All Chapters of The Alpha’s Bastard Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

“That’s exactly the strategy we missed. What else could his motivation be?” Liora spat, her fingers digging violently into the velvet cushions of the pack hall sofa as her posture twisted with pure malice. “If the elders had only confirmed his recovery a week ago, we wouldn't have been forced to drag Lyra back from the northern borders.”I could have been the one standing in the center of Ember Hall tonight. I could have claimed the Alpha’s shadow.Darius Nightbane didn't answer his younger daughter, his heavy jaw clenched tightly as the terrifying truth of our position weighed down on him. His calculation had backfired completely.His initial plot was to sacrifice his outcast daughter to secure a permanent alliance with the Blackthorne franchise and the vast hunting grounds they controlled. If Vespera's guess was right, forcing Lyra into Kaelen's den hadn't appeased the Alpha at all—it had insulted his beast.With the sports franchise collapsing under the weight of the stadium lawsui

I stood at the threshold of the Nightbane Pack House, listening to the muffled clinking of morning dishes from the lower kitchens. The dominant wolves of the inner circle hadn't shifted out of their sleeping nests yet, their heavy scents of old pine and musk clinging to the floorboards.“Should I wake the Alpha for your arrival, Miss Lyra?” a young omega maid whispered, dropping her chin to avoid my gaze.“Don't bother,” I said, cutting her off before she could track the blood on my boots.I had survived my childhood in this territory, but the memories locked in these corridors were thick with the scent of isolation. The last time Darius Nightbane had summoned me here, I was thrown out like an unranked stray, never given the chance to stand in the spaces that used to belong to my mother.I limped up the central timber staircase to the upper level, my torn knees screaming under Alistair’s tight bandages. I just wanted to look at the small den room where I used to sleep before the linea

I froze, the scent of his raw alpha dominance enveloping my senses as my lips remained pressed against his. For a second, the lethal predator of the Blackthorne Pack Estate stood completely paralyzed, his heavy chest static under my hands as if his beast had forgotten how to breathe.I was desperate, my movements untrained and frantic, but the ancient pull between our lineages flared anyway.Before the spark could catch, his hands slammed onto my shoulders, throwing me back with enough physical force to break the connection instantly.My unranked frame staggered across the polished floorboards, my bandaged knees buckling beneath me as I went down hard. The hem of the long wool dress tore upward, exposing my legs to the clinical white light of the executive suite. Alistair’s neat linen wraps split instantly under the strain, dark crimson blood blooming through the fabric like winter berries on snow.A sharp spike of agony shot straight up my thighs, making my entire upper body shiver a

“The ice rosters can wait half an hour, Kaelen,” I said, keeping my hands locked flat against the dark timber of his desk. My heart hammered against my ribs, but I forced my eyes to stay locked on his cold profile. “Darius has already ordered the pack kitchens to bleed the fresh kill. If you don't ride shotgun in my transport to Ember Hall tonight, Vespera Crowe will know the Blackthorne shadow doesn't cover my head. She’ll hire another rogue to finish what she started in the ravine.”Kaelen didn't answer for a long time. He leaned back in his leather seat, his massive chest rising and falling in a slow, dangerous rhythm as he rubbed his temples with his long, chiseled fingers.I stood there, the copper scent of the fresh scabs on my knees filling the space between us. I couldn't tell if his beast was preparing to snap the contract or tear my throat out for the interruption.“Please, Kaelen,” I muttered, stepping closer until the heat of his alpha pressure made my jaw ache. “Just walk

“Sign the treaty line, Darius, or the Blackthorne wolves will have your stadium gates melted down by morning,” I said, keeping my fingers pressed hard against the iron vault box.Darius growled, a low, vibration of absolute agony ripping from his throat as he dragged the heavy silver chest out from behind the stone hearth. His ancient beast was screaming at the loss of the territory relics, but the threat of Kaelen Blackthorne sitting out there in his dining hall forced his claws to move.When my mother, Selene Nightbane, had been bartered to this house, her dowry included twelve ancestral silver blades and a mountain allowance totaling millions in regional coin. The value of her bloodline's property was priceless to the northern hockey franchises.Darius shoved a high-tier bank draft across the timber desk, his face contorted. The vault box he opened was nearly hollow compared to the treasures my mother had brought with her; the rare lunar bracelet I had seen Vespera Crowe flaunting