All Chapters of Surrogate for the Lycan King : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

51 Chapters

Chapter Twenty-One — She's Worried About Us

Zeus’s POVThe morning training yard was a violent mess of kicked-up dust, breathing, and the ringing clash of steel.I was going full throttle, pushing my body to the limit.Brutal physical exhaustion was the only weapon I had left to drown out the constant, relentless howling of my inner wolf.I was sparring bare-chested with Marcus, the cold morning wind biting at the sweat running down my back.We moved with insane wolf speed, our practice blades blurring through the chilly air as we traded bone-jarring blows.To anyone watching from the perimeter walls, it looked like a fight to the death. To us, it was just another casual business meeting.I parried a thrust from Marcus's blade, the steel shrieking as I spun around him."What is the status on relocating Kelsey’s family from the Lowland Village to Fullcrest?" I asked, breathing hard through my teeth.Marcus grunted, ducking low to dodge my sweeping roundhouse kick. His boots dug deep into the dry dirt as he sprang back up."The m

Last Updated : 2026-08-19

Chapter Twenty-Two — What To Do Next

Kelsey's POVRowan was walking so close behind me that she almost stepped on the back of my shoe twice.I stopped walking and turned around, crossing my arms over my chest."Can you maybe back up like three steps?" I asked, looking her dead in the eye. "You are breathing on my neck."Rowan did not even blink. She just stood there with that same sour, miserable face she had been wearing all morning."His Majesty ordered me to attend to you," she said, her voice completely flat. "That means staying with you.""Staying with me does not mean glued to my hip," I muttered, turning back around and rubbing my temples.I honestly had no idea if Zeus actually asked her to stalk me, or if she was just doing it to make me lose my mind. Either way, I really just wanted five minutes of quiet where someone was not watching me like a hawk.Then we turned the corner, and I saw Zeus standing there without a shirt on, covered in dirt and looking like someone had just hit him with a brick."Good morning

Last Updated : 2026-08-23

Chapter Twenty-Three — The Wisteria Will Bloom

Zeus's POVI walked into the Council Chamber, and the noise cut off like someone had drawn a blade across everyone's throat.I didn't bother apologizing for making them wait. I walked straight up the stone dais and dropped into my throne, leaning back and resting my elbow on the carved armrest."Start talking," I said, looking around the room. "And make it worth my time."Elder Malakai was already standing near the center of the floor, his long robes practically shaking with impatience. He stepped forward, clutching a thick stack of parchment like it was a weapon."Your Majesty," Malakai began, his voice grating on my nerves from the very first syllable. "We have been patient. We have tolerated the delays, the broken traditions, and the humiliation of the banquet two nights ago. But this charade has gone on long enough."I rested my chin on my knuckles, watching him. "Has it?""She has been here for days now, Sire!" Malakai shouted, gesturing wildly toward the direction of the royal w

Last Updated : 2026-08-23

Chapter Twenty-Four — Our People Are Dying

Kelsey's POVI had both boots jammed into a crack in the ancient stone wall, my fingers clawing at the wooden sill of a second-story window."Just two more inches," I grunted through my teeth, pulling myself up with everything I had.In my defense, Zeus had given me a totally confusing, half-baked explanation in that washroom before running off to his council meeting.Ancient curses. A dying tree. A kingdom going extinct.None of it made any sense, and I wasn't the kind of person who just sat around waiting for people with fangs to tell me what was happening to my own life. If the King wouldn't give me the full story, I was going to find it myself.The grand royal archive was a completely separate stone building located across the inner courtyard. The front doors were locked tight with heavy iron chains, but I had spotted this low window on the back wall earlier.Plus, Rowan was nowhere in sight for the first time all morning. I didn't know where she had disappeared to, but I wasn't a

Last Updated : 2026-08-23

Chapter Twenty-Five — His Unspoken Secret

Kelsey’s povI stayed on the couch long after Rowan stopped talking. she didn't leave right away. She just sat there across from me, letting the silence do whatever it needed to do. I appreciated that more than I probably showed.My whole life, up until five days ago, had been about three people. Maya, my mom and me. My duty was to keep her safe, keep her fed, keep her laughing about ugly sweaters so she didn't notice how scared our mom got every lottery season. That was the entire size of my world.Now Rowan was telling me the size of it was actually a whole kingdom, and I hadn't asked to carry any of that."How long," I said finally. "Give me an actual number. How long before that tree just — stops."Rowan shook her head. "Nobody knows exactly. It's been dying for decades. It got worse this last year. Worse enough that the Elders panicked and doubled down on the lottery instead of easing off it.""That's not an answer.""It's the only one I have, Kelsey."I pressed my palms against

