[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride":3,"chapter-the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-707":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Alpha's Unwanted Bride",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1497083,1945,"Chapter 707: A REASONABLE DECISION","the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-707",707,"\u003Cp>TWO\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words tore out of me before I could soften them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis stopped mid step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cavern seemed to inhale with her, the soft glow along the roots dimming just slightly as she turned back to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time since I had met her, surprise crossed her face and she didn’t look pleased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No?\" she echoed quietly. \"You were ready to leave moments ago.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I was,\" I said, my voice shaking despite my effort to steady it. \"I thought I was. But I can’t. Not like this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She watched me carefully, saying nothing, giving me the space to speak or break.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pressed a hand to my stomach, feeling the pressure against on my tummy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I don’t unlock my wolf,\" I continued, swallowing hard, \"I won’t be able to give birth to my son.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis’s brow furrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I laughed weakly. \"I know what you’re thinking. You think it’s fear talking. But it isn’t.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I drew in a slow breath, every memory clawing its way up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My last pregnancy...\" My voice cracked, but I forced myself to go on. \"I lost the baby. I was only a few months along. They told me it was sudden. Unavoidable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shook my head. \"That was a lie. My body couldn’t handle it. I nearly died.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis’s expression softened, but I couldn’t look at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I bled for days,\" I whispered. \"I couldn’t shift. Couldn’t heal. My pelvis... it wasn’t built for it. A wolf’s body changes for birth. Mine never did.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My throat tightened painfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This child isn’t just a baby,\" I said. \"He’s a pup. And my body won’t be able to push him out like this.\". Maelis stepped closer, the glow at her fingertips gathering into a trembling white knot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence pressed in around us, heavy and suffocating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can’t leave if I can’t give birth to him,\" I finished quietly. \"What’s the point of escape if my child dies along the way?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis exhaled slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You are the only one who can unlock your wolf,\" she said at last. \"No one else can do it for you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked up sharply. \"Then you understand why I can’t run.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her gaze hardened, just slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And do you understand what you’re choosing instead?\" she asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stepped closer, her voice low but unyielding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Would you rather go back to your father? Let him use you until there is nothing left? Until your power is drained and you are discarded?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My chest tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is that what you want?\" she pressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The truth lodged too painfully in my ribs to be spoken aloud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis’s voice softened again, but the words cut deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And even if you survive,\" she said, \"even if you give birth... he will take your son.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My head snapped up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He will raise him as his own,\" she continued. \"He will mold him. Train him. Feed him lies until your child becomes the very thing you are running from.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My breath came shallow and fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He will be used,\" she said gently. \"And one day, he will be corrupted.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned away, my vision blurring. The cavern walls swam as I stared into the glowing pools, my reflection fractured and unfamiliar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every future she described felt like a blade pressing closer to my throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis rested a hand on my shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don’t have to decide alone,\" she said quietly. \"But you must believe me when I say this: only you can unlock your wolf.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I squeezed my eyes shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had spent my entire life running from that truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From responsibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the fear that if I opened myself fully, I would lose control and become something unrecognizable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But motherhood didn’t allow for half choices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, painfully, I nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright,\" I whispered. \"We try.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis’s grip tightened, just briefly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She led me deeper into the cavern, past tunnels that narrowed and twisted, past doors reinforced with iron and stone. The air grew colder, heavier, buzzing faintly against my skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We stopped before a wall that looked solid at first glance. No handle. No seam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis raised her hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Power rippled outward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt it like pressure in my ears, like the moment before a storm breaks. Symbols flared across the stone, ancient and sharp, glowing white-blue as she murmured words I couldn’t understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wall shuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then split.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chamber beyond was dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moonlight poured in through narrow cracks in the ceiling, slicing the room into pale ribbons of silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the center stood a high stone pedestal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And atop it, a chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Large. Old. Reinforced with gold and sigils carved so deeply they looked wounded into the metal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before I could take another step, I felt it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pulse that matched my heartbeat exactly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ruby glowed from within the chest, crimson light bleeding through the seams like something alive and waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My stomach clenched violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s...\" My voice faltered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The red stone,\" Maelis confirmed quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear and awe tangled inside me as I stared at it, my body reacting before my mind could catch up. The emerald at my throat warmed in response, humming faintly against my skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They were never meant to be separated,\" Maelis said. \"Creation stones recognize each other.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I took an unsteady step forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The light intensified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My baby kicked hard, a sharp, urgent movement that stole my breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pressed a hand to my belly instinctively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I feel it,\" I whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis nodded. \"That is why we must be careful.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stopped just short of the pedestal, my legs trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I unlock my wolf...\" I swallowed. \"I don’t know what I’ll become.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maelis met my gaze steadily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You will become what you choose,\" she said. \"Power doesn’t decide that. People do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ruby pulsed again, brighter now, casting jagged shadows across the chamber walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stared at it, at the future it represented, at the impossible choice narrowing to a single point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time since I had arrived in this world, I wasn’t running.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was standing my ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And whatever happened next would change everything.\u003C\u002Fp>",1025,"2026-06-06T04:22:27.141Z",1,"novelbin.me","bf1d12962c4dd43a21da019b3dc8e73209ef5b3210b5584dc79f241a2ec96a09","the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-653","the-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-chapter-706",728,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-alpha-s-unwanted-bride-cover.jpg"]