All Chapters of The Mate Hunt: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

RonanI pulled him toward the edge, my grip unrelenting. His boots scraped over the stone, the sound harsh in the quiet aftermath. Below, Elowen had forced Maeve to rest against the saddle. Blood streaked beneath her nose, and the silver in her eyes flickered, dim and weak.A fresh wave of anger surged through me. She was bleeding because of them... because they’d made her use a power she didn’t understand.Without a word, I dragged the prisoner down the rocky ridge. I didn’t bother to be careful. His body struck the stone several times before we finally reached the road below.Cassian emerged from the other side, sword stained red, a new cut glistening just above one eyebrow.“Three alive,” he reported, voice flat. “One unconscious.”“Bind them,” I ordered.He glanced around, hands empty. “With what?”I tore the belt from my prisoner’s waist and threw it to him. “Improvise.”Cassian looked down at the man I’d dragged. “He appears comfortable,” he said drily.“He should be grateful he

MaeveThe conscious prisoner raised his head as the commander strode over, gripping the front of his coat and yanking him half off the saddle.“You,” the commander spat.The prisoner could only mumble through his gag. The commander’s sword hovered threateningly at his throat.“Torin,” Cassian warned, his voice laced with caution.The commander trembled. “This mark was inside our home. I scraped it from the walls myself.”I slid off the saddle. My legs wobbled the moment my boots hit the ground. Ronan was there instantly, steadying me with an arm around my waist.I tried to break free. “Stop.”“You almost fell,” Ronan murmured.“I’m fine. I just stepped badly.”He frowned. “You’ve been saying that since you nearly collapsed in the pass.”“I didn’t collapse,” I protested.“You fell into Elowen.”“Elowen moved,” I insisted.“I did not,” the healer said, having just dismounted nearby.I ignored them, turning to the commander. “We need him alive.”He looked at me... really looked, for the

MaeveThe eastern fort appeared through the trees just as darkness finally swallowed the road behind us. I squinted, expecting more... a village, perhaps, or the beginnings of a settlement. But the fort was smaller than I had imagined, barely more than a rough circle of thick stone wall enclosing a handful of low buildings, two watchtowers, a stable, and a wide, empty courtyard. Iron spikes bristled along the top of the wall, their shadows flickering in the torchlight beside the closed gate.As soon as our group emerged from the forest’s edge, the guards on the wall lifted their bows. My heart sped up, but then I saw recognition flicker in their eyes.One of them shouted, “Open the gate!”Chains rattled, heavy and deliberate. The iron barrier lifted slowly, scraping against grooves worn deep into the stone. A wave of relief moved through the nearby pack bonds, a sensation more distinct than when we’d crossed the border.The wolves here didn’t yet know what had happened; they only felt

MaeveThe words seemed to cut straight through the Hunger’s haze, snapping Ronan’s focus to me. I felt the anger radiating from him, anger not aimed at me, but at himself, at Elowen, at the bond itself for changing faster than he could understand. His fingers loosened. The prisoner slumped back over the horse, coughing harshly.Ronan leaned in, voice a growl. “Speak to her that way again and I’ll see how little of your body is needed to keep you useful.”The prisoner spat a dark smear of blood onto the ground. Ronan replaced the gag, tighter this time. Torin barked orders to the guards, who hauled the prisoner away. As the horse passed, the prisoner’s eyes found mine. His muffled laughter lingered in the courtyard, twisting my stomach with unease.Elowen appeared at my side. “He wants you to fear the bond,” she said.“He sounded afraid of it too,” I replied.“He is,” Elowen confirmed. “That’s what we intend to discover.”The prisoners were led off to the holding cells, Torin following

MaeveI woke with heat tearing through me, raw, relentless, nothing like the fading comfort of blankets or the chill night air. This fire pulsed under my skin in violent, aching waves, leaving me breathless, trembling, desperate for relief.Every inch of me felt stretched too thin, too eager, too close to unraveling. My breaths came fast and shallow, sweat slicking my skin despite the cold seeping under the tent flap.Instinct drove me to move away, to escape it. The bond snapped tight, wrenching a gasp from my lungs.Ronan.His name was everywhere... in my blood, in the frantic beat of my heart. I could feel his heartbeat, slow and steady, just beyond the fallen barrier of blankets. The nearness of him, his scent, dark, wild, familiar, filled my senses until nothing else remained.No Mara, no frightened wolves, no silver-eyed prisoner.Only Ronan. Only this need.The heat surged again, sharper, and a broken whimper escaped me.Ronan shifted, voice rough with sleep, “Maeve?”The sound