Unbroken Fire

Unbroken Fire

Aliena Anderson · Completed · 171.1k Words

1k
Hot
1.1k
Views
3
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

In the empire of the elite, the Reckoning is a bloodsport. For the rich, it’s glory. For the poor, it’s a death sentence. Kaela didn’t come from the slums to win. She came for blood. Her brother died in this spectacle, and she will stop at nothing to expose the rotting heart of the empire. To survive, she must play a deadly game of alliances. But her biggest threat isn't the monsters in the arena, it’s Dagon Vale. The academy’s golden boy, the system’s favorite son, and the man who holds a haunting secret about her brother’s death.

Chapter 1

The gates of Ashgrave Academy rose before Kaela like the jaws of some ancient beast, all black iron and twisted spires that seemed to claw at the gray morning sky. She stood at the bottom of the marble steps, her single canvas bag clutched in both hands, and tried to remember how to breathe.

Six months, she told herself. Six months until the Reckoning. Six months to find the truth.

The other new arrivals swept past her in silk and velvet, their voices carrying the easy confidence of those who had never doubted their place in the world. Their servants followed behind, arms laden with trunks and cases that probably cost more than Kaela's family had ever owned.

She didn't belong here. The threadbare coat that had been her father's, the boots with their carefully mended soles, the nervous energy that made her hands shake, everything about her screamed outsider. But that was exactly why she had to be here.

For Kieran.

The memory of her brother's funeral pyre still burned behind her eyes. The way the flames had consumed his broken body, the silence of the crowd who had gathered not to mourn but to gawk at another casualty of the empire's bloodsport. The way their mother had stood empty-eyed beside the fire, something vital inside her dying along with her firstborn son.

Kaela climbed the steps.

The entrance hall was a cathedral of marble and gold, its vaulted ceiling painted with scenes of past Reckonings. Heroes and monsters locked in eternal combat, their faces frozen in expressions of glory or agony. At the center of it all, the golden eagle of Armathis spread its wings, talons dripping painted blood.

"Name?" The clerk behind the registration desk didn't look up from his ledger. He was thin and pale, with the soft look of someone who had never known real hunger.

"Kaela Varn."

His pen paused. When he raised his eyes, she saw the exact moment recognition dawned. His gaze flicked over her worn clothes, her calloused hands, the defiant set of her jaw.

"Varn," he repeated slowly. "You're the sister."

The words hit like a physical blow, but Kaela kept her face steady. "Yes."

He made a note in his ledger with deliberate precision. "Room assignments are posted on the board. Classes begin at dawn. Try not to die in the first week,the paperwork is tedious."

The cruelty was so casual it took her breath away. But she'd expected nothing less from this place, this academy that trained children to kill each other for the entertainment of the masses.

Her room was on the fourth floor, at the end of a narrow corridor that smelled of stone dust and old fear. The door bore no nameplate, just a number scratched into the wood: 47. Inside, she found a narrow bed, a desk, and a window that looked out over the training yards.

She unpacked slowly, laying out her few possessions like talismans against the loneliness that threatened to crush her. Her brother's journal, its pages filled with observations about the academy's cruelties. The silver pendant their grandmother had given her, its surface worn smooth by generations of nervous fingers. A knife, small enough to hide but sharp enough to matter.

Through the window, she could see other students making their way across the courtyard. They moved in clusters, sorted by some invisible hierarchy she didn't understand. The ones in fine clothes walked with their heads high, while others,fewer in number,kept to the shadows along the walls.

The Bloodline Divide, Kieran had written. They sort us before we even arrive. Noble and common. Worthy and worthless. But they're wrong about who has value.

A bell tolled somewhere in the academy's depths, its bronze voice echoing off stone walls. First meal. Time to see exactly what she'd walked into.

The dining hall was a cavern of long tables and flickering torches, filled with the sounds of conversation and clinking cutlery. Kaela took a tray and joined the line for food, acutely aware of the stares that followed her. Whispers rose in her wake like smoke.

"That's her, the sister."

"Can you believe she volunteered?"

"She'll be dead by midwinter."

She found an empty spot at the end of a table near the back, next to a boy who looked as uncomfortable as she felt. He had sandy hair and clever eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, and when he smiled at her, the expression was genuine.

"Brin Ashworth," he said, extending a hand. "And you're the infamous Kaela Varn."

"Infamous?" She accepted the handshake, noting the ink stains on his fingers.

"Oh, you're the talk of the academy. A girl from the Rust District who volunteered for the Reckoning? That's either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid." His grin took the sting out of the words. "I'm leaning toward bravery."

"What about you? Let me guess,trade family?"

"Guilty. My parents run the largest printing house in the capital. They think I'm here to bring honor to our name." He picked at his food with obvious distaste. "Really, I just wanted to see if I could make it through six months without dying of fear."

Despite everything, Kaela found herself smiling. "How's that working out so far?"

"Ask me again tomorrow."

Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion at the high table, where the noble students held court. A girl with silver-blonde hair was holding forth to her admirers, her voice carrying clearly across the hall.

