All Chapters of GIVEN TO THE WRONG ALPHA: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

47 Chapters

Chapter 21: Mother of the End

Moira bows.The Others kneel.Six monsters made of shadow and gold, heads down in my direction.Draven steps between me and them. His claws are out. His wolf is in his eyes. “Get away from her.”“She’s not yours to guard anymore, Alpha,” Moira says. She doesn’t stand. She stays bowed, but her smile cuts. “She’s ours. She’s always been ours.”The bone knife is cold in my hand. I don’t remember grabbing it. The gold light crawling up my arms feels like fire and like home.“Wren,” Draven says. His voice is quiet. Careful. “Put the knife down.”I look at him. Really look. The bond is still there. Still burning. But under it, something else hums. Something older. Something that calls the light.Clay’s cry destroyed the tanks. Not the pack. Wrath was right. First Blood doesn’t kill wolves. It kills enemies.And right now, I don’t know who the enemy is.“Alistair,” I say. My voice doesn’t sound like mine. “Is he dead?”Rowan moves through the smoke. He’s bleeding from his ears too, but he ch

Chapter 22: The Kneel

Wrath kneels.Not to Draven.To me.The courtyard goes dead. Four hundred wolves, twenty Thorns, six Others. All watching. All waiting.Draven doesn’t move. Doesn’t breathe. His claws are still at Alistair’s throat, but his eyes are on me.Gold. Alpha. Hurt.The bond screams. Betrayal isn’t the word. It’s worse. It’s "displacement".“Wrath,” Draven says. His voice is ice. “Stand.”Wrath doesn’t. “Mother commands.”Two words. The pack hears them.Mercy takes a step back. Rowan’s hand goes to his blade. Not to draw on Wrath. To draw on me.“Stand down,” I snap at everyone. At no one. The gold light is gone from my arms, but the weight of it stays. “No one’s commanding anyone.”“Are you sure?” Moira asks. She’s still smiling. “Look at them, daughter. The Hollow know their queen.”“We’re not Hollow,” Draven says. Each word is cut glass. “We’re Duskbane.”“For now,” one of the Others says. It’s the first time any of them have spoken. Female voice. Young. “The Tree chose. First Blood follow

Chapter 23: Three Days

The shadow steps through.It’s not an Other.It’s a wolf.Black fur. Gold eyes. Bigger than Draven. Bigger than Wrath.It hits the courtyard and the stone cracks.Then another steps through. And another.Ten. Twenty. Fifty.All black. All gold. All Hollow.The twelve-year-old doesn’t move. “Hello, Mother,” she says again. To me. “I’m Sybil. Redfang’s vessel.”Redfang. The most violent Hollow ground. Gone for twenty years after the fire.“They burned,” Draven says. He puts himself in front of me. Again. Always. “Redfang burned. No survivors.”Sybil tilts her head. “No *wolf* survivors. The Tree saves its seeds, Alpha. Didn’t your Mate tell you?”The portal pulses. More shadows push against it. Hundreds.Rowan shoves Alistair behind a Thorns shield. “Orders?”“Hold,” Draven says. “Nobody fires first.”“Too late,” Moira whispers. She’s still in fake chains, but she’s smiling. “Sybil doesn’t wait.”Sybil raises one hand.The fifty wolves move.Not at us. At Alistair’s soldiers.The men ar

Chapter 24: War Drums

Two hours.That’s how long we have before Alistair’s dead man’s switch pings D.C.Two hours to fake a confession, film a hostage release, and convince the world we’re victims.Three days before Blackmire’s vessel gets here.Eighty-seven days before the rest.Math is ugly.“Rolling,” Rowan says. He’s holding a Thorns phone. Cracked screen. Good enough. “President Alistair, state your name for the record.”Alistair sits in a chair. Wrists bound. Face clean. We washed the blood off. Can’t sell mercy if the victim looks tortured.He spits. “Go to hell.”Draven leans down. No King voice. Just promise. “Hell’s three days out. You want to meet it early?”Alistair glares. Then looks at me. At the blood still on my boots. At the fifty Redfang wolves sitting in formation behind me. They haven’t moved since Sybil left.He swallows. “Patrick Alistair. President of the United Territories.”“Good,” I say. I stand next to Moira. She’s in chains. Real iron this time. Her own idea. “Now read.”Rowan h

Chapter 25: Heart Eater

Cove licks his fingers.Two hundred Blackmire wolves pour through the wall behind him.No roar. No charge. They walk. Slow. Hungry.“Contact!” Rowan shouts.The courtyard erupts.Thorns open fire. Not bullets. Tranq rounds. We need alive, not bodies. D.C. is watching. Alistair’s feed went live six minutes ago.Doesn’t matter. Tranqs bounce off Blackmire hides.“Wrath!” Draven roars.Wrath is already moving. He hits the first line of Blackmire like a truck. Bone breaks. Bodies fly. But for every one he drops, two take its place.Redfang moves next. Fifty black wolves slam into two hundred. No howls. No war cries. Just killing. Efficient. Hollow killing Hollow.“Cove!” I yell. I step forward. The bone knife is back in my hand. I don’t remember drawing it. “Call them off!”Cove tilts his head. Eight years old. Pajamas stained red. Gold eyes too big for his face. “Why? I’m hungry.”He points at Caiden.Caiden’s already moving. Blade out. He doesn’t go for Cove. He goes for the wolf guardi

