Chapter 10: Missing XANDER Pain. A dull, relentless throbbing, like a war drum pounding inside my skull. It pulsed in tandem with my heartbeat, each wave crashing against the inside of my head, making my vision blur for a second too long. The world around me felt sluggish, movements distorted, as if I were trapped underwater, drowning in the aftermath of last night. The underground hall still reeked of sweat, liquor, and smoke—a suffocating mix that clung to the walls, the floors, and the bodies strewn across tattered couches and sticky tables. The remnants of last night’s chaos still lingered in the air, ghosts of music and voices whispering in the corners of my mind. I barely remembered how it had started. Only that Amara had been furious. The image of her burned in my mind, her dark eyes flashing with anger, lips pressed into a thin, unyielding line. She had been radiating frustration, her hands clenched into tight fists as she spat words at me—sharp, accusing, laced with so
Chapter 11: A Debt in BloodPain pulsed through my skull, dragging me slowly back to consciousness. My head felt like it was wrapped in fog, each thought sluggish and disjointed. My body—limp and heavy, like something had drained all life from it—lay uncomfortably on cold, unforgiving stone. A damp, stagnant air filled the room, the pungent scent of mildew mixing with something metallic, like blood, so thick I could almost taste it.Blood.My breath hitched. No. I couldn’t be. I was not in my apartment anymore. This place, wherever it was, was far from anything familiar. Every instinct screamed at me to wake up, to get the hell out, but I couldn’t move. I struggled, feeling the sharp bite of rope against my wrists, my hands bound behind my back, my ankles tied with something rough and unyielding.I wasn’t just trapped.I was captured.My heart beat faster, panic clawing its way up my chest, but I fought to stay still, to remain aware of my surroundings. The darkness clung to the room
Chapter 12: The Heir and the Lie Xander The storm outside lashed against the Sinclair estate, a howling tempest that mirrored the chaos unraveling within me. The rain lashed against the windows, its pounding rhythm competing with the thundering beat of my heart. It felt as if the heavens themselves were trying to tear the world apart, but the storm outside was nothing compared to the fire burning inside my chest. I could feel it—something was wrong. My boots echoed ominously across the marble floors of the manor, the hollow thuds of my steps a harsh reminder of the gravity of the situation. The heavy scent of burning wood and aged whiskey clung to the air, mixing with the ever-present musk of the estate’s old stone walls. But the warmth of the roaring fire failed to reach me. The cold had seeped into my bones, and no amount of physical heat could combat the icy fury churning in my veins. Amara was gone. Vanished. The guards hadn’t seen her. The staff was clueless. Her room was
Chapter 13: The Unseen PathXanderThe air in the mansion was heavy with the weight of history—old grudges and power struggles stretching across generations. My footsteps echoed against the cold stone as I followed Amara down the dimly lit corridor, my wolf stirring uneasily within me.Where had she been?There were no marks on her—no sign of struggle. She seemed fine, yet the blood… the blood had been hers. I couldn’t shake the thought.Amara’s presence was a contradiction—calm yet calculated, distant yet sharp-edged. She moved with precision, without hesitation, her posture betraying no hint of vulnerability. It was as though she had simply stepped away for a while, vanishing into thin air.She wasn’t here as my fated mate. She wasn’t mine.She was here because we had a contract. A deal that would ensure we both came out on top.A contract built on revenge, betrayal, and one thing we both shared—our hatred for Derek and the woman who had chosen him over me.My grandmother.At the en
Chapter 14: A weapon Amara The moment Xander agreed to my plan, a surge of satisfaction rippled through me. It wasn’t an expression I often allowed myself, but with him, it was different. He was a means to an end. No, not just a means—he was the catalyst. A tool. A weapon. And he didn’t even know it yet. I watched as he took the photograph, his eyes scanning it, his thoughts clearly racing behind those icy blue eyes of his. He’d been in the dark for so long, and now he was finally beginning to see the pieces align. But it wasn’t just about the game between Xander and Derek. It was about more. This was the beginning of a much larger battle, one that had been set in motion the moment my heart had shattered into pieces, discarded by fate and crushed under the weight of the family’s expectations. I had always been overlooked, always been the second choice, the one they didn’t care for. And Derek... Derek had been everything they wanted. My grandmother had chosen him to be the
Chapter 15: The ChallengeXANDER,Doubt slithered in like fog—quiet, dense, insidious.It was a sensation I had known all too well over the years, but tonight, it sank deeper into my chest than ever before. I sat alone in the study, a room that once belonged to my father. Now, it felt like a tomb—cold and suffocating. The air was heavy with the weight of a legacy I hadn’t earned, with expectations that had been thrust upon me the moment I drew my first breath.Dust-covered heirlooms stared at me from the shelves, like ghosts with opinions I was too tired to acknowledge. Their glares felt like judgments, the kind that seeped into your bones and twisted into something darker. Maps, scent reports, case files—they lay scattered across my desk in a chaotic sprawl. Useless. Every last one of them. My father's prized possessions—symbols of power, authority, and a family legacy—meant nothing in the face of my failure. And that’s exactly what I was beginning to see it all as: failure.Darius h
