Claiming the Alpha's Heart

Claiming the Alpha's Heart

Nours ingram

5.0
Comment(s)
View
17
Chapters

In the fog shrouded forests of Crescent Valley, Elara North never expected to return. She thought the past was behind her until the town, the forest, and a mysterious Alpha named Kael Draven reminded her that some destinies cannot be ignored. Kael is fierce, commanding, and unshakably determined. And when he claims Elara as his fated mate, she is thrust into a world of pack politics, primal instincts, and dangerous secrets. Suspicion and attraction tangle together, and the closer she gets to Kael, the more she realizes that survival may mean surrender and love may come with a cost. With the forest alive, predators lurking, and the full moon looming, Elara must uncover the truths that everyone else fears to face. Can she trust Kael with her heart... and her life? Or will the shadows of Crescent Valley consume them both?

Chapter 1 CRESCENT CALL

I hadn't planned on coming back to Crescent Valley.

If I were being honest with myself, I would admit that I had spent years doing everything I could to forget it existed. The forests. The fog. The way the town always felt like it was holding its breath, waiting for something unseen to happen. Crescent Valley was a place I had learned to push to the back of my mind, locking it away with memories I didn't want to touch.

But when my grandmother's voice trembled over the phone thin with age, strained by stubborn pride there was no version of me that could say no. I heard the effort it took for her to sound calm. I heard the pauses where she wanted to say more but didn't. And I knew, even before she asked, that I was already on my way back.

So I drove north.

Mile after mile passed beneath my tires as the world slowly changed. Road signs faded. Cell service weakened. The trees grew thicker the farther I went, pressing in from both sides of the road like silent watchers. The sky remained gray, heavy with clouds that never quite broke. By the time I reached the narrow stretch of highway leading into town, it felt like the rest of the world had fallen away.

Crescent Valley welcomed me the same way it always had quietly and without warmth.

The air felt heavier the moment I stepped out of my car. Cold settled into my skin, sharper than I remembered, seeping through my clothes like it had been waiting for me. It felt deliberate, as though the town itself wanted to remind me that I didn't belong here anymore. Fog clung low to the ground, curling around my ankles like it was alive, like it knew my name.

I pulled my jacket tighter around myself and glanced up at the line of trees bordering the road.

They looked unchanged. Too tall. Too dense. Too close. Their dark branches tangled together, blocking out light and sky alike. The forest had always loomed over Crescent Valley, but standing there again, I realized how little distance there truly was between the town and the wilderness surrounding it.

Grandmother's house sat at the edge of town, just far enough that the forest crept close to the backyard fence. It was smaller than I remembered, the paint peeling slightly, the porch steps worn down by time and weather. Still, it stood firm, stubborn in the way only old things could be, refusing to yield even as everything else aged around it.

She was waiting for me at the door.

"Elara," she said, relief softening her sharp eyes as she pulled me into a hug. Her arms felt thinner than before, but the strength in her grip was the same. "You took your time."

"I came as fast as I could," I replied, breathing in the familiar scent of herbs and old books that clung to her sweater. For a moment, I let myself hold on, grounding myself in something familiar.

Inside, the house felt warmer than the outside world, but even there, something felt off. The windows were locked despite the mild weather. Heavy curtains were drawn tight, blocking out the pale daylight. I noticed it without commenting, though a small knot of unease settled in my stomach.

That night, I slept poorly.

The forest made noise in a way cities never did. It wasn't constant, but when it moved, it demanded attention. Branches cracked sharply, loud enough to wake me. Wind whispered through the leaves, carrying sounds I couldn't quite place. Once, sometime after midnight, I thought I heard a distant how long, and full of something that made my chest tighten.

It pulled me from sleep with my heart racing.

I told myself it was just a wolf.

Morning didn't bring much comfort.

At breakfast, my grandmother frowned as she scanned the yard through the kitchen window, her fingers tightening around her cup.

"Another one," she muttered under her breath.

"Another what?" I asked, following her gaze.

She hesitated, then shook her head. "Nothing you need to worry about."

That was the first time I noticed the missing things.

The chicken coop behind the house stood open, the latch broken clean through. Feathers littered the ground, scattered in a way that didn't look natural. There were no bodies. No blood. Just absence. The kind that left too much room for questions.

Later that day, when I went into town, I heard more of the same.

Old Mr. Hayes complained loudly in the grocery store about losing two goats overnight. His voice shook with anger and something else fear, maybe. A woman at the register mentioned her dog hadn't come home in days. Someone else joked nervously about locking their doors before dark, the laughter forced and hollow.

But no one explained anything.

When I asked questions, conversations stopped.

