All Chapters of The Alpha King's Unclaimed Queen: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Vivienne POVI was still unpacking when a knock came at the door, the first polite one I'd heard since arriving."Come in," I said, half expecting the silver-haired woman again, already bracing for another set of clipped instructions I wouldn't fully understand.Instead, an older man stepped inside. Silver touched his temples, but unlike most of the people I'd encountered since arriving at the estate, he wasn't dressed in a severe uniform. He wore a dark, well-worn jacket, and his expression was relaxed enough to make him look almost out of place in a house where everyone seemed trained to guard their reactions."You must be Vivienne," he said, offering a small, genuine smile. "Owen. I'm Killian's Beta.""I don't actually know what that means.""Second-in-command, more or less. Advisor, occasional voice of reason, professional smoother of feathers Killian doesn't realize he's ruffled." His smile widened slightly. "It's a full-time job."Despite everything, my shoulders eased down a f

Killian POVI had expected her to come.Marcus's comment had been careless. My silence had been deliberate. I knew which of the two would trouble Vivienne more.The knock came less than ten minutes after dinner. Sharp and deliberate."Come in."The door opened, and Vivienne stepped inside without waiting for another invitation. Color still lingered in her cheeks, and her arms were folded tightly across her chest."You said nothing."I set down the report I'd been pretending to read."I heard him.""Then why didn't you stop it?"It was a fair question. I'd asked myself the same thing when Marcus made the comment. I'd felt the familiar urge to silence him with a look and remind everyone at the table exactly who held the authority in that room.I chose not to."Because if I defend you publicly this early, everyone at that table walks away believing you have influence over me."Her expression hardened."And that's a bad thing?""In this house, yes."She gave a short, humorless laugh. "He

Vivienne POVI meant to find Owen first thing. I'd rehearsed what I would say in my head half the night, replaying the voices from the hallway until the words had worn smooth from repetition. But by the time the door finally unlocked at some unmarked hour of the morning, a staff member informed me that the Beta had left the estate before dawn on pack business and wasn't expected back until evening.I thanked her and closed the door, then stood there for several seconds, staring at the lock.Owen had been the one person in this house who had offered me information without making me feel like I was being managed. Now, when I needed answers, he was gone.I tried to fall back into my morning, but I couldn't. I paced the room, sat by the window, picked up a book from the library and read the same paragraph three times without remembering a word of it. The voices from the previous night kept returning.Before the birth.I still didn't know exactly what those words meant, and that was almos

Killian POVI felt it before anyone told me, some animal instinct in me registering wrongness in the air before the report reached me. A stranger at the gates. Her name is attached to his visit.I was moving before the guard finished the sentence.I crossed the grounds fast, my jaw set, my hands steady at my sides in the stillness I'd trained into myself years ago. Anger made mistakes. I intended to make none tonight.None of that prepared me for the sight of him standing his ground.Draven. I recognized him from Owen's briefing, the ex-fiancé, the coward who'd broken her the night before her whole life changed. He should have been retreating the moment I came into view. Instead he stood taller, something almost eager in his expression, as if my arrival was exactly what he'd been waiting for.Vivienne stood frozen near the gate, caught between us, pale and tense, watching me the way you'd watch a storm deciding which direction to break."You need to leave," I said, and even I heard h

Vivienne POVMarcus found me in the small sitting room off the east corridor, where I'd taken to reading in the quiet hours after lunch. I preferred this part of the house because fewer people passed through, and lately I had started to value any place where I could sit without feeling as though someone was watching me."Vivienne."I looked up.Marcus stood in the doorway with a cup of tea in his hand. His voice was warmer than it had been at dinner, so much so that I almost didn't connect it with the man who had mocked me in front of the entire table."I thought you might like some tea," he said. "It's a particular blend the kitchen only makes for guests they consider worth the trouble."I closed my book and studied him."That's kind of you," I said carefully. "Though I don't remember you caring much for my comfort at dinner."His smile faded for a moment."I was out of line."The answer came more easily than I expected."I'd like to fix that."He walked over and placed the cup on t