Chapter 16: Hunting the MonsterAMARAThe moment I sent the message, I knew he’d come. Xander couldn’t resist the chase, and I was just as much the hunt as the one doing the hunting. I had called him here for a reason. And from the moment I stepped onto the training yard, alone, under the sliver of moonlight, I could feel it—his presence was already tugging at the edges of the night.He didn’t disappoint. His footsteps came in steady, determined strides, breaking through the quiet like the low growl of a predator. When he emerged from the shadows, his form carved out in silver, I didn’t have to look at him to know what kind of storm he carried with him. I could feel it in the air—the tension, the hunger, the promise of something dark."You’re late," I said without looking his way. The words felt sharp, cutting the space between us."Family drama," he muttered, and I could tell from the way he said it that it wasn’t something he wanted to delve into.I finally turned to face him, my ey
Chapter 17 – The Hunt ContinuesXANDER,The moon hung low over the Crescent Mountains, veiled by a curtain of thick clouds as if the heavens themselves were holding their breath. Wind whispered through the treetops, carrying the scent of pine, frost, and something else—blood. I adjusted the obsidian-dipped leather straps of my armor, each etched with wolfsbane runes. It wasn’t just protection—it was a declaration. I was no longer the reckless heir chasing shadows.I was the Alpha-in-waiting. And tonight, I intended to earn the title in blood.Amara stood a few feet away, bathed in torchlight. Her silver dagger caught the fire, gleaming like moonlight on fresh snow. She looked like a legend reborn—deadly, divine, untouchable. Her scent drifted toward me, a maddening mix of wildfire and crushed moonstone. Every instinct in me stirred, clawing for more of her. But now wasn’t the time.We were hunting a traitor. Together.“You’re quiet,” she said, adjusting the strap of her thigh holster.
Chapter 39: Embers of RebellionAmara – Crescent Moon Pack, North TowerThe wind howled through the open windows of the North Tower, carrying with it the unmistakable scent of something ancient—charred bone mingling with the faint, bitter tang of blooming wolfsbane. It was a scent that felt alive, as if the very air around me was remembering something old, something primal. It lingered in my lungs, tugging at memories I hadn’t dared to revisit.I stood at the edge of the balcony, feeling the cold stone beneath my boots, watching as the full moon cast its pale, silvery light across the courtyard below. The night felt heavy, pregnant with change. The pack was shifting—restless and uneasy. Their energy hummed beneath the stones of the tower, vibrating through the very ground. They could feel it too—the subtle turn of the tide, the stirring of the wolves who’d been dormant for so long. This was the moment everything began to unravel. The end of silence, and the beginning of something wild
Chapter 38: Threat to the pack Luna Susanna’s Council Chamber – Crescent Moon Pack The air in the council chamber was heavy with silence—dense, unyielding, oppressive. It wrapped around us like a shroud, and yet the weight of it came not from the absence of words, but from everything left unsaid. The room—once the very heart of discipline, law, and sacred tradition—now pulsed with the low, crackling hum of rebellion. I stood before them, my grandsons. Wolves born of the same bloodline but carved into entirely different shapes by time, by pain, by ambition. Xander, the storm I never saw coming, stood tall and coiled in the shadows, tension radiating off him in waves. His jaw was clenched, his eyes ice and fire all at once—defiant, unflinching. One hand rested on the hilt of his blade. It wasn’t for show. Since his return, he always kept it close, as if the world offered no safety unless steel was within reach. Derek was seated, his posture deceptively composed, but I knew t
Chapter 37: The stormAmaraThe storm inside me hadn’t calmed—it had only begun to rise.Word of what happened in the forest spread like wildfire. They whispered about the power I’d unleashed, how the trees had trembled and the earth had cracked beneath my feet. Some thought it was a trick. Others said I had used forbidden magic. But the truth was far more dangerous than their speculation—I had awakened something ancient, something primal, and I was no longer the girl who had once begged for a place in this pack.Some feared me now. Others watched me with wary curiosity, uncertain if I was a threat or a miracle. That suited me just fine. Let them wonder. Let them squirm.Let them remember every time they laughed behind my back, every moment they sided with Derek after he rejected me and spun his tale of a heartbroken Alpha protecting the pack from a "dangerous, unstable" woman. Let them remember how easily they sympathized with him—how they painted him as the victim and me as the vill
