All Chapters of The Professor's Mate Clause : Chapter 151 - Chapter 160

Chapter 15 AURORA'S POV"Let me help," Draven says, sliding into the seat across from me like he's done it a hundred times before. "I know this court better than anyone. Better than Kade, if I'm honest, though he'd never admit it."We're in the small library off the eastern wing, where I've been buried in border incident reports for the better part of two hours, trying to find a pattern nobody else seems to have noticed yet. I close the file in front of me, not quite fast enough to hide what I'd been circling in red ink."I appreciate the offer," I say carefully. "But I think the investigation is better handled by Rhys and the King's own people.""Rhys is loyal, but he's not particularly imaginative. Good soldier. Terrible strategist." Draven leans back, entirely at ease. "I've lived in this court my whole life. I know which nobles have grudges old enough to act on, which families have quietly struggled financially the last few years, which of them might be tempted by outside money i

Chapter 17 AURORA'S POVKai slides the folded note across the table so casually that if I hadn't been watching for it, I might have missed the handoff entirely."From Mom and Dad," he murmurs, low enough that only I catch it over the noise of the war room settling into session. "Read it after. Don't react now."I tuck it into my sleeve, heart already picking up pace, and force my attention back to the map spread across the table as Rhys begins outlining patrol adjustments for the week. Kade sits at the head of the table, sprawled in his usual careless posture, though I've started noticing the small tells underneath the performance — the way his jaw tightens slightly whenever Draven speaks, the way his eyes track the room with far more attention than his relaxed body language suggests."We've increased patrols along the northern ridge," Rhys says, pointing to the map. "Whoever's staging these incidents has favored that corridor twice now. If it's a pattern, we should see increased act

Chapter 19AURORA'S POV"You're doing it wrong," Rhys says, watching Kai attempt to field-strip a Lycan-issue crossbow with the confidence of a man who has clearly never done this before in his life."I am absolutely not doing it wrong.""The safety mechanism is currently in your left hand. Separated entirely from the weapon."Kai looks down at the piece in question, then back up at Rhys with the wounded dignity of someone who refuses to admit defeat. "This is a design flaw. Not a user error.""It's a design that's existed for four hundred years without complaint.""Well, I'm complaining now. Someone should have said something sooner."I watch the whole exchange from a bench at the edge of the training yard, half amused, half grateful for the distraction from the tension that's been sitting heavy in my chest since last night — Draven's careful evasiveness in the war room, the note from my parents still folded in my desk drawer, the memory of Kade's hand holding mine in that quiet stu

AURORA'S POV"Your parents are two hours away," Kai says, entirely too casually, like he's mentioning the weather instead of dropping a bomb in the middle of my morning tea.I set the cup down slowly. "I'm sorry, what?""They're at an outpost near the border. Official Council liaisons, apparently, though we both know that's not really why they're there." He says it like this is a perfectly normal thing to reveal over breakfast, entirely unbothered by the way my whole body has gone rigid. "They've been feeding intel through me for the past week. The shell account information, remember?""You've known this whole time and didn't tell me they were physically here?""I told you about the intel. I didn't think the exact location mattered.""Kai." I press both hands over my face, torn between genuine relief and complete mortification. "My parents are two hours away, in secret, while I'm navigating a forbidden—" I catch myself before I finish that sentence, glancing around the small dining a

Chapter 23 ADRIAN'S POV"Walk with me," I say to Kade, once Freya's pulled Aurora aside for a private moment near the horses, the two of them deep in quiet conversation I have no intention of interrupting.Kade studies me for a moment, something wary crossing his expression, before he nods and falls into step beside me, leading us along a narrow path skirting the edge of the clearing."You wanted to speak to me alone," he says. Not a question."I did.""Should I be concerned?""That depends entirely on your answers." I keep my tone even, conversational, though every instinct I've honed over twenty years of protecting my family is fully engaged, reading every shift in his posture, every flicker of expression. "You understand why I need to ask certain things directly. Father to father, eventually, if this continues the way I suspect it might."Something flickers across his face.... surprise, maybe, at the directness. "I understand.""Good." I stop walking, turning to face him fully. "