Chapter Thirty-One: A Price Already Paid

I did not understand, in the days immediately following that first full shift, how quickly the quiet peace of the clearing would prove to be the last calm thing for a long while.Mathis sent word to the stone house three mornings later, asking that we come to the archive again, urgency plain even in the careful, formal language he used. We found him waiting with a single sheet of old parchment spread across his work table, his weathered face drawn tight with something that looked uncomfortably close to alarm."I found something I missed before," he said, without preamble, once we had settled across from him. "A passage I had not properly translated until last night. It concerns the nature of the seal itself, and what happens as it continues to break.""Continues," I repeated carefully. "You believe there is more coming.""I am certain of it now." Mathis tapped the parchment with one careful finger. "The old texts describe these seals as layered, built in stages a caster could trigger

Last Updated : 2026-10-07

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Boy Who Woke

The young patrol wolf woke on the third morning.His name was Tobin, and he was barely nineteen. I learned that from the healer, a stern woman named Greta, who let me into the healing house only after Adrian promised I would stay no longer than a quarter of an hour. She did not like visitors. She liked even less that the visitor was the reason her patient had been hurt, though she was kind enough not to say it out loud.Tobin lay in a narrow bed near the window, his arm wrapped in white cloth, a purple bruise spreading along his jaw. He looked so young. When I stepped into the room, he tried to sit up, and Greta pushed him gently back down.“You will stay flat,” she said. “Or I will tie you to the bed.”“Yes, ma’am.”I sat in the chair beside him. For a moment I did not know what to say. Then I said the only honest thing I had. “I am sorry. You were hurt because of me.”Tobin blinked at me. “No, my lady. I was hurt because some men wanted to hurt someone. It could have been anyone on

Last Updated : 2026-10-09

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Curse He Carried

Adrian did not speak on the walk back to the stone house.I did not push him. I stayed close beside him, my hand around his, and let the quiet stretch between us. Jorah followed a few steps behind and wisely kept his eyes on the trees. When we reached the house, Adrian sat down heavily by the fire and stared into it like it might give him an answer.I made tea. It was a small thing, but my hands needed something to do. When I handed him the cup, he held it without drinking.“You should know everything,” he said at last. “I have kept it from you for too long.”“Then tell me.”He took a slow breath. “My family has carried a curse for six generations. My great grandfather was the first to feel it. He made an enemy of a witch during one of the old border wars, and she cursed his bloodline before she died. She said the Black wolves would grow strong, stronger than any other pack, but that their wolves would slowly turn against them.”“Turn against them how?”“At first, it is small. A tempe

Last Updated : 2026-10-09

All Chapters of The Alpha's Runaway Mate: Chapter 31 - Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-One: A Price Already Paid

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Boy Who Woke

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Curse He Carried