Chapter 36: True powerAmara,Now that I had this power, this connection with Xander, nothing could hold me back. The bond I shared with him wasn’t just a thread of fate—it was a weapon, a force I hadn’t even begun to understand fully. But I felt it, thrumming through my veins like molten fire. It was a force that had been awakened in me, one that I had never known existed. A strength, a power, so potent that it could level everything in my path.Xander, for all his cold and calculating exterior, had never once shown me his true power. He was the one who had always kept his distance, held his cards close to his chest, as if the world needed to be convinced of his strength. But now, that strength had passed into me—whether I wanted it or not—and it was time to make them all feel it.Derek had no idea what he had unleashed when he betrayed me. He thought he could walk away from this unscathed. He thought the pack would continue to support him, console him, and forgive him as they always
Chapter 35.The FlashbackAmaraI had barely begun to recover from the overwhelming shock of what had happened when I was rushed to the hospital. The emotional toll had been too much for me to bear—my body had betrayed me in the worst way possible. I couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t stop crying, and my mind kept replaying the image of Derek and that man in the bathroom over and over again. The betrayal was too much.But it wasn’t just the physical pain I had to endure. It was the humiliation that stung the most. I had been so sure of everything—of Derek, of our bond, of my place in the pack. Now, I was left shattered, broken, and uncertain. I was the victim here, and yet it felt like the world was painting me as the one at fault.They all pitied Derek.When I woke up in the hospital, my head foggy with painkillers, the first thing I saw was him. Derek. He was standing at the foot of my bed, a picture of remorse, his face pale, his eyes wide with guilt. His lips trembled as he tried to
Chapter 34 Flashback – The Day Everything Changed Amara I stood before the mirror, my hands trembling as I adjusted the gown for what should have been the most important day of my life. The evening was supposed to be ours—mine and Derek’s. Our mating ceremony. The day we would officially unite our bond before the pack, a promise of forever. The dress, delicate and embroidered with silver, shimmered against the light. Its fabric clung to my body just enough to feel like it belonged to me, each thread whispering of the promises I had clung to for so long. My long hair fell in soft waves around my shoulders, a veil covering my face to add to the mystique. I had never felt more beautiful, more ready to step into this new chapter with the man I loved. But as the minutes ticked by, the excitement began to shift. Derek should have been by my side by now, helping me get ready, reassuring me as we prepared for the ceremony. But he was nowhere to be found. A sudden wave of unease gripp
Chapter 33– The Broken Oath Xander The bond was gone. One moment, it was there—tight and blazing like a chain around my ribs—and the next, it shattered. No warning. No pain. Just… emptiness. It was like dying. I stumbled back from the altar, my breath caught somewhere between a growl and a scream. The sacred circle flickered violently, and then dimmed, lifeless. Every rune, every whispered chant, every drop of ancestral magic—snuffed out by her. Amara. My mate. My fucking mate. She looked at me with those eyes—calm, cold, victorious—and I knew. This wasn’t a mistake. This wasn’t an accident. She had planned it. All of it. The girl who had once bowed her head to me, who had once stood quietly behind her pack’s fall, had just destroyed the one thing I had built this entire future on. The bond. The heirloom bloodline. The legacy. Gone. Burned to ash by the very woman I had dragged back from ruin. And standing beside her like a smug shadow—Derek. My jaw locked
Chapter 32– The One Who Watches the Fire Derek She was fire incarnate. I should’ve looked away. Should’ve intervened. Should’ve done anything—anything—but instead, I stood frozen, watching her become the very storm I’d spent years trying to control, contain, or at the very least, understand. The sacred hall split at its seams, stone groaning beneath the weight of ancient forces clawing free. The protective runes flickered like dying stars, as if the old gods themselves were blinking in disbelief. The Elders gasped, their power unraveling like thread in her presence, while the High Priestess staggered as though her spine had been ripped from her body. And Amara… Amara stood tall, unshaken, the eye of the tempest. As if she had not merely survived the chaos—but had birthed it. Maybe she had. My heart pounded, sharp and erratic. Not from fear—no, it was something deeper. Darker. The kind of dread that only comes when you realize you've spent your entire life playing by rules
Chapter 31– The Power Within Amara, The silence that followed the explosion of magic was thick—alive, even. It curled around every Elder, coiled around the High Priestess like a snake ready to strike. And I stood in the eye of the storm, calm and steady, as if I had been born for this moment. Because, in truth, I had. I didn’t anticipate all of this unfolding so chaotically, not exactly. I hadn’t expected the sacred hall to fracture with raw energy or the Elders to recoil as if they’d seen a ghost from their nightmares. But part of me… part of me was thrilled that everything had descended into this exact kind of disarray. After all, hadn’t I wanted this? Hadn’t I whispered to the wind for the veil to tear, for the illusion to shatter? This is what it looked like—power shifting, old orders falling. The High Priestess looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor, and the Elders, for once, were speechless. That was worth every second of pain I had endured. A small, satis