Todos os capítulos de Broken by My Family, Reclaimed by the Alpha King: Capítulo 111 - Capítulo 120

Murielle's POVFenwick arrived shortly after sunrise with a ledger under one arm, looking as though he'd slept even less than I had. Marrow came behind him with two sealed writing cases. I had sent no word ahead to the steward, and he met us outside his office with the wariness of a man who had just been told why we'd come."You wish to inspect the spare key.""With witnesses," I said.He led us to a narrow cabinet against the far wall. The envelope lay inside a locked drawer, sealed with his own mark. Marrow examined the edges before the steward touched it."Intact," she said. Fenwick recorded the condition and the hour.The steward broke the seal, laid the key on a clean cloth, and opened the accompanying register. "No checkout since the last inventory."I read the entries myself. There was no recent signature, no recorded loan, and no sign the page had been altered."So the key wasn't officially issued," I said."Correct," Fenwick answered."That doesn't tell us whether someone mad

Alpha King Cassian's POV "Then tell her before she works it out," Soren said.He had followed me to the east stair, where nobody could hear us but the pigeons on the sill."If I tell her now, she'll wonder whether I shaped every record she reads from here on.""That word has become your favorite hiding place." He said it without heat, which was worse. "She has enough to deal with, you'll say, and she does. She'll have one more thing when she hears it from someone else.""From whom?""From anyone in this palace who's known your face for eight years. Waiting isn't protecting her, Cassian. I think you understand that so well you've convinced yourself another day will make the truth easier."I looked down at the courtyard. The worst part was that I couldn't tell him he was wrong."Seven days," I said."What happens in seven days?""I tell her myself. Whatever she's found by then, whatever she decides." My throat felt raw. "If she wants to leave, I won't hold her here."Soren studied me fo

Murielle's POV I had no answer for her. I read the statement back, line by line, and she signed it with a hand that would not hold still. When I thanked her, she caught my wrist."Whatever you find, don't come back asking me to choose between those girls. I couldn't then."I promised, and rode away from the mill with her question behind me. It kept pace the whole way.We were an hour from Court when I stopped the mare in the middle of the road.Rook reined in beside me. "What's wrong?""A rider came from the registry yesterday." I had been turning it over since Hollin Ford, and it hadn't gotten smaller. Someone had decided which story would be written down twenty-two years ago, and someone had expected me before I'd decided to come. "Maren said he told her a lady would call. Marrow only found her address last night, Rook. We only decided to go last night.""Someone could have been searching for her before we were.""And known a lady would visit.""Possibly.""You're doing it again. G

Callum's POVMurielle's letter arrived before dawn, a day and a half out of Court, carried by a relay rider who had changed horses twice and swayed where he stood."Her ladyship said you were to read it before I left, my lord," he said. "She said there might be an answer.""Sit before you fall," I told him, pointing at the chair by the door. "You'll eat while I read. If there's an answer to send, you won't leave hungry."The letter was a single page in her small, square hand. It gave a name I didn't know, Maren Oakes, and a mark she had drawn from memory, two letters with a short stroke beneath them, and asked me to compare it against anything in Father's records.She had also written of a second infant delivered in the Ravensworth chamber within the hour, recorded under a separate seal. I read that part twice before I could make myself read on.After it came the rest, every document that had persuaded our parents to receive Colette: the certificate, the letter, the guest ledger, and

Murielle's POV"I'm going," I told Rook. "The messenger told Petra it's her private dining room tonight, and that Vesper Calderon will be at the table."He hadn't moved since the seal broke. "Lady Ophelia doesn't write to people without a reason.""Your heart jumped when I read it.""Yes.""Are you going to tell me why?""I know her. I know what she does once she's sure of what she's holding." His eyes stayed on the note. "That's all I can give you before you go in, and I hate it.""You said soon.""I did. I haven't forgotten.""Good. I'm not waiting on anyone's soon.""I'll put Soren outside the door."He looked at the note again, though he had already read it. His fingers closed around the edge of the table, then loosened."You'll arrange my protection," I said, "but you won't tell me what I'm walking into.""I wouldn't send you there if I thought you couldn't walk out.""That isn't what I asked."His jaw tightened. "I know."I waited, but he offered nothing else. I took the note fr