Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE SUBSTITUTE MATE FOR THE ALPHA KING: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

My heart, already a frantic, wounded bird in my chest, seized at her words. He was looking for me. The thought was a lightning strike of fear and a pathetic, traitorous flicker of hope. Had he seen the exchange with the stranger? Had he finally remembered I existed?I shoved the card deep into the small clutch I carried, my movements jerky. "What does he want?" I asked, my voice still thick with unshed tears.Riri’s smirk was a razor blade. "How should I know? Maybe he wants to make sure his weak Omega hasn’t embarrassed him further by crying in public. Or maybe he needs you to clear out your things from his wing to make room for the princess’s wardrobe." She took a step closer, her syrupy scent cloying. "Honestly, Sze, you should be thanking me. I’m the one who told him where to find you. I said you were out here making a spectacle of yourself. Again."The flicker of hope died, smothered by a fresh wave of rage. She had sought him out. She had told him I was a spectacle. Of course sh

I froze, pressing myself deeper into the shadows of the courtyard. Dr. Aris’s muttered words were a hook, snagging my fractured attention. The same symptoms. What symptoms? Bianca’s?He stopped walking, leaning against a barrel a few feet away, oblivious to my presence. He pulled out a communicator, his fingers shaking as he dialed.“Riri?” he hissed into the device, his voice low and frantic. “It’s Aris. We have a problem. A big one.”A pause. I could hear the tinny, anxious sound of her voice on the other end but not the words.“No, she’s stable for now, just a faint… but that’s not it,” he interrupted, running a hand over his face. “When I was examining her… I saw it. The mark. The crescent moon birthmark on her shoulder blade. It’s… it’s faded. Almost imperceptible, but it’s there.”My blood ran cold. A crescent moon birthmark? The symbol of the Moonrise Pack royalty was a crescent moon. It was on their banners, their seals. Was it also a literal birthmark on their princess?Dr. A

The grainy image on my phone screen felt like a violation. A hospital file. A DNA test for a stranger. Selena Ruiz. The name meant nothing to me. In my exhausted, overwhelmed state, I clung to the possibility of a mistake. A wrong number. A random prank maybe. I deleted the message, my hand shaking, and tried to bury the unease under the sheer need for sleep.The following day was a fog of routine, each movement autopiloted around Elisse’s needs. I was jumpy, my phone feeling like a live wire in my pocket. Every notification made my heart stutter. And then, in the afternoon, it came again. The same spam ID.This time, it was a photograph. Not a document. A person.It was a baby picture, faded at the edges as if scanned from an old physical photo. A little girl with a tuft of dark hair and big, dark eyes stared solemnly at the camera. She was beautiful. And there, on her shoulder, clear even in the old picture, was a small, distinct birthmark.A crescent moon.My breath caught in my

The single word—“Okay”—glowed on the screen, a tiny, damning confession sent into the void. A pact made with a devil. The weight of it pressed down on me, a physical force stealing the air from my lungs. I had just agreed to become a spy, a thief in my own pack, for a man who smelled of danger and revolution.And then Kairi’s message flashed onto the screen.My heart vaulted into my throat, a frantic, panicked beat. He knows. He knows everything. Riri told him. The world tilted, the walls of my bedroom closing in. This was it. Banishment. Or worse.But the words… they weren’t an accusation. They were a command. A cold, impersonal summons.Be ready tomorrow night. 8 PM. Dress formally. You’re accompanying me to the Moonrise Pack reception.I read it again. And again. The words didn’t change. They made no sense. Accompany him? To the reception celebrating his engagement to another woman? After he’d called me a weak Omega in front of everyone? After he’d ignored my shattered heart on the

“The only liar in this room is you.”His final words echoed in my skull, a taunt. He was so certain, so arrogantly sure of his own truth. But Renejay’s certainty had been just as absolute. One of them was lying. And my life, my daughter’s life, depended on knowing which one.I had to get that file. The need became a frantic, desperate drumbeat in my veins, overpowering the fear. He thought he’d won. He thought I was cowed, defeated. That was my only advantage.We re-entered the glittering fray. The air, thick with perfume and politics, felt suffocating. Kairi’s hand settled on the small of my back, a gesture that looked possessive to onlookers but felt like a brand of ownership, a warning. His touch was firm, unyielding, ensuring I couldn’t bolt.“Alpha Kairi! There you are!” Lady Valeria descended upon us, her sharp eyes missing nothing. They flicked to my undoubtedly tear-streaked face, and a smirk touched her lips. “And Sze. My, you look… flushed. The excitement of the evening must