Bonds at War: The Untouched is Mine novel Chapter 238

Chapter 238 Taking Over

Chapter 238 Taking Over

TESSA

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The moment Ronnie’s scream rang through the clearing, chaos broke loose. Winston and Edith immediately pushed to the front, their authority holding the pack steady when panic threatened to spill over. The rest of us moved behind them, the stronger wolves flanking outward while those less trained pulled children and elders to safety.

“Noelle, Sol-over here!” I called. The three of us instinctively took up the role we always did. We wove between frightened mothers, shouting men, and half-shifted warriors trying to anticipate where to stand. “Stay close! Keep the children back! Don’t run!” I shouted.

Figures cloaked in black emerged from the tree line, their silhouettes stark against the morning sun. At first it was only a handful, but a couple more spilled like shadows across the clearing. My stomach clenched, because this wasn’t the wild chaos of rogues or the clumsy strut of humans. This was coordinated.

The one in front caught my eye. His walk radiated the kind of confidence that came from knowing he was the strongest in the field. My heart stumbled, because something about him was familiar.

When he reached the center and pulled down his hood, the air left my lungs.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Noelle muttered beside me. She leaned in and whispered with incredulity, “Sexy wizard man?”

I whipped my head toward her, glaring. “Noelle.”

Her smirk faltered the moment she noticed my expression, and her brows knitted together. “Okay, okay. Bad time,” she muttered, sobering quickly.

In the front, Edith and Winston moved with care. I could see the tension in their shoulders even as they kept their voices level, their hands at their sides rather than their weapons. They had always known that diplomacy was what kept this land alive and strong-that strength wasn’t always measured by who swung harder, but by who could keep their people standing in one piece,

But even they could sense this was different.

We’d dealt with humans before-ambitious settlers who thought our land was theirs to claim, who underestimated our strength until they walked away defeated. However, never had we faced shifters aligning with wizards and witches.

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I swept my gaze around, realizing too late that the cloaked figures had spread farther than I thought. We were surrounded. Even with our numbers, easily twice theirs, my chest tightened with unease. We were stronger physically, but their magic… if they unleashed it, all the muscle and instinct in the world might not save us.

Kyle stepped forward, his boots crunching against the dirt. “Greetings,” he said, his voice ringing out.

He let his gaze travel across our ranks as though measuring us one by one. Finally, his lips curled faintly. “We come in peace from Montrose.”

Montrose.

Gasps rose among the pack members, their whispers colliding in panicked fragments. “Montrose? Did he say Montrose?”

“It can’t be…”

“Not them…”

Fear spread fast, visible in the paling faces and stiffened postures of my pack members.

Kyle watched their fear ripple with visible satisfaction. His eyes darkened, the corner of his mouth twitching. My stomach turned. We shouldn’t be reacting like this. Fear was exactly what he wanted.

“Unless, of course…” Kyle continued smoothly, “you do not agree with our proposal.”

A hush fell over the clearing.

Winston, steady even when the ground shook, cleared his throat. “Our land has always been amicable to beneficial relationships,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “If both parties are not aggravated, there is no reason we cannot hear what you have to say.”

He glanced briefly at Edith, then continued, “We will hear your words in our meeting room. Let us leave these people to their peace.”

It was an offer of diplomacy even when the air screamed for anything but.

Kyle tilted his head, his smirk sharpening, and for a brief moment I thought he might accept. However, his gaze shifted, landing on the nearly finished frame of the pack clinic. His expression soured with interest, and before any of us could react, he lifted a hand and began murmuring under his breath.

The words were foreign, and I realized what he was doing when he uttered the last word. “No

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12:27 Mon, Sep 15

Chapter 238 Taking Over

-“I gasped, stepping forward.

But it was too late.

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The beams groaned and the ground shuddered. Then, with a thunderous crack, the entire structure shattered-splintering wood and scattering dust in a violent eruption.

Gasps and cries burst from the pack in unison, disbelief and horror twisting their faces. Mothers clutched their children tighter. Warriors surged instinctively forward, barely restrained by Winston’s command.

Kyle lowered his hand with a smirk. “I think you know,” he drawled, “what power you’re dealing with now.”

Silence dropped like a heavy blanket over the clearing. The carpenters stood still, their hands frozen on hammers and saws. Children began to wail, and the little swarm of chatter dissolved into the ragged noise of upset and fear.

Sol moved without thinking. He scooped Calla into his arms, and she buried her face into his neck.

I walked forward. Winston’s voice reached me as I positioned myself in front. “Tessa,” he growled.

But the warning didn’t stop my feet. My jaw ached with the words I wanted to tear out of the man who had done this.

Kyle stood at the center of the clearing, hands relaxed at his sides. The pettiness of his smirk made something cold clench in my gut. I stepped right up to him until his eyes met mine.

“Kyle,” I said. “What are you doing?”

He brightened when I used his name. “Tessa,” he purred, sounding fond. “I was just looking for you.” His fingers trailed absently over the air where the clinic had been. “That little demonstration took a lot. Weakening the structure was harder than I thought. It took—” he made a show of drinking from the flask at his belt, the tremble in his hand visible “-quite a lot of power. Do you mind helping me?”

He moved to reach out, an adoring hand lifting toward my shoulder. I knew better than to let this man touch me, so I stepped back. “Answer my question. What do you want?”

Kyle set the bottle aside and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “We need cooperation,” he said, pacing like a predator explaining the merits of his plan to smaller “We need people. Your people, to be exact.”

prey.

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12:27 Mon, Sep 15

Chapter 238 Taking Over

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“For what?” I asked. I wanted the truth, or at least the lie’s scaffolding.

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“For the betterment of everyone,” he answered. “Trust me. Come with us to Montrose. Help us.

Work with us.”

“You want to take our people to Montrose,” Winston said. “Under what pretense? You didn’t give us a single reason why we should walk willingly into your stronghold.”

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