ログインChapter 159BIANCATen days. The ritual window."And Louis?" I said, and my voice came out steadier than I felt. "You said the same thing—""The boy will have a visitor soon," Voss said. "Another excellent piece of work. His will be somewhat simpler because children are less perceptive about the fine details of adults than adults are about each other." She paused. "And the Morrison boy. We have arrangements in place for him as well." She looked at me with the calm of someone who'd thought through every angle for a very long time. "By the time anyone realizes what's actually happened, we'll have everything we need.""Theo is four years old," I said. My voice was quiet. "He's four years old and he's already been through—""I know how old he is," Voss said, without particular feeling. "And I understand that you're his mother, and that this is painful to contemplate. But Bianca, this work is larger than any individual. What the ritual makes possible—the stability it creates, the consolida
Chapter 158BIANCAThe woman who walked through the door on the far side of the room was older than I'd imagined when I'd seen her photograph in Klaus's files. The photograph had been eight years old, taken at a Council gathering, and the woman in it had been in her late sixties—sharp and contained, the particular posture of someone who'd been powerful long enough that the power had become physical.The woman in front of me now was somewhere past seventy, smaller than I'd expected, with white hair pulled back from a face that had settled into the specific sharpness of someone who'd spent decades making careful decisions and rarely regretted them.Miriam Voss looked at me with the calm interest of someone examining something they'd been waiting for."You're awake," she said. "Good. I was beginning to wonder how long that would take."I looked at her and said nothing."The concussion is unfortunate," she continued, moving closer with the unhurried ease of someone who had nowhere else to
Chapter 157BIANCAThe first thing I noticed was the pain.It started at the back of my head and spread forward like something heavy was pressing against the inside of my skull. My thoughts felt slow and thick, like they were moving through water. I tried to open my eyes and immediately regretted it because even the dim light in the room felt like needles.I closed them again and stayed still, trying to remember how to breathe normally.In. Out. In. Out.The second thing I noticed was that I couldn't move my hands.I tested this carefully, without opening my eyes, without making any visible movement that might signal to anyone watching that I was awake. My wrists were bound behind my back, something rough against my skin that felt like rope. My ankles were tied too, crossed and secured to what I was sitting on, which felt like a wooden chair with a solid back.The third thing I noticed was the barrier.This one wasn't something I could see or touch. It was something I felt, the way I
Chapter 156MATTHEW"I keep informed about the families who access our medical resources," he said. "I told you that. It's part of how the Alpha King's office ensures we're providing actual value rather than bureaucratic service." He paused. "Is that concerning to you?""It raises questions," I said honestly. "About the scope of your monitoring and what triggers that level of personal interest."He nodded as if this was a reasonable response, which it was. "Fair. I'd ask the same thing in your position." He leaned forward slightly. "Matthew, I'm here because I want to offer something concrete. The Alpha King's office has resources that extend beyond medical access. Intelligence resources, security resources, the kind of apparatus that a pack Alpha managing an internal challenge and an external threat simultaneously might find useful." He paused. "I'd like to make those resources available to you. Formally. As an extension of the relationship we began when we approved your entry."I lo
Chapter 155MATTHEWI looked at her for a long moment. I thought about Dr. Martinez's assessment—the coercion hypothesis, the possibility that Mia was a lever being used by someone else, the behavioral escalation that didn't fit her established patterns.I thought about the frightened thing I'd seen in her expression, one second before she'd closed it off."I won't call the police today," I said. "But Mia, hear me when I say this. If you come near Theo again—if you approach him, follow him, use anyone else to get access to him—I will stop being merciful. I don't care what else is happening in your life. He is off limits."She looked at me with an expression I couldn't fully read. Something that was more than hurt and less than anger. "You're choosing a dead woman over me," she said quietly."I'm choosing my son," I said. "And yes, I'm choosing Bianca's memory. Because whatever I failed to give her when she was alive, I can at least do right by what she left behind." I moved to the doo
Chapter 154MATTHEWMarcus looked up sharply. "Tonight. I thought—""I moved it up," I said. "From this weekend to tonight. I've been thinking about it since yesterday, and I don't want to leave the pack in this limbo longer than necessary. If I'm going to address them, it should be before Thorne Lockwood is here, before whatever is building around the assembly reaches its peak, before—" I stopped. "I want it done. I want to say what I need to say and let the pack make their decision and deal with the outcome. The waiting is worse than the thing itself."Marcus studied me. "And if it goes badly?"I'd been through this in the early hours of the morning, the quiet hours when honest accounting was easier than it was in daylight."Then I step down," I said. "Hand the position to whoever the pack decides should have it, take Theo, and start somewhere else. I have enough money to make a decent life in a different city. I know what I'm capable of professionally—I've been running a pack for y
Chapter 12 BIANCA The papers felt like lead in my hands as I sat across from Marcus in his office. The Beta's workspace was exactly what I'd expected—organized, and a photo of his mate and pups on the desk. A reminder of what a real family looked like. "I know this isn't easy," Marcus said gentl
Chapter 11BIANCALooking at Louis who looked at me, a bit frightened about the test, made my maternal heart ache a bit as I shook my head and gave him a reassuring smile."Not at all. You might feel a little warm, like sitting in sunshine, but it won't hurt you. I promise."I glanced at the door,
Chapter 7: MATTHEW The word divorce hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. I stared at Bianca,and couldn't process what I was hearing. "Stop being dramatic," I said, my voice harder than I intended, feeling she was throwing this around just to gain my attention, by being ne
Chapter 8: BIANCAI stayed in my bedroom for hours, holding a frozen bag of peas to the bruise to my side which had turned a bright purple already. The bruise had been obtained when Mia intentionally bumped into me. But Matthew had only seen what he wanted to see: me pushing her, me being the villa







