All Chapters of Three Billionaire Alphas on Their Knees: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

The moment the ancient stone shook, a dozen hunters in the innermost circle snapped their heads up.Below the platform, several adult hunters' ears went rigid. A low growl rolled uncontrolled from deep in their throats.Then the stone stopped shaking.Every sound died with it.The ancient stone didn't light. No second answer came from the crowd.Darcy stood at the center of the platform, her right hand shaking badly. Several silver-white hairs pushed through the skin around her knuckles, tiny beads of blood gathering at the roots.At the edge of the platform, the mud-covered boy suddenly lunged forward a step and shouted at the top of his lungs."She heard it!"The guard beside him reached for his arm. The boy yanked free, eyes red, and howled up at Darcy again.The cry was sharp and urgent.Darcy's chest clenched hard.The hunters below still said nothing.Dozens of eyes fixed on her. No mockery. But no recognition either.That kind of silence was worse than being cursed to her face.

"You used to love this."Chloe pushed the oil-paper package across the table. The thin twine was already untied, revealing the corner of a cinnamon scone, browned at the edges.Darcy didn't reach for it.Eight years ago, in the cold cellar of the North Barrens, Chloe had been one of the lowest-ranked Omegas in the Thorne household, tasked with scrubbing stone corridors and delivering stale scraps and hardened bread. Back then, Chloe hadn't even dared to look up at Darcy.Their only contact had been when Chloe, on her way to collect empty trays, would slip half a dry loaf of black bread from inside her sleeve in exchange for the guard shifts Darcy had overheard.After they escaped the North, Chloe had sewn Darcy's old identity papers into the lining of her boot, and Darcy had shielded the fragile Chloe from roving wolves who tried to rob them on the road.They had survived by helping each other when it suited them. Each kept their own guard up. They weren't close.But Darcy always reme

The front courtyard had felt wrong from the start.The off-road vehicle was ready, engine idling low, but the space around it was too quiet. Quiet enough to hear the wind move across the stone steps. Several hunters who should have been rotating to their posts hadn't moved at all. They stood in small clusters near the walls, watching. Waiting.Darcy pretended not to see the eyes on her back. She walked straight to the car and reached for the rear door."Close the door."A rough, dry voice cut across from behind her.The attendant securing supplies in the trunk froze mid-motion. Even the click of the buckle stopped.Asher paused, straightened, and turned.Darcy's fingers stilled on the handle. She followed the voice. A row of people had gathered at the base of the steps.A thin layer of frost covered the paving stones.The scarred hunter who had knelt first in the mud last night stood at the front, gray hair cropped short, the black iron wolf whistle from the ceremony in his hand.He d

The heating in the entry hall was turned up high, but it couldn't cover the stale smell of old wood that never saw sunlight.The elderly housekeeper led the way, her shoes clicking against the stone floor and echoing through the empty corridor.Darcy walked behind her, her steps light. But when she passed the corner, she instinctively stepped over the third board in the patterned parquet. The joist beneath it had warped from damp years ago. Stepping on it made a sharp creak.When she was fourteen, she had snuck downstairs to the kitchen to find food one winter night. She stepped on that board. A patrol guard caught her. She was made to stand in the frost-covered corridor for half the night, knees nearly numb.To her right stretched a dark hallway hung with faded wolf-head tapestries. Behind two closed carved wooden doors on her left had once been the family's sealed archive room.When she was a child, during Pack gatherings, the children whose wolves had awakened strongly were led ins

"Who decided before my first shift that I was never going to be allowed to complete it?"Garrick stopped flipping through the thick leather ledger, his fingers still resting on the edge of the yellowed page.Darcy crossed to the desk and stopped. The cold from the corridor still clung to her coat.Asher pushed the heavy walnut door shut behind them. The brass lock clicked into place.The sharp sound of the lock made Garrick look up. His gaze swept past Asher at the door and settled on Darcy. He nudged the ledger aside.Garrick looked at her. "Two sentences from Hector, and you come here first thing in the morning to demand answers? Every arrangement back then was a council decision, made for the family."Darcy leaned forward, palm flat on the ledger. "Don't hide behind the family. Ruining me was for the family too?"Garrick didn't answer. His pen tapped once against the desk.Darcy turned to look at the man behind her, chin tilting toward the door."Stay."Asher nodded. He stayed just