Semua Bab HE CALLED HER PLUMP, NOW HE’LL BEG TO KEEP HER: Bab 11 - Bab 20

POV: EvanaI woke up that morning without wondering, for the first time in years, whether Arthur would approve of how I looked.Usually that was the first thing I did, replay whatever he’d said the day before. Too big. Too soft. Too much. Words that had started as insults and slowly turned into a voice inside my own head, one I hadn’t even noticed I’d stopped questioning.That morning was different.I stood in front of the mirror. My body hadn’t changed overnight. Still curvy. Still fuller than the slim, polished women Delphine liked to parade past me at every gathering. Still the woman who’d spent a year trying to shrink herself for someone who’d never once bothered to actually see her.But for the first time, I didn’t hate what looked back at me.I touched my own reflection.“This is my body,” I said out loud.“Not Arthur’s, Mine, And I was done apologizing for it.”I pulled on my training clothes and walked out to the yard.A few wolves turned to look when I stepped onto the field

POV: EvanaThe emergency summons arrived before breakfast.I was still at the long dining table when a messenger walked in carrying a sealed parchment, marked with the Alpha Council’s symbol pressed into dark wax.He didn’t look at me. He looked straight at Arthur.“Alpha, the council requires your presence.”Arthur broke the seal and read it, his expression shifting the further down the page he got.“What is it?” I asked.He folded the parchment. “An emergency gathering.”“About what?”His eyes came up to mine. “Us.”My stomach dropped.Us. That word didn’t belong in the same sentence as the council. They’d spent a year ignoring me entirely, no seat at meetings, no consultation on pack matters, expected to stay in the manor like something decorative whenever Arthur met with the elders.Now, suddenly, they wanted me there.That alone told me something was wrong.“Why do they want me?”Arthur’s jaw tightened before he answered. “Because they know.”“Know what?”He lowered his voice. “

POV: Evana The shadows in the corner of my private quarters shifted, coalescing into a silhouette that moved with the unnatural, silent speed of a predatory wolf. I threw myself off the bed as the intruder lunged, ducking under the reach of his heavy, clawed hand. The air snapped where his fingers missed my neck by mere inches. The sudden rush of mountain wind tore through the open balcony doors, whipping the heavy drapes into a frenzy as I rolled across the floor. Pain flared in my shoulder as I hit the rug, but my wolf's instincts took over instantly. I scrambled to my feet near the heavy wooden vanity, my hands clawing across the surface for anything that could serve as silver or steel. The attacker recovered with terrifying agility, spinning on his heel as a low, guttural growl vibrated in his throat. In the dim moonlight filtering through the storm clouds outside, a flash of silver caught my eye. A rogue blade, dipped in wolfsbane. "Who sent you?" I demanded, backing away

POV: ArthurI had spent my entire life believing the Alpha Council existed to protect the pack.Tonight, I realized I might have been wrong.The guard was found before dawn.My warriors cornered him near the eastern boundary while he was attempting to leave the territory.He fought.Not well enough.By the time I entered the interrogation room, his hands were bound behind his back.His face was bruised.His eyes remained fixed on the floor.I recognized him immediately.He was the same guard Evana had described.The same man who had stood behind Elder Corwin during the council meeting.I closed the door behind me.Evana wanted to come.I had refused.Not because I believed she was weak.I had finally learned better than that.I refused because if the person behind the attack discovered that Evana was investigating with me, they might strike again.My Beta stood beside the table.“He was carrying a council-issued blade.”I looked at the guard.“Who ordered you to attack my mate?”The g

POV: EvanaI had spent my entire life believing my parents were ordinary.That was the first lie.The second was believing I had simply been abandoned.The third was believing my past had nothing to do with the life I was living now.By the time Arthur entered the room that morning, I already knew something was wrong.He looked different.Not angry.Not cold.Haunted.“What happened?” I asked.He looked at me for several seconds.Then he sat across from me.“I found something.”My stomach tightened.“About your father?”“About both our families.”I waited.Arthur placed an old document on the table.I looked down.There was a name written across the top.My father’s.My breath caught.“Where did you get this?”“My father’s records.”I touched the paper carefully.The moment my fingers touched it, something inside my head shifted.A flash.A woman running through a forest.A man beside her.A baby crying.Me.I jerked my hand away.Arthur noticed.“Evana?”“I saw something.”“What?”“I