People shrugged. Changed the subject. Smiled too tightly, as if pretending hard enough might make the problem disappear.

"It's just wildlife," they said.

I wasn't convinced.

Wildlife didn't break locks cleanly. It didn't leave behind neat claw marks etched into wood. And it didn't make a whole town act like they were afraid of their own shadows.

That afternoon, I decided to take a walk.

The path near the forest edge was one I remembered from childhood. It used to feel safe. Familiar. Now, it felt like crossing an invisible line. The closer I got to the trees, the quieter everything became. Birds fell silent. Even the wind seemed to pause, as though the forest itself was watching.

I noticed something half-hidden near the trail.

A backpack.

It was torn, the straps shredded as though they'd been pulled apart by force. I knelt and touched the fabric. It was still damp.

Recently.

My pulse quickened.

I didn't hear him approach.

"You shouldn't be here."

I turned sharply.

He stood a few feet away, tall and broad-shouldered, dressed simply in dark clothes that blended too easily with the forest behind him. His presence was unsettling not because he looked dangerous, but because he felt controlled, like a storm held back by sheer will.

"I was just walking," I said, straightening. "Is that not allowed?"

His eyes flicked briefly to the backpack, then back to me. Gray. Cold. Assessing.

"This area isn't safe," he said. "You should go back to town."

Something about the way he spoke calm, firm, and unquestionable irritated me.

"I can take care of myself."

His jaw tightened. "That's what everyone thinks."

For a moment, we just stared at each other. The air between us felt charged, sharp and uncomfortable, though I couldn't explain why. There was something about him that made my instincts scream even as my curiosity burned brighter.

Then he stepped back.

"Leave," he repeated, softer this time. "Before it gets dark."

I watched him disappear into the trees, moving with a smoothness that didn't seem entirely human.

I stood there longer than I should have.

That night, I wrote everything down.

The missing animals. The silence. The backpack. The man in the forest.

Kael Draven.

Someone in town had mentioned his name earlier, warning me away from his family without explaining why. I didn't know who he was, only that the way he had looked at me felt like he already knew something I didn't.

As I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, the forest howled again.

This time, it sounded closer.

And for the first time since returning to Crescent Valley, I stopped telling myself I was imagining things.

Something was wrong here.

And whatever it was, the forest wasn't going to let me ignore it for long.

Continue Reading

You'll also like

I Slapped My Fiancé-Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

I Slapped My Fiancé-Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

Jessica C. Dolan
4.9

Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé. Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now-billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn't mind. I'd crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one? Wrong. One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That's when it hit me-he didn't love me. He didn't even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn't even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup. So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster-my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise. Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol. Enter him. Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I'd met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes. It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised. But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life. And, as it turned out, the best decision I'd ever made. Because my one-night stand isn't just some random guy. He's richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with. And now, he's not letting me go.

Secret Baby: The Jilted Wife's Final Goodbye

Secret Baby: The Jilted Wife's Final Goodbye

Cait
5.0

I sat on the cold tile floor of our Upper East Side penthouse, staring at the two pink lines until my vision blurred. After ten years of loving Julian Sterling and three years of a hollow marriage, I finally had the one thing that could bridge the distance between us. I was pregnant. But Julian didn't come home with flowers for our anniversary. He tossed a thick manila envelope onto the marble coffee table with a heavy thud. Fiona, the woman he'd truly loved for years, was back in New York, and he told me our "business deal" was officially over. "Sign it," He said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. He looked at me with the cold detachment of a man selling a piece of unwanted furniture. When I hesitated, he told me to add a zero to the alimony if the money wasn't enough. I realized in that moment that if he knew about the baby, he wouldn't love me; he would simply take my child and give it to Fiona to raise. I shoved the pregnancy test into my pocket, signed the papers with a shaking hand, and lied through my teeth. When my morning sickness hit, I slumped to the floor to hide the truth. "It's just cramps," I gasped, watching him recoil as if I were contagious. To make him stay away, I invented a man named Jack-a fake boyfriend who supposedly gave me the kindness Julian never could. Suddenly, the man who wanted me gone became a monster of possessiveness. He threatened to "bury" a man who didn't exist while leaving me humiliated at his family's dinner to rush to Fiona's side. I was so broken that I even ate a cake I was deathly allergic to, then had to refuse life-saving steroids at the hospital because they would harm the fetus. Julian thinks he's stalling the divorce for two months to protect the family's reputation for his father's Jubilee. He thinks he's keeping his "property" on a short leash until the press dies down. He has no idea I'm using those sixty days to build a fortress for my child. By the time he realizes the truth, I'll be gone, and the Sterling heir will be far beyond his reach.

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Temple Madison
5.0

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book