Todos os capítulos de THE ALPHA'S FORBIDDEN LUNA: Capítulo 71 - Capítulo 80

Kaelan Ashwood's POV"Stand down, all of you, or I start with the girl in chains," Titus Crane called out before his horse had even fully cleared the treeline, and every single hope I had of ending this quietly died in the same breath.He came in slow, deliberately slow, flanked by six riders who fanned out along the north road like he had rehearsed the whole arrival in front of a mirror. Firelight caught the silver at his temples and made him look almost distinguished, almost reasonable, right up until his eyes found Lyra standing in the open and something hungry moved behind them.I felt my wolf surge against my ribs, every instinct screaming to close the distance and end this before it could truly begin, but three years of holding a fragile peace together had taught me exactly how expensive a single wrong move could be. I made myself breathe. I made myself count the riders, the angle of their blades, the way two of them kept glancing back toward the treeline like they expected more

Kaelan Ashwood's POV"You brought a Thorne child into my stronghold without council approval," my father said before I had even finished closing the door, and I understood immediately that word had traveled faster than we had.He sat propped against a mountain of pillows, thinner than he had been a month ago, but his voice still carried the old iron that had ruled this pack for thirty years. Behind him, the fire painted his face in shifting orange light that did nothing to soften the anger in it. I stood in the doorway a moment longer than I needed to, letting the mud still drying on my boots and the shallow cut along my forearm speak for themselves before I said a word."Her name is Wren," I said. "She is sixteen years old and she has spent four of those years chained to a man who used her as leverage against her own uncle. I did not bring a problem into this stronghold, Father. I brought a girl home.""You brought Titus Crane's attention directly to our door," he snapped. "Do you un

Kaelan Ashwood's POV"Who," I said, and watched two years of careful silence finally crack open across Selene's face.She had never once, in the whole strange season of our engagement, looked at me the way people look at someone they are afraid to lose. I had noticed that early and told myself it was simply relief, two wolves grateful neither one expected romance from the arrangement. Standing in that dim corridor, I understood how wrong I had been about the reason. I thought of every dinner we had shared as an engaged pair, every formal appearance where her hand had rested politely and distantly in mine, and realized I had mistaken careful performance for genuine peace."Marcus," she said, so quietly I nearly missed it entirely.Whatever I had braced myself to hear, it was not that."Your father's Enforcer," I said slowly, and Selene flinched like the words themselves carried weight."He does not know I feel this way," she said quickly. "Or he did not, until recently. We met three ye

Kaelan Ashwood's POV"The council convenes at first light," my father said, and something in his voice sounded almost satisfied, like he had been waiting nine years for exactly this excuse. "Marcus filed his report an hour ago. You are to answer for a completed mate bond outside recognized bloodlines, Kaelan, and I want you to understand clearly that I cannot protect you from this, even if some part of me still wanted to.""I never asked you to protect me," I said. "I asked you to tell the truth about what actually happened nine years ago. You are choosing this council hearing instead. That is a choice, Father, not a consequence you had no hand in."He looked older than I had ever seen him, propped against those pillows in a room that suddenly felt smaller than it used to, and for one strange moment I almost pitied him, a man who had spent nine years building a fortress out of a lie only to watch it crumble in a single night he never saw coming. The fire had burned down to embers behi

Kaelan Ashwood's POV"Someone is at the door," Briar hissed, low enough that only those of us nearest her caught it, but the words traveled through the hall like a struck match, and every head turned as one toward the sound of boots on stone.I felt Lyra go still beside me, that particular stillness I had come to recognize as her bracing for the worst possible version of whatever came next. Around us the hall, which only a moment ago had been full of the restless energy of a pack finally allowed to question its own history, went utterly silent, every eye fixed on the great doors as they swung slowly open on their old iron hinges.Titus Crane walked in like he owned the floor beneath him, two guards at his back, and did not so much as glance at the council seated above him before his eyes found Cassian standing exposed and undefended in the center of the hall. The morning light through the tall windows caught him fully as he crossed the floor, and there was something almost theatrical