Chapter 64: An Uneasy PeaceThe meeting concluded, though the energy in the room did not.The council had no further quibbling, but its silence said a great deal. They weren’t convinced. They weren’t satisfied.They were watching.Waiting.For me to slip up. For me to prove them right.And I never doubted that when it came down to it, they wouldn’t give a second’s thought to turning on me.Elias walked beside me, his signature smirk still intact as we left the meeting hall. But I knew him too well now not to see the keen watchfulness behind it.“They didn’t say it,” he muttered, “but they still don’t trust you.”I exhaled. “I know.”He tilted his head. “And that doesn’t concern you?”I shrugged. “I don’t need their trust. I just need them to be scared of losing to me.”Elias let out a low whistle. “Now that’s the spirit.”We walked outside and the cool mountain air hit me like a breath of clarity. Kade was waiting, already, a few paces from the fortress wall, his silver eyes fixed on
Chapter 65: A Mother's SacrificeThe fire crackled quietly and threw fluttering shadows on the trees. The night was quiet but my mind was anything but.I sat with my back to a fallen log, my cloak tightened around me, the flames dancing in my eyes. The heat barely reached the chill lodged deep in my chest.Because I allowed myself to think of them for the first time in days.My babies.My heart squeezed painfully at the vision of their little faces; I curled my fists.Their smell was still fresh in my mind — soft, new, unhindered by the world. The way they curled into me while they slept, the way their little hands grabbed for me outside of their understanding of what was happening.And I had left them.I had left them.Some nights, the guilt was unbearable.Like now.“Elias moved next to me, eyes fixed and unreadable on the fire. He had been quiet for some time, but I could feel his curiosity, how he was waiting for me to say something.I exhaled slowly. “They’re safe.”Elias looked
Chapter 66: On the Road to the UnknownThe fire was low, crackling quietly in the still night. The weight of exhaustion lay against my bones, but sleep just wouldn’t. Not when my brain wouldn’t shut up.Not when I saw my children’s faces every time I closed my eyes.Elias had settled easily into the rhythm, gazing into the flames with a dazed sort of concentration, but I could tell he wasn’t entirely at ease either. He was waiting. Watching. Not for threats — though those would surely come — but for me.He was there waiting for me to crack.I wouldn’t want to give him the satisfaction.Instead, I curled in tight at the knees and looked into the darkness past the firelight. The forest surrounding us was silent, but it was a deceptive kind of silence. The kind that listened.That waited.“We should leave at first light,” Elias murmured, breaking the stalemate of silence.I exhaled. “Agreed.”“Unless, of course, you’ve suddenly decided to head back.”I shot him a sharp look. “You know th
Chapter 67: Into the Lion’s DenAs we drew closer to the river, the noise of rushing water grew louder, the current filament weaving between dense foliage like a silver snake under the moon.As Elias and I passed through the bank, we looked around. The air was heavy with the smell of damp earth, pine, and something else — something unnatural.“We’re almost there,” I gasped, the adrenaline surging.Humming, Elias rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Too close.”I frowned. “What do you mean?”He shot me a look. “I mean, we’ve been walking through rogue territory for hours, and no one’s tried to kill us yet.”I exhaled. “You sound disappointed.”Elias smirked. “Not disappointed. Just… suspicious.”I didn’t blame him.Rogues weren’t the sitting-waiting kind. If they knew we were coming — and I had no doubt they did — then why hadn’t they revealed themselves?I glanced at the area again, my wolf stirring under my skin.Something wasn’t right.As I stepped forward, a deep voice came from the
Chapter 68: Tethered by Destiny, Severed by DesireKade’s utterance lingered between us, dense with unvoiced weight. Come back with me. Three little words, and yet they pierced like a knife to the ribs. My pulse thundered in my ears as I fought to suppress the heat in my chest, ignore the primitive fire burning all the more brightly in his silver gaze. I had run from one betrayal to another for years, had spent my entire life knowing how to survive without depending on anyone. Now fate was brazen enough to gift me a second mate? And not just anyone—Kade. An Alpha. A man I couldn’t afford to let into my life.I clenched my fists. “You do not get to demand this of me.”Kade’s jaw ticked. “No right? Jessica, you disappeared. No warning. No explanation. You gift me with a pack council on my heels defending you as you marched straight into rogue territory armed with a fucking dagger and nothing else but your stubbornness.”“I didn’t ask you to defend me,” I hissed, my voice slicing the air
Chapter 69: Bound in Blood and FlameWe doubled up and ran through the very green forest, the plants meeting us and loosening up. It was sharp air, full of damp earth and pine, the wind cutting through my cloak as we staggered toward the unknown.We’d been running for hours at a punishing speed, which I didn’t mind at all. Every second I spent was another second closer to losing my kids.Kade jogged next to me, his silver eyes raking the shadows for threats. He made no sound, just concentrated, but I could sense him, a fire licking my skin. The mate bond throbbed between us, raw and undeniable, a tie neither of us had asked for but could no longer ignore.Elias matched me on my other side, the usual smirk gone. Even he knew the stakes now. The rogue Alpha—who’d finally introduced himself as Maddox—lagged just behind, studying us with inscrutable eyes.The tension was thick. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into.But we did not speak it openly.Not yet.The Moment the World C
