Semua Bab The Lycan King’s Forgotten Wife: Bab 21 - Bab 30

ARDEN POVI stood under the awning, calculating the math over and over in my head. If I didn't charge the phone, I would miss Mira's text message the moment she identified the clerk's signature in the records. But if I didn't buy food tomorrow, my body would give out. My stomach was already cramping from hunger, and I couldn't run high-level diagnostic tests on a patient if my hands were shaking from exhaustion.I shoved the phone back into my inner pocket without buying the cord. Food and physical stamina had to come first. Besides, if Eclipse Medical Center was providing transport, their mobile lab or diagnostic room would have wall outlets where I could charge the battery for free during my shift.I stepped back out into the pouring rain, turning down the dark avenue toward the meeting spot.The storm grew worse as I walked, heavy gusts of wind rattling the metal street signs overhead. The tall, polished glass skyscrapers of the upper business district towered in the distance, thei

Darius pov "You have ten minutes, Marcellis!" Elder Vane barked, his rough voice echoing out of the council room into the marble hallway. "The King's pulse is dropping fast! If you don't bring us a willing Marcellis bride before dawn, your company's royal license is canceled!"I did not flinch. I did not hurry my step. I slowly pulled back the cuff of my dark tailored suit, checked my wrist watch, and smoothed the lapel of my jacket."The Marcellis family always fulfills its obligations, Elder Vane," I said, keeping my voice quiet, smooth, and steady. "Grant me five minutes with my daughter."I did not wait for his answer. I turned on my heel and walked down the quiet marble corridor toward the executive holding lounge. Irritation prickled beneath my calm skin. The five elders around that mahogany table were sweating like frightened animals over King Ronan's failing heart. They sat around dark medical monitors, listening to the synthetic silver decay poison eat through the Alpha Kin

Arden POVDarius leaned forward, resting his palms flat on the desk. "You care about children. If you walk out of this room," Darius continued, his voice low and deliberate, "that adoption file stays locked in the supreme vault forever. You will spend the rest of your life sleeping on clinic cots, hiding from municipal guards, and chasing dead ends. You will never find out which house your son sleeps in, or where your daughter was taken.""And if I sign?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper."If you cooperate, I will personally pull that adoption file out of the vault," Darius said. He picked up the silver fountain pen and held it out toward me. "I will hand you the original registry documents of your children and also their locations the day Ronan recovers."I stared at the silver pen he held out to me. He was lying. I recognized the trick instantly—it was the exact same tone he used seven years ago. But it didn't matter if he was lying.If I signed that paper, I would walk

Arden povHe shifted against the pillows, and for a moment, something almost raw crossed his face before his guard went back up.“I remember the cold air, I remember the hands that didn't shake, even when mine wouldn't stop. I remember a voice telling me to hold still—that I was going to live. I have carried that voice for seven years, and I couldn't tell you what face it belonged to if my crown depended on it." His jaw tightened. "So when Celeste came to me—when she knew the district, the wound, and how she healed me, what was I supposed to think? That a stranger simply guessed correctly? That she made up a night she wasn't there for out of thin air?"He held up a hand before I could answer, counting off on his fingers like a man who had rehearsed this argument more times than he'd admit."She knew the tear in the dress. She knew which side of my ribs was cut open. She knew things no reporter covering a royal ambush could invent, and no physician on my staff would leak. Every year I

Ronan pov Severin leaned down slightly, his voice dropping into a harsh whisper that stayed between the two of us."Think about it, nephew," Severin continued, his eyes narrowing. "If you refuse this ceremony out of pride, you will be dead before sunrise. And if you die, Celeste loses you forever. Do you want that for her? Do you want to leave her alone and unprotected in a court full of hungry wolves?"I closed my eyes for a brief second. The black veins on my neck pulsed hard against my collarbone, burning like hot needles under my skin. I thought of Celeste waiting outside the room, trusting me to survive this night."No," I spat out, opening my eyes and glaring at the ceiling. "I do not want that for her.""Then set your pride aside," Severin said, holding up the heavy leather book. "Darius Marcellis signed off on Arden because her blood carries the exact healer markers required by the ancient charter. She is a diagnostic tool, Ronan. Nothing more. Once your blood is clear, we ca