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49. Those Insufferable Journalists
publish date:
2026-08-26 04:14:10
Latest chapter
The Beta's Forsaken Daughter 58. Four Names
Isabella POVThe moment we stepped back into the ballroom, I felt something change in the air. People didn't stop talking completely, but their voices got quieter. Dozens of eyes turned toward us. I could feel them watching, and it made my skin prickle with unease.Valerie noticed us first. She was still standing on the raised platform, and she looked at us with a sharp, knowing look. She didn't seem surprised at all. In fact, she looked pleased like someone who had planned something and was now watching it work exactly the way she wanted."Your Majesty," she called out, her voice sweet but loud enough for everyone to hear. "We were starting to think you had left your own ball completely.""A small matter needed my attention," Killian said smoothly. He let go of my arm just before we reached the crowd. It was a small movement, but I understood why he did it. He was putting distance between us so people wouldn't jump to conclusions. Or maybe so they wouldn't reach the right conclusion.
The Beta's Forsaken Daughter 57. Alcove
Isabella POVThe garden was colder than the balcony had been, the manicured hedges giving way to wilder, untamed growth the closer we got to the aqueduct wall. Killian moved ahead of me despite his own order, his stride quick and purposeful, every line of him coiled tight with the kind of alertness I hadn't seen from him all evening not the practiced watchfulness of court, but something rawer."There," he said, stopping short at the edge of a narrow footpath, gesturing toward a small stone alcove built into the base of the wall. A single guard post, meant for a rotating watch, currently empty."Where's the scout who should be stationed here?" I asked."There isn't one. Not since the ambush." His jaw tightened. "I pulled the post an hour ago until we could figure out who did this. Which means whoever lit that torch knew the post was empty. They knew exactly when to move."He crouched at the base of the alcove, examining the ground, and I crouched beside him, ignoring the way my gown p
The Beta's Forsaken Daughter 56. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑦
Isabella POVThe music ended, and Killian didn't let go of my hand right away. He held it a beat too long, long enough that I saw Valerie notice from the dais, her painted smile tightening at the edges, before he finally released me and inclined his head toward a side archway half-hidden behind a bank of white orchids."This way," he said, low enough that it wouldn't carry. "Unless you'd rather field questions from Nora about why the dance ran twenty seconds longer than everyone else's.""When you put it that way."I followed him through the archway, down a short flight of stone steps, and out onto a narrow balcony overlooking the eastern gardens. The night air was sharp after the heat of the ballroom, and I wrapped my arms around myself before I could stop the reflex.Killian noticed, of course. He always noticed. He shrugged out of his formal jacket and settled it over my shoulders before I could protest, the warmth of it ...the warmth of him settling over me like something I hadn't
The Beta's Forsaken Daughter 55. Twelve Dances
Isabella POV"Lady Gemma Ashworth," Valerie called first, her voice carrying easily over the hushed ballroom. A ripple of polite applause followed as Gemma rose, smoothing her skirts with a small, pleased smile, though she shot me a quick, wide-eyed look over her shoulder before making her way toward the dance floor."Lady Iris Fenwick." Iris stood as well, considerably less composed, nearly tripping over the leg of her chair in her haste, earning a few muffled laughs from nearby tables. She caught herself, straightened with as much dignity as she could muster, and marched forward as though nothing at all had happened.I kept my expression neutral as Valerie continued down the list, names I recognized and some I didn't, each candidate rising in turn to polite applause. Nora's posture beside me grew tighter with every name called that wasn't hers, her jaw set, her wine glass gripped just a fraction too firmly."You'd think," Nora muttered under her breath, mostly to herself, "that afte
The Beta's Forsaken Daughter 54. A Spa Day
Isabella POV"You are back, Isabella! I have been worried sick!" Nora exclaimed the moment I approached, though her eyes had already slid past me and landed squarely on Killian, lingering there with an intensity that made her concern feel like an afterthought."She was with me the entire time," Killian said smoothly, a faint chuckle underscoring the words. "There was no need to worry."Nora's smile flickered, just barely, before she smoothed it back into place. "Of course, Your Majesty. How silly of me to fret over her absence when she was in the safest hands in the kingdom." Her voice was soft, almost sweet, but I caught the edge beneath it. "We shouldn't keep the Council waiting any longer, though. Princess Valerie won't be pleased if this drags on.""Quite right," Killian agreed, and with one final glance in my direction...unreadable, weighted, he turned and disappeared back toward the east receiving hall.I watched him go for a moment longer than I probably should have, then made
The Beta's Forsaken Daughter 53. We Are Not Mates
Isabella POVI hadn't gotten more than a few steps past Morrigan when Killian's voice cut through the corridor behind me, sharp and commanding even from a distance."Isabella."I froze mid-step, my heart lurching. I hadn't expected him back so soon not with a disturbance at the aqueducts demanding his attention. I turned slowly, arranging my features into something resembling calm composure, though my mind was already racing through excuses for why I'd wandered so far from his study.He was standing at the mouth of the corridor, golden eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made the torchlight around us feel dim by comparison. Before either of us could speak, a second figure emerged from the shadows behind him....an older wolf in the deep gray uniform of the palace guard, a Beta's insignia pinned at his collar."Beta Corwin," Killian said, not taking his eyes off me. "This had better be urgent.""Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesty." The Beta's gaze flicked toward me for the br
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