"The audacity is breathtaking," she was saying. "To think that trash from the slums could stand with her betters. Some people simply don't know their place."

Every word was designed to cut, and judging by the satisfied smile on the girl's face, she knew her target was listening. Kaela felt heat rise in her cheeks, but she forced herself to stay seated.

"That's Selene Aeris," Brin murmured. "Her family controls half the shipping in the empire. She's also..."

"A bitch?" Kaela suggested.

"I was going to say 'dangerous,' but that works too."

Selene's gaze found Kaela across the room, and for a moment, their eyes locked. The noble girl's smile was sharp as a blade, full of promise and threat.

"She knew my brother," Kaela said quietly.

"Ah." Brin's expression grew serious. "That explains the personal touch. Selene doesn't usually bother with commoners unless they've somehow offended her family's honor."

Before Kaela could ask what he meant, another voice cut through the noise of the dining hall. This one was deeper, commanding in a way that made conversations falter and heads turn.

"Enough."

The speaker rose from his seat at the noble table, and even in a room full of the empire's finest young warriors, he commanded attention. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with the kind of presence that seemed to bend the air around him. Dark hair fell across his forehead, and intricate tattoos covered both arms in patterns that seemed to shift and flow in the torchlight.

Dagon Vale. Even Kaela, who had spent her life in the slums, knew that name. Son of General Marcus Vale, hero of the Border Wars. Heir to one of the most powerful military families in the empire. And, according to every betting house in the capital, the favorite to win this year's Reckoning.

He was looking directly at Selene, and something in his expression made the noble girl's smile falter.

"We're all here for the same reason," he said, his voice carrying easily in the sudden quiet. "Six months from now, most of us will be dead. Save your energy for the arena."

The rebuke was mild, but coming from him, it might as well have been a shout. Selene's cheeks flushed, and she sank back into her seat without another word.

Dagon's gaze swept across the room, touching briefly on Kaela before moving on. Even that momentary contact sent an unexpected jolt through her,recognition, assessment, dismissal. In the span of a heartbeat, she saw herself reflected in those storm-gray eyes: small, weak, unworthy of notice.

The moment passed, and conversations resumed their normal volume, but the atmosphere had changed. Kaela found herself staring at the place where Dagon had been standing, trying to understand what had just happened.

"Well," Brin said softly. "That was interesting."

"He defended me." The words tasted strange in her mouth.

"Did he? Or did he just remind everyone that picking fights with the other contestants is a waste of time?" Brin studied her face with those clever eyes. "Careful, Kaela. Dagon Vale isn't the kind of enemy you want to make. But he's not the kind of friend you can afford, either."

That night, alone in her narrow room, Kaela opened her brother's journal and read his words by candlelight:

Day 3 at Ashgrave. The place is a powder keg waiting to explode. They pit us against each other from the moment we arrive,noble against common, fire against ice, pride against desperation. But I'm beginning to see that the real enemy isn't the other students. It's the system itself. The Reckoning isn't just entertainment for the masses,it's control. Keep the classes fighting each other, and they'll never unite against the empire.

There's a boy here, Dagon Vale. General's son. The others treat him like a prince, but I've seen him when he thinks no one is watching. He hates this place as much as any of us. Maybe more, because he understands what it really is.

If I don't make it out of here, I hope someone finds this journal. Someone who can see past the lies to the truth underneath. The Reckoning has to end. The question is: who will be brave enough to end it?

Kaela closed the journal and pressed it against her chest, feeling the weight of her brother's hopes like a stone in her ribs. Tomorrow, the real training will begin. Tomorrow, she will start learning how to survive long enough to expose the truth.

But tonight, in the darkness of her small room, she allowed herself to grieve for the girl she had been yesterday,the one who had never killed, never fought for her life, never looked into storm-gray eyes and felt the ground shift beneath her feet.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

1.7m Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.

Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.

In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?

From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

936.7k Views · Completed · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
The Princess's Revenge

The Princess's Revenge

59.9k Views · Completed · Xena Kessler
Two nations are at war. Valencia's pack is massacred by Alpha Marcus, and she is enslaved by him. When he dies, she is to be buried alive with him as a sacrifice.

Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.

Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.

As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
Bella and Her Beast

Bella and Her Beast

17.8k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
For all the little girls who grew up wondering what happens after the prince kisses the girl—this is the story they never told you.
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?

.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
The Dark Witch & The Alpha Book 2

The Dark Witch & The Alpha Book 2

1.1k Views · Ongoing · Kassy Rae Wall
Pythia comes from a long line of dark witches, she killed her mother for her reckless behavior and becomes the queen of the dark witches and teamed up with the Great White Witch and the vampire queen to fight in the battle to keep the balance in all the different worlds, she meets her mate, Tye in the great battle. Tye is the great white witches brother and a alpha. Together they will embark on a battle to correct the elders and take a step forward to peace among the dark witches, the road is long especially when they find out Pythias true royalty line. When realms collide and the moon goddess has to step in and not only aid because of the new found threat but to tell the secrets she has helped keep hidden for many years, Pythia is forced to train harder, work harder and plan for the absolute unexpected but, as she learns her true powers she starts to realize that she can handle anything that may threaten her and her family.
The vampire queen (Ambrosia) and Pythia will become close and discover the true origins of their pasts. They rely on each other when their mates are not around. New family is discovered and it is time they all come together to face one of the toughest moments in the dark witches history.
King of the Underworld

King of the Underworld

114.1k Views · Completed · RJ Kane
In my life as a waitress, I, Sephie - an ordinary person - endured the icy glares and insults of customers while trying to earn a living. I believed that this would be my fate forever.

