All Chapters of Claimed By The Wolf Kings: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

ARIEL Dimitri insisted on driving me.I'd tried to refuse. Told him I could take the car myself, that I didn't need a chaperone, that I'd be fine. But he'd looked at me with those steady, knowing eyes and said, "I'm not asking, Ariel. I'm telling you. You're not going alone."And I hadn't argued. Because part of me was relieved. Because part of me was terrified of what I was about to do, and having someone there, even if they didn't know the full story, made it easier to breathe.The car was warm, the heater humming softly against the winter chill. Dimitri drove with one hand on the wheel, his eyes on the road, his expression neutral. He didn't push. Didn't pry. Just let the silence stretch between us like a comfortable blanket."You don't have to do this, you know," he said finally."Yes, I do.""Whatever you owe him…” "It's not about what I owe him." I stared out the window at the passing trees. "It's about what he knows. What he can use against me. It’s just better to pay him off

ARIEL Katherine made herself at home like she owned the place.She'd been in the house for three hours, and in that time, she'd managed to rearrange the flowers in the foyer, criticize the placement of the furniture, and demand tea from the maids like they were her personal servants. She moved through the halls with the confidence of someone who had already decided she belonged here.I watched her from the doorway of the kitchen, my arms crossed, my jaw tight.She caught my eye and smiled. "Ariel. So good to finally see you. I was hoping we could talk.""About what? I don't have anything to say to you.""Don't be like that. We're both adults. We can have a civil conversation."I stepped into the hallway. "What do you want, Katherine?""To simply understand you." She walked toward me, her heels clicking against the stone. "You're a fascinating woman, Ariel. So many secrets. So many layers." She stopped a few feet away. "I've done my research, you know. I know quite a bit about you. Ab

ARIEL Tessa stepped forward, a tablet in her hand. "The new formula isn't the same as what you were giving her before. It's weaker. Significantly weaker. I don’t even know how Lev missed it.” "Weaker?" "By about forty percent." She turned the tablet toward me, showing me graphs and data I didn't understand. "Whoever made this diluted the active ingredients. The medication is still working, but it's not working as effectively as it would have been working before. We had it compared with her former bloodwork and we could see the difference.” "But why would he do that?" "That's the question." Lev crossed his arms. "There's also an additional compound. Something we've never seen before." "What kind of compound?" "We don't know yet. It's not toxic, at least, not from our perspective. We’re still conducting further tests. But who knows what kind of effect it’ll have on her system. Or how we can stop or change that. I’m still monitoring everything and rerunning tests to be co

ARIEL I woke up feeling lighter, sure my problems still remained, the storm wasn’t completely over yet, but at least there was some relief. The relief that came with the fact that I didn’t have to hide yet another part of me, or something different. Today, something was different. I lay in bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling, trying to identify the feeling. Then I remembered. I'd told Kazimir. About Damian. About the drugs. About all of it. And he hadn't judged me. He hadn't looked at me like I was broken or dirty or unworthy. He'd just listened. Held my hand. Told me he didn’t care. All he wanted me to do was trust him. The lightness in my chest was trust. Fragile, terrifying, but real. Of course, the worry was still there. It was always there. Evie. The medication. Malhorn. The new child he was creating with my DNA. The weight of all of it pressed against the edges of my mind, waiting to rush back in. But for now, just for this one morning, I let myself breathe.

ARIEL The morning was quiet, almost peaceful. After Kazimir left I felt a little bit more at ease, and Damian didn’t call me again. I was sitting in the kitchen, a cup of tea cooling in my hands, watching the sunlight filter through the windows. Evie was with the staff preparing for the day. Kazimir was out dealing with Damian. The house was still, calm, the kind of calm that felt almost foreign after everything that had happened.Nikolai found me there.He appeared in the doorway, his usual grin firmly in place, his keys jangling in his hand. He was dressed like he was on his way out of the house. "Ariel. You look like you need to get out of this house.""I'm fine.""You're sitting alone in a dark kitchen, staring at a cold cup of tea. That's not fine. That's the beginning of a very sad montage."I almost smiled. Almost. "What do you want, Nik?""I want to take you to the salon." He crossed the room, pulling out a chair and sitting across from me. "Get you dolled up. Hair, nails, t