Chapter 70: Giving In To FateUnlike most of the time though—I was half the way through the black sticky forest when I felt the knot between Kade and me, deluging the space with the pulse of connection, thick and unyielding. Whenever I walked away, it pulled me back. It was all I ever wanted, and every time I tried to shove it down, to ignore it, the damn thing flared hotter, burning up my veins like wildfire. I hated it. Hated how my body reacted to him, hated how my wolf purred in response to his presence, how she wanted him regardless of what he was.Elias must have felt it, too, because he sighed dramatically behind us. “So, are we all just not going to acknowledge how you two are giving off enough sexual tension to burn this whole forest down, or —”“Elias,” I snapped, my patience already threadbare.“What? All I’m saying is, if you two don’t deal with this, like, soon, I’m going to have to step in and —”A growl ripped through Kade’s throat so fast, so savagely, that Elias actua
Chapter 71: The Trap We Never Saw ComingEmerging from the dense thicket of woodland, bursting through brush, my objective flashed through my mind, in a sing song sort of chant, skull, skull, skull. Kade was standing next to me, his fingers clenched around my wrist, his body rigid and prepared for anything. Elias trailed closely, his customary smirk replaced by grim concentration. The rogue Alpha, Maddox, hovered just outside of range, his icy gaze scanning the trees as if he were expecting a brawl.Because something felt off.The air too still, the forest too quiet. My wolf paced restlessly under my skin, her instincts prickling with that special kind of warning that got the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.I swallowed hard. “Something’s wrong.”Kade nodded, his silver gaze sliding over to me. “I know. Keep moving.”But the feeling just got worse.With every step we took, the discomfort tightened like a spring in my belly.We were stepping into something, and it has felt
Chapter 105 – The Heart of ChaosThe path to the twisted nexus stretched before them, a ribbon of black stone that shimmered like oil under the jagged starlight of the Shadow Veil. Each step echoed with a low, resonant hum, as if the void itself were breathing. Jessica led the way, her spark pulsing in rhythm with the violet light emanating from the structure ahead—a grotesque mockery of the nexus, its spires coiling like serpents around a core that throbbed with chaotic energy. The Weaver’s warning—*“The heart knows your name”*—clung to her like frost, chilling her resolve but not breaking it.Kade walked beside her, his claws glinting, his amber eyes scanning the void for threats. “This place feels like it’s alive,” he muttered, his voice low. “And it doesn’t like us.”“It’s not about liking,” Selene said, her spectral form gliding just above the path. Her light was faint but steady, her gaze fixed on the nexus. “It’s about hunger. Whatever’s in there—it feeds on disruption, on the
Chapter 104 – The Shadow BeyondThe crumbling fortress roared around them, obsidian walls fracturing as the ground bucked like a living thing. Dust and ash choked the air, but Jessica’s eyes were fixed on the new portal that had yawned open behind her father’s shattered throne. Its edges pulsed with a sickly violet light, framing a starfield that was nothing like the nexus they knew. This one was frigid, its stars dim and jagged, as if carved from broken glass. The whisper that had emerged from it—“You’ve only begun to see the truth”—lingered in her mind, cold and sharp as a blade.“Jess, we gotta move!” Kade’s voice cut through the chaos, his hand grabbing her arm. His wolf form was gone, but his amber eyes burned with urgency as debris rained down.She nodded, tearing her gaze from the portal. “Go! Now!”The group sprinted toward the collapsing chamber’s exit, dodging falling stones and leaping over fissures that split the floor. Selene’s spectral form wove spells to deflect debris
Chapter 103 – The Crimson FortressThe portal’s crimson and black swirl spat them out onto a jagged cliff, the air thick with the scent of ash and molten iron. Before them loomed the fortress Jessica had glimpsed in the mirror’s shards—a towering monstrosity of obsidian and bone, its spires piercing a sky choked with storm clouds. Flames licked the walls, casting an eerie glow that pulsed like a heartbeat. At its center, a single tower rose higher than the rest, its peak crowned with a golden light that felt wrong, like a mockery of the nexus’s starfield.Jessica’s hybrid senses flared, the spark within her now a steady flame, alert to the danger saturating the air. Her father was here—she could feel his presence, a cold weight pressing against her soul. The revelation of his survival, coupled with Lucas’s betrayal, churned in her gut, but she pushed it down. There was no room for doubt now. Not with her companions at her side.“This place gives me the creeps,” Lucas muttered, his dag
