Shattered Bonds A Second Chance Mate (by Yui) novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Ellaine’s point of view:

The moment the vents hissed, I tasted betrayal.

A metallic tang hit the back of my throat. Wolfsbane. Subtle, but deadly. My eyes flicked toward Francesco, whose golden gaze sharpened in warning. Og bond sparked, a silent thread of alarm passing between us.

Guards moved with precision. Not uncertainty. Not hesitation.

They weren’t reacting to a disruption.

They were following a plan.

Francesco felt it too. I could see it in the slight shift of his stance, the way his hand slid protectively in front of me. But he wasn’t fast enough to stop what

came next.

My magic rose before thought could intervene. It flared through my veins like liquid moonlight, coiling around my fingers and flaring to life in silver and white. A shield of energy burst outward from my palm, catching the nearest three guards mid–lunge and hurling them back.

They crashed against marble pillars with sickening cracks.

Gasps filled the air. A few council members stood, startled. Some began shouting.

I took a breath, grounding myself. I could feel the ancient runes beneath my feet vibrating, as if the very stones of the chamber remembered what I was.

The White Wolf.

But before I could move again–before I could prepare another ward or pull Francesco closer–he shouted something I couldn’t hear.

A hand gripped my arm.

Too fast.

Not one of the guards. A healer. Or what I thought was a healer.

Something stung. My breath caught.

My head snapped toward my attacker. A syringe. Glinting glass. A heavy, viscous liquid inside.

Wolfsbane.

Not in the air. Not inhaled. Injected.

Direct to the bloodstream.

The magic around me stuttered. It faltered like a flame drowning in oil. My body screamed against the intrusion. Every cell revolted. My heart beat twice in a row–then skipped the third.

I staggered back.

My legs gave way.

“Ellaine!”

Francesco’s voice. Shattering.

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Chapter 99

He roared, a sound that made the floor tremble, but he was already choking on the wolfsbane mist. His goldreyes widened in house he has in

reach me.

I tried to raise a hand to him.

To say something.

To do anything.

But the light went out.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

Third–person omniscient:

The council chamber descended into chaos.

Francesco collapsed an instant later, face–down beside his mate. His claws raked marble, leaving gouges in the polished stone. His last conscious breath was a promise torn from his throat.

He would not forgive this.

Silence fell heavy in the aftermath.

Then voices.

Harsh. Shaken.

“What have you done?!” Councilor Viona shouted, rising to her feet. Her composure, usually flawless, had shattered into something close to fear.

Councilor Malek looked pale. His jaw clenched. “Do you understand what that Alpha will do when he wakes?”

“You’ve just declared war,” another muttered, his hand trembling against the armrest of his chair.

Elder Marsen exhaled, slowly, as though carrying a burden no one else could. “You all act as if this wasn’t inevitable. Francesco was never going to obey forever. The White Wolf? She’s a variable we can’t afford.”

“That doesn’t mean we should’ve poisoned them like traitors!” Viona hissed.

Marsen turned to her with cold eyes. “What would you have done? Waited until she burned down a city in a fit of magical grief? Waited until he crowned himself Emperor over all packs? We had a window to contain them. And we took it.”

“And now?” Malek asked, voice bitter. “When he wakes?”

Marsen said nothing.

Instead, he reached into his robe and pulled out a small crystal communicator. Ancient. Etched with runes older than the Council itself. He whispered a

name.

“Luca.”

A moment passed.

Then a door at the far end of the chamber hissed open.

And the past walked in.

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Chapter 99

Luca, rogue Alpha, entered with the relaxed grace of a predator. Tall, dressed in dark leathers, and beating a smirk that had hunted more than the council member’s nightmares. Scars ran up his throat and across his temple, but his eyes held the sharpness of a man who had survived long enough o enjoy his reputation.

He walked in as if summoned to a party.

“You called?” he drawled.

Councilor Viona recoiled. “This wasn’t part of the agreement.”

“No,” Marsen said. “This is my contingency.”

Luca examined Francesco and Ellaine with a curious tilt of his head. “Well… This is easier than I thought.”

He approached slowly, crouching beside Francesco’s body. He tapped the unconscious Alpha’s shoulder lightly,

“Still breathing. That’s good. I was worried you overdosed the bastard.”

He turned to Marsen. “I trust my payment is guaranteed?”

“If you deliver them to containment.”

Luca smirked. “Oh, I’ll do more than that. But first-”

With the flick of his wrist, a small device snapped into his hand. Not a blade. Not a dart.

A tube.

He spun, aimed, and fired.

Thwk.

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