Ch. 306..310: Breed Me, Daddy Alpha chapter 306-310

Breed Me. Daddy Alpha – Chapter 305

Montegue’s cane cracked once against the marble, drawing every eye. His voice carried steady, rich with disdain.

“They are not loyal to treasonous fools who bicker like children while enemies claim our borders.” His eyes swept the room, contempt sharp enough to flay. “They are loyal to what you abandoned long ago—order. Unity. Strength.”

The chamber fell silent again. Only the sound of labored breathing filled the air. Those still pinned to the marble twitched in futile resistance.

“If you have more insightful words to share, you may speak. But after that, I will speak.” I did not hide my disdain.

I had no time for this.

Silverpine was scrambling. On edge. It was clear as day with every word in that accursed letter from Kael. Something had gone wrong—far more wrong than they were willing to admit.

Even now, the words flickered before my eyes. And with them, the cracks.

James had always remained smug—even when brought to his knees, even with a claw to his throat. Self-assured. Prideful to a fault.

But he was slipping.

James, who never admitted defeat—who wrapped cruelty in polished arrogance—was now listing his losses like a desperate gambler. The ink told me more than his words. The gouged lines where his calm cracked, the pet names turned sour. He thought this letter would break me. But all it showed me was that I’d already broken him.

I didn’t even need to lift a finger.

My eyes swept across the room, measuring the tension in the air. A tough crowd. Hackles raised. Chests heaving. Ready to strike—but none spoke.

I shifted in my seat, glancing at Elliot on my lap. He was watching too. Alert, as always. Shoulders bunched, ready to defend or protect.

I raised my gaze, now sharpened. “Sit,” I ordered, my voice cracking like a whip.

They glanced at one another before hesitantly obeying. One by one, they sat—Silas and Gallinti at the front. Neither had spoken a word since I entered. They were more stoic than most, their gazes watchful, only flicking to me when they believed I wasn’t looking.

I cleared my throat.

“I’m sure you’ve all received the memo. The letter from Silverpine.”

I could feel Montegue’s eyes on me. He didn’t understand why I would expose something like this—especially when it so clearly alluded to the history between James and me.

But I bore not an ounce of shame. Not a speck.

There was no space for such a feeble emotion in the state of things.

There was gnawing helplessness. Raw fear. Crippling anxiety. Creeping dread that only continued to spread.

Shame for a relationship that no longer held any bearing over me? It didn’t even register.

“You must have read it a thousand times,” I continued, my voice flat but cutting. “Praying it was a prank. Hoping it was a mistake. But as you can see—” I gestured to Hades’ empty seat. “—it is neither of those things. The Alpha of Obsidian is absent and has been for four days. He left on a rescue mission… for his Beta, Kael Orlov.”

Still, no one spoke.

But their haunted expressions spoke volumes. To see so many powerful figures pale at once was telling. It was a testament to how heavily this council relied on Hades. An incompetent ruler would never trigger this level of fear.

I let my gaze linger on each of their faces.

“The letter alludes to his capture by Silverpine. It outlines a threat: me and my sister… or him.”

“He’s gone,” one Alpha rose, glancing around at his colleagues. “She’ll never surrender. We need to begin dividing—”

My Gammas were already on the move, but surprisingly— ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ find(ɴ)ovel.net

“Alpha Jameson, you are out of turn,” Gallinti said coolly. “You will be promptly removed.”

Even I was surprised. The rest of the room straightened as the offending Alpha slowly sank back into his seat, face flushed with humiliation.

“We are listening,” Silas said.

I nodded. “It is a cause for alarm,” I continued. “And of course, we should scramble to meet their demands.”

I paused.

“That is what I would do…”

Relief flooded the room like a tide. Shoulders relaxed. Air returned to lungs.

“But I will never do that.”

The air vanished again—sucked from the chamber like an unseen force had torn it free.

Just then, Montegue pressed the button that activated the monitor, and a Gamma stepped forward, handing me a laser pointer. The monitor flickered to life.

Onscreen was a scanned copy of the letter I’d received. Not retyped. Not transcribed. Scanned—intentionally. Because if I was going to keep these fools united until Hades returned, they needed to see what I saw.

They needed assurance.

