The Alpha's Unwanted Bride novel Chapter 706

Chapter 706: THE WAY OUT

ONE

Maelis didn’t answer me right away.

She studied my face for a long moment, the way someone does when they’re deciding how much truth a body can carry without breaking.

Then she stepped back, barefoot on the damp earth, and drew in a slow breath.

The air changed.

I felt it before I saw it.

Maelis closed her eyes.

And then she shifted.

Bone moved without sound. Flesh folded like water finding a new shape.

There was no violence to it, no horror. Just grace. Just inevitability.

Where Maelis had stood moments ago now stood a wolf.

White.

Not pale. Not dull.

White like fresh snowfall under moonlight. Like bone polished smooth by time. Her fur glimmered faintly, each strand catching the glow of the fireflies as though they recognized her.

She was enormous. Powerful. And impossibly beautiful.

My breath left me in a shaky exhale.

"Oh," I whispered, unable to stop myself.

The wolf lowered her head slightly, watching me with eyes the color of frost and knowing. There was no threat in her posture. No impatience. Just waiting.

Then she dipped her body low.

A clear invitation.

I hesitated.

My hand went to my belly instinctively, fear and awe tangling inside my chest.

Maelis waited.

I took a step forward.

Then another.

Her fur was warm beneath my fingers, thick and solid and very real.

She shifted slightly to give me better footing, careful, deliberate. I swallowed hard and climbed onto her back, settling awkwardly at first until I found balance.

The moment I was steady, she rose smoothly.

And then she ran.

The world blurred.

Branches parted ahead of us as if the forest itself bent to let her pass.

She was fast but never reckless, her movements fluid, precise. I clung to her fur, heart pounding, but there was no fear in it. Only exhilaration.

She cared about my baby.

I could feel it in the way she moved. How she avoided sharp turns.

How she adjusted her pace when my grip tightened. She carried me like something precious, not fragile.

For a moment, I almost forgot everything.

Then the pain hit.

Sharp.

Sudden.

It bloomed low in my body, a familiar ache that made my breath stutter. Between my thighs. Deep in my belly.

I gasped, instinctively curling forward.

Not now.

Please not now.

The pain intensified for a few terrifying seconds, bright enough to make my vision blur.

I bit down hard, forcing myself not to cry out, not to panic.

It passed as suddenly as it came.

Leaving behind a dull throb and a cold sheen of sweat on my skin.

"I’m okay," I whispered, more to myself than to her. "I’m okay. It’s just... just a scare."

Maelis slowed slightly but didn’t stop.

The forest ahead thickened, trees growing wider, older.

One in particular loomed before us, its trunk massive, roots twisting like coiled serpents across the ground.

For a split second, I thought we were going to crash straight into it.

Then the tree opened.

Not split. Not broken.

Opened.

The bark parted seamlessly, revealing a hollow glowing with soft golden light.

Maelis didn’t slow. She leapt forward, and the world swallowed us whole.

The sensation was strange, like falling upward.

Then stillness.

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