All Chapters of The Professor's Mate Clause : Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

Chapter 34 AURORA'S POVThe plan my parents suggested leak a false breakthrough, see who reacts needs a face attached to it to actually work.I decide, without telling anyone, that the face should be mine."Absolutely not," Kade says, the moment I raise it the next morning, before the war room has even fully assembled. "That's not a plan. That's you volunteering to be a target.""It's the only version of this plan that actually works." I keep my voice level, though his immediate refusal grates more than I want it to. "If the leak comes from someone with access to court business, they'll be watching how you react to information, not how I react. I can plant something specific — a private conversation with Kai, something someone would only report back if they were actively watching me — and see who moves.""I said no.""You don't get to just say no.""I'm the King, Aurora. In matters of security inside my own territory, I actually do." His jaw tightens, and I watch something protecti

Chapter 36 AURORA'S POV"You said something once," I say, watching Kade sharpen a blade with methodical focus, the quiet ritual of it clearly calming after the exhausting weight of the past two days. "About Lycans rejecting the Goddess. I never asked you to actually explain it."He glances up, something considering in his expression before he sets the whetstone aside. "It's not a short story.""I have time. We could both use something that isn't investigation or grief for an hour."Something in his posture eases at that, and he gestures for me to sit across from him near the low fire crackling in his private study."Centuries ago, before the split, there was only one bloodline," he begins. "Wolves and Lycans were the same people, the same magic, all of it flowing from the Moon Goddess's blessing. She granted power in exchange for devotion obedience to her laws, submission to her authority in matters of pack structure, mating, succession. Most accepted the arrangement without question

Chapter 38AURORA'S POV"Okay, so, weird question," Kai says, dropping into the seat across from me with the particular energy he gets when he's about to say something that sounds unimportant and turns out to be exactly the opposite. "Does Lord Corwin usually send his household staff out for supply runs at midnight?"I look up from the reports I've been reviewing. "What?""Midnight supply runs. Rhys and I were doing a perimeter check last night don't ask, it's a whole story involving a bet I definitely didn't win and we saw two of Corwin's people leaving through the eastern gate with a cart. Fully loaded. At midnight.""That's unusual.""That's what I thought." He looks entirely too pleased with himself. "So naturally, being an excellent and extremely subtle investigator, I followed.""Kai.""I said subtle, not smart. There's a difference." He grins, unrepentant. "They went to an old grain storehouse about two miles out. Abandoned, technically, according to fortress records. Except it

Chapter 40KADE'S POVThe increased security measures mean Aurora's quarters have been moved to the hallway adjoining mine, close enough that a single call would bring me to her in seconds if anything went wrong.I tell myself that's the only reason I find excuses to linger near her door most evenings."You don't have to keep checking on me," she says tonight, catching me in the corridor with an expression that's more amused than annoyed. "I promise I haven't been kidnapped in the ten minutes since you last walked past.""I wasn't checking on you.""You were absolutely checking on me." She leans against her doorframe, something warm and teasing in her posture despite the exhaustion still evident beneath it. "It's the fourth time tonight.""Fifth," I admit, because lying to her has become considerably harder than it used to be with anyone else. "I find I don't sleep particularly well when I can't account for exactly where you are."Something softens in her expression at the admission.

Chapter 42 AURORA'S POVWe move through the forest in careful silence, the small team spread in a formation Rhys mapped out from three days of patient surveillance, moonlight filtering thin through the canopy overhead.Kade stays close beside me, not hovering exactly, but near enough that I feel his presence like a steady anchor against the adrenaline building with every step closer to the storehouse. Neither of us speaks. There's no need to, we've gone over the plan a dozen times, every contingency mapped as carefully as the limited information allows.The storehouse comes into view exactly where Kai's sketch promised, two guards visible at the entrance, lamplight flickering faintly through gaps in the weathered wood."Two confirmed," Rhys murmurs through the signal line connecting our small team. "Positions as surveilled. Moving in."We take the outer guards fast and silent, Rhys and one of Kade's most trusted warriors handling it with brutal efficiency before either man can raise