Forcing submission would only cause infighting. And we already had enough enemies across the border. By the time these chamber doors opened again, we needed to be on the same page. A unified front with no weak links.

I rose, bracing myself.

“We were lovers, the Beta of Silverpine and I. I’m sure some of you see it as a nick. A tear. A scrap on my armor. Perhaps it is. But in the case of this letter—” I turned on the laser and gestured to the screen “—it is the key to a code.”

“What code might that be, Luna?” Silas asked, leaning in. “Something tells me you’ve already cracked it.”

“You’re not wrong, Governor,” I replied, gesturing to the first line. “The Beta has always prided himself on the art of charisma. Disarming with little effort. In this case, he used a jaded pet name of mine.” I pointed to the word crimson.

The chill down my spine came not from longing—but from disgust.

I read aloud the lines that followed.

> “I know it must come as a surprise, especially after our little spat—five or, I don’t know, six years ago? We never really got to talk about it. I know it’s late, but is it ever really too late to get some much-deserved closure?”

I turned back to the room.

“He makes light of the day everything changed. He dangles something in front of me—” I gestured to the word closure “—as if what we had still holds sway. He tries to lull me into nostalgia.”

Some of the Alphas leaned in. Montegue smirked, already catching on.

> “I know my decision still weighs heavily on that beautiful mind of yours. Yet it still hurts that you decided our enemy would be the one to replace me in your heart. Your father was none too pleased by that.”

I explained, “Here comes the guilt. The second phase of his strategy. He opens the wound, revisits a choice I made under duress, during war—when love itself was weaponized.”

I stepped closer to the screen.

“Then he offers a balm. Closure. As if this letter is some long-overdue olive branch.”

A beat of silence.

Breed Me. Daddy Alpha – Chapter 306

With every word, I watched them lean in, murmured discussions rippling through the chamber as they analyzed the letter. With each sentence, I explained what its writer had been thinking—because James might as well have handed me his hardened brain to scan.

With a long sigh, I concluded, “So as you can see, Silverpine is not as in control as they want us to think. It’s all a ploy—to create panic, incite desperation within our ranks. And while we scurry about searching for solutions, we walk straight into the trap they’ve set.”

Reluctant hums of agreement rolled through the room. Some nodded; others still turned the words over in their minds. But the pieces were falling into place.

I just had to drive the point home.

“I have known Beta James long enough to know him as well as I know myself. He never folds—not even when he’s bleeding out, a breath away from demise. He clings to secrets like armor, never divulging them—not even when they could be used for manipulation. His motives are as elusive as the true face that hides beneath his many masks.”

Memories stirred—childhood slips in his mask that I’d once dismissed as quirks. The way he spoke in circles, never directly answering. The way his stories evolved over time, testing which version would be swallowed whole. His lies always threaded with just enough truth to make you doubt yourself—never him.

That foolish girl who once trusted him had shriveled up and died.

In her place stood a woman ready to use their familiarity against him.

“Yet here, he lays it bare. The motive behind every attack, every rivalry, supposedly ’for the good of werewolves,’” I said, making air quotes and rolling my eyes. “At least, those he deems worthy,” I added, quoting him verbatim. “Even as he tried to bring me back to Silverpine—slithering into my mind—he never said this much.”

“You can see the way the ink deepens,” Silas observed, “like he’s cracking… losing control of the pen. He assaults the paper.”

“Exactly,” I returned, my lips twitching upward. “I know our enemy well—at least this one. He never concedes defeat. Never admits being outsmarted. Never acknowledges a miscalculation. He manages—his plans, his masks. But now?”

Gallinti cut in. “He concedes that you’ve become a thorn in his side—a wrench in the gears of his plans. He admits it.”

Montegue stepped forward, his smile sharp. “I can see him shaking as he writes. Like he can’t believe he’s writing the words. He nearly tears the paper.”

Another Alpha added, “He’s losing control. Enraged—but most definitely panicking.”

Even when I’d refused to return to Silverpine—choosing Hades—he hadn’t accepted it as defeat. He’d called it mental illness. He couldn’t admit he’d been outplayed. Not then. Not now.

And yet, while we took blow after blow from their machinations, something shifted on their side.

Now they were scrambling.