Chapter 26: Queen or Mate

Two hundred fifty wolves kneel.To me.Draven stands alone.Three hundred Duskbane wolves behind him don’t kneel. Don’t move. Don’t breathe.Cove’s small hand is still in mine. Sticky with blood.“Mother,” he says again. Waiting.Wrath stays down. Head bowed. Clay squirms in his arms, awake now. Watching.“Wren.” Draven says my name like it’s a wound. “Send them back.”Back where? Through the wall they broke? To a Tree that wants a crown on my head?“I can’t,” I say. Honest. “They won’t go.”“Then make them.” His claws are out. Not at me. Not yet. “You’re still my Luna. Act like it.”Luna. Not Mother. He’s drawing the line.Alistair pushes to his knees. The camera’s dead, but he’s smiling. “This is better live anyway. The Alpha King versus his Hollow Queen. D.C. will eat it up.”Rowan hits him. Stock of his rifle. Alistair drops.“Thanks,” I mutter.“Don’t thank me,” Rowan says. He won’t look at me. “Just fix it.”Fix it.How?I look at Cove. “Stand.”He stands. The Blackmire wolves s

Chapter 27: Sundown March

Sundown is four hours out.Four hours to fix this. Or lose him.“Cove,” I say. “Can you track your brother?”He cocks his head. Blood still on his chin. “Which one? Blackmire’s not the only one coming.”Ice hits my gut. “How many?”“Two.” He holds up fingers. “Silversong’s next. She’s thirteen. She burns.”Thirteen. Fire. Great.“Where?”Cove points north. “Mountains. Two hours run. She’s waiting. Watching.”Watching what we do. Watching if I can control Cove. Test one.“Wrath,” I call to the tree line.He appears. Silent. Always. “Mother.”“Get me Caiden. And Rowan. And Lyana.”“Lyana?” Wrath frowns. “She’s not—”“She’s pack,” I cut in. “And she’s the only one Pride listens to. If this goes bad, we need every First Blood we have.”Wrath nods. Gone.Moira claps slowly. “Going to war, daughter? With children?”“I’m going to stop a war,” I say. “You’re coming too. In chains.”Her smile slips. “Why?”“Because D.C. needs a villain. And you’re it.”She laughs. “You want me to confess again

Chapter 28: Burn

The wall of fire doesn’t wait.It rolls down the mountain. Fast. Hungry.“Scatter!” Wrath roars.Fifty Hollow break. Left. Right. Not away. Into it.Redfang wolves hit the flames head-on. Their black fur doesn’t burn. It smokes. They’re fire-born. Of course they are.“Rowan, feed’s live?” I yell.“Live!” He holds the phone up. Lens shaking. “D.C. and Duskbane both!”Good. Let them watch.Ash stands at the peak. Thirteen. Unblinking. Hair floating in heat that should cook her. She raises her other hand.The fire splits. Two walls. Curling. Trying to flank us.Clever girl.“Sybil!” I shout. “Why?”Sybil walks through the flames like rain. No burns. No fear. “Because you’re weak, Mother. You talk. You save. Blackmire eats. Duskbane hides. I burn.” She stops. Points at Cove. “He should have died. Elder Moira said so. You kept him. Wrong choice.”Cove growls. Low. Not kid. Not weapon. Something else. “Sister lies.”“She does,” Moira says from her chains. Cheerful. “I trained her. She’s my

Chapter 29: Too Late

We run.The mountain blurs. The trees tear past.Fifty Hollow in front. Wrath leads. Cove in my arms, unconscious. Ash over Rowan’s shoulder, breathing but out. Lyana clutches Pride. Geralt guards her. Moira in chains, dragged by Caiden. Alistair gagged, carried like luggage.The camera’s off. D.C. saw enough.Duskbane saw enough.Draven’s howl still rings in my head. Not rage. Not call.Pain.We hit the tree line.Smoke.Not campfire. Not cookfire.Building smoke.Black. Thick.The south wall is gone. The one Cove broke. Now the rest follows.“Report!” Wrath barks to the Hollow line we left.One steps out. Black fur. Gold eyes. Blood on his muzzle. “Blackmire. Second wave. Hit ten minutes ago. While Mother was north.”While I was gone.While I played savior on camera.Sybil set me up. Again.“Casualties?” I ask.“Pack.” He says it flat. “Inner keep breached.”The inner keep. Where I sent Clay. Where I sent Cael. Where I sent Love.No.I run faster.We break the trees.Duskbane is bur

Chapter 30: Rise

The missile drops.“Scatter!” Rowan screams again.We don’t.I grab Draven. Haul him up. Blood on my hands. His blood.“Wren, down!” he shouts.Down is death.I look up.The missile is a black dot. Growing. Two seconds out.The network burns in my head. Five hundred wolves. Four vessels. One knife.One Mother.“Children,” I say. Not loud. Not a shout. A command.Cove wakes. Snaps upright. Ash sits up, eyes wide. Creek stands. Pride stops crying in Lyana’s arms and stares at the sky.They feel it.“Up,” I say.They don’t ask how.Cove opens his mouth. No scream. No cry. He *pulls*.Ash raises both hands. Fire doesn’t come out. It goes in. She *eats* the air. The heat. The sky.Creek steps forward. Places both palms on the ground.The gold vines explode.Not from the Tree. From us.From the five of us.They shoot straight up. Hundreds. Thousands. A net. A tree made of light and bone and blood.Pride coos.The vines braid. Tight. A dome. Over Duskbane. Over the keep. Over the pack. Over

1 2 3 4 5

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP