Semua Bab The alpha king's slave mate: Bab 51 - Bab 60

Garrick’s POVI’d checked the training grounds, the gardens, and even the small reading room tucked away in the western wing. No Lyra.She wasn't in the kitchen, her chambers and the servants said they hadn't seen her. I was starting to think she’d vanished into thin air.Where the hell had she gone?My stride was sharp, my eyes scanning every corner as I turned down the corridor toward the servants’ wing, thinking she might’ve slipped there unnoticed. I was so focused on my search that I didn’t notice someone stepping into my path until I nearly walked into them.Chloe.Of course.I exhaled slowly through my nose, already feeling the irritation start to build in my gut. Of all the people I didn’t have the patience for right now…The last thing I had time for right now was her nonsense.“Chloe,” I said flatly, giving her a curt nod as I shifted to go around her.She mirrored my movement instantly, sliding into my path again with a fake smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “Garrick.”“Mov

Garrick's POVThe second she held it out toward me, my hand moved on instinct. The leather looked ancient—dark brown, the edges frayed, the kind of book that made you know that it held many secrets from the moment you lay your eyes on it. I wanted to feel the weight of it, see how many pages there were, maybe even catch a glimpse of her mother’s handwriting.But before I could even graze the cover, her palm came down on the back of my hand in a sharp slap.“Hey—” I started, pulling my hand back.“No.” Her voice was firm, the kind of tone that cut through any protest. She hugged the diary closer to her chest, as if I might try to snatch it from her. “I’m showing you this because I trust you, Garrick. But you can’t touch it, and you can’t read it. Not yet.”I raised a brow. “You’re going to wave something that intriguing in my face and then tell me I can’t even peek? That’s cruel.”Her expression didn’t waver. “This isn’t about curiosity. It’s about… caution.”I studied her. “You’ve rea

Lyra’s povI sat on the edge of my bed, elbows on my knees, my fingers rubbing my temples in slow circles.The diary sat on the table like a living thing, heavy, breathing, watching me. Or maybe it was my mind that made it feel that way.Part of me wanted to shove it into the deepest corner of the wall and forget it existed. Twenty years was a long time. Maybe whatever my mother had feared had burned away with the years, vanished into dust and memory.But the other part of me—the part that had been listening to that quiet, instinctive whisper since the moment I touched the book—couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever she’d feared… might still be here. In these very halls. And if it could have touched her life so deeply, what was stopping it from touching mine?My head was a mess. I wanted answers, but I also feared them. I wanted truth, but truth came with a certain bitterness.I got up, picked the diary and put it back into the wall then returned to my position on the bed to think a

Lyra's povI was silent for a moment as I tossed her words over and over in my head. “Thank you for telling me. Do you know how this rumor started?” She shook her head sadly.With a sigh I told her my plans, “if that's the case then I guess I'll have to find that out on my own.”With that, I turned to head out but her hand quickly shot out, grabbing my wrist firmly but not painfully.Confused, I turned to look at her. “Lyra, I care for you but be careful. This doesn’t feel like mindless gossip, it feels planted.”Her warning was… vague.Before I could say anything, she walked out.I kept replaying Arielle’s words in my head long after she left the closet, the small closet felt very suffocating at this point. Her warning wasn’t one I could just brush aside. She was right. Gossip was one thing—cheap whispers that spread like wildfire but burned out just as quickly. But this? This rumor had a backbone because not just anyone would risk starting such a rumor that involved the nobles an

Lyra's povAll the whispers, all the stares—they didn’t matter. My feet carried me forward with small, steady steps until I came to a stop a few meters away from the great table. Every eye in the hall followed me, and I felt their judgment heavy in their gaze, their scorn thick in the air. But beneath it all, Ember purred, lending me her confidence, her strength.For a long moment, the hall was frozen. No one dared move. No one dared speak.Until Lady Marrowind found her voice.“You—” she shrieked, rising from her seat so quickly her chair toppled backward. Her face flushed red, her jeweled fingers trembling as she pointed at me like I was filth staining her perfect hall. “How dare you! A servant—an outsider—parading into the Grand Hall as though you belong? Have you lost every shred of sense? The audacity—”I tuned out her screeching. She sounded like a crow, cawing and spitting venom. Lord Marrowind joined in, his deep voice booming, dripping satisfaction as though this scene had be