บททั้งหมดของ His Father's Mate: บทที่ 71 - บทที่ 80

ARIA We scheduled a meeting to take place on a Tuesday afternoon. Mara arrived first. She always arrived first—I’d noticed this quirk about her. Soren entered behind her and stopped dead when he saw her. Two seconds of something that wasn’t quite surprise and wasn’t quite ease passed between them before they both found chairs on opposite sides of the room. Clara sat near the window, blending into the shadows. Victor arrived last, which I was fairly certain was a tactical choice. Damian was present, but he had positioned himself near the back wall. His arms were crossed, his posture vigilant. He was watching, available if needed, but pointedly refusing to be the center of the room. I sat in the middle of it. That had been a decision I’d made at seven in the morning and hadn't second-guessed since. "Thank you for coming," I said. Mara looked at Victo

ARIABrendan Ashcroft smiled the entire time he was in the villa.He arrived at eleven with two members of his pack and a gift—good wine, Northcrest label—presented to Noah at the door warmly. Noah accepted it. Afterwards Damian met him in the main hall while I stood beside him. Brendan looked at me when he walked in. The smile didn't change, but his eyes did—just slightly, just for a second—before the mask covered the flicker."Alpha Hawke," Brendan said, shaking Damian's hand firmly. "Congratulations on the ascension. It was long overdue.""Brendan," Damian said. "Thank you for making the trip.""Of course." Brendan glanced at me. "And this must be the Luna.""Aria," I said. "Yes.""Remarkable," he said. We sat in the main sitting room while tea was served. Brendan talked about the Northcrest Pack—territory updates, border security. He gave the formal visit more courtes

ARIADamian explained how the wolf mating ceremony worked one evening while we were in the study. He simply stated the facts. It involved two wolves, their people as witnesses, and an exchange of ancient, immutable words. Both wolves would shift briefly as confirmation—the wolf side acknowledging the human side's decision—followed by the mark. It wasn't the claiming bite, but a formal declaration spoken over the bond that sealed it in the pack record permanently."That's it?" I asked.“Yes," he confirmed."No flowers, no venue deposit, no seating chart"."No," he said."Nova is going to be devastated about the lack of a seating chart"."She will survive," he said."She won't," I countered. "She's going to make one anyway, and then she'll be annoyed she has nowhere to put it".He looked at me, tilting his head. "Is that a problem?"."It's for Nova," I said with a smile. "So, no".

BRENDANI had been Alpha of Northcrest Pack for twenty-two years, having built it from a mid-tier territory into the largest northern pack in the state. I had navigated council restructures, territorial wars, and political shifts that broke lesser alphas and forged stronger ones. I had done it all correctly.Then Damian Hawke had stepped into the Alpha King position—which should have been an open process with multiple candidates—and simply taken it. He did it through a level of dominance so complete that everyone accepted the outcome before it happened. He wasn't inevitable. He was simply very good at creating the illusion that he was.I had identified the hybrid Luna as the gap eighteen months ago. It wasn't about her specifically, though she was formidable, but because a hybrid Luna represented a question the council had never formally answered. Could a hybrid hold the Luna position of the pack whose Alpha was ascending to Alpha King? The law h

ARIA The villa kitchen smelled like fresh coffee exactly one week after the ascension. I poured a cup out of habit, lifted it to my lips, and my stomach immediately clenched hard. The rich scent that usually grounded me now hit like something foreign and wrong. I set the mug down fast, staring at it like it had betrayed me.That was strange. I always wanted coffee.I stood there frozen, heart picking up speed as my brain finally got what my body had been trying to tell me for days. The past four days flashed through my mind— the way certain smells turned my stomach, the bone-deep exhaustion that crept in earlier than usual, the way Niara had been sitting warm and suspiciously patient in my chest.Oh.I picked the mug back up, then set it down again, fingers trembling just slightly against the ceramic.Niara pulsed with that knowing heat, the kind that said she’d been carrying this secret with zero guilt.“How