The Pack's Daughter (Aysel and Magnus) novel Chapter 599

Chapter 599

Lucien’s POV

The weight pressed down until my bones screamed.

Finished

Mud, stone, broken branches-the mountain wanted to bury us, to grind us into nothing. My arms trembled, bent under the crushing force. But even as blood trickled hot down my back, I refused to let go.

Riley was beneath me. Small. Fragile. Alive only because I was holding the storm back with my own body.

My wolf roared inside my chest, clawing against the confines of my skin. Enough. Enough of human fragility. Enough of bleeding and breaking. She is ours, and nothing will take her.

I let go.

The change ripped through me, spine snapping, muscles twisting, claws splitting from my hands. My body stretched and broke and rebuilt itself in fire and shadow. I threw my head back, jaws elongating, teeth piercing through gums, and I howled-the sound rising above the thunder, cutting through the storm like a blade.

The wolf took shape. My wolf. White as lightning, vast as the storm itself.

The earth that had pinned me moments before now slid harmlessly down my shoulders, breaking over my fur and claws as if I were a boulder rooted into the mountain. I shook, spraying mud in every direction, and forced the landslide back with brute strength and fury.

Riley lay beneath me, eyes wide, lips parted, rain streaking across her pale face. She whispered my name-my human name-but it didn’t matter. She knew it was me.

I bent down, nudging her with my muzzle, urging her close. She clutched my fur, burying her fingers deep, and I lifted her carefully onto my back.

“Alpha!” Caelum’s voice broke through the storm, rough with relief and panic. He’d clawed his way across the mudslide, his clothes torn, his face streaked with blood and dirt. “I thought-”

I cut him off with a growl, deep and commanding, and jerked my head toward the path. No time for words. We had to move.

He understood at once. That was why he was my shield-brother. He turned, clearing a path ahead with the instinct of a wolf who had marched through war. I followed, every stride of my wolf-form deliberate, steady, Riley’s weight light against my back. She clung to me, her heartbeat fluttering like a wounded bird.

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15:56 Sat, Jan 24

Chapter 599

แล

Finished

We pushed through the storm, the mountain groaning behind us, until at last the mud gave way to gravel and the trail widened. My paws dug into the earth, throwing water and dirt behind me, carrying us down the slope with savage speed.

The night blurred. The storm raged. And then-the faint glow of headlights.

Our vehicle. The one Caelum had left at the mountain’s base.

I bounded the last stretch, landing in the mud beside the car. Caelum wrenched the doors open, leaping into the driver’s seat, already starting the engine. I shifted back in a rush of snapping bones, cradling Riley against my chest as I slid into the backseat.

Her lips were bloodless, her eyes half-lidded. I pressed my forehead to hers, my breath ragged. “Stay with me, Riley. Just a little longer. You’re not leaving me in this storm.”

The car lurched forward, tires skidding against wet rock. Caelum drove like the devil himself was chasing us, every second carved from fate’s knife edge.

Riley’s pulse fluttered weakly beneath my fingers. Too weak. My wolf snarled, furious at the fragility of flesh, at the gods who would dare make her suffer.

And then-through the thunder and rain-came a sound. Faint. Raw. Familiar.

A voice.

“…help…”

Caelum’s knuckles tightened on the wheel. His gaze flicked to mine in the rearview mirror. He’d heard it too.

The sound came again, weaker, as if carried on the wind itself. “…Lucien…”

Scarlett.

I slammed a hand against the window, forcing Caelum to a halt. The tires shrieked in protest. Riley stirred faintly against my chest, whispering something I couldn’t hear.

“Stay here,” I snarled, laying her gently on the seat. My wolf clawed beneath my skin, restless, demanding action. I shoved the door open and leapt into the storm.

The voice guided me-broken, faltering, but desperate enough to cut through the downpour. I found her slumped against a rock outcropping, her body broken, her breath shallow, eyes glassy with pain.

Scarlett.

Her scent was drenched with blood. Her hands clawed weakly toward me as if even now she

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15:57 Sat, Jan 24

The Pack’s Daughter