Their table shook—and they were trying to shake ours too.

“I believe it started with Ellen escaping—or revolting—and disappearing.”

Some still looked confused. Less than a month ago, I was Ellen to them. But those who were up to speed—Silas and Co—were already nodding.

They knew where I was going.

“The Blessed Twin escaped,” Gallinti said. “Darius recruited Morrison to begin the first phase. His interview was a distraction. While we scrambled to calm civilians, they struck again—during the press conference no less. A two-act plan,” he gestured to me, lips quirking with a faint smirk. “Just like you predicted.”

“I heard someone say it,” Elliot’s small voice pierced the tension. “They said… because we took Ellen, they would take our children. That’s why they tried to take me. Because they think we took Ellen… they wanted me in return.”

Silence.

Then a few chuckles. Muttered remarks about how children always catch on—or say the darndest things.

“Yes, honey. That’s exactly what they said,” I murmured. Lucinda had confessed that under compulsion, but this wasn’t the time.

“Like my son said,” I continued, “when they lost Ellen, it tilted the playing field. So they tried to level it—by taking Elliot.”

“Breaking Felicia out was probably the secondary mission,” Montegue added solemnly. “Taking the prince—that was the first. They got Felicia. But they failed to secure Elliot.”

“Which is why they grabbed the Beta during the post-blast chaos,” Gallinti continued. “They needed leverage. A bargaining chip. Anyone would have sufficed.”

“And Hades followed the scent trail—only to disappear, just like Kael.”

Only later did we learn Felicia’s room had become a passage—to somewhere we couldn’t reach.

“That brings me to the images.”

The Monitor stepped forward and bent to whisper to Elliot, “Keep your eyes on those men. Be careful.”

He nodded—eager to help. He faced the Alpha’s squarely.

I couldn’t let him see Kael like that.

I gestured to the first image without looking directly at it. “Beta Kael was captured. This letter—and these images—were sent to us.”

Some grimaced. Others shuddered. A few remained stoic—but their jaws clenched.

Then the next image appeared—Hades and Cain. Content originally comes from find·novel·net

I watched several pale.

Some of them had ties to Cain’s underground syndicates. But this wasn’t the time.

“This was the only image Silverpine sent of the Alpha,” I said.

“Meaning?” someone asked.

“They had nothing more,” I replied coldly. “They tried to threaten us… but this was all they had. Kael in terrible condition. But Hades? Untouched. Not even a scratch.”

“If they truly had him,” Montegue muttered, “they would’ve sent something worse. Something meant to shatter us. Something sadist, something truly harrowing. But they couldn’t.”

I still recalled the video of my ’execution’. It had been all a message, propaganda to make civilians submit. It had been bloody, I shuddered when Cain had shown me. But to scare me, the traitor, all they had to show was those photos? It was not nearly as flamboyant as they liked.

His gaze lingered on the image of Kael.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Instead, they sent Hades and Cain—in uniforms that aren’t Obsidian’s. Which means they were uniforms from…”

“Silverpine,” Gallinti said, rising slightly. “They disguised themselves. Infiltrated their ranks. Rescued the Beta.”

I allowed myself a small smile. “And if, after three days, they still can’t prove Hades is in chains… then he isn’t. They escaped. Silverpine does not have Hades, Kael, or Cain.”

Conviction radiated from me.

Breed Me. Daddy Alpha – Chapter 307

Hades

The sky was starless.

Not dim. Not clouded. Just blank. A hollow lid over a world on edge.

I flew due east, wings slicing the wind clean. Kael clung to me, silent, his gloved hands firm at the base of my neck out of habit.

If that was what he was going to my neck, I could not dare image how he would handle my horn.

Below us, the cities had gone dark, streetlights blinking in strange patterns, rooftops dimmed, intersections deserted.

Obsidian was locking down. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ f͟i͟n͟d͟n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟.net

But it wasn’t a curfew.

It was a hunt.

We dipped lower. The wind sharpened against my ears like it was being pulled too tight.

Kael suddenly tapped on my hide. I twisted my elongated neck to him and he gestured with his chin to look below.

My head tilted downward.

In the woods we’d just left behind, movement surged—too uniform to be wildlife. Too many to be hikers.

My eyes narrowed, tuning in every detail as I slowed even more. My sharpened sighed caught the movement, magnified as I thought I were on their level.

Dozens of shadows moved like liquid through the trees. Black-suited Gammas, sweeping east as we glided west in brutal, disciplined lines.

Kael didn’t say it, but I felt the tension in his grip.

“They’re combing the forest,” he finally muttered, over the wind that we rode, yet my rewired earing caught every word.

“Great thing we took off while we did. I can imagine they would have heart me shifting a mile away,” I returned.

“Not to talk of those leather batty wings. We might as well turn on a siren.” He chuckled, though his grip tightened.

We broke through a cloudbank, mist curling in my wake. Below, the city stretched like a grid of ash and concrete. Empty streets. No music. No civilians. Just stillness that felt too careful.

“Lockdown protocol,” Kael murmured, tapping something into his wrist communicator. “Grade theta, it full on.

“They’re preparing for war,” I said. “Just not the kind they’re willing to admit to the civilains.”

We passed over the western quarters. Even from this height, I could see them—rooftop patrols, uniformed shadows with weapons drawn. But theyr were all looking down, waiting for the sneaking wolves that would never appear. A watch Tower glared up from the center like an eye. Its floodlights swept the streets in pale, circular motions.

We were too high for them to catch and if not for my keen sight, they would have been harder to detect.

Then I saw movement.

Kael followed the shift of my neck to it.

Small. Uneven. Not military. This was too small and uncoordinated. Desperate.

A woman.

She stumbled from between two boarded buildings, no coat, just a tattered robe and broken sandals. My eyes zeroed in on her limp, to find one foot was metal. She was an amputee.

Her steps were frantic but slow, like she was too cold to run. She looked over her shoulder twice before stepping out. A patrol caught her instantly.

My stomach churned, skin prickling.

Maera’s words about the experimentation on Silverpine replayed in my mind, suddenly an endless loop as I watched it all unfold.

“Stop,” a Gamma barked.

She flinched. Raised her hands. “Please—my son. He’s out there. He didn’t come back last night.”

“No one’s allowed outside after curfew.”

“I know, but—he’s just a boy.”

I hovered. Kael didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.

The Gamma moved in, weapon low but not safetied.

“You’re a wolf,” he said flatly. “That child should know the law.”

She shook her head. “He hasn’t shifted yet. He’s nine. Please.”

He didn’t respond.

He just grabbed her shoulder, jerking her around.

I slowed, my pulse throbbing as he grabbed her face roughly forcing her to face him.

My ear twitched up as I watched a slow smile curl the large Gamma’s lips. Sinister even from where I flew over him, even in the minimal light. “No too bad,” he muttered, his expression cruel as he turned her over from side to side as though analysing it.

“We’ve been on this for more two days, I haven’t gotten some in a while,” his crude words grated on my ears. He pushed her back, his gaze still accessing and predatory as he looked her up and down.

I bit the inside of my cheek until it drew blood. She would not be in this situation if not for us. There would not be a curfew that she would have broken. She would have been able to look for her son.

Though I knew no one as at fault for this as much as Darius, it still gnawed heavily on me.

I watched her fear curdle to horror in an instant. Tremors rans through her body as she began to shake her head. “Sir…” She began to back away, “I can’t”

“You don’t really have a choice,” he muttered, showing all his teeth as he cut off the distance between them. “Just accept it, maybe just maybe you won’t be on a one way trip to the Cauterium for breaking law. It’s a your choice.”

There was no choice here.

My decision came quickly. “Kael, we need a diversion.” I said.

He was silent for a minute and I could hear the gears in his head grinding. “Since they are looking for us, let’s give them something to chase.”

“Kael,” I said, my voice low but cutting through the wind. “You’re going to have to hold on—tight. Horn.”

He didn’t hesitate.

His gloved hand slid up from the base of my neck and gripped the jagged root of my horn, bracing his legs against my back. His breath hitched but he didn’t question me. Not now.

I surged upward.

The cold thinned even more as we tore into the higher levels of the sky. My wings strained, the tips aching from the pressure, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t. Not until the buildings below became dots and the night air thinned enough to sharpen my senses like blades.

Then I saw it.

A crooked tree at the city’s edge—tall, skeletal, half-dead from drought, but its trunk was thick, roots still holding it in place.

I banked hard, diving toward it.

Kael ducked, eyes squinting against the sudden gust. My claws extended as I descended, the ground racing up to meet us. I slammed into the base of the tree, claws burying deep into the earth as I yanked. The roots screamed in protest, snapping like bone. Dirt exploded in every direction.

Breed Me. Daddy Alpha – Chapter 308

With a guttural but low growl, I flapped hard, muscles coiling as I dragged the tree upward, roots dangling like veins.

“Hold!” I barked. Kael was barely audible behind me as I rose again—fast, violent, like a storm ripping through the sky. The weight pulled at me, but I clenched harder, lifted higher.

Then I let go.

The tree plummeted.

It hit the edge of a patrol outpost with the force of a meteor. A burst of sound cracked the silence—wood against metal, concrete splintering, alarms blaring, and Gamma shouts echoing up from below.

From above, I watched chaos unravel.

Spotlights spun in confused spirals. Orders screamed through comms. Patrols broke formation and regrouped in threes, heading toward the impact zone. Searchlights redirected. Vehicles mobilized—most racing for the source of the sound.

“They think it’s us,” Kael muttered through the wind. “Perfect.”

Like moths to a fire, the entire western flank drained into the crater we’d created.

We circled high above the city, unseen.

No one was left to watch. Now, on to the next.

“Hang on tight.”

Kael’s grip tightened. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

I swooped low, the cold air harsh against the membrane of my shifted skin—but nowhere near enough to affect us. It didn’t take long to get back above the alley where I had left the woman and the Gamma.

If I had been on land, I would have come to a screeching stop.

The plan hadn’t worked completely. The Gamma was supposed to follow the rest of his team at the sound of the diversion we created.

But he was still there.

And now they had both shifted.

It wasn’t hard to see who was who.

The large black hound towered over the small grey one—one hind leg missing.

She whimpered beneath the onslaught as he forcefully mounted her.

My blood turned to ice. Heat crept up my spine.

My claws clenched.

Kael didn’t need instruction.

I dropped like a stone.

Wind screamed past my ears as the city blurred beneath us. I wasn’t graceful—not yet—but I was fast. Terrifyingly so. Wings tucked just enough to cut drag without stalling. The ground pulled closer in dizzying rushes.

“Now,” I growled.

We leveled out a few stories above them.

Kael let go.

He jumped, coat billowing, body turning midair. The rightful source is Find✶Novel.net

His bones snapped mid-fall—wolf overtaking man in a brutal, seamless shift.

The moment his paws hit the concrete behind the Gamma, the air cracked like thunder.

The larger hound froze.

But only for a second.

Kael was already lunging—fangs bared, claws forward, fury unleashed.

He hit the Gamma like a wrecking ball, ripping him off the smaller wolf with a snarl that echoed through the alley.

Flesh tore.

Snapping jaws collided with bone.

They rolled, claws scraping, fur flying, as Kael drove him into the wall hard enough to leave cracks.

I banked mid-air, unleashing a thunderous roar that shook the windows—buying Kael the seconds he needed.

The grey she-wolf collapsed to the ground, trembling, panting, unable to move. But she was alive. No longer pinned.

Kael didn’t give the Gamma a second chance.

He tore into him.

The fight wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t meant to be.

The Gamma twitched on the pavement, his neck broken, face frozen in surprise.

His broken body shifted back slowly, human once more.

Kael panted as he raised his head to look at me hovering above.

The woman raised her gaze and screamed—but cut herself off when she saw my eyes. She darted her gaze between me and Kael, shaking.

Bright red eyes. Not werewolf.

Kael bent to pick up her prosthetic leg, then offered it to her.

“You’re not—” she choked on the word as her quivering hands accepted it. “You’re Obsidian.”

I didn’t answer.

She blinked. “You’re a—”

“Lycan,” Kael answred, shifting back. “Yes.”

Breed Me. Daddy Alpha – Chapter 309

She didn’t run. Just stared. Shaking, but standing.

“You were going to find your son,” Kael said. “Still want to?”

She froze, probably wondering how I knew, but didn’t ask.

She hesitated. Then nodded.

“Then climb on.”

“I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m… an amputee.”

I crouched without hesitation. “It’s not a problem.”

Her breath hitched, but she approached anyway. There was no trust in her eyes—just desperation. The kind that comes from knowing no one might ever see you again.

Kael helped her onto my back.

“I won’t tell anyone,” she muttered, gripping me tight.

I didn’t answer.

I took off in a single motion. The ground shrank beneath us as ash spiraled into the air.

We rose again. Higher. Heavier.

The wind shrieked around us. Down below, another Gamma patrol swarmed the body. Orders shouted. Lights turned. But they wouldn’t catch us.

Thɪs chapter is updated by Find~Novel.net

“Go west,” the woman said, arms locked tight around me. “He might be hiding in the school basement. He’s been running ever since my parents were conscripted. He’s a good kid.” She said it like she needed to convince us.

I didn’t speak.

My wings burned from the cold. My ribs ached from the effort.

At least we were headed west. Tonight hadn’t been a complete waste. We were still making ground.

Kael settled behind her, steadying her.

Even then, I could feel her quivering—whether from fear or cold, probably both.

Her grip on my membrane was desperate. She could’ve torn it.

“Steady. You’re alright,” Kael muttered as we glided due west, no longer off course.

His arm braced her middle, keeping her steady as my wings worked overtime, cutting through clouds like knives. Her breath hitched with every gust, but she didn’t scream. Just gripped tighter.

“What is the name of this city?” Kael asked, voice firm but low near her ear.

There was a pause.

“Eldon,” she said finally. “This is Eldon. Used to be peaceful before the drafts and lockdowns. Now… it’s just checkpoints and silence.” Her voice turned wistful. “It started with the strikes from…”

She trailed off.

“From where?” Kael asked.

She hesitated. “The reports say they’re from the… Eclipse Rebellion.”

Kael and I stilled.

“What else did the reports say, um…” he prompted.

“Daliah,” she replied. “And according to investigations by Lunar Heights, the Alpha claims the Eclipse Rebellion is trying to make him submit by orchestrating public unrest,” she said. “Civilian abductions. Bombings near key checkpoints. Disinformation campaigns. They’re even stealing people before they can be transported to the camps.”

That’s what they’re saying.

Kael met my eyes over her shoulder, jaw clenched.

They were already framing the rebellion for things we hadn’t done.

The so-called abductions were rescues.

The so-called bombings—distractions to help save lives.

But now, it was being spun as a war against the people instead of the Alpha and his tyranny.

He was turning the only ones who could save them into villains.

And if the civilians believed it… the rebellion would fail before the Blood Moon even came. They would die ignorant and deceived.

“People are joining a new battalion to fight against them,” she added quickly, like she thought it might spare her. “As if conscriptions wasn’t already bleeding us dry.”

I raised a brow.

Kael asked the question.

“Would you have joined if your leg was fine?”

This time her voice lost its tremor.

“I cut my foot so I wouldn’t have to.”

Breed Me. Daddy Alpha – Chapter 310

Her words stole our voice, and for a long minute, no one spoke—until she filled the silence, pointing downward.

“We are here,” she announced, her voice too loud before she slapped a hand over her mouth. She muffled an apology as I descended onto the parking lot of what looked like an elementary school.

It would a few miles from where we got her, that was pretty far if he had ran from home and hid in school. How would he have gotten here on his own?

Did he take a bus or something?

The prickling on my skin amplified.

The moment my talons touched the ground, she rolled off too quickly, nearly hitting the coarse gravel. Kael caught her just in time, gripping her before she kissed the dirt.

He pulled her back up with one hand, setting her gently on her feet.

“You werewolves are light,” he muttered as he threw himself down, her arms clinging to him for dear life.

They both landed, and Daliah was on the move in an instant—limping forward toward a location only she seemed to know.

Kael and I shared a look. He understood immediately.

Kael was on her tail in seconds, easily catching up.

“I’ll help you look,” he offered.

We didn’t have time to waste. It would be smarter for her to have help.

They disappeared around the corner, behind the main building, and I simply waited.

I finally let my shoulders slump. My talons folded beneath me as I panted freely. It felt like gravel had shredded my lungs from the inside. Exhaustion latched onto me, and my eyes drooped closed for a moment.

But it was funny.

Five months ago, I might not have bothered with a limping stranger. But now? Now I had derailed my plans for her sake. After the amount of high-speed aviation I had forced my still-odd shifted form into, I was going to be knocked out cold during the day.

Hopefully, we’d find a safe enough place for me to lay like a log for a few hours.

Based on hundreds of assessments of Silverpine Pack over the years—and Maera’s mapping—I knew that if we were in Eldon, then we were just a stretch of woods away from Halem. Once we cleared the forests around the industrial, population-dense city of Silverpine—second only to the capital where Lunar Heights was situated—we’d be in the clear.

The stupidest and most audacious option would be to go through the capital city. It was a straight line to Obsidian Pack… but crawling with Darius’ eyes.

I barely had time to catch my breath before I heard Kael’s boots scuff against gravel.

He came into view, one arm curled protectively around the frame of a child—no older than six or seven. A boy. Small. Sunken cheeks. Barefoot. His face was blank in that way only trauma could carve. His arms were stiff at his sides, but he clung to Kael’s coat like it was instinct.

He was supposed to be ten.

Daliah limped behind, breathing hard, hands shaking. Her expression was frozen somewhere between disbelief and relief.

Kael’s eyes met mine as he approached, grim.

“Found him behind the cafeteria bins,” he said. “Still warm. Still breathing. Covered in blood that’s not his.”

I stood.

The boy blinked at me. Unreadable. He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just stared.

Daliah stepped forward, reaching with both hands before stopping herself. Her voice cracked.

“Micah…”

The boy didn’t answer. Didn’t even flinch.

She dropped to her knees anyway, curling her arms around him like she could shield him from the world.

Kael let go carefully, glancing at me. Thɪs chapter is updated by find⦿novel.net

She placed her brother on the ground and put her ear to his chest.

Time stretched so far it might’ve snapped—then she raised her head.

“He is breathing,” she gasped.

She pulled something from her coat pocket with trembling fingers—a small bun, partially crushed, wrapped in thin wax paper. She peeled it open, broke off a piece, and gently waved it beneath the boy’s nose.

He twitched.

His nostrils flared, just slightly, before his dry lips parted—and with a breath so faint it barely existed, he whispered, “…Sister?”

Not mother.

Sister.

Daliah’s shoulders crumpled. Relief strangled her posture for a heartbeat—but only a heartbeat.

Because before I could exhale, she moved.

Fast.

She pivoted clean on one foot, lifting the boy into her arms like a soldier rescuing a fallen comrade. Her speed was jarring—nothing like the limp she’d been wearing seconds ago. Her posture, the way she carried her weight—it was wrong. Trained. Too smooth.

Kael caught it too.

Instantly, he began to shift—but like someone trained to dodge bullets…

She was faster.

The moment he reached, she had a knife already at her own throat—angled not for a kill, but a standoff. Not hers. Ours.

“Stop!” she hissed. “All of you. Right there.”

Kael froze mid-step.

So did I.

Her eyes flicked between us, manic but sharp. “One more move and I drop him.”

“You’re bluffing,” Kael growled, voice low, taut.

“Am I?” she countered. “This blade’s laced with wolfsbane. I’ll paint the air with your lungs before you shift.”

The smell hit me then—pungent, acrid, bitter like burnt leaves and copper. My throat seized.

She wasn’t bluffing.

Kael’s jaw locked, but he didn’t advance. My wings flinched, coiled like a spring—but I held steady.

“You planned this?” I asked quietly—more to gauge her than accuse.

“No.” Her voice trembled—not with fear, but fury. “I planned to survive. And now I will.”

She tightened her grip on the blade. “Step back, both of you. Shift down. Do it slow.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I bit out through clenched teeth. “Think of your son—or brother.”

The gods forbid I do a good deed. Maybe my father was right about a couple of things.

“There is nothing you can do to us that hasn’t been done before,” she growled, though I could hear the apprehension underneath.

My eyes narrowed. “I will take much more if anything happens to my partner.”

It was obvious—she had no idea who I was.

“You’ll find that I don’t care.”

“We both know that’s a lie,” I replied flatly.