Semua Bab The Alpha's Prick:Bond By Oath Torn By Fate: Bab 21 - Bab 27

Liard’s POV I sat at the head of the long war table, my fingers drumming against the wood, barely listening as Elder Garron spoke. The room was thick with tension, the air stale with the scent of burning firewood. Warriors stood around me, their gazes sharp, their shoulders tight. Rhider was seated to my right, rigid with frustration, his jaw clenched."Alpha," a scout spoke up, his voice firm but cautious. "The dragons have been spotted again-closer this time. They are no longer keeping to their lands."A low murmur ran through the room, and I felt my muscles tighten. This wasn’t just another minor border disturbance.Elder Garron exhaled sharply. “This is not a mere scouting mission. They are testing us, watching for a weakness.”Across the table, Rhider’s fingers curled into fists. “Then we should act before it’s too late.”I studied him for a moment, noting the fire in his eyes, the sharp way his shoulders pulled back. He wanted a battle.But war wasn’t about acting on impulse."

Liard’s POV The letter was still clenched in my fist. “Leave your land. You are not strong enough to keep it.”The parchment crinkled beneath my grip as I stood at the war table, surrounded by my generals, every one of them looking to me for answers I didn’t have.“We fortify the northern ridge,” Garrik said. “It’s the most vulnerable now that the dragons have crossed.”“No,” I snapped. “We let them think the ridge is exposed. We draw them in, then strike from the eastern flank.”Murmurs of approval rippled through the room, but I barely heard them. My thoughts weren’t here-not entirely.They were back in the silence of my chambers, where the scent of her still lingered on my sheets. Helena.She had haunted every moment of my restless night, and even now, the echo of her voice warred with the sound of battle plans.I dismissed the council with a nod, letting them argue amongst themselves.I needed air, space and her.Later that dayThe sound of laughter caught my ear as I crossed the

Helena’s POV The fire had long since burned down to embers, but the heat in my chest had not cooled.I sat alone in the quiet of my chambers, my hands resting in my lap, the tips still stained with blood that wouldn't wash out,no matter how hard I scrubbed. It wasn’t the soldiers’ wounds that haunted me tonight. It wasn’t even the distant rumble of drums signaling troop movements or the scouts returning from the outer woods with grim news of dragon skirmishes.It was the silence after. The silence when I was left with my thoughts-dangerous, treacherous thoughts.I hadn’t gone to Liard.He had summoned me again, a quiet knock at my door earlier that evening, followed by a messenger who said, “He waits for you in the old stone passage.” The same place we had once made love. The same hidden chamber that still smelled of fire and skin.But I never left my room, because this time… I couldn’t. The danger wasn’t just from outside the walls-it was inside my blood.Seraphina’s words earlier s

Liard’s POV The war horn shattered the silence before dawn.Its echo rolled down the mountainside like thunder, stirring the warriors in their tents, the beasts in the woods, and the ghosts in my mind. I stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking the eastern ridge, where smoke bloomed like a dark omen across the trees. The dragons had finally moved.They were here.Rhider stood beside me, armored and silent. His jaw was tight, his eyes sharp, golden and glowing faintly beneath the rising sun. My sister stood further back, trying to hide her fear. I didn’t blame her.“Mount up,” I said, voice low but firm. “We ride.”Within minutes, the camp transformed into a war machine. Horses stomped, blades gleamed, and the wind carried the crackle of fire magic already burning in the east. The dragons weren’t waiting. They wanted a message sent. And I would answer them with steel.We rode hard, Rhider and I at the front. Warriors fell in formation behind us like the spine of a beast ready to bar