBER Later that night, when the fortress had gone quiet, I returned to the kitchen. Everyone should have been asleep by now. That was the plan.I would bake the pie in secret, hide it somewhere safe, then return before anyone noticed I was gone. Simple.Except when I reached the kitchen door, my hand froze over the handle. Kairos's words crept back into my thoughts.My gaze rested on the ring around my finger.What was the point? Why spend the entire night baking for a husband who might already be preparing to replace me?My thumb moved slowly over the ring.Perhaps Kairos had lied. He had lied before. But what if he hadn't? What if Azai had already chosen another woman and simply hadn't bothered to tell me?I almost turned around. Then my fingers closed around the ring.No.I had already spent too much time running from things I didn't understand.If Azai wanted another wife, he could look me in the eyes and tell me himself. Until then, this ring was still on my finger.I wa

EMBER My feet nearly betrayed me, freezing in the middle of the grand hall. Liora noticed me. Her polished smile shattered in an instant, her lips pressing into a thin line. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice slicing through the music and chatter. Every head in the room snapped towards me. Heat flooded my face. Gods, why did I think this was a good idea? I forced my legs to move anyway, clutching the covered plate tightly. Azai's face stayed blank, but I saw the way his fingers tightened around the arm of his ornate chair, his knuckles whitening. Liora stepped forward, blocking my path. "She was forbidden from attending." A ripple of murmurs swept through the guests. My pulse hammered in my ears, drowning out everything except the voice screaming in my head: Turn around. Run. You're making a fool of yourself. I stopped at the foot of the short steps, my chin lifted even as my knees shook. "I only came to give him something." Liora's sharp eyes dipped to

EMBER My fingers went numb around the broken piece of crust. "What did you say?"He stepped out of the shadows, slowly. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."His voice was deep and strangely calm. I rose slowly, keeping the pie balanced on the bench."Why?"He tilted his head towards it. "Look beside the cut edge."I stared at him, my pulse roaring."Go on."My instincts warned me not to look away from him. But my gaze lowered to the pie anyway.At first, I saw nothing. Then I leaned closer.My breath caught.Once I saw the first mark, I found another. Then another. Small holes scattered beneath the apples, almost invisible beneath the cinnamon.Warmth vanished from my body."That wasn't there before," I whispered."You’re right," the masked man agreed. "It wasn't."I looked at the tiny puncture again. A faint bluish stain had soaked into the syrup beneath it. Poison.My head spun as a strong wave of dizziness hit me.Azai had eaten it. My stomach hollowed out instantly."No."

AZAI The look on Ember's face should not have bothered me. It was only shock and something that looked a lot like betrayal. As though she had not spent the past weeks insisting she was innocent while every piece of evidence screamed otherwise.Her palm had left a faint sting against my cheek. I barely felt it. What I felt was the way her expression changed when the guard announced that the true culprit had been found.The certainty drained from her eyes first. Then came doubt. She stared at me as if she no longer knew what kind of monster stood before her. She should never make the mistake of believing she understood me.I had not arranged the poison. I had not known someone would crawl into the kitchens and inject venom beneath the apples.But once the toxin struck my blood and the frost inside me began devouring it, I understood I would survive.Painfully. But certainly.And when I saw Ember running into the hall with terror carved into her face, clutching the poisoned pie

EMBER Before I could rush towards the door, it flew open. Athena stood there, panting heavily. Her silver braid had nearly come undone, loose strands clinging to her pale face.In one hand, she carried a covered wooden cup. Dark liquid had spilled over the rim and stained her fingers.She hurried across the room and dropped beside him. The cup landed on the nightstand with a thud."Oh, gods," she choked. “I felt it through the bond. I didn’t know it was this bad.”Athena grabbed the hem of her tunic and wiped the blood from his lips, her hands trembling."Sit up for me," she whispered.Azai shook his head feebly. Her eyes welled up instantly."Please, Alpha."His jaw tightened. Athena cupped the side of his face."Do it for Kora."Azai stiffened. The name struck me too. Kora. Our son.The child who had been lying unconscious since the poisoning. The only reason I was still alive.Azai's fingers curled slowly into the bedding. For several seconds, he did not move. Then, with a s