All Chapters of MARRIED TO AN ALPHA, CLAIMED BY THE LYCAN KING : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Bella's POVI was standing in front of the Lycan King in a temple and my heart was beating so loud I was genuinely convinced he could hear it.We had moved out of the healers' room and the healer had done most of the talking, explaining what had happened with the ritual, what the circle mark on my palm meant, what came next. I had stood there and listened and tried to keep my face from doing anything embarrassing while she laid it all out.Once every fourteen days I would need to give the King my blood.That was it. That was my life now apparently. The healer had said it plainly, no softening, no buildup, my blood, drawn at the correct interval, would suppress the curse and over time work toward curing it completely. How long that would take she couldn't say with certainty. What the curse actually was she had explained in terms I only half followed. What I understood clearly was this, I had walked into that room, my blood had touched that altar, and something had locked into place tha

Bella's POVI stood there for a couple of seconds and let the weight of Andrew's tone sit on me properly.Not because I was afraid. Well, not only because of that. But because I needed a moment to acknowledge to myself, honestly, that I had walked into this marriage with my own two feet and my own two hands and dug this particular grave so thoroughly that I was standing at the bottom of it looking up. No soothsayer needed to confirm that. The evidence was right in front of me every single day wearing Hailey's face and Andrew's cold eyes and the mark on my left palm that tied me to a cursed king I had no business being tied to.I had done this to myself.The previous version of me had done all of this and left me to live inside it.I turned and walked upstairs without another word.There was nothing left to say down there tonight and I knew it. Andrew had drawn his line and sitting in that dining room arguing past it wasn't going to move anything. I needed to be in my room with the doo

Bella's POVI wanted to walk past her like she wasn't there.That was my entire plan. Keep my face straight, keep moving, get back to the sitting room and wait for my food and let Hailey stand in that hallway doing whatever she wanted to do with herself. I had already handled the kitchen situation without raising my voice and I was genuinely proud of that. I was not about to let her drag me into something messy on top of it.I moved to the side to go around her and she stepped directly in front of me.I looked at her face and saw exactly what was sitting on it, that particular brand of calm that lives on someone who believes they are completely untouchable, completely covered, completely free to do whatever they like because the person who protects them will always take their side no matter what. She had been wearing that expression since the day Andrew walked through the front door with her and it had been getting more comfortable on her face with every day that passed.I moved to th

Bella's POVMy father was here.I couldn't fully wrap my head around it but I felt it immediately, that warm shift in my chest the second Cordell said his name, something settling inside me. My father, Alexander of Blackthron. Here. In this packhouse. And for one full second I let myself feel the relief of that without pulling it apart or questioning it because I needed that second.I could talk to him. I could find a moment, a quiet corner, tell him I needed out of this marriage without Andrew knowing, without making it a whole political situation, without involving the King again. My father was powerful and he was here and that changed something about today that nothing else had managed to change."Go to your room, Hailey." Andrew's voice came from somewhere behind me, still in that soft careful tone he kept just for her. "I need to handle this."I heard him kiss her forehead. And then his footsteps, and then he was looking at me."Don't even think for one second that you can do any

Bella's POV"I'm going out to see a friend," I said, and I held his gaze and kept my face completely straight and gave him absolutely nothing.Andrew looked at me. Then his eyes moved down over my outfit slowly, the way he did when he was looking for something to catch, something that didn't add up. Then he looked at Julie standing behind me and I felt her go still without turning to check."Which one of your useless friends?" he asked."Someone from before the marriage," I said. "I don't think you'd remember her. It was a long time ago, and my friends are not useless." I kept my voice easy, kept my shoulders relaxed, and kept the whole performance sitting at exactly the right level of casual. "I'll be back before it gets late. Julie's with me and your driver, so they can report to you when we're back." I smiled at him. "You'll know exactly when I'm home."Andrew looked at me for a moment longer than was comfortable and I held the smile right where it was and waited."Hmm." He looked