All Chapters of The Lycan King’s Forgotten Wife: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

ARDEN POVThe small blue glow of the computer monitor illuminated the dark, cramped corner of Dr. Voss’s basement archive lab. I stared at the screen, my breath catching in my throat as the words burned into my retinas.Owner: Marcellis Biotech InternationalFacility: Private Research Lab 04, Sub-Level 3Authorized Director: Darius MarcellisThe room felt suddenly airless. My fingers, resting on the edge of the desk, began to tremble slightly before I forced them to stay calm. For weeks, I had suspected that the synthetic poison tearing through King Ronan’s lungs was engineered, not accidental. I had traced chemical chains, polymer links, and stabilizing agents through hours of exhausting database searches. But seeing my father's name stamped across the digital patent form felt like a punch to my chest.Darius Marcellis. My own father—the man who had disowned me, stripped me of my name, and helped send me to Irongate Prison—was the man behind the compound that was slowly killing the

ARDEN POVI used the tip of the small scissors to snip through the messy knot he had tied around his palm. I carefully peeled the blood-soaked linen away from the open tear across his flesh. The skin was split clean across the meat of his thumb, raw and red, but thankfully free of the black synthetic poison that had previously infected his lungs.I took a small bottle of clear antiseptic from my pocket, unstoppered it with my teeth, and poured a few clean drops straight over the open cut.Ronan didn't flinch. He didn't pull his hand back. He just sat there in the heavy silence, staring down at the top of my head as I worked."Celeste says you're dangerous," Ronan murmured, his gold eyes watching my fingers weave the tight, neat pattern over his skin. "She says you attacked her without cause in the corridor.""Celeste says a lot of things to suit her narrative," I said without looking up from my task. "You can believe her if you choose to.""I didn't say I believed her," he replied sha

RONAN POV"Sit down, Celeste," I said, not looking up from the stack of security reports spread across my mahogany desk.Celeste paused by the heavy oak doorway, her hand lingering on the brass handle. Her pale blue dress rustled softly as she stepped inside the private study, her hair falling in neat, polished waves over her shoulders. She offered a small, hesitant smile, the kind meant to soothe an overworked king who had been locked in meetings all afternoon."Is something wrong, Ronan?" she asked, her voice sweet and cautious. "The guards at the hall entrance said you requested me here immediately. Has the council been giving you trouble again?""No," I replied, finally lifting my eyes to meet hers. "The council is exactly where I left them. This isn't about the council."I leaned back in my leather chair, letting the silence stretch between us. I was done pretending. For years, I had accepted her explanations without looking too closely beneath the surface. I had trusted her st

RONAN POVI stood frozen by the edge of the mahogany desk, the doctor's final words echoing inside my skull like a striking clock. It simply doesn't work that way. The bloodline either carries the frequency or it doesn't.For years, I had accepted Celeste's explanation as an unfortunate truth. I had pitied her loss, honored her sacrifice, and blamed myself for the physical toll our life together had taken on her. But Elias's medical certainty stripped away every layer of manufactured sympathy I had held. If a high-ranking supernatural healer's gift cannot be extinguished by childbirth, then Celeste had lied to my face. She had lied deliberately, consistently, and with a polished intensity that now made my stomach turn.The realization didn't bring sudden anger; it brought a chilling, absolute stillness. If she lied about her blood, what else was a fabrication? The pieces of the night in Black Hollow—the details she supposedly remembered despite my poison-blurred memory—suddenly took

ARDEN POV "Stay where I can see you," Lucian said, steering me through the tall glass doors of the Garden Atrium. "Don't wander off, don't eat anything you didn't watch someone pour, and stay away from the east side." "I wasn't planning a tour," I said, tugging at the sleeve of the gray dress Grace had pressed for me that morning. Two new guards fell in a step behind us, close enough that I could hear their boots on the marble. The atrium was full of delegates from the northern territories, and every one of them was holding a glass and pretending not to stare at me. A string quartet played near the fountain, waiters moved through the crowd with trays, and a sign by the entrance asked guests to keep their phones in their pockets. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to keep this party off the internet. "Why am I here?" I asked, keeping my voice low as Lucian guided me toward a pillar near the back wall. "The King doesn't need a physician at a garden party." "The King needs his phys