All Chapters of The Alpha's Wife, The Lycan King's Obsession : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

89 Chapters

Chapter Sixty One - The Truth before the King

Gianna did not ring the bell.She dressed quickly, pulling on the first thing she found in her wardrobe, and left the packhouse before the sun fully rose.The market was just beginning to stir when she arrived.Vendors were setting up their stalls, arranging their wares, calling out to one another in the early morning light.Gianna went to the fountain first, to Gretel's stall.The woman looked up from stacking bread and smiled when she saw Gianna approaching."Luna, you're up early.""I'm looking for someone," Gianna said. "A young woman named Molly. Brown hair, about my age. Pregnant. Have you seen her?"Gretel's smile faded. "Not today, no. Is something wrong?""I don't know yet."Gianna moved on.She went to every stall she and Molly had passed the day before, retracing their steps, asking the same question over and over.A few of the vendors recognized Molly from the description."She was here yesterday," one said. "With you, Luna. I remember because she was smiling.""But not to

Chapter Sixty Two - The Careful King

Thomas broke quickly.Men like him always did when the exit was gone."Yes," he said, his voice hoarse. "Yes, the child is mine."Nolan said nothing."And yes, we were betrothed. Our fathers arranged it when we were children. I honored it. I intended to marry her.""Until?" Nolan's voice was quiet.Thomas swallowed hard. "Until Alpha Garrett offered me his daughter. Along with a trade alliance that would secure my family's position for the next generation.""So you broke the betrothal.""I had no choice.""You had a choice," Nolan said. "You made it. Continue."Thomas glanced at Molly, who hadn't moved.She sat with her hands folded in her lap, her eyes on the floor, as if she wasn't even in the room."I told her it was over," Thomas said. "That she needed to leave. I gave her money for travel and told her to find somewhere else to go.""How much money?""Enough.""How much?"Thomas hesitated. "Fifty silver."Gianna's breath caught.Fifty silver wouldn't last a month, let alone suppor

Chapter Sixty Three - The Quiet After

Gianna arrived at the palace through the servants' entrance just after dusk.She wore the dark cloak she always wore for these visits, her hood pulled low enough to shadow her face.The hallways were empty. She made her way to Nolan's chambers without seeing a single guard or servant, which meant he'd cleared the path deliberately.When she pushed the door open, Nolan was already waiting.He stood near the window, his posture stiff, his hands clasped behind his back.The healer was there too, arranging vials and instruments on a small table with meticulous precision.The room felt formal in a way it hadn't before.Structured.Controlled.Like Nolan had set it up this way on purpose.Gianna closed the door behind her and pulled back her hood."Lady Gianna," the healer said, inclining his head. "Please, take a seat."She sat in the chair he gestured to, her movements deliberate.Nolan turned from the window but didn't come closer."Your Majesty," the healer said. "We're ready when you a

Chapter Sixty Four - The List of Enemies

Gianna turned around slowly.Nolan was still standing by the window, his expression unreadable in the firelight."You found him," she said."I did.""Who was it?""A council member named Broderick. He holds a seat in the lower chamber and oversees trade regulations for the outer markets."Gianna frowned. "I've never even met him.""You didn't have to." Nolan crossed to his desk and picked up a folded document. "Your work in the markets inadvertently threatened his position. You started reforming distribution channels and redirecting pack resources without going through the traditional approval systems. That made him nervous.""So he sent wolves to attack me?""He paid them. Four she-wolves from a minor pack on the southern border. They were told to scare you, not kill you, but the distinction doesn't matter much when you're outnumbered in the dark."Gianna's jaw tightened. "And you've known this since the bonfire?""I've been tracking it since the bonfire," Nolan corrected. "It took t

Chapter Sixty Five - The Spiralling Man

Gianna reached the packhouse gates just as the last light faded from the sky.She pulled her hood down and stepped inside, expecting the usual quiet of an empty entrance hall.Instead, Cyrus was waiting.He stood in the corridor with his arms crossed, his posture unnaturally still.Not the stillness of calm.The stillness of a man who had already made decisions and was waiting to announce them.Gianna stopped."Where have you been?" Cyrus asked.His voice was even. Too even."Out," Gianna said."I know that much." He stepped forward. "What I want to know is where.""That's none of your concern.""It is when my Beta reports that you've been using the palace servants' entrance."Gianna's stomach dropped, but she kept her face neutral. "Your Beta followed me?""Twice now," Cyrus said. "And both times, you came from the same place. The servants' entrance. The one people use when they don't want to be seen.""I don't know what Ivan thinks he saw—""He saw you," Cyrus interrupted. "Coming f

