Chapter <b>170 </b>


    The air in the Alpha Manor was heavy with suspicion.


    The great hall had been cleared.


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    Torches burned along the stone walls, their smoke curling upward like uneasy spirits.


    Warriors ringed the room, their growls low and constant, eyes locked on the vampire restrained in chains at the center.


    His crimson gaze glowed with fury, but his body remained taut, protective. He leaned toward the young she–wolf at his side, shielding her with every movement despite his shackles.


    The girl’s face was pale but determined. She clutched his arm as though she would rather be bound beside him than stand free. Her voice had already cracked once begging us not to kill him, but now it held a quiet, desperate strength.


    Francesco’s presence dominated the room. He stood before them, dark eyes burning, his aura pressing down so heavy the torches themselves seemed to flicker with unease.


    I stood at his side, my hand brushing his wrist, a silent tether keeping his fury anchored.


    “Speak,” Francesco growled, his voice echoing against stone. “You cross my border, you trespass on mynd, you dare bring a vampire into my territory–and you think you can kneel at my feet and ask for mercy without exining yourselves?”


    The vampire’s lips peeled back in a snarl, fangs gleaming. “I owe no wolf my words.”


    Before Francesco could strike, the she–wolf cried out, “Wait!” She turned to us, tears shining in her eyes but her jaw set firm. “He is my mate. I will speak. I will exin everything.”


    Francesco’s gaze narrowed. “Your name.”


    Her chin lifted. “Sofia.”


    The name froze me in ce. I felt the bond between Francesco and me go taut with sudden recognition.


    Francesco’s eyes widened, then burned brighter, molten gold.


    His hand clenched into a fist at his side. “Sofia?” he hissed, voiceced with disbelief and fury. “Alpha Dorian’s daughter?”


    Gasps rippled through the gathered wolves.


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    Marlow swore under his breath. Audrey’s eyes narrowed, hand tightening on her de. Monica muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a prayer.


    Sofia flinched but stood her ground. “Yes. My father is Alpha Dorian.”


    Francesco’s aura exploded outward, a growl shaking the very stones beneath our feet. “<b>Damn </b>it!” he roared, the word cracking like thunder.


    The vampire lunged against his chains at the sound, snarling, only to be forced back down by Marlow’s men. His voice was sharp with menace. “Touch her and I’ll tear this hall apart!”


    Francesco whirled on him, fangs shing as his wolf surged dangerously close <i>to </i>the surface. “You dare threaten me, blood–drinker? In my own hall?!<b>” </b>


    The vampire’s crimson eyes glowed, but he didn’t cower. He leaned forward, muscles trembling against the iron, and said, “I don’t care who you are. She is mine.”


    The room erupted in noise–warriors snarling, elders gasping, the sh of tradition and disbelief thundering through every voice.


    I stepped forward, raising my hand. “Enough!”


    The room stilled, but the tension didn’t ease.


    Francesco’s gaze darted to me, wild with fury, but I held it steadily. “Let them speak,” I said softly. “We need the truth before we choose blood.”


    He breathed hard, nostrils ring, but finally gave the smallest nod.


    Sofia looked at me then, her eyes wide, filled with both gratitude and fear.


    “It’s true,” she said quickly. “I felt it the moment I saw him. The bond. The pull. The threads of fate–they tied me to him. I didn’t choose it. But I cannot deny it. He is mine.”


    Her voice broke, and she reached for the vampire’s hand, gripping his fingers despite the


    chains.


    He stilled under her touch, his snarl softening into something protective, almost tender.


    The sight shook me.


    It was a mirror of what I had once feared losing.


    Marlow cursed again under his breath. “This is madness,” he muttered, but even his sharp eyes lingered on the bond between them.


    “Aloha Dorian’s daughter.” Audrey said coldly, ring at Sofia. “Do you


    realize what this


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    means? Your father stood against us at Valmont. He called our King Francesco a conqueror<b>. </b><b>He </b>mocked our words. And now his daughteres crawling here–bonded to a vampire<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    Sofia’s lips trembled, but she lifted her chin. “I didn’t choose this. But I won’t deny it<b>. </b><b>If </b><b>you </b>kill him, you’ll have to kill me too.”


    Her words hung in the hall like a de.


    I felt Francesco’s fury vibrate through the bond, but beneath it was something else–conflict.


    Shock,


    He had faced Alphas, rogues, even demons, but this?


    A vampire tied by fate to the daughter of his political enemy?


    This was a wound and a weapon both.


    He took a slow step forward, towering over them, his voice low and deadly. “Then you will speak. Both of you. You will tell me where you came from, why you are here, and why fate itself dares to mock us with this bond.”


    Sofia knelt beside the vampire, her hands still gripping his as if her touch alone anchored him to this world. His crimson eyes flickered between her and Francesco, but the tension in his body eased–just slightly–under her hold.


    Francesco’s voice cut through the air like a de. “Three chances. Speak truth, or your life ends tonight.”


    The vampire’s lips curled, but before he could answer, Sofia surged forward. “Wait. Please. I’ll tell you.”


    She turned to me, desperation shining in her wide eyes. “This isn’t the first time we’ve met. We’ve been together for months… Three months.”


    Gasps rippled through the gathered wolves.


    Francesco’s gaze narrowed, fury vibrating from him in waves. “Three months?” he growled. “In this territory?”


    “Yes,” Sofia whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks. “We thought no one would know. This ce was abandoned. Empty. The previous Alpha, he never cared. No patrols. We never dreamed the Italian King woulde here, would im it.”


    Francesco’s hand mmed against the armrest of his chair, stone cracking under the force. “You’ve been hiding a vampire under my nose, in mynd?”


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    The vampire hissed, straining against his chains. “Not hiding from you. Hiding from her father.”


    The hall went silent.


    Oh God… Alpha Dorian’s daughter?!


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