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CHAPTER 26
publish date:
2026-07-18 18:54:47
Latest chapter
FAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED CHAPTER 84
JASON’S POVSomething inside me broke entirely the moment that side door swung shut, severing the last visual connection I had to Ella, and what surged up to replace my careful, controlled composure felt less like conscious decision and more like something ancient and absolute finally refusing to be contained any longer.My wolf, restrained for years beneath careful human composure, beneath decades of my grandmother’s lessons about controlled, strategic leadership, tore free with a violence that startled even me, the transformation crashing over me faster and more completely than I’d allowed it to surface in longer than I could remember.I don’t fully recall the specifics of what happened next, the memory fragmenting into disconnected, visceral impressions rather than clear sequential recollection—the guard who’d been struggling against one of Cross’s men suddenly finding himself with unexpected reinforcement as I tore through the remaining distance separating me from that side exit,
FAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED CHAPTER 83
ELLA’S POVThe armed men’s entrance shattered the ceremony’s careful, formal atmosphere so completely that for one disoriented moment, I couldn’t fully process what was actually happening, my mind still caught in the sacred, focused intimacy of exchanging vows with Jason only seconds earlier.Then the screaming registered fully, the chaos of panicked guests scrambling in every direction at once, and terror crashed over me with sudden, overwhelming force.“Get her out,” I heard Jason shout somewhere behind me, though the words barely registered clearly through the rising panic, my own guards attempting to form a protective barrier around me even as the crush of fleeing guests made maintaining any kind of formation increasingly difficult.I felt hands grip my arms, uncertain for one terrifying moment whether they belonged to my own security detail or to whatever threat had just stormed the ceremony, and fought instinctively against the hold before recognizing the familiar uniform of Jas
FAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED CHAPTER 82
JASON’S POVWe proceeded with the ceremony despite everything Aldric had just revealed, understanding that canceling now, with guests already arriving and Cross apparently already inside our security perimeter under his false identity, would accomplish nothing except confirming to him exactly how thoroughly he’d managed to unsettle us.“We increase security discreetly,” I told Aldric, my voice carrying a forced calm I didn’t fully feel. “Full coverage on every entrance, plainclothes personnel mixed among the household staff, and I want eyes on Cross specifically from the moment he arrives, without alerting him that we’ve identified him.”“That’s considerable risk, Alpha,” Aldric said carefully. “Proceeding with the ceremony while your primary threat sits among the guests.”“The alternative is letting him win without even trying to prevent it,” I said. “I won’t give him that satisfaction. We proceed, carefully, with every precaution available to us, and we make certain he doesn’t get t
FAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED CHAPTER 81
ELLA’S POVThe days following the false alarm passed in a strange, suspended quality, danger and tenderness existing side by side in a way I hadn’t quite experienced before—Aldric’s security review continuing urgently in the background, while Jason and I found ourselves clinging to each other with a closeness that felt considerably more essential than any careful courtship ritual we might have otherwise observed.He barely left my side during those final days before the wedding, and I found I didn’t want him to, the fear from that night settling into both of us a fresh understanding of exactly how fragile and precious what we were building together actually was.“I keep thinking about how close we came,” I admitted one evening, curled against his side while he read through yet another security briefing, his free hand resting protectively against my stomach the way it so often did now. “Not just tonight, with the false alarm. All of it. Sherwood, Chloe, Cross’s entire scheme. How easil
FAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED CHAPTER 80
JASON’S POVI reached Ella’s quarters within minutes, my earlier careful composure entirely abandoned in favor of raw, protective urgency, and found her sitting exactly where I’d left her hours earlier, pale and visibly shaken though otherwise unharmed.“Tell me what Aldric’s found,” she said immediately, before I’d even fully settled beside her, her own fear apparently channeled into the same urgent need for information that had characterized her response to nearly every previous crisis.“The scene suggests Marcus was killed by someone with intimate knowledge of the patrol timing,” I said grimly, relaying what little Aldric had managed to piece together in the chaotic aftermath. “Someone who knew exactly when he’d be alone at that particular section of wall, exactly how long the gap in coverage would last before the next patrol rotation.”“Someone inside,” Ella said slowly, understanding settling into her expression alongside fresh horror. “Not simply an outside intruder who happened
FAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED CHAPTER 79
ELLA’S POVI noticed the shift before Jason mentioned it directly, some instinct built from weeks of navigating this household’s rhythms picking up on subtle changes in the security personnel’s demeanor that suggested fresh, urgent concern beyond what I’d already grown accustomed to.“Something’s different,” I said, watching through my window as an unusually large cluster of guards conferred near the eastern perimeter, their body language carrying a tension I hadn’t seen even during the most heightened moments of our previous crises. “The patrols have changed pattern. There are more of them, moving differently than they were even yesterday.”Jason, reviewing security reports at the small desk near my bed, glanced up with an expression that confirmed my instinct before he’d said a single word. “Sherwood’s approached Cross directly. Sold information about our security protocols, based on whatever he observed during his previous visits here.”I felt my stomach tighten with fresh alarm. “
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