Chapter 102 – The Mirror’s GambitThe void stretched around Jessica, an endless expanse of shadow and starlight where time felt like a distant memory. Her doppelgänger stood before her, golden eyes gleaming with a cruel certainty that made Jessica’s skin crawl. The figure was her in every detail—same dark hair, same hybrid glow in her veins—yet twisted, as if carved from her darkest doubts and sharpened by her deepest fears. The spark within Jessica burned hotter, a warning and a call to action, but it flickered with uncertainty. Could she fight herself and win?“You’re not real,” Jessica said, her voice trembling but defiant. She clenched her fists, golden energy crackling around her hands. “You’re just another trick of the nexus.”The doppelgänger’s smile widened, cold and sharp. “Trick? Oh, Jessica, I’m as real as you are. Every choice you’ve made, every moment you doubted yourself, every fear you buried—I’m the sum of them. And I’m here to finish what you’re too weak to do.”“Eno
Chapter 101 – The Veil of EchoesThe starfield pulsed around them, each tiny light a heartbeat echoing through the vastness. Jessica stood rooted, her gaze locked on the constellations above—the wolf and the witch, their forms shimmering as if alive, with "Unity Is Strength" blazing between them. The words felt like a promise and a warning, heavy with the weight of choices past and those yet to come. Her hybrid blood thrummed in her veins, resonating with the nexus, but something new stirred within her—a faint, unfamiliar spark that made her skin prickle.“Are we just gonna stand here gawking?” Lucas muttered, his voice sharp but unsteady. He shifted his weight, dagger glinting in the starlight, his eyes darting as if expecting the stars themselves to attack.“It’s not about standing still,” Selene said, her spectral form flickering like a candle in a storm. “It’s about listening. This place—it’s trying to tell us something.”Kade’s growl rumbled low, his amber eyes narrowing. “I don
Chapter 100 – The Fractured Dawn The vast plain stretched endlessly before them, bathed in the soft glow of dawn. Yet, as they walked, the landscape began to shift subtly—almost imperceptibly at first. Colors bled into one another like watercolors on wet paper, and the horizon seemed to stretch and warp as though reality itself were unraveling at the edges. Jessica paused, her breath catching in her throat as she noticed it: the trees that had stood tall and still moments ago now swayed gently despite the absence of wind. The grass beneath their feet shimmered faintly, not with dew but with something more ethereal—a faint, otherworldly glow that pulsed rhythmically, like a heartbeat. “What’s happening?” Lucas muttered, his voice tinged with unease. He glanced around nervously, gripping his dagger tightly as if expecting an attack from the very air itself. “It’s adapting,” Selene replied softly, her spectral form flickering faintly. Her gaze darted across the shifting scenery,
Chapter 99 – The Shattered Constellation The field of stars stretched endlessly around them, shimmering faintly like a sea of fireflies frozen in time. Each star pulsed rhythmically, casting soft light across the group as they struggled to regain their footing after the fall. The air was thick with an otherworldly energy, making it hard to breathe—not from lack of oxygen, but from the sheer weight of what surrounded them. Jessica stared at the constellations above: one shaped like a wolf, the other like a witch. Between them burned the words **"Unity Is Strength,"** glowing brighter with each passing second. Her hybrid nature surged within her, responding instinctively to the celestial display. “What is this place?” Lucas asked hoarsely, his voice barely audible over the hum of energy resonating through the starfield. “It’s not a place,” Selene murmured, her spectral form flickering faintly. “It’s… a nexus. A convergence point where worlds overlap, where choices ripple outward
Chapter 98 – The Fractured Nexus The vast plain stretched endlessly before them, bathed in the soft glow of dawn. Yet, as they walked, the landscape began to shift subtly—almost imperceptibly at first. Colors bled into one another like watercolors on wet paper, and the horizon seemed to stretch and warp as though reality itself were unraveling at the edges. Jessica paused, her breath catching in her throat as she noticed it: the trees that had stood tall and still moments ago now swayed gently despite the absence of wind. The grass beneath their feet shimmered faintly, not with dew but with something more ethereal—a faint, otherworldly glow that pulsed rhythmically, like a heartbeat. “What’s happening?” Lucas muttered, his voice tinged with unease. He glanced around nervously, gripping his dagger tightly as if expecting an attack from the very air itself. “It’s adapting,” Selene replied softly, her spectral form flickering faintly. Her gaze darted across the shifting scenery,
Chapter 97 – The Starfield Revelation The field of stars stretched endlessly around them, shimmering faintly like a sea of fireflies frozen in time. Each star pulsed rhythmically, casting soft light across the group as they struggled to regain their footing after the fall. The air was thick with an otherworldly energy, making it hard to breathe—not from lack of oxygen, but from the sheer weight of what surrounded them. Jessica stared at the constellations above: one shaped like a wolf, the other like a witch. Between them burned the words **"Unity Is Strength,"** glowing brighter with each passing second. Her hybrid nature surged within her, responding instinctively to the celestial display. “What is this place?” Lucas asked hoarsely, his voice barely audible over the hum of energy resonating through the starfield. “It’s not a place,” Selene murmured, her spectral form flickering faintly. “It’s… a nexus. A convergence point where worlds overlap, where choices ripple outward an