LOGINShare
196 The Pain That Stayed
publish date:
2026-07-08 23:19:41
Latest chapter
The Price Of Fate 198 The Place Where Soon Died
Keiran’s POVCharles helped Ethan to his feet. My father looked unsteady, wrecked in a way I had never seen before, but he let himself be pulled up. Ronan stayed close on his other side, one hand ready near his arm, not pushing him, just there in case the grief took his legs out from under him. Elder Jorren exhaled like he had been holding the breath for half the night. The meadow stayed silver and too beautiful for what had just happened in it. The shimmer of the barrier still cut through the air ahead of us, cold and unreal, uncaring about the men it had just brought to their knees.Charles glanced at me once Ethan was standing. “We should go.” I looked at him, then at my father, then at Ronan. Ronan had already turned his focus fully to Ethan. He was speaking to him in a low voice I could not hear from where I stood. My father nodded once, though it looked more like his body giving in than agreement. Jorren moved in too, hovering close, still worried, still old, still trying to mak
The Price Of Fate 197 The Pain That Stayed 2
Keiran’s POVI forced my thoughts back to the road. To the present. To my father. To the thing we were driving toward. Grief could wait. Or no. That was a lie. Grief never waited. It just learned to sit beside everything else while life kept dragging you forward. We drove for several more minutes with only the sound of the engine and the tyres grinding over uneven ground between us. Then the forest began to thin. Not gradually. Strangely. Like a curtain being pulled apart. The trees opened and the land ahead spread into a wide meadow washed in pale moonlight. For one startled second the sight of it felt wrong in the opposite direction of everything else tonight. Too beautiful. Too open. Too untouched. Silver grass. A low sweep of wildflowers. The kind of stillness that belonged in dreams or traps. Charles slowed the car hard. We got out before it had fully settled. Cold air rushed at me again, cleaner here, thinner somehow. The meadow stretched ahead in a quiet that did not match anyt
The Price Of Fate 196 The Pain That Stayed
Keiran’s POVCharles did not wait for me to answer. He turned the moment he delivered the message and started toward the door like standing still any longer would cost us something we could not afford to lose. I moved after him at once. My mother called my name sharply behind me, and I heard the scrape of her wheelchair as she tried to turn too fast.“Keiran.”I stopped only long enough to glance back. She looked pale with rage and fear both, one hand gripping the arm of the chair so tightly her knuckles had gone white.“Don’t go,” she said. “Let Ronan handle whatever it is. If he wants to play Alpha so badly, then let him do it.” Charles did not even slow.“He cannot,” Charles said. My mother’s eyes snapped to him.“And why not?” she demanded.Charles finally looked back, and the expression on his face made something in my gut tighten immediately. There was no impatience there. No ordinary urgency either. It was worse than that. It was the look of someone carrying news that had alrea
The Price Of Fate 195 What Remains of the Crown 3
Keiran’s POVThe room went silent enough for the fire to sound too loud.“I lost,” I said again, calmer now because truth always steadied me more than fantasy. “Ronan is a better Alpha. I have no problem serving as Ronan’s Beta.” Beverly sucked in a breath. My mother looked like I had struck her.“You cannot mean that.”“I do.”“No.”“Yes.”She shook her head rapidly, tears building again. “No. No. I did not go through all this for you to say something like that to my face.” I stepped closer, not for comfort this time, but so she would hear every word clearly.“Ronan’s father was the original Alpha,” I said. “If Ronan’s father had not died, Ethan would never have become Alpha in the first place.”“Stop.” My mother’s voice tore out of her. Tears streamed down her face again.“Stop.” I did not.“Ronan has more right to that position than anyone in this house,” I said.“Ethan won that challenge fair and square!” she cried. Her chest heaved. Her fingers dug into the blanket over her lap.
The Price Of Fate 194 What Remains of the Crown 2
Keiran’s POVTears gathered in her eyes and spilled before she could stop them. My mother did not cry easily. She raged. She struck. She cut people open with her tongue. Tears from her were something uglier than weakness. They were the sound of someone losing a war they had built their life around winning.“I am useless now,” she said.“Mother…”“I am.” Her voice cracked. “Do not tell me otherwise.”I moved closer and took the arm of the chair, ready if she needed me, though I knew she would hate that thought too. She laughed once, and it was a horrible sound.“Ethan never loved me,” she said. Beverly shifted awkwardly behind her. I still did not look at the girl.My mother kept going, crying openly now. “He barely tolerated me when I was whole. What do you think will happen now?” she asked. “What do you think I will be to him now that I cannot stand beside him as Luna? Now that I cannot even walk into a room without help?”“Stop,” I said quietly.“I hate this,” she snapped. “I hate d
The Price Of Fate 193 What Remains of the Crown
Keiran’s POVThe house Astrid was given was not far from the main part of Vandwood, but not too close either. Close enough that she could be watched if she needed to be. Far enough that if anyone in the pack got stupid ideas, they would have to think twice before acting on them. I made the arrangements myself because I did not want the task left to anyone who might decide a Prima wolf deserved less comfort because of where she came from, or more comfort because of what she might still know. I stood in the middle of the sitting room and looked around one last time. It was simple. Clean. Firewood stacked. Water already brought in. Fresh sheets. Basic food in the kitchen. Nothing luxurious, but enough. More than enough for a temporary stay. Astrid stood near the window, watching me. I had barely spoken during the whole walk over. I had spoken even less since we entered. That suited me fine. My mind had been too loud since the moment I saw Nyra with Ronan again. Too many old wounds being
The Price Of Fate 88 The Morning I Finally Broke 3
Keiran’s POVMy mother made a sound of disgust.Then she leaned back, crossing her arms slowly like she was about to deliver judgement.“Protect her?” she repeated. “From what? The consequences of being exactly what she is?”I ignored her.My father stared at me for a long moment.Then he exhaled,
Last Updated : 2026-03-28The Price Of Fate 90 The Agreement Hall 2
Nyra’s POVMy mother’s hands lingered for a second, pressing it lightly as if she was anchoring something.“Keep it on,” she said.I met her eyes in the mirror.Her expression was pleading now, stripped of softness, stripped of pretence.“Keep it on at all cost,” she added. “Do you hear me?”My thr
Last Updated : 2026-03-28The Price Of Fate 87 The Morning I Finally Broke 2
Keiran’s POVThe dining room was already set.The smell of breakfast hit me, eggs, herbs, bacon, fresh bread.Normally it would’ve grounded me. Normally it would’ve reminded me that pack life continued, that routine was stability.Today, it made my stomach twist.My father sat at the head of the ta
Last Updated : 2026-03-27The Price Of Fate 83 The Meadow That Wasn’t Real
Ronan’s POVThe world hit the ground with us.Grass, soft and bright a second ago, became a blur beneath my shoulder as I took the fall hard enough to feel it bite into bone. My arms went around Nyra instinctively, turning my body so she wouldn’t crack her head open on a stone, but the moment we st
Last Updated : 2026-03-27
You may also like
THE BETA IS MINE
Cassandra M635.2K viewsShifted Fate
Alicia S. Rivers1.3M viewsThe Alpha King's Hated Slave
Kiss Leilani1.3M viewsTHE ALPHA KING'S CLAIM
JMFelic555.0K viewsFrom Slave to Queen, The Chosen One
Alice78 viewsOff Limits To The Alpha Captain
RisaWrites118 viewsMoonbound to a Human
C. Wolfdad302 viewsThe Bastard Luna: His Unwanted Mate
Rose_pen74 views
