Semua Bab Surrogate Bride To The Alpha Stand-in: Bab 81 - Bab 90

Courtyard.Beneath the dappled shade of the courtyard arbor, Lady Ravena reclined with ease upon a cushioned chaise, a silver plate of honeyed figs and almond-stuffed dates set before her. Beside her sat Lady Valaria, heavy with child, her hands gently cradling the swell of her womb.Around them, handmaidens bustled softly, murmuring as they poured cooled rosewater and fanned their mistresses from the midday sun. The air was rich with the scent of jasmine and the hum of idle conversation.“I marvel at you, truly,” Ravena said at length, plucking a fig and bringing it to her lips. “bearing one before, and now again. Are you not wearied by it?”Valaria laughed softly, the sound weary but serene. “Such is the way of she-wolves,” she replied. “We are made to bear, to breed. It is how we secure our place in the eyes of the pack and the council.”Ravena arched a brow, her voice laced with a touch of mockery. “And yet, they still seek pleasure beyond their own hearths. Forgive me, but your h

When Lena learned that Lady Miriam was to be the one to treat her, a flicker of hope stirred within her. It seemed, for once, that fate had not been entirely unkind. Speaking with Miriam would, at long last, offer the answers she so desperately sought, clearing the cloud of confusion that had hung over her for so long.Lena was roughly ushered into the kitchen by Uthred, who barked an order to Jade. The maids, halted in their tasks, turned toward them, bowing in unison."Do not let her out of your sight," Uthred commanded curtly before turning on his heel and departing.Jade, casting a fleeting glance at Lena, spoke with unexpected tenderness, "Come with me to see my mother, Luna."Lena froze at the word Luna. It was a title she had not heard in what felt like ages. She had assumed Jade, like others, would look upon her with disdain, yet there was none of that in his gaze."I am no longer your Luna," Lena muttered softly as she followed him through a door at the back of the kitchen."

Her fork slipped from trembling fingers and struck the table with a sharp clatter.Silence followed—heavy, chilling. The words he had spoken coiled like serpents in her mind. She could scarcely believe them, yet she knew he was capable of any cruelty. Whether to wound her pride or crush her spirit, Alpha Darius had never shown mercy.“Her name was Antara,” he said at last. His gaze was distant, his voice drawn tight with an old sorrow.“A name as fair as the maiden herself. She might have been mine, wholly and without question, but the Moon Goddess, in her cruel wisdom, bound her to us both.”Her hands twitched in her lap.This man—this tyrant, this cold-hearted beast—now spoke with grief so raw it shook her certainty. Could such sorrow truly come from him?“We loved her,” he said, and the words rang with emptiness. “With all the fire in us. Until the day she was forced to choose.”A bitter laugh escaped him.“She chose me, of course. And Vargr, maddened by the choice, left us both be

Lena rose from the bed and drifted across the chamber to the window. Her gaze fell upon the garden below. Once a haven of color and bloom, it now lay choked by weeds and withered by neglect.As she looked upon the dying petals, memory stirred within her. She recalled the first day she had stood there, a girl entangled in sorrow, her heart heavy with burdens not her own. It was then she had seen him, a man cloaked in quiet mystery, handsome and unreadable. Curious, she had drawn near, hoping he might serve as a welcome distraction from her plight.In time, their meetings grew frequent, silent threads weaving a bond neither had expected. She had meant to provoke the Alpha by feigning interest in another. It had been a game, nothing more. Yet, unknowing, she had come to care for the man she believed him to be.And then, he had deceived her.A bitter laugh escaped her lips.How foolish she had been. To think she once believed him merely a secret advisor, when in truth he had been the Alph

The sound of chariot wheels echoed through the stone-paved courtyard, drawing the attention of every servant stationed along the castle walls. As the carriages rolled to a halt within the inner compound, all stood at attention, hands folded, heads bowed in disciplined silence.It had become custom, since the Luna’s ascension to her place beside the Alpha, to receive ladies of noble standing—kinswomen of powerful houses, widows of renown, or merchants of great fortune. But as the first carriage door opened and the lady within descended, a hush swept through the gathering.Lady Scarlet had returned.In flesh. In grace.She stepped down with regal poise, her eyes—sharp as flint and just as cold—sweeping over the assembled staff. Her gown of deep burgundy embroidered with golden vines shimmered in the sun, the hem gliding like water over the stone. There was no mistaking her beauty; time had not dulled it, only honed it to something more formidable.From the second carriage descended anot