《The Alpha's Hunted Hybrid Mate》全部章節：第 41 章 - 第 50 章

By the time the deafening howls rising from the ritual grounds faded into the darkness, the atmosphere hanging over the pack territory no longer felt the same. The proof of my hard-won victory still burned in my left palm beneath the strip of fabric Cassian had torn from his shirt and wrapped around my hand.Even as we returned to the pack house and walked through the mansion's halls, I could feel the respect in the eyes following me and hear it in the whispers behind my back.But I didn't care about the pack's admiration.I didn't care about the glory of what I'd accomplished. The only thing I could focus on was the terrible pain crawling up my left arm like a venomous snake, sinking deep into my bones.When I reached my room and closed the door behind me, I tried to draw a deep breath in the darkness. Even my lungs seemed to tighten beneath the poisonous aftereffects of that silver-alloy blade.I sat on the edge of the bed and slowly began unwrapping the fabric Cassian had tied arou

The moment the heavy, rune-carved door to Alpha Ronan's council chamber closed behind us, the pressure inside the room gave way to the cool, unsettling silence of the hallway.But the silence didn't last. We had only taken a few steps when Ivy finally drew in a deep breath and ran both hands through her hair. Her face had gone almost completely pale beneath the weight of everything we'd just learned."Two different groups?" she whispered.She tried to hide the tremor in her voice, but failed. Her gaze moved between Cassian and me beneath the dim hallway lights."This is insane. One side wants to kill you because they believe your hybrid blood would taint a pureblood line, and the other wants you gone because they're terrified of the power that could awaken inside you."Her expression tightened with fear."Bloom, this means two deadly factions are hunting you at the same time. How are we supposed to know when they'll attack or where they'll come from?""We don't need to know," Kai grow

The eerie silence hanging over the rune-covered ritual grounds grew heavier with every spark the torches sent into the night. With each step I took toward the center of the circle, I felt the earth tremble faintly beneath my feet as the ancient energy inside the runes began to awaken.Behind me, the tense breathing of my friends remained like a weight against my back, their figures frozen at the edge of the clearing like shadows carved into place.Beta Zane stood just outside the circle with his hands clasped behind him. His expression was as stern and uncompromising as ever when he looked directly into my eyes.The council members, Alpha Ronan, Luna Sierra, and the pack members who had gathered to watch surrounded the area as Zane finally began explaining the details of the trial they had kept secret."The Spiritual Trial will consist of two stages," Zane said. His voice cut through the cold night air like a blade."We are no longer testing only your physical strength or your toleran

With every step we took from the ritual grounds back toward the pack house, the icy night air brushed against my skin. It should have cooled me down, but it couldn't extinguish the hybrid fire still burning inside me.The real change, though, wasn't in the cold. It was waiting for us the moment we stepped through the mansion doors. Something had shifted in the eyes of the wolves around us.Pack members stood along both sides of the corridors, quietly lowering their heads as we passed. Their hushed whispers drifted through the air, carrying something I'd never heard directed at me before.Respect.The kind of deep, instinctive respect reserved for someone who had shattered both trials through sheer force of will... someone who had destroyed the impossible Moonlight Mirage in a single heartbeat.A pack respected strength. It respected unbreakable resolve. I'd proven that I would never bow my head to them... but I possessed a spirit powerful enough to become part of the very blood runnin

When Alpha Ronan raised the massive dagger engraved with ominous ancient runes into the pale light of the full moon, the entire forest fell into a breathtaking silence. The ancient symbols carved into the blade glowed in the darkness like the eyes of a starving beast. Great.The silver needle wasn't enough, so now we're adding a sword.I tried to steady my breathing, though my heart was still racing from everything that had happened. But the crushing Alpha aura rolling off Ronan in relentless waves made it painfully clear that this wasn't something to joke about.Without taking his eyes off mine for even a second, Ronan turned the blade toward himself and pressed its razor-sharp edge against his left palm. One swift motion. A deep cut split across his hand. Dark crimson blood, thick with Alpha power, slowly trickled down the blade in heavy metallic drops.Even the scent of it changed the atmosphere. Low, reverent growls rippled through the hundreds of wolves surrounding us. Holding up