All Chapters of THE ALPHA’S UNWANTED PLUS-SIZE MATE: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Clara’s pov“I’m moving out.”Marnie looked up from the grill, spatula in hand, one eyebrow already climbing. “Of the diner? Or out of town completely?”“Out of the room upstairs. I found a cabin on the edge of town. Small. One bedroom. Month-to-month lease. I need the space and the distance.”She set the spatula down and wiped her hands on her apron, giving me her full attention. “This about the scar-hand guy who’s been watching the street like he gets paid for it? Or the rumors that keep walking in with the travelers?”“Both. And the fact that every time someone comes looking for the Bondbreaker, the first place they check is where I work and where I sleep.” I leaned against the counter, arms folded. “I’m not running. I’m making it harder for them to find me in my sleep or corner me on the stairs after closing.”Marnie studied me for a long second, then nodded once. “Smart. When are you doing this?”“Tonight. I’ve got enough saved for the deposit a

Clara’s pov“The alliance is cracking.”Theo looked up from the espresso machine, eyebrows raised. “Which alliance?”“Kael’s. With Silvercrest.” I dropped onto the stool and pulled the folded note from my pocket, smoothing it on the counter between us. “Traveler this morning. Two of them, actually. They were talking loud enough on purpose. Said the Silvercrest Alpha is done waiting. They’ve given Moonridge until the next full moon to either present a formal mating claim or watch the border agreements dissolve. And half the reason they’re pushing this hard is the Bondbreaker rumors.”Theo shut off the machine and wiped his hands on a towel, frowning. “They’re connecting it to him specifically?”“They’re connecting everything to him. The public rejection on my birthday. The letters he kept sending. The bond vanished like someone cut it with a knife. The stories are about a woman in a human town who can sever mate bonds permanently.” I tapped the note

Clara’s pov“Something’s wrong with the trees.”Ronan was already moving before I finished the sentence. We’d been working on shields near the cabin when the air pressure changed, suddenly, heavy, like the moment before a storm that hadn’t been on any forecast. The power under my ribs surged in answer, sharp and involuntary, gold light flickering hard under my skin no matter how tightly I tried to lock it down.“Describe it,” he said, voice low and clipped. “Exactly what you’re feeling.”“They’re… watching. Not animals. The trees themselves, or whatever’s under them. And the ground feels thin, like it did in the reports from Moonridge when the borders started failing, but closer. Right under our feet.” I pressed a hand hard against my sternum. The heat was climbing fast, answering something I couldn’t see yet. “It’s reacting to me. To the power. I can feel the pull like a hook.”A low sound rolled through the woods, not wind, not an animal. More like the earth shifting its weight af

Clara’s pov“My mother knew.”Ronan looked up from the map he’d been marking with the locations of the disturbances. We were at the cabin table, the seer’s words from the night before still sitting between us like a third person who hadn’t left.“What?”“She knew about the bloodline.” I set the old envelope on the wood between us. The paper was yellowed, the edges soft, the handwriting small and precise. I’d found it an hour ago in the lining of the duffel I’d carried since the night I left Moonridge, stitched into a seam I’d never bothered to check because I’d been too busy surviving. “I thought it was just a spare piece of fabric that had come loose. It wasn’t. She left this for me.”Ronan didn’t reach for it. He watched my face instead. “You’re sure it’s hers?”“I know her handwriting. Even if I only have a few scraps of it left.” I opened the envelope with careful fingers. Inside was a single sheet, folded tight, like it had been waiting a long time to be opened. I read it again

Clara’s pov“No.”Ronan looked up from the message on my phone, one eyebrow lifting. “That’s the whole answer?”“That’s the whole answer.” I took the phone back and deleted the formal request before I could second-guess the heat in my chest or the way my pulse had spiked when I first read the words. “They want a meeting on neutral ground, three days from now, under council observation. Guaranteed safe passage. A chance to ‘resolve outstanding matters without further public disruption.’ I’m not going.”“They’re trying to control the optics,” he said, voice even. “The public reward made them look desperate and heavy-handed. A formal meeting request makes them look reasonable. Like the adults in the room offering a civilized path.”“I don’t care how they look.” I set the phone face-down on the cabin table hard enough that it clicked against the wood. “Kael rejected me in front of his pack on my birthday. He sent letters I burned or ignored. He sent Marcus to sniff around town. He put