All Chapters of The Alpha's Wife, The Lycan King's Obsession : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Gianna was in her room tending to her plant when she heard Pietra's high pitched scream, coming from somewhere downstairs.Before Gianna could move, Evelyn burst through the door, her face flushed."Luna, you need to hear this.""What happened?""A private message was delivered to Alpha Cyrus. From the Lycan King." Evelyn's eyes were wide. "He's demanding the removal of Pietra from Valemont."Gianna's stomach dropped. "What?""The King sent a royal declaration. Pietra has to leave. Immediately.""No." Gianna stood. "No, that's not – that's the opposite of what I want."Evelyn blinked. "Luna, I don't understand. This is good news. Your competition is leaving.""She was never my competition." Gianna moved to her wardrobe and started pulling out clothes. "Pietra and Cyrus deserve each other. I don't want her gone. I want to be gone.""But –""I need to fix this." Gianna dressed quickly, her hands shaking slightly. "This isn't right. The mate bond is sacred. It's more important than any t

Nolan was in his study when the message arrived."Alpha Cyrus of Valemont requests an audience, Your Majesty."Nolan didn't look up from the document he was reading. "Tell him to wait."The messenger bowed and left.Nolan continued reading, though his mind wasn't fully on the words. He was thinking about Gianna and the things she'd told him yesterday. The wells she'd repaired. The roofs she'd fixed. The pack members who brought her gifts in gratitude.All things Cyrus should have been doing as Alpha.But he'd been too busy with Pietra to notice his own pack falling apart.Nolan set the document aside and stood. He walked to the window and looked out over the palace grounds.He'd made Cyrus wait long enough.Twenty minutes later, Nolan entered the throne room.Cyrus stood in the center, his shoulders tight with tension. The moment he saw Nolan, something in his composure cracked.He dropped to his knees."Your Majesty, please. I'm begging you. Revise the declaration. Don't send Pietra

Nolan stared at her, completely thrown.He'd expected anger when she came here. He'd even expected her to demand an explanation for why he'd issued the declaration without consulting her. He'd expected arguments about boundaries and agreements and the limits of their arrangement.He hadn't expected this."Present your real case," he said, his voice harder than he intended. "I don't understand what you're doing."Gianna stayed on her knees, her head still bowed.Nolan stood abruptly and left the throne, crossing the space between them in four strides. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, harder than he meant to.Behind him, he heard one of the guards shift uncomfortably.He pulled back her shawl before she could stop him.Gianna's head dropped immediately, eyes going to the floor as required by law, but he'd already seen what he needed to see.Tears.Her eyes were red and her lashes wet.Nolan's confusion deepened into something closer to alarm."Out," he said without turni

Two weeks passed and with them came the rumors.Gianna first heard them in the training yard where she'd gone for her morning session with the guards.She was early and the guards didn't know she was there yet, hidden behind the equipment shed while they talked."Did you hear about the Luna?" one of them said, his voice low but not low enough. "She had a private audience with the King.""That's impossible," another guard replied. "No woman has ever been granted private court with His Majesty. There are laws against it.""I'm telling you what I heard. She went to the palace, presented her case and the King cleared the throne room. Sent everyone out. Even his own guards.""Then something must be going on between them."The first guard laughed. "Think about it. Alpha Cyrus doesn't visit her chambers anymore, not with Pietra around. The Luna must have found company elsewhere and who better than the King himself?"Gianna's hands clenched at her sides but she stayed hidden, listening."You'

Nolan paced his chambers like a caged animal, his footsteps wearing a path across the stone floor.Elmund stood near the door, quiet and still, waiting.Vivien had been shown to a room in the far wing of the palace, as far from Nolan's chambers as physically possible, but her presence still felt suffocating even from that distance."If I send her away publicly," Nolan said, thinking aloud, "she has every right to seek justice at the council."Elmund said nothing, knowing this wasn't a conversation that required his input yet."The council could challenge my judgment," Nolan continued, his jaw tight. "They could question my honor, my father's honor, the legitimacy of agreements made in his name. And despite being the highest authority in this kingdom, they could take the leadership from me if they decided I'd dishonored a sacred debt."He stopped pacing and pressed his palms flat against the windowsill, staring out at the palace grounds."What I need is a private solution. Something qu