Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 229

Ash's POV

I could feel her.

Even through the miles of cursed ground, the thick walls of stone, and the choking stench of Malrik’s magic, the bond between us pulsed like a beacon. Lisa. My mate. My anchor. My everything. Her pain ran through me like fire under my skin, searing, cutting, relentless. Every time she screamed, I heard it in my bones. Every time she gasped for breath, it was as though my lungs were being crushed too.

But I wouldn’t let her break. I wouldn’t let him win.

Malrik thought he could bury her beneath his rituals, his runes, and his endless darkness. But what he didn’t understand was that the bond between mates wasn’t something even ancient wolves could destroy. He could carve at her body, siphon her essence, but he couldn’t undo what the moon itself had woven. And that was what I would use against him.

I stood at the edge of his cursed ground, the thick mists swirling like serpents, the scent of decay burning my nostrils. Enzo stood beside me, his jaw clenched, rage simmering in his eyes. Atlas and Kael waited just behind, weapons ready, each of us bracing for what lay ahead. But the first move was mine. This wasn’t just war strategy—it was personal.

I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly, and let the mate bond guide me. I sank into it, deeper and deeper, past the surface of pain until I brushed against her wolf. She was trembling, weak, beaten down, but she was still there. Still fighting.

“Lisa,” I whispered across the bond. My voice was steady, though my chest felt like it was splitting apart.

Her response came faint, broken, but real. *“Ash…”*

“I’m here,” I said firmly. “Hold on to me. I need you to let me in. Just for a little while. Let our wolves touch.”

I felt hesitation at first, the fear that Malrik would sense it. Then, slowly, like a flower opening in winter, her wolf reached out, brushing against mine. The moment they touched, a surge of strength shot through me, and I could see it—flashes of where she was, the rituals drawn across her body, the heavy chains glowing with cursed sigils. And beyond her, the labyrinth Malrik had woven across his territory.

Traps. Curses. Death snares. The bastard had turned the land itself into a weapon.

But he’d underestimated me.

I let my wolf’s instincts merge with Lisa’s, guiding my mind’s eye deeper into the darkness. Every thread of magic that pulsed through his traps lit up like veins of fire. I could see the weak points, the anchors he had tied to the earth. Where his arrogance had left gaps, where his greed had made him sloppy.

“Enzo,” I called, my voice sharp. His head snapped toward me. “The traps are woven into the ground, tied to sigils spread across the perimeter. Step wrong, and you’re either burned alive, frozen from the inside out, or torn apart by illusions. But I can disable them.”

“How?” Atlas demanded, his knuckles white around his blade.

“Through her,” I said simply. “Through the bond.”

Their eyes widened, but I didn’t give them time to argue. I dropped to my knees, pressing both hands to the ground, and let the mate bond open wider. Pain slammed into me as Lisa screamed in the ritual chamber, Malrik pulling harder on her life force. My body convulsed, but I dug my claws into the earth and forced myself to hold.

Every scream, every wave of agony she endured, I took it and turned it into clarity. Into power. My wolf howled inside me, his fury merging with mine, and together we spread our awareness across the land.

The first trap flared to life in my mind: a circle of cursed fire hidden beneath the soil, waiting for a step to ignite it. I reached through Lisa’s wolf, borrowed her faint healing energy, and wove it into the flames. They hissed, sputtered, and went dark.

“One down,” I growled through clenched teeth.

I crawled forward, my body trembling, sweat dripping from my brow as each trap revealed itself—poisoned fogs, pits of shadow that would swallow a wolf whole, wards that twisted the mind into madness. One by one, I unraveled them, using her strength, my precision, and the unbreakable thread between us.

Malrik must have felt it. The ground shook beneath us, his rage rippling through the air. The mists grew thicker, shadows lunging like claws. But I didn’t stop.

“Stay with me, Lisa,” I whispered through the bond, even as my body burned from the strain. “Don’t let go. You’re my strength, you always have been. If you fall, I fall. And I’m not ready to fall.”

Her voice, faint but fierce, came back. *“Then neither am I.”*

I smiled grimly, forcing myself to push harder. I guided Enzo and the others step by step, clearing paths as we advanced. Where I pointed, they struck, their blades cutting through Malrik’s guardians—wolves twisted by darkness, shadows masquerading as men. We left none alive.

But the traps grew worse the closer we came. At one point, the air thickened with dark energy, a crushing weight that pressed against our lungs, making it impossible to breathe. Kael staggered, Atlas cursed, and Enzo snarled, but I knew what it was: a suffocation ward, feeding off our panic.

I gritted my teeth and poured every ounce of the bond into Lisa’s wolf. “Breathe for me,” I whispered.

She gasped in her chamber, and suddenly I felt her lungs expand, pulling in air despite Malrik’s power. Through her, I mirrored it, pushing the flow of oxygen back into my brothers. Their chests heaved, and the ward collapsed around us.

Enzo looked at me, eyes wide with something like awe. But I didn’t care about his praise. All I cared about was keeping Lisa alive long enough to get to her.

We pressed on, the cursed forest groaning as Malrik poured more magic into it. The ground split open, jagged spikes of stone shooting upward. I lunged forward, my body screaming, and forced the bond to twist them aside. The spikes shattered into dust, but blood trickled from my nose, the strain almost unbearable.

“Don’t you dare quit on me now,” I muttered to myself.

Her wolf pressed harder against mine, lending me what little she had left. My heart twisted painfully. She was already so weak, and still she gave me everything.

The final barrier rose before us: a wall of black fire, towering and endless, the last defense before Malrik’s stronghold. It roared like a living beast, the heat enough to blister skin from miles away. Atlas cursed under his breath, Kael raised his blade, but I lifted a hand to stop them.

“This one’s mine,” I said hoarsely.

I sank back into the bond, pulling every fragment of Lisa’s healing power, every thread of my wolf’s fury, every ounce of determination I had left. The flames surged, clawing at me, burning me alive from the inside. But I roared through it, tearing at the threads of Malrik’s magic, shredding them one by one until the wall screamed and crumbled into nothingness.

Silence followed. The path to the stronghold lay open.

I collapsed to my knees, gasping, my vision swimming. My body shook with exhaustion, every nerve raw and shredded. But I didn’t care. Because through the bond, I felt her whisper.

*“Ash… you did it.”*

I closed my eyes, a single tear sliding down my cheek. “Hold on, mate. We’re coming.”

And this time, nothing—not even Malrik’s fury—would stop me.