However, one fateful day, the King of the Underworld appeared before me and rescued me from the clutches of the most powerful Mafia boss's son. With his deep blue eyes fixed on mine, he spoke softly: "Sephie... short for Persephone... Queen of the Underworld. At last, I have found you." Confused by his words, I stammered out a question, “P..pardon? What does that mean?”

But he simply smiled at me and brushed my hair away from my face with gentle fingers: "You are safe now.”


Sephie, named for the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, she's quickly finding out how she's destined to fulfill her namesake's role. Adrik is the King of the Underworld, the boss of all bosses in the city he runs.

She was a seemingly normal girl, with a normal job until it all changed one night when he walked through the front door and her life changed abruptly. Now, she finds herself on the wrong side of powerful men, but under the protection of the most powerful among them.
Where The Ice Gives Way

Where The Ice Gives Way

42.7k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Charlotte Pierce is used to surviving in motion. New towns, new schools, the same old house on the edge of nowhere, and the same rule that keeps her standing. Keep her twin brother, Charlie safe. Keep his hockey dream alive. Keep her own needs quiet. She works too much, sleeps too little, and saves the one thing that still feels like hers for the middle of the night, when she can lace up her worn skates and carve freedom into dangerous frozen ice. Charlotte and Charlie shifted once, years ago, and never understood what it meant. They had no pack, no guidance and no protection. Just two twins clinging to each other and pretending the voice in their heads was stress, imagination, or loneliness. Then they move to Wellington.
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)

Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

11.5k Views · Completed · Christina
I woke up three years into a marriage I barely remembered—pregnant with twins that weren't my husband's.

Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.

Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
The Last Tribrid: Hunted & Hollow

The Last Tribrid: Hunted & Hollow

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Dancingpen
Hera is dead.
That’s what the blood in the woods says.
That’s what Astrid saw with her own eyes.
And that’s what should have ended it.
But it didn’t.
Because her death wasn’t the beginning of justice.
It was the beginning of the hunt.
As grief fractures their world, Astrid and her friends are forced to confront a terrifying truth—someone isn’t just killing.
They’re choosing.
Marking.
Watching.
And now, the circle is closing.
What started as a single investigation quickly unravels into something far more dangerous, pulling them into a web of ancient forces that have been waiting… watching… and are no longer willing to stay buried.
Enemies rise from places they never thought to look.
Allies become something else entirely.
And survival begins to demand impossible choices.
Because some lives can only be saved by sacrificing others.
As power awakens inside Astrid—wild, unstable, and willing to burn everything in its path—she’s pushed to the edge of what she can control… and what she’s willing to lose.
Even if it costs her everything.
Even if it costs them.
Because this time, they aren’t just being hunted.
They’ve already been marked.

(this is a continuation of 'the last tribrid')
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

2.8m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

4.8k Views · Ongoing · Miranda Carr
I never knew my blood could kill a king—until I met one. Sebastian, the ruthless and immortal King, rules with precision. For centuries, he's ruled with ruthless precision, his heart as cold as the stone throne beneath him. One moment, I'm nothing. The next, I'm his obsession. His touch burns like ice fire. His stare follows me through shadows. And when he feeds from me—God help me—it feels like drowning in darkness and craving more. He tells me my blood is unlike any he's tasted, that my scent drives him to the edge of madness.


He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
The CEO's Unspoken Love

The CEO's Unspoken Love

465.2k Views · Completed · Lily Bronte
"You want my forgiveness?" he asked, my voice dropping to a dangerous timbre.

Before I could answer, he moved closer, suddenly looming over me, his face inches from mine. I felt my breath caught, my lips parting in surprise.

"Then this is the price for speaking ill of me to others," he murmured, nipping my lower lip before claiming my mouth in a real kiss. It began as punishment but quickly transformed into something else entirely as I responded, my initial rigidity melting into compliance, then active participation.

My breathing accelerated, small sounds escaping my throat as he explored my body. His touches were both punishment and pleasure, drawing shudders from me that I thought he felt reverberating through his own body.

My nightgown had ridden up, his hands discovering more of mine with each caress. We were both lost in sensation, rational thought receding with each passing second...

Three years ago, to fulfill the wish of his grandmother, I was forced to marry Derek Wells, the second son of the family that had adopted me for ten years. He didn't love me, but I had secretly loved him all along.

Now, the three-year contractual marriage is about to end, but I feel that some kind of sentiment has developed between Derek and me that neither of us is willing to admit. I'm not sure if my feelings are right, but I know that we can't resist each other physically...