All Chapters of The Alpha's Forbidden Auction Mate : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Mira's POVElias found me in the library again, which was becoming something of a pattern for both of us, though this time he arrived with an actual purpose instead of simply stealing my breakfast."You're coming with me," he announced, dropping into the chair across from mine without waiting for permission."Am I.""You are. Marketplace. Today. No arguments."I set down the book I'd been half reading, mostly grateful for the interruption, since my mind had spent the entire morning circling uselessly around Adrian's locked door and whatever conversation Rowan had disappeared to have with him hours earlier. Nobody had told me how it went. Rowan had returned quiet and distracted, deflecting every question I'd asked with the same careful vagueness he'd apparently decided, once again, was easier than honesty."Why the marketplace?""Because you've been cooped up in this house looking like someone waiting for the sky to fall, and I refuse to watch it happen for another entire day without i

Mira's POVThe Ashford dining hall glittered in a way Blackwood's own great hall rarely bothered with, crystal and polished silver catching candlelight at every turn, visiting warriors and their families arranged along tables draped in fabric far too fine for anyone to spill wine on without consequence. I sat beside Rowan near the head of the table, the silver dress settling comfortably now that the initial nerves of arrival had worn off, and found myself, despite everything still unresolved between us, genuinely enjoying the evening.Alpha Ashford proved considerably warmer than I expected from someone holding that much power, an older man with a booming laugh and an obvious fondness for Rowan that suggested years of history between their packs. His eldest son, Callum, sat across from me, easy conversation and an open, friendly smile that made the evening pass more comfortably than I'd anticipated."You handle yourself well," Callum said at one point, refilling my glass without being

Mira's POVI looked for Rowan and found him in his study, still surrounded by reports he clearly hadn't touched, and something in the way he sat there, tense and distracted, told me he'd been having a considerably harder morning than I had.Good. I intended to make it slightly harder still."We need to talk," I said, closing the door behind me.He looked up, and for a moment something wary crossed his expression, the particular careful bracing he did whenever he suspected a conversation was heading somewhere he'd rather avoid."About what?""Last night."His jaw tightened slightly, though he didn't try to deflect immediately, which I took as a small, cautious victory."Why did you stop him?" I asked, crossing my arms, needing something to do with them beyond simply standing there feeling as unsettled as I had all morning. "Callum. Why did you grab his wrist like that?"Rowan set down the paper he'd been holding, meeting my gaze directly, though something in his expression suggested he

Mira's POVI decided, somewhere in the days following Rowan's clumsy apology, that waiting around for answers had gotten me exactly nowhere for weeks now, so I stopped waiting.It wasn't a dramatic decision. I didn't announce it to anyone, didn't stage some grand declaration about taking control of my own life. I simply started filling my days with anything that kept my hands and mind occupied, mostly because sitting still left too much room for questions I still didn't have answers to, and for feelings about Rowan that had grown considerably more complicated than I felt equipped to examine properly.The infirmary became my first stop most mornings, Maren and Petra apparently delighted to have consistent extra hands, and I found a strange comfort in the routine of it, folding linens, sorting herbs, sitting with children while Maren tended to whatever scrapes or fevers the day brought. Nobody there asked me about mate bonds or ancient symbols or seals slowly unraveling beneath my skin.

Mira's POVI visited Adrian more often than I probably should have, given that Rowan still hadn't fully decided whether to trust him, though something about the careful, patient way Adrian answered my questions, even the ones he clearly couldn't fully address, made the east wing feel less like a prison and more like a conversation I hadn't finished having yet.He sat by the window when I arrived that afternoon, the same spot he seemed to favor most days, watching the training fields below with the particular stillness I'd come to associate with him, patient in a way that felt considerably older than his apparent age suggested."You look thoughtful," he said, without turning from the window."I'm always thoughtful.""Not like this." He finally glanced toward me, something assessing in his gaze that reminded me uncomfortably of the way he'd studied the archive floor the day we'd found him standing there. "Something's been weighing on you."I settled into the chair across from him, mostl