Chapter Sixty Six - The Watched Woman

The council member arrived at noon.Gianna saw him from the upstairs window as he stepped out of a carriage and was shown inside by one of Cyrus's guards.She recognized him from the document Nolan had given her.Broderick.The man who had paid wolves to attack her.Gianna watched until he disappeared through the front door, then she turned away from the window.She did not go downstairs or try to listen.Instead, she went to the garden and knelt beside her plant.It had grown significantly since she'd first planted it, the stem thick and strong, the leaves reaching upward toward the sun.She pulled the weeds growing around its base and watered the soil carefully.The work kept her hands busy and her mind focused.An hour passed, then another.Finally, she heard footsteps on the gravel path behind her.She looked up. The council member was leaving, escorted back to his carriage by the same guard who had let him in.Cyrus stood in the doorway, watching him go.When the carriage disappe

Chapter Sixty Seven - The Mirror and a Question

Nolan was in the drawing room when Elmund knocked."Come in," Nolan said without looking up from the canvas he was working on.Elmund entered and closed the door behind him."Your Majesty, I have information."Nolan set down his brush. "Go on.""A contact inside the lower council picked up a rumor. Someone is asking questions about your health and your recent withdrawal from public events."Nolan's hand stilled. "What kind of questions?""Pointed ones. The contact says it came through an anonymous channel, but he was able to trace it back to a name.""Which name?""Marius."Nolan frowned. "I don't know a Marius.""He's a council elder," Elmund said. "Lower chamber. He's known for trading information, building networks. He keeps his hands clean but his reach is extensive."Nolan leaned back in his chair. "And this Marius received the question anonymously?""Yes, Your Majesty."Nolan thought about that for a moment.Then he sat forward. "Who gave the elder the question in the first plac

Chapter Sixty Eight - The Vial

Gianna was standing outside her room, her back to the wall.Cyrus had his hand braced flat against the stone beside her head, his body angled to block her path. He was not touching her, but the space between them was small and intimidating. His mouth was moving, his face hard and contorted in the way that meant he was past ordinary anger.Nolan could not hear what was being said.He could only watch.Gianna's expression was flat, carefully neutral, like she had learned how to manage this exact situation and was doing it now without hesitation.She did not try to push past him and did not step back. She just stood there, listening and saying nothing. Cyrus kept talking, his hand still braced on the wall, his body still too close.Two minutes passed. Nolan's grip on the mirror tightened.Finally, Cyrus stepped back and Gianna walked into her room without looking at him. The door closed behind her and Cyrus stood in the corridor for another moment before turning and walking away.Nolan

Chapter Sixty Nine - Second Message

Gianna used the vial before leaving the palace. She uncorked it in one of the empty corridors near the servants' entrance and tipped a few drops onto her wrist, rubbing it into her skin the way Nolan had instructed. The scent that rose from it was faint and clean, with no trace of anything that could be identified as distinctly hers or his. She corked the vial and slipped it into her pocket, then pulled her hood up and stepped out into the night. The walk back to Valemont was quiet, the road empty except for the occasional night traveler passing in the opposite direction. Gianna's mind turned over the vial in her pocket and the months that had come before it. All the times Cyrus had noticed her scent changing, all the suspicion and accusations that could have been avoided if Nolan had given her this from the beginning. She was not exactly angry at him but she wasn't happy either. By the time she reached the packhouse gates, the moon was high and the grounds were quiet. Cyrus

Chapter Seventy - The Woman outside the Temple

Elmund traced the anonymous message back to Valemont by morning.He confirmed the channel first, working backward through the network of contacts and intermediaries until he found the council elder who had received it.Marius.From there, he traced the message to its origin point and confirmed what he had suspected from the beginning.Valemont packhouse.He did not yet know which person inside had sent it, but the location was verified through three separate sources and there was no room for error.He brought the information to Nolan without commentary, standing in front of the desk with his hands clasped behind his back and his expression carefully neutral.Nolan listened in silence, his hand flat on the desk, his eyes fixed on the report Elmund had placed in front of him.When Elmund finished, Nolan leaned back in his chair and was quiet for a long moment.The fire crackled in the hearth and the shadows shifted across the walls, but Nolan did not move."It's not Gianna," he said fin

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