Semua Bab AUCTIONED TO THE LYCAN KING: Bab 101 - Bab 110

DAMIEN The war tent smelled like sweat and ambition. I stood at the map table watching two rogue Alphas argue over territory they had not earned yet. Alpha Crane from the Northern Reaches and Alpha Dorian from the Eastern Marshes. Both commanded respectable forces. Both thought their contributions entitled them to more than we agreed upon. "You promised us the southern valleys" Crane said. His massive frame leaned over the table. Finger jabbing at the map. "That was the deal. Now you are saying we have to wait until after the Lycan Kingdom falls?" "I am saying priorities have shifted" I replied. My voice was calm. Controlled. Though the wolf inside me wanted to rip his throat out for the disrespect. "The southern valleys are strategic. We cannot redistribute them until we secure the kingdom." "Strategic." Dorian laughed. Sharp. Mocking. "Everything is strategic w

MAYA The balcony had become our neutral ground. Not the war room where politics and strategy required masks we were both tired of wearing. Not my house in the settlement where the distance felt like an accusation. Not his chambers where the bed stood as a reminder of intimacy we had not yet reclaimed. The balcony. Where the night air was cold and the stars were distant and we could exist side by side without the weight of everything broken between us. We met there most evenings now. After war councils. After training. After long days spent preparing for a battle that crept closer with every sunrise. We talked. Careful. Measured. Like two people learning a language neither had quite mastered. Tonight I arrived first. Leaned against the stone railing and watched the settlement below. Lights flickered in windows. My people settling in for the ni

ASHER The alarm bells rang at three in the morning. I was already awake. Standing at the window of my study watching the pre-dawn darkness. Sleep had become something I stole in fragments. Minutes here. An hour there. Never enough. Never restful. The bond with Maya hummed steadily. She was sleeping. Finally. After the training session with Rhea that left her so exhausted she could barely walk. I felt her wake the moment the bells started. Felt her confusion shift to alertness. To fear. Then I felt her move. Getting dressed. Arming herself. Heading toward the palace. She would come. Of course she would. My queen who could not stay away from danger even when every instinct should tell her to run. Ethan burst through my door without knocking. "Western border. Multiple contacts. Fast moving assault."

DAMIEN The scout arrived at dusk covered in dirt and blood. He stumbled into my tent. Collapsed to his knees. Breathing hard like he had run the entire way back from the western border. "Report" I said. "The ambush failed Alpha. We lost three fighters. Fifteen captured." I set down the map I had been studying. Turned to face him fully. "How?" "They were waiting for us. Knew exactly where we would hit. Had forces positioned in perfect cover. It was like they read our entire plan before we executed it." My jaw tightened. "Someone talked." "No Alpha. It was not that. It was her." My blood went cold. "Her?" "The Queen. She was there. Leading the Lycan forces. She predicted our attack. Set the trap herself." The words hit me like a physical

MAYA I found him sitting on my doorstep at midnight. The Lycan King. Armor discarded. Shirt wrinkled. Hair disheveled in a way that made him look younger. More human. Less like the untouchable ruler who commanded armies and more like a man who had reached the end of his rope. He did not look up when I approached. Just stared at his hands. His shoulders curved inward like the weight pressing down on them had finally become too much to carry. Through the bond I felt his exhaustion. Bone deep. The kind that came from days without sleep and decisions that cost pieces of your soul. "Asher?" He looked up. His silver eyes were bloodshot. Shadowed. Haunted in a way I had never seen. "I do not know how to be what you need." The confession fell between us. Raw. Unguarded. The kind of honesty that cost him something to speak alo