All Chapters of Destined to Save the Cursed Alpha: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

ANAIYAH‘Anaiyah.’I opened my eyes.Nikolai slept beside me, one hand resting near mine on the covers.‘Anaiyah. I know you heard me.’‘Lunara?’‘Unless someone else has moved into your head. It’s already crowded.’I almost laughed.Her voice sounded different. Closer. Every word arrived clearly; without the strain I had grown used to.‘Am I dreaming?’‘Must every conversation begin with you expecting something terrible?’ Then her amusement faded. ‘Something is waking. We need to pay attention.’I slipped out of bed and crossed to the balcony. Beyond the open doors, the trees stood still beneath the early light.‘Why can I hear you so clearly?’‘Because there’s less between us.’I looked down at the marks beneath my skin. ‘The seal?’‘And everything they did to us. Pain made it difficult to reach you. Sometimes all I could send was an instinct.’My fingers curled around the railing.At Crescent, I had blamed her when neither of us could fight back. ‘I thought you were weak.’‘They tol

ANAIYAHI couldn't shake the attack. Every unfamiliar sound tightened my muscles, and every stranger's scent made Lunara lift her head.Silver Crest moved around me as usual, yet safety felt different now. Someone outside the pack wanted me dead, and nobody knew why.I hated feeling vulnerable again after finally learning how to breathe here. My arm still ached beneath the bandage, and the wound pulled whenever I moved too quickly. I refused to spend the day inside Nikolai's quarters, staring at walls while guards decided which doors I could use.So, I walked through the eastern corridor with a basket of folded linens balanced against my hip. It was a stupid chore, which made it perfect. Ordinary work gave my hands something to do besides touch the mark at my neck.Footsteps approached behind me. I reached for Lunara before turning.'Alert,' she warned.I stopped beside an open archway and glanced over my shoulder. Nikolai came into view, his black shirt unbuttoned at the throat, his

ANAIYAHThe window opened behind me without making a sound. I stood in the darkness beyond Nikolai's protected wing, heart hammering, while the unconscious guard remained outside the door.I had not attacked him. I had used the faint silver-gold pulse beneath my palm to pull his attention toward the corridor, then slipped through the servants' passage before anyone noticed.Nikolai would call it reckless. He would be right, which irritated me more than the danger.I wasn't running because I wanted to disappear. I was running because the guards surrounding my life had begun triggering memories I couldn't control.They lowered their eyes respectfully, carried no chains, and spoke politely.My body remembered Crescent anyway: locked doors, orders, footsteps outside my room, and people deciding where I could go.Silver Crest was different. I knew that. My instincts didn't care.Nikolai called it protection. I called it a beautiful cage. A cage remained a cage when its bars were made of go

ANAIYAHMore than forty-eight hours had passed, yet Nikolai still kept me at a distance after my reckless escape. That singular impulsive decision had endangered not only myself but the entire pack.I didn't blame him. What if I had gotten myself captured? What if my actions had led to a full-scale attack on our territory?I paced the entirety of our shared chamber, unable to shake the guilt that plagued me."Stupid girl! What were you thinking?" I muttered to myself, knowing that Nikolai's disappointment in me was justified. "Stay put. That was all he asked."'Beating yourself up changes nothing.'"I know.'We would eventually have to confront what happened soon. I refused to let his enemies exploit the silence between us or mistake our tension for weakness.I sat across from him at breakfast, pushing the food around on my plate despite the growling of my empty stomach.Nikolai still refused to look at me. Not even a dry comment when I stole fruit from his plate.My fork struck the d

ANAIYAHI paused outside the council chamber, listening to voices sharpen beyond the heavy doors. Nikolai had entered ahead of me, expecting a routine security meeting. The extra voices told me it was anything but routine.A guard opened the door. I stepped inside beside the empty chair Nikolai had reserved, refusing to take my usual place several steps behind him. Conversations died around the long stone table.Ancient windows filled one wall. Elders and ranking wolves watched me enter, some seeing Crescent's abused Omega, others seeing the dangerous Moonblood whispered through Silver Crest.Nikolai looked up from his seat and gestured toward the chair beside him. “Anaiyah will be part of this discussion.”A gray-haired elder leaned toward his neighbor. "Can we truly trust someone with Crescent blood?"I heard him. I also noticed his eyes flick toward another council member, a broad man wearing a bronze wolf pin.The elder wasn't concerned about my trustworthiness. He wanted Nikolai