The Alpha's Secret Heir: The Ward's Revenge のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 31 - チャプター 40

Cora’s POV The sunrise was a bleeding wound against the horizon, pale and cold. Silas stood outside in the gravel driveway, his black SUV idling like a low-growling beast. He had told me not to bring much, that he would “provide everything,” but I ignored him. I packed Leo’s favorite tattered rabbit, his softest blanket, and every small comfort that smelled like the life I was about to lose. I couldn’t let my son go into that den with nothing but the clothes on his back. My hands shook as I reached for the small velvet bag hidden in the back of the medicine cabinet. The Amber Drops. I had to be perfect. One slip of the dropper, one missed dose, and the brown mask would fade, revealing the silver rings that would seal our fate. Leo was still drowsy, blinking up at me with sleepy, confused eyes. “Mommy? Why is it still dark?” “Change of plans, baby,” I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Close your eyes for me. Just fo

Cora’s POVThe suite was a masterpiece of stone and silk, but to me, it felt like a beautifully staged set. Leo, however, was enchanted. He was a whirlwind of energy, sprinting from the velvet chaise to the heavy mahogany doors of the secondary bedroom.“Mommy, look!” he shouted, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling. “There’s a whole other bed! Can I have my own room now? Please? A real castle room?”My heart did a painful somersault. I forced a smile, though my eyes were darting toward the door, listening for the sound of approaching wolves. “I don’t know, baby. I don’t think I can sleep without you. Who’s going to protect me from the snoring monsters?”Leo giggled, jumping onto the plush rug. “I’ll be right next door! I’m a brave explorer, remember?”“Of course you can have your own room, buddy,” Silas’s voice boomed from the doorway. He stepped in, looking far too comfortable in this space. “In fact, we’ll sit down later and pick out everything

Cora’s POVThe morning light in the Royal Wing didn’t feel like a new beginning; it felt like a spotlight in an interrogation room. I woke up before the sun had fully cleared the treeline, my heart already thumping a frantic rhythm against my ribs. Beside me, Leo was a warm, heavy weight, his breathing slow and rhythmic. In sleep, he looked so much like the toddler I had raised in that tiny, sun-drenched apartment—innocent, soft, and entirely human.I sat up, my movements ghost-quiet. My first task of the day was the most dangerous.I reached for my bag on the nightstand, my fingers trembling as I pulled out the small, unmarked vial. The **Amber Drops**. I looked at the golden liquid inside, a substance that was both our salvation and our death sentence. If Silas ever caught me administering these, the fragile “forgiveness” he was begging for would turn into a different kind of fire.“Leo, honey,” I whispered, gently peeling back his eyelid. “Just a few drops for the itchy eyes, b

Cora’s POVThe morning air was thick with the scent of pine and impending rain, but inside the Royal Wing, everything smelled like the ghost of a life I had finally outgrown.I stood before the full-length mirror, my fingers moving with a mechanical, detached precision. I had chosen a suit of charcoal wool—stiff and structured. I wasn’t dressing to be professional; I was dressing for a siege.In the pocket of my blazer, the reassignment order from 2021 felt like a shard of ice against my hip. I could still see Silas’s signature—the way the ink had bled slightly at the tail of the *V*. He hadn’t just let me go; he had filed me away. The knowledge didn’t make me feel powerful; it made me feel hollow. If the man standing between me and the Council was the same man who had signed me away once before, how thin was my safety?“Mommy? You look like a statue,” Leo said from the doorway.I forced my expression to soften, turning to see him sitting on the edge of the ottoman. “I’m just thinking

Cora’s POVThe kiss wasn’t a request; it was a reclamation.It was an explosion of everything we had been choking on—the betrayal of the signature, the fear of the Elders, the agonizing five-year void that had nearly hollowed us out. Silas tasted of salt and raw, unchecked power, his tongue demanding entry with a ferocity that made my head spin and my knees buckle. I didn’t fight him. I couldn’t. I had been starved for this—for the weight of him, the scent of him—since the night the clinic turned to ash. My hands flew to his hair, my fingers tangling in the thick, dark silk of it as I pulled him closer, my body molding against the scorching, hard planes of his bare chest.He groaned into my mouth, a deep, guttural sound that vibrated through my teeth and settled in my marrow. In one fluid motion, he swept me up. I let out a sharp gasp, my legs instinctively locking around his waist as he carried me toward the bedroom of my suite. He didn’t wait to reach the bed. He pressed me back