Chapter Forty N: She CameZarina's POVThe sun filtered through the curtains.I sat in the nursery, cradling my baby boy in my arms.He was so small, so cuddly. His tiny hands were clutching at my dress as if he'd never let me go.I smiled ruefully.At least he still needed me.At least someone still did.In the corner of the room, Asher's mother gently swayed another of the babies in her arms.She didn't glance at me.She hadn't spoken to me that morning.Asher's father was leaning against the window, cradling the third triplet as if he was carrying a sack of groceries, not a baby.There was nothing warm in their expressions, only chilly courtesy.I didn't mind.I tried to comfort myself — "It's all right, Zarina. You have your children. They adore you. That's enough."But deep within, it pained.It pained so excruciatingly that it became hard to breathe sometimes.I carefully shifted my son and placed a soft kiss upon his forehead."You're my everything," I whispered.Then the front
Chapter Forty Nine: The GatheringAsher’s POVThe meeting hall smelled like old wood and burning firewood.I stood at the front, my arms crossed, trying to stay calm.Zarina was upstairs in the packhouse with the babies.I told her to rest — she didn’t need to hear whatever foolishness the elders were planning to say.I could feel her suffering every day.I could see how isolated she was.Tonight, though…Tonight would be worse.The big doors creaked open one by one, and the pack members started to enter.Beta Damon stayed with me.He nodded discreetly, but even he was on edge.The elders sat down first, their faces firm and unyielding.Other wolves, young and old, filled the seats and the benches.Whispers had already started before anyone said anything official.I clenched my fists.They were whispering about her.About Zarina.The Luna.My mate.The mother of my children.I gritted teeth and stared straight ahead.Finally, Elder Warren stood up.His voice was old, but his words sli
Chapter Fifty : I Broke AgainZarina's POVThe house was too quiet.The triplets were asleep in their cribs, their little chests slowly moving up and down.I was alone in the small guest room, the one I had made my little corner, as much as I could be away from everyone else.The room was cold and lonely, but it was better than being in the big rooms where no one wanted me.I sat down on the floor beside the cribs of the babies, hugging my knees to my chest. I stared at the wall, my heart too painful to endure anymore.I missed the days when I thought that I had a family.I missed the days when Asher would smile at me.Now it was as if I was a ghost.As if I didn't exist to them anymore.A soft moan at the door had me lifting my head slowly.I thought at first it was one of the maids.But when I looked up and saw her standing there — tall, beautiful, perfect — my heart sank.Cara.She smiled pleasantly, but her eyes were full of something evil."Hello, Zarina," she said, coming into
Chapter Fifty One: She LeftZarina's POVThe house was too quiet.I sat alone in the nursery, gently rocking my baby girl in my arms.The boys slept in their cribs, gently breathing, unaware of the storm raging inside me.Asher had left early that morning.An emergency.He kissed the babies goodbye.But he hadn't kissed me.Not even a glance.He left his parents to "take care" of me.I smiled sourly to myself.Take care?If only he understood.The second he walked away, I was invisible once more.Or worse — a target.I heard feet coming toward the nursery door.I stood still, holding my baby close to me.The door creased as it opened.It was Cara and Asher's mother.Their faces were unkind.Cara snickered softly, glancing about the room like she was home."Still here?" she commented, tilting her head towards me, like I was something she had left out to be taken out.I held my head down, gently rocking my baby.I didn't answer."What a waste," Asher's mother sneered."You think being p
Chapter Fifty One : She's GoneAsher's POVThe house felt off the moment I stepped inside.Too quiet.Too still.I tossed my jacket on the chair by the door and let out a breath, running my hand through my hair.Today had been one of those days — constant meetings, pack problems piling up, one thing after another without any break.All I wanted to do was gaze at Zarina.Gaze at my babies.Maybe hold them against me for a moment, remember nothing else.A small grin tugged on the corner of my mouth as I climbed up the stairs.They were my peace.My home.My reason for all things.I headed straight for the nursery, needing just one moment of peace.But as I opened the door, what I saw halted me in place.The room was clean and neat, the curtains pulled wide so that the soft evening light seeped in, casting a golden glow over the rows of small cribs set along the walls.But the cribs.The cribs were empty.No Zarina.No babies.For a moment, I stood there, blinking as if maybe my eyes wer
Chapter Title: Felt Empty(Asher's POV)The moon was high overhead, but I wasn't even aware of it.It had been three days.Three days since my whole world imploded.I was sitting in the Alpha office, sitting behind my desk, and I looked at the pile of papers in front of me.Important stuff. Pack business. Meetings I was supposed to attend.I didn't even pick them up.I couldn't.I simply sat there, empty.Every time I blinked, I could see her face.Zarina.Cradling our babies in her chest.Her eyes full of tears.I gripped the sides of the desk tightly, my knuckles whitening.Where was she now?Was she alright?Were the babies warm enough?Were they nursing well?I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.The quiet in the room was heavy, choking me.I should have noticed earlier.I should have seen how tired she was.How alone.But I didn't.I let her down.I let them down.A soft knock on the door.It was Caleb, one of my fighters."Alpha," he said guardedly, "there's a council wi
Chapter Fifty Four : In the Heart of the BushZarina's POVThe night was dense and heavy around me.The trees towered like dark giants, their leaves whispering secrets I could not hear.Mosquitoes buzzed in fury, biting at my arms, my neck, any flesh they could find.I squatted in the cold bush, back against a tree.I held my babies tight, one on each arm, and the third resting softly on my chest.Their small faces twisted every time a mosquito got too close.I waved my hands weakly, trying to swat the bugs away, but they were relentless.My belly moaned in misery.It had been so long since I'd eaten anything.I could feel my strength slipping away bit by bit.Yet still, I stayed.I would not leave my babies.Tears burned my eyes, yet I would not cry.I could not afford to be weak now."I'm here, my angels," I whispered, kissing each small forehead. "Mommy's here. Mommy won't leave you."But how was I going to protect them like this?I needed food.Something — anything — to keep up my
Chapter Fifty Five : The Bond That Guides MeAsher's POVI couldn't think.I was sitting at my desk, staring at the papers in front of me, but the words weren't registering.All I could see in my head was Zarina's face.All I could hear were my babies' gentle whimpering in my ears, even though the room was silent.Where are they?Are they safe?Are they cold?Are they crying for me?I pushed the chair back so hard it creaked across the floor.I couldn't remain there another minute.I strode out of the office, past the guards and the uneasy glances.I didn't care who saw me.My bond with my children, it was pulling at me — tight and sore, like a rope around my heart.Something in me was believing they were close.Somewhere out there.Waiting.Suffering.I went to the edge of the woods.My feet moved faster than my mind could keep up.I took a deep breath, filling my nostrils with the scent of trees and earth.I closed my eyes."Zarina," I whispered, as if saying her name would magicall
:Chapter Seventy : Zarina's Journey – The Quest for a SolutionI had my hand on the door handle, weighing the decision heavily in my mind. Asher stood but a step or two behind me, watching, waiting, but I couldn't turn around. I couldn't dawdle."Zarina…" Asher's voice was thick with concern, but I could feel the unspoken words hanging there. He didn't want me to leave, I could tell. But he had no idea of the burden of the pack and duty that lay on me at that time. I loved him, and I loved our children, but I had to do this for all of us.I couldn't allow them to take one of my children. I couldn't allow them to offer my flesh and blood for some ancient ritual."I'm doing this for us, Asher," I whispered, barely above a whisper so he could hear me. "I promise, I'll come back."I could not gaze at his face, but I felt the hurt in the silence that followed. I knew he was torn. He knew what the pack needed, but this? This was different. I opened the handle and stepped out, leaving behin
Chapter: Zarina's DecisionThere was a sound of rain in sheets accompanied by sound of drumbeats thundering overhead as rain kept pounding ruthlessly at the roof. Asher had pulled back into the darkness of his own mind, his furrowed brows and concerned expression evident as the elders' expectations remained suspended in the air around us. I could feel the burden of the world weighing on him, as though he carried the future of our entire pack on his own shoulders. The elders were unforgiving, pushing him to make a choice—one that would destroy us. They wanted to take one of our children, one of my babies.I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't let them take one of my children.But I recognized that Asher felt trapped, stuck by his position as alpha, the need to protect everyone, even if it meant sacrificing the very people he cared about most. I saw it in his eyes—the torn look of a man who wanted to protect us but didn't know how.I walked around our quarters, pacing back and forth, ide
Chapter Sixty Eight : The Feelings Asher's POVThe load of the day was a boulder on my chest. The pack, the elders, everybody was depending on me, and the pressure was suffocating. But this evening, I did not care to think about any of it. I simply wanted to spend time with my kids.I crept down the hall to the nursery, gentle sounds of my babies drifting from the doorway. Their coos, their tiny laughter, were like music.When I entered, to behold them nearly shattered my heart. They were so tiny, so innocent.Luca was lying on his belly, his small hands reaching for a teddy bear. His little legs kicked against the air as he struggled to grasp it, his face concentrated. He wasn't there yet with the words, but the way he looked at the toy, how hard he reached for it—my heart swelled to full.Freya rested in her crib, waving her small hands in the air as she looked up towards the mobile revolving over her head. Her large eyes followed each movement, and a soft little giggle formed on h
