บททั้งหมดของ The Alpha's Rejected Mate: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

The private wing doors closed behind them with a solid, final sound.Harris posted two scouts in the hallway and took the radio watch himself. Lucas did not stop until he reached his own room. He braced both hands on the table and let the weight of the morning settle into his shoulders. Blood had seeped through the bandage again. The bond carried the deep ache and the colder strain underneath.Sienna closed the connecting door most of the way and waited.“They won’t all follow you after that,” she said.“I know.” Lucas’s voice was rough. “Merrick has been waiting for a clean opening since the first body. I just gave the circle permission to choose sides in the open.”He straightened and turned to face her. The cut at his hairline had reopened slightly from the run back. A thin line of blood tracked toward his temple.“Rylan is free with full knowledge of this floor’s layout and the current gaps in the watch,” he said. “The source staged the extraction to force exactly the rupture that

The private wing felt larger with him gone.Sienna stood near the window and tracked the bond as Lucas crossed the grounds toward the old training hall. The pull stretched long and thin, edged with the controlled readiness he carried into every fight. Harris remained in the hallway with two scouts. The rest of the loyal pairs held the main stairs and the inner courtyard approaches. No one spoke more than necessary.Midnight was twenty minutes away.She did not pace. She watched the dark courtyard and the occasional sweep of a patrol light across the far trees. The note still lay on the table where Lucas had left it. The words were already fixed in her mind.♡Come alone or the next fire starts in the residential wing.♡The bond shifted as Lucas reached the training hall grounds. A pause. Then the sharper focus of contact. Sienna’s hand tightened on the windowsill. She could not hear the exchange. She could only feel the sudden spike of aggression through the link—impact, effort, the cl

The afternoon dragged under the weight of the unresolved meeting.Sienna stayed in the private wing while Lucas rested in short, unwilling stretches. The bond carried the deep throb of his injuries every time he shifted. Harris brought updates at regular intervals. None of them were useful. Rylan’s scent had gone cold again after the eastern tree line. Merrick’s group remained in the north hall and made no further formal demands. The undecided wolves continued to watch both sides without committing.Just after four, Elena requested entry.Harris checked with Lucas before allowing it. She came in alone, closed the door, and stood near the wall rather than taking a seat. Her expression was controlled, but the tension around her mouth was clear.“The lower ranks are starting to split along practical lines,” she said. “Food distribution, medical access, night rotations. Merrick is already offering clearer guarantees to the ones who cross to the north hall. You’re losing ground by the hour

Sienna tracked the bond until it stretched taut across the inner courtyard.Lucas had stopped moving. The connection carried the controlled stillness he used in formal confrontations—weight forward, attention divided between the wolves in front of him and the ones watching from the edges. She could not hear the words. She could only feel the steady pressure of him holding the line.Minutes passed.The bond remained level, then shifted into something colder. Not pain. Recognition. A decision locking into place.Boots approached the private wing at a measured pace. Not the urgent rhythm of a fight. Harris opened the door without knocking.“He’s on his way up,” Harris said. “Parley ended. No blood. Merrick said what he came to say.”Lucas entered a moment later. He moved slower than he had on the way down. The fresh bandages at his ribs and shoulder were still clean, but the cost of standing through the meeting showed in the tight set of his mouth. He closed the door and leaned against i

First light came thin and grey.Sienna helped Lucas into a clean shirt that did not fully hide the bulk of the fresh bandages. He moved with the careful economy of a man who had already spent more blood than he could afford. The bond carried the deep residual ache and the colder decision underneath it.Harris reported from the doorway. “Merrick is already at the inner courtyard line. Three seniors with him. The undecided wolves have gathered in the main hall to watch. No sign of Rylan on the near perimeter.”Lucas nodded once. “We go now.”They left the private wing under close escort. The house felt different in the early light—less like a single territory and more like two camps sharing a roof. Wolves on the north side watched them pass without speaking. Wolves on the inner approaches stood straighter when Lucas came into view.Merrick waited at the courtyard line with the same measured calm he had worn the day before. He did not look at Sienna. He looked only at Lucas.“You have yo