บททั้งหมดของ The Alpha King's Human Obsession: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

Yara arrived within minutes, kneeling beside Ronan with practiced efficiency, examining the wound at his foreleg while guards secured Draven and cleared the remaining crowd from the courtyard."The bone's cracked, not shattered," Yara said, working quickly to bind the wound. "You'll heal, though not as fast as usual. Whatever adrenaline carried you through that fight is going to leave you feeling every bit of this once it fades.""I'll manage," Ronan said, though the tightness in his voice betrayed exactly how much pain he was already fighting to hide.The councilwoman approached once the immediate chaos had settled, her expression grave. "I want Draven questioned immediately, separately from Corin, so we can compare their accounts without either influencing the other. And I want guards dispatched to search for Lady Iseult before she can vanish entirely again.""She won't have gone far," Kellan said. "Not if she wanted to watch the outcome herself. She's confident, arrogant even, but

Ronan opened the letter before dawn, unable to wait any longer despite the risk of it costing him sleep before the journey ahead. Marlowe watched him break the faded seal, his hands steady despite the emotion visibly building behind his composed expression.He read in silence for a long moment before finally speaking, his voice rough. "She knew. My mother knew, near the end, that Iseult was still watching this kingdom, still influencing things from the shadows even after decades apart.""What does she say?" Marlowe asked gently.Ronan's eyes moved over the page again before he read aloud, voice unsteady. "My son, if you're reading this, it means the day I feared has finally come. Iseult was never simply a woman scorned by circumstance. She believes, truly believes, that she alone understands what this kingdom requires to survive threats she claims are coming, threats she's never fully explained even to me. I don't know if she's right. I only know her methods have already cost us more

Silence fell over the war room, heavy and disbelieving. Kellan reached for the list again, scanning it a second time as though the name might rearrange itself into something less devastating on closer inspection."There has to be an explanation," Ronan said, though his voice carried none of the certainty the words were meant to convey. "Serah's been with this household for years. She warned us about the missing guards the night Alaric fled. She's proven her loyalty a dozen times over.""Or she's proven exactly what Iseult wanted us to believe about her loyalty," Kellan said grimly, "while quietly serving a very different purpose underneath it."Marlowe felt sick at the thought, memories flooding back of every conversation she'd shared with Serah since that first disorienting morning in the stone room. The careful kindness. The quiet confidences. The genuine warmth that had made the palace feel survivable during its most frightening early days."I don't want to believe this," Marlowe a

The search for Osric consumed the following week, patrols spreading across every border route while Kellan's men interviewed everyone who'd worked alongside the deserter, piecing together a portrait of a man far more calculating than any of Iseult's other informants had proven to be."He's smart," Kellan reported, spreading a fresh map across the war room table. "Smarter than Corin, smarter than Draven. He's used false trails, doubled back twice according to tracker reports, clearly understanding exactly how border patrols operate from his years serving in one.""Then he's not simply running," Ronan said, studying the map with the same sharp focus Marlowe had watched him bring to every crisis since the ravine. "He's evading deliberately, buying himself time for something.""For what, though," Marlowe asked. "If Iseult's plans have collapsed entirely, what could he possibly still be working toward?"Kellan hesitated before answering, clearly weighing how much speculation to offer. "I s

Word spread through the palace fast, and by evening every guard, every servant, every member of the pack understood that war was coming within days. Marlowe watched the mood shift from cautious relief over Iseult's capture into something tighter and more focused, the entire kingdom bracing itself the way it had before the ravine, before every crisis that had come before.Priya found her in the small dining room, worry plain on her face. "Someone told me there's an army coming. Two hundred wolves. Is that true?""It's true," Marlowe admitted. "I'm sorry. I know you were thinking about going home soon.""I don't care about going home right now," Priya said. "I care about whether you're safe. Whether any of us are safe.""Ronan's sending riders to allied packs," Marlowe said. "Kellan's already planning defenses. We're not facing this without help."Priya sat down heavily across from her. "This is a lot, even for us. Even after everything we've already survived.""I know," Marlowe said. "