บททั้งหมดของ TOO LATE TO CLAIM ME,ALPHA: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

The room is warm, smelling faintly of pine needles and dried lavender, but my body refuses to loosen its grip on panic. My heart hammers against my ribs like a trapped bird. Every instinct forged in the dark, blood-soaked neutral forests screams at me to jump from the cot, find a window, and run until my lungs burn out.I can still feel the icy bite of Kael’s trackers closing in on me. I can still hear their snarling beasts tearing through the brush, hunting me down after I made my break through the iron gates. I refused to rot in a dungeon or play the submissive servant to Kael and his shiny new political bride. I ran. I chose the deadly borderlands over a life of quiet execution.And then the darkness had swallowed me.Now, I am in a bed that isn't mine, surrounded by carved wooden walls I don't recognize. The blanket pulled over my chest is thick, soft, and terrifyingly clean. I clutch the fabric in my white-knuckled fists, staring intently at the heavy latch on the chamber door.F

Morning light spills through the narrow stone window of the guest chambers, pale and thin. I wake up with every muscle in my body aching, the memory of our desperate flight through the neutral forests fresh and raw in my mind.Before I can even sit up on the simple cot, a sudden shift in the room catches my attention. Marcus wakes up instantly, his body reacting on pure instinct. In a single fluid movement, he shifts his weight and steps directly between me and the doorway, his shoulders rigid, his wolf defensive and growling softly in his chest.Standing just inside the threshold is Alpha Rowan.He doesn't flinch at Marcus’s hostile posture or reach for the blade at his hip. Instead, Rowan slowly raises his hands in a calm, non-threatening gesture, showing he carries no weapons."Easy," Rowan says, his deep voice carrying a low, soothing resonance that seems to vibrate right through the cold stone floor. "You are safe here. Nobody is going to harm either of you under my roof."Marcus

The guest quarters in the Ashford Pack house face the eastern courtyard, offering an unobstructed view of the daily rhythm here. It is a quiet vantage point, one I have taken refuge in since my arrival. My body is slowly healing from the frantic flight through the neutral territories, but my mind remains a battleground of phantom fears and lingering mistrust. Every loud noise makes me jump. Every shadow looks like one of Kael’s trackers sent to drag me back to a life of silent servitude.Over the next few days, I watch Rowan from my window as he works with the pack.The morning sun is barely breaking over the tree line, casting a cool gold hue over the dirt yard. Down below, a timber delivery has just arrived from the timber mills on the southern border. Instead of standing on the stone balcony in a pristine uniform like Kael always did, Rowan is right in the thick of the action.He wears a faded, sweat-stained tunic with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, his thick forearms expos

The morning fog still hangs thick over the Ashford Pack territory, wrapping the wooden cabins in a cool, damp blanket. I sit on the edge of the porch, wrapping my fingers around a warm mug of tea. For weeks, my chest felt like an empty, echoing cavern. Every breath was a struggle against the jagged edges of a severed connection.Now, something inside me shifts. My inner wolf slowly begins to stir, no longer hiding in the dark corners of my mind.She has been curled in a tight, protective ball ever since Kael severed our ties in front of the Crescent Moon Pack. She was bruised, terrified, and silent. But today, I hear her softly stretch against my ribs. She sniffs at the clean morning air, cautious, yet curious. She isn't cowering anymore.The constant, throbbing ache of the rejection bond begins to fade under Rowan’s quiet care.It hasn't been a sudden miracle. There were no grand declarations or overwhelming demands for my devotion. Rowan doesn't operate like that. He moves like a st

The shift back into my human skin always leaves a strange, heavy ache in my bones. My joints feel stiff, and my muscles tremble from the sudden change in temperature as the chilly autumn breeze hits my bare arms.I pull the linen shift over my shoulders and smooth out the folds of my dark wool skirt, taking a slow, deep breath to steady the rapid pulse in my throat. My wolf is still humming beneath my skin, restless and wild, her claws scraping at the edges of my mind. For weeks after escaping Kael’s trackers in the neutral forest, my wolf had stayed hidden, buried under layers of pure terror and betrayal. Today was the first time she finally dared to breathe.I walk up the winding stone path toward the small timber cottage at the edge of the woods. The soil here smells rich, damp, and alive—nothing like the dusty, suffocating red dirt of the Crescent Moon training grounds.I return to the cottage to find Rowan waiting near the garden gate, a look of quiet admiration in his eyes.He i