.Chapter Sixty Seven : The IdeaZarina's POVThe pressure of the situation weighed heavily upon me like a boulder weighing a hundred tons. I sat silently in our bedroom, attempting to make sense of things, but it seemed the tempest within me was way too raucous to be silenced. The elders had come, demanding a sacrifice. A child. One of Asher's own. And my heart had shattered when I saw Asher stand firm, his voice unshakeable, his face set in determination as he denied their request.But that hadn't changed the fact that the elders wouldn't let go so easily. Their ultimatum hung over us like a cloud, dense with threat and conclusion. I knew Asher would never let harm befall his children. He couldn't—he loved them with every fiber of his being. He was their protector, their father, their Alpha. But the longer things dragged on, the more I began to fear what this stubbornness would ultimately cost us all.I could hear Asher's footsteps from the other side of our room. I did not look at
Chapter: The Elders' DemandThe weight of being Alpha had never rested more heavily on me than it did today. Every step, every decision I took, came under such close inspection that the weight was suffocating. But what the elders were demanding—no, insisting upon—was something I could never possibly consent to.I stood in the center of the black hall, the air thick with the heaviness of unwritten words. The elders were seated, faces grim, eyes blazing with accusation. They had waited for me to decide, but this. this was something more than I had expected.We've waited long enough, Asher," Elder Rurik's voice was deep, but his words cut through the silence. "The pack demands a sacrifice. It's the only choice. You understand this."I clenched my fists at my sides, my heart pounding in my chest. This was the moment I'd feared. The moment when I would break or remain unbroken."I told you," I said, my tone steady even as my gut churned with queasiness, "there must be another way. The pack
Chapter Sicty FiveThe Burden of LeadershipZarina’s PovI leaned against the window, the night air stinging cold against my skin, my fingers touching the stone sill lightly. The moonlight this evening was colder than usual, casting long shadows across the woods, making the familiar landscape into one that was almost alien. The air was tense, charged, and for all I could do, I couldn't shake it away.Asher was fighting. I could see it, feel it in every line of his posture, every heavy step he took. The pack was closing in on them, their needs growing more and more desperate, their eyes full of fear, of anger. They hungered for blood. They hungered for sacrifice. And as their Alpha, Asher's responsibility was to make the decision, to lead them through this dark and dangerous time. But I could see it in his eyes—the fear, the uncertainty. It was there, lurking under his stoic facade, and it was destroying my heart.I wasn't sure how long he could hold out.The soft creak of the door warn
Chapter: Whispers in the NightZarina's POVThe evening was quiet, too quiet.The wind barely whispered through the leaves outside, and the only sounds inside were the soft sounds of the sleeping children breathing lightly in their beds.I remained sitting on the edge of our bed, fingers crossed in my lap, gazing at the door. Asher still had not come to bed. Once more.I knew he was carrying the weight.I saw it in his eyes, how they fogged each time there was mention of the word sacrifice.It was not fair. It was not just.But Asher was the Alpha.And when the rest of the others were afraid to do so, it was him that all of them looked up to.I got up quietly, not to wake the children, and moved down the hallway barefoot. The house was dark, with only the gentle warm glow of a lantern left burning in the living room.And there he was.Asher was reclined on the floor, the top of his head resting against the couch, his old book on his lap. His knees were under the book, his elbows hooke
Chapter: A Leader's Burden(Asher's POV)The hall was quiet.Not the calm kind.The heavy, suffocating kind that made the air too thick to breathe.I stood at the front, looking out over my pack.Their faces were pale.Their eyes were wide with fear.Their shoulders stiff with concern.No one spoke.Not at first.The fire crackled weakly in the fireplace.It did nothing to remove the chill that had settled into the room —the kind of chill that came not from the weather, but from fear.Finally, one of the elders stood up.His voice was hoarse, as if he had been shouting or crying before he got here."No one lived through last night," he said, looking around at all of them."We waited. We watched. But not one soul crossed the grounds at midnight."There were murmurs all around the room.People whispering, heads shaking.Mothers clinging to their children more tightly.Fathers glancing suspiciously around.I said nothing.I needed to hear them.I needed to let them pour out their fears
Chapter: My HeartAsher’s POVThe night was too quiet.I stood by the window, looking out into the infinite night. The village that had once pulsed with life was now lifeless. Terror clung to the air like thick smoke, permeating every inch of our lives.They wanted blood.They wanted a sacrifice.And in spite of all I fought, in spite of all I stood up before them and said there would be a choice, I could still feel their eyes… still feel their fear.They had looked at my children.My blood seethed just thinking about it.I wheeled about to find Zarina holding one of the triplets in her arms. Her eyes were tired, but she tried to smile down at the baby, to lie that everything was all right.The other two were already snuggled into the bed, small bodies rising and falling with soft breaths as they slept.God, how tiny.How innocent.They didn't deserve it.None of them did.I walked over and swept Zarina's arm with my own. She looked up at me, her eyes full of unspoken fear. She did no