Alpha's STOLEN Mate (by Abigail Hayes) novel Chapter 195

Chapter 195

ន ៤69 ]

Pain shot up my foreleg. It was like trying to scratch diamond with my fingernails-no, worse. The gemstone was harder than my claws,

and now my paw was throbbing.

Fine. If direct attacks won’t work…

I backed up and began gathering more power. Much more. Wind whipped around me as I combined elements-fire and lightning merging into a single devastating orb of destruction. The purple sky above turned red, then blue, then back to red as my attack grew.

Kaius’s eyes lit up with confidence. He clearly thought this would work.

I released everything at once.

The explosion was tremendous-the kind of force that should have leveled buildings and cracked the earth. The violet twilight turned into

a blazing inferno of competing colors.

And when it cleared, the gemstone hung there. Untouched. Unblemished.

Worse than untouched-

It was glowing brighter now. Pulsing faster. Like it had absorbed my attack and was using my own power to strengthen itself.

“FUCK!” I shifted back to human form, panting heavily. My energy reserves were significantly depleted from that assault, and we had

nothing to show for it.

Evelyn, who’d been standing off to the side with her head tilted thoughtfully, suddenly looked up. “Oh! I know how to break this!”

Both Kaius and I whipped around to stare at her.

“The gemstone has a ward,” she explained. “Obviously. That’s why Elowen’s attacks aren’t working-there’s a protective barrier absorbing and redirecting the energy. We need to break the ward first, then the gemstone will be vulnerable.”

I gaped at her. “You knew there was a ward this whole time?!”

“Well, I suspected.” Evelyn shrugged. “But I wanted to see if maybe you could brute-force through it. You are the White Wolf, after all.

Special rules sometimes apply.”

“You let me waste all that energy-”

“To be fair, it was a reasonable test-”

“Both of you, STOP,” Kaius cut in sharply. “Evelyn, can you break the ward or not?”

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Chapter 195

“Of course I can break it!” She sounded offended by the question. “But it won’t be quick. This is complex magic-layered protections,

probably with failsafes and alarms built in. I’ll need a few minutes of complete concentration.”

She moved toward the gemstone, her expression shifting from playful to intensely focused. “Don’t interrupt me. Don’t make sudden

noises. Don’t do anything that might break my focus. This is delicate work.”

Kaius and I exchanged glances and nodded.

Evelyn raised her hands and began moving them in intricate patterns. Her fingers traced symbols in the air that glowed faintly before

fading. Her lips moved silently, forming words in that ancient language that made my teeth ache.

Sweat began beading on her forehead almost immediately. The ward wasn’t yielding easily.

Minutes crawled by. Kaius and I stood guard, weapons ready, every nerve on edge. This was taking too long. Far too long. Any moment

now, someone-something-would notice what we were doing.

Just a little longer. We’re so close. Victory is right there-

“Well, well, well.”

The voice cut through the silence like a knife.

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Morgath materialized from the shadows as if she’d been there all along-simply choosing to reveal herself now. Her mask gleamed under

the violet light, expressionless and terrible.

And behind her, two golden wolves prowled forward. Not one. Two. Both massive, both radiating that same overwhelming power we’d

encountered from Aldric.

Copies. She made copies of Kaius’s father.

In Morgath’s hands dangled several lengths of chain-collars, I realized with horror. Empty collars waiting for necks to fill them.

“You finally arrived,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice even behind the mask. “I’ve been waiting for you. My chains have

been so lonely.” She held up the metal restraints, letting them clink together. “Come now, little wolves. Put these on yourselves. Save us

all the unpleasantness of a struggle.”

Kaius and I locked eyes for a split second. An entire conversation passed between us in that moment.

Evelyn’s almost done. Just a little more time. We can’t let Morgath interrupt her. Whatever it takes.

We shifted simultaneously-my white wolf and his black wolf erupting into existence. We positioned ourselves in front of Evelyn, forming

a living barrier between her and the threat.

The two golden wolves charged forward, their massive forms eating up the distance with terrifying speed.

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Alpha’s STOLEN Mate