Last Updated : 2026-09-01

Chapter Twenty-Six — The Enemy Is Already Watching

Chapter Twenty-Six — The Enemy Is Already Watching Zeus’s POV POV I told Marcus to shut the study's outer door before he said another word.But he didn't. He never listens the way a Beta should, but he's also the only man in this fortress who tells me the truth without getting all shaky, so I let it go."The Council is pushing again," he said, dropping into the chair across from my desk like he owned it. "Malakai wants restrictions on her movement. He's calling it 'containment for her own protection' now instead of a prison sentence. Same thing, just dressed nicer.""She isn't getting locked anywhere," I said."I know that. You've made it clear three times this week." Marcus leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "But here's the problem, Zeus. You're protecting her from everything except the truth. That's not the same as protecting her."My jaw tightened. "She doesn't need to know Malakai's been asking about her home town.""She's going to find out eventually. It's better coming from

Last Updated : 2026-09-01

Chapter Twenty-Seven — Six Guards and a Secret

Kelsey’s POV I stood outside Zeus's study door for a long moment after Marcus's words hit me, my hand still frozen in the air.I was about to knock when I heard footsteps coming from the east wing. So I backed away quietly and walked back to my own chambers. I still would have knocked on the door but I chickened out because I needed to think before I said something I couldn't take back. Whatever the Council was planning, whatever Zeus hadn't told me, I wanted to face it clear-headed, not shaking with panic or anger.But the second I turned the corner toward my suite, I noticed something was off.There were more guards than usual lining the hallway. Not just the two stationed outside my door like every other night. Four more stood spaced along the corridor, and they weren't looking at my room.They were watching the hall itself, eyes scanning every shadow, every archway, like they expected something to come out of the walls.I stopped in front of the nearest one, a broad-shouldered g

Last Updated : 2026-09-02

Chapter Twenty-Eight — When Dead Things Bloom

Zeus’s PovI knew the second she walked through my study door that this wasn't going to be a quiet conversation.She didn't hesitate at the threshold the way she used to, that first flicker of caution before she remembered she wasn't allowed to show it. She didn't drop her eyes either. She walked straight toward my desk like she'd already decided to show up here before I called her in, and something in my chest tightened at the sight of her like that. Not fear. Pride, maybe. And underneath it, dread, because I already knew what she'd found out. There is nothing that goes on in my fortress that I do not know about. "You put guards on my family?!" she said, before I'd even risen from my chair. "Without telling me?!"“Yes.” I said calmly, as there was no point denying it now. "Since when?""Since Malakai started to mention your sister's name at any chance he gets."She crossed her arms, and I watched the fire building behind her eyes, the same fire that made her slap my hand away the f

Last Updated : 2026-09-02

Chapter Twenty-Nine — More Silver on the Dead Branch

Chapter Twenty-Nine — More Silver on the Dead BranchKelsey’s POV I ran after him before he'd even reached the door.Zeus didn't tell me to stay behind. I don't think he had time to. His whole body had gone rigid the second that alarm tore through the fortress, and he moved down the corridor like a man chasing something he couldn't afford to lose.And I chased right behind him.Servants were being herded toward the inner halls, guards moving in tight formations past us with weapons already drawn, and the whole palace had shifted into something sharp and alert in the span of seconds. Nobody stopped me. I think everyone was too busy trying to figure out what was happening to notice one human girl sprinting after their King.I already had a guess where we were headed. The alarm came from the east wing. From the gardens.From the tree.We pushed through the iron door into the courtyard, and the sight stole the breath right out of my lungs.The branch I'd touched days ago, the one that ha

Last Updated : 2026-09-03

Chapter Thirty — The Records Forgot

Zeus’s POV The word left my mouth before I could stop it. *Impossible.* I had lived two hundred years. I had watched this wisteria wither branch by branch since before I could even grow a proper beard. I knew every inch of that tree's decay like a man knows the sound of his own failing heartbeat. And I had never, not once, seen it bloom like this. The alarm hadn't been raised because of an attack. I understood that now, standing there with the silver light still pulsing against the dark. The ancient wards laid over this garden centuries ago existed for exactly one purpose — to alert the Crown if the tree's condition changed. For decades, that meant only decline but tonight, for the first time, it had registered something else entirely. Life. "Clear the garden," I ordered, my voice sharper than I meant it to be. "Everyone except Varian, Marcus, and the inner guard. Now." Guards moved fast, herding the curious staff back through the iron door. I didn't want an audience for this.

Last Updated : 2026-09-03

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