All Chapters of The Blood Alpha’s Captive Mate: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

EMBER I pulled the chair closer and studied his sleeping face. It was strange seeing him so… still."Are you really going to marry someone else?" I whispered.He didn't answer. A knock sounded at the door right then. I jumped."Alpha?" Liora's voice drifted in, and I stiffened.The handle rattled. I was out of the chair in an instant.I rushed across the chamber and pressed my back against the door, gripping the handle with both hands.Pain lashed through the injuries along my back. I bit down hard on a cry."Alpha?" Liora called again, sweetly. "Are you awake?"I glanced towards the bed. Azai hadn't moved. Another wave of panic rushed through me.Athena had told me not to let anyone inside.Especially now."I brought something for you, Azai," Liora continued softly. "I thought you might still be awake after the feast."Heat crawled over my face. The way she said his name made an ugly emotion twist inside my chest.The handle jerked harder.I planted my feet against the stone

EMBER I finished my portion of the farm work just as the sun crested the horizon, my back screaming and my palms raw with fresh blisters. Azai had not cancelled Liora's work order, and pride had prevented me from asking. Every muscle in my body still ached, but physical pain was currently the least confusing thing happening to me. The dream had followed me all morning. Or memory. Or prophetic vision. Or possibly the result of sleeping on top of a half-frozen Alpha while inhaling too much warming balm. Perhaps I had simply lost my sanity. It would explain quite a lot. Unfortunately, none of those theories explained why the dream had felt so real. The strange sensation of something crawling beneath my skin. And those three voices speaking inside my head. 'Kill him.' I shuddered and nearly dropped the basket of vegetables balanced against my hip. "Absolutely not," I muttered. A woman working beside me glanced over at me. I smiled awkwardly. "I was speaking to the onions

EMBER I cried myself to sleep. I cried until my head hurt, and I became angry at myself for crying in the first place. Over Azai, Liora, and Taka. Over everything. By the time sleep finally dragged me under, I was exhausted enough not to dream. I awoke to heat and the scrape of stubble on my thigh. A large hand was locked around my hip. Another had shoved the sheet and my dress up to my waist. My eyes snapped open. Azai was between my legs. His eyes were crimson in the dim light, fixed solely on my face. I tried to close my legs. His grip tightened. "Azai—" "I know the masked men are real." His voice was low and husky. "What else did you see?" He believed me? Why? After calling me a murderer. After letting Liora put her hands on him. After sending me to this room like a discarded thing. I laughed. It came out cracked. "Go to hell." He didn't move for a second. Then he turned his head and pressed an open-mouthed kiss higher, right at the edge of where I was a

EMBER Azai went strangely still. For several seconds, he simply stared at me, and the longer he stayed silent, the faster my heart raced. Then he crossed the distance and stopped beside the bed, close enough that his legs brushed the edge of the mattress. I tightened my grip on the sheet. His hand lifted. After everything that had happened, my body reacted before my mind could. My shoulders tensed and I almost pulled away, but his fingers didn't close around my wrist or my throat. His thumb touched my lower lip instead, tracing it with an unexpected gentleness that left me more unsettled than force would have. "No," he murmured. I searched his face. "No?" "I don't think you're lying." My breath caught. Azai's crimson eyes remained fixed on mine while his thumb moved slowly across my lip again, his expression darkening as if admitting the words irritated him. "I believe you," he said. "Which is becoming a problem, temptress." Before I could ask what that was suppo

EMBER Azai sat beside the bed watching me with an unreadable expression, the damp cloth hanging loosely from his fingers. Embarrassment swallowed me whole."I wasn't pretending," I muttered weakly.One dark brow lifted."No?" His voice remained perfectly flat. "Interesting. Because your breathing changed every time I touched you."I opened my mouth. Then I closed it again. Azai's lips curled slightly. The sight made me gape at him.“You've turned red again," he observed.“Oh goddess," I whispered, covering my face instantly.He snorted. The tension in the room eased just slightly. I peeked at him through my fingers cautiously, noticing how calm he was.And somehow that set me on edge.What was he thinking? Did he believe Kairos?Did he think I had truly—My stomach churned. In that moment, Azai set the cloth aside.“Are you hurting anywhere?"The question caught me off guard. I blinked at him. Only moments ago, he'd pushed me to my limits and refused to apologize? Was this som