All Chapters of Married Off as a Breeder, She Became His Only Mate. : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Briony's POVWe sat together in the garden until the sun fully cleared the horizon, something between us finally settling into place after the exhaustion of the fight and the resolution that followed it. Once the initial relief passed, practical urgency took over, and we moved inside to the war room, spreading the same map I studied with him weeks ago across the table between us."If it comes down to walking out there," I said, "we do it smart, not blind. I'm not just going to wander toward Rourke's camp hoping for the best.""Agreed." Kieran traced the terrain between Ashvale's walls and the northern ridge where the scouts had spotted the approaching army. "If we're going, we control the ground we meet him on, not him.""The old meeting stone worked for Halric's negotiation," I said. "Neutral, defensible, far enough from either territory that it doesn't read as an ambush waiting to happen.""It also puts you exactly where he already expe

Halric's POVRourke turned to leave, already several steps toward the tree line on his side, when the weight of everything he just offered finally settled hard enough in my chest that I couldn't let him walk away without an answer."Wait," I called out.He stopped, turning back slowly, something almost hopeful flickering across his face before he caught himself and smoothed it back into neutrality."You have three days," he said. "I told you that already.""I don't need three days." My voice came out steadier than I felt, though inside, everything was still tearing itself apart between decades of guilt and everything I owed the pack that had raised me, trusted me, given me purpose when I had nothing else left after losing Elira.Kieran and Briony emerged from the tree line behind me, no longer bothering to hide their presence, and I felt rather than see Rourke's attention shift toward them, calculation returning to his expression

Briony's POVThe horn tore through the pre-dawn quiet, three sharp blasts that yanked me out of the war room and straight into chaos."Where?" Kieran was already moving, blade in hand, every trace of the man I whispered with in the garden replaced by something harder, an Alpha responding to the worst news he could have received."West stretch, past the old training barracks," Sage shouted, sprinting toward us. "Section of wall's down, Kieran, not breached from outside. Sabotaged. Support beams cut clean through from the inside, timed to give the second Rourke's force actually reached it.""Damnit," Kieran snarled, already breaking into a run.I followed, heart hammering, the sounds of fighting growing louder with every step. By the time we reached the western stretch, the scene had already tipped into full chaos, wolves pouring through the fallen section of wall in numbers that made my stomach drop.Ashvale warriors met them head-on, but the sabotage had given Blackfen's forces a runn

Briony's POVHer chest didn't rise again.I pressed harder, gold light pouring from my palms into a wound that had already stopped needing it, some useless part of me refusing to accept what my own hands were telling me plainly enough."Briony." Sage's grip closed around my shoulder, pulling me insistently. "She's gone. You can't bring back what's already left.""I know that." My voice came out flat, scraped hollow, nothing like the shaking mess I expected from myself. I stared at Petra's open eyes, the fear still stamped into them, and made myself look away before the image could root any deeper than it already had.There wasn't time to sit with it. A snarl tore through the smoke behind me, close, and Sage yanked me sideways just as a Blackfen wolf's jaws snapped shut on empty air where I'd been kneeling a heartbeat earlier."Move!" Sage drove her blade up under the attacker's ribs, twisting hard, and the wolf collapsed sideways with

Briony's POV"Get him to the line, now!" Sage's shout cut through the ringing in my ears, and two warriors I didn't recognize scooped Kieran up between them, his arm dangling at an angle that made my throat close.I ran alongside, one hand pressed flat to his chest, feeling his heart stutter under my palm in a rhythm that had nothing steady left in it. The gold light in my other hand had finally dimmed to something manageable, but I didn't dare try to heal him mid-run, not with his body still locked in that half-shift, muscles seizing under skin that couldn't decide what shape to hold.The healing line sat behind the supply buildings, a stretch of open ground Bettina had claimed for exactly this, cots laid out in rows, already half full. She spotted us coming and was on her feet before the warriors reached her, waving them toward an empty cot near the front."Down, gently…there." She had his sleeve cut open before he was fully settled, fingers moving fast over the wound at his collarb