Chapter 220

• Alpha Alaric’s sharp gaze softened as it locked onto Dean Elira Blackthorn’s delicate, yet unyielding face. Her voice, low and steady, cut through the storm of his doubts like a clear wolf’s howl in the night.
• “Alaric,” she whispered, “from the moment our paths crossed, my heart claimed you. All these years, it has beaten only for you. Even as your strength wanes, my loyalty does not. I am yours—now and forever.”
• A deep, primal relief surged through Alaric’s chest. The fierce fire of anger that had consumed him flickered and died, his taut nerves finally loosening. But then, a sharp, gnawing pain lanced through his legs—the fractures from his last battle still raw and unhealed.