Chapter: Forty Six The Day After - Tension RisingThe next day after we had arrived at the pack house, all felt. strange. It was supposed to be a fresh beginning, where we'd finally get to be established as a family. But it ended up feeling like this suffocating pressure on my chest, choking me whenever I breathed.Asher had not spoken to me more than two words since we went inside the house yesterday night. He had been so cold, so aloof. The love in his eyes was absent, and in its place was a hollowness. He treated the triplets so gently, but it was different. It did not feel like he was doing it because he loved me anymore. It felt like it was something he had to do.And knowing that, I was suffering more than I could bear.We were already adjusting to the idea of living in this gigantic mansion. It was to be a refuge, a home where we would create happy memories. But it was too quiet. The silence was deafening. It seemed like every section of the house reminded me of everything that
Chapter Forty SevenChapter Forty Seven: The PressureAsher's POVThe morning had been filled with nothing but tension. The silence hung thick in the air, the kind of silence that makes your thoughts sound too loud, too loud. I stood in the hallway outside my parents' room, taking a deep breath before pushing the door open. My mother and father were sitting by the large fireplace, talking quietly, but when they saw me, they grew quiet.My chest was tight, and I could even feel my hands shake. I had kept this inside for far too long, but today, I simply could not take it anymore. Not after what they had done to Zarina yesterday."Mom. Dad," I said, my voice a little bit harsher than I intended it to be. "We need to talk."They both looked at me in surprise but did not utter a word. I took a step closer, my heart pounding in my chest."Why are you treating Zarina like that?" I asked, my voice now lower but still laced with irritation. "She just gave birth to our children. She needs to r
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 76 :I Am Not Afraid of You Anymore(Zarina's POV)I was standing at the window of our room, and I could see the trees swaying softly in the wind. The packhouse was also quiet, too quiet. Asher had gone outside to check on something, and the babies were all sleeping. I could hear them breathing softly, little sounds that always filled my heart with comfort.My heart wasn't peaceful.It hadn't been. Not since Cara's day when she brought that healer and turned my world around. I could still recall the words—"None of the children are his."What a lie. What a vile, deadly lie.And yet, Asher did not leave me. He held on to me. He kissed me. He said he didn't care what the tests said. He thought about me. He thought the babies were his. And even if they weren't, he would stay, would raise them, would love me.That changed something inside of me.For so long, I had been intimidated by Cara. Her presence. Her authority. Her dominance over the pack. The way she treated me like dirt on
Chapter 75: CareZarina's POVI sat in the dark corners of our room, its quiet oppressing me with suffocating weight. My heart pounded, still fueled by the aftermath of the healer's revelation. My mind refused to stop repeating that moment the healer had uttered that none of the children belonged to Asher. Each word stabbed like a painful knife slicing deeper into my chest, and I had never felt more naked, more naked. How do I begin to make sense of myself now? What would I say to apologize when everything that was so broken?Asher, my love, the man that I loved above all else, was in the other room, his face indiscernible. I did not dare to look at him. I did not dare to confront him. I knew he would be thinking—doubt, incredulity, hurt. And I did get it. That he would possibly have thought I lied to him about his children—guilt pierced my chest.I could hear him breathing deeply, then he came towards me. "Zarina." His voice was soft but laced with desperation.I did not look back at
Chapter Seventy Four ;The Shattering Truth"I was seated in the main room of the packhouse, my heart still hurting beneath the burden of everything that had taken place. Asher had been pulling away recently, his eyes filled with perplexity when they met mine. I could feel the distance grow between us, even while we were still under the same roof, the same bed still being shared. Yet everything now seemed wrong.Just then, the door groaned open and I heard Cara's voice."Zarina, I've brought someone to help. You need a healer."I looked up, confused. What did she mean by "help"? I wasn't ill. Okay, so I was weary, but that was normal."Come in, Cara," I said, trying to hide the fear that surged inside me.Cara came in, smiling softly. But I caught the glint in her eye, something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but something that made me feel uneasy. She was hiding something from me. I just wasn't sure what.Behind her came a man, in simple attire. His face was warm, though his eyes
Chapter 73 : The Shift Begins – Asher's POVSunlight streamed into the room, bathing the room in warm, golden hues. I rubbed my eyes against the light, the warmth on my skin. For an instant, I believed I was still dreaming, the crushing weight of the past few days still lodged in my chest. But then I knew—no, it was real. The world outside was waking up, and so was I.I turned my head to the side and saw Zarina sleeping beside me. She was serene. Her brow was not furrowed in worry as it had been for days. She appeared. unencumbered by the tension and exhaustion that had weighed over her for so long. I looked at her for a moment, attempting to grasp how such a quiet moment could feel so meaningful. She'd done it—she'd gone and gotten something, some fix to everything, although I wasn't entirely sure how. I was grateful to her beyond measure for everything she'd done for me and our pack.I wished to stay there, beside her, for only a little while longer, but the weights of all of it sti
LChapter Seventy Two: Hope in the SilenceZarina's POVIt was a cold night when I returned. My feet ached, my heart was weighed down, and my clothes reeked of the forest that I had walked through. But I did not care. I held the little bag of cloth from the old woman to my chest like it was a matter of life and death. Inside it was the powder. The book stayed in the other hand. The pages were yellowed and had the scent of time itself. I had read only one page, but it had all the answers that we were looking for.The moonlight guided the path to our home. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Not even the wolves had howled. It was like the night itself held its breath to see what I would do. My fingers shook a little as I opened the door very slowly, not wanting to wake anyone.I went inside.The air was somber, the candles low. I first saw them — my babies. My innocent, sweet babies. Sleeping soundly, nestled up against each other. Their quiet breathing the only noise in the room. My eyes
Chapter Title: I Told Her Everything(Zarina's POV)The forest was quiet. So quiet that I could hear my heartbeat. My feet hurt. My dress was dirty. My hair was messy. But I didn't mind. I just wanted to find someone—anyone—who would be able to help me.I walked and walked until I spotted a small wooden cottage. It seemed to be very old, as if it had been around for centuries. There was a puff of smoke from the chimney. There was warm soft light in the window.My legs were shaking. I didn't know what was inside. But I didn't stop.I slowly pushed the wooden door. It made a small creaking noise.There she was.Another old woman. Sitting by a fire. Her back was a bit bent. Her skin was creased like wrinkles on old paper. She wore long grey hair in a loose braid, and her eyes—her eyes were deep, as if she had lived through many lifetimes.She stared up at me and frowned."Child," she said gently, "why are you weeping?"That was when I saw.I was sobbing. My face was moist. My lips were s
: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