All Chapters of Fake Dating The Lycan's Heir: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

VANESSA“Matthias has requested early activation of the ceremonial ward,” Christopher repeated, lowering his phone. “He knows we may have found a way to interfere with the renewal.”“Then why are we still standing here?” I asked.Rose closed her notebook. “Because I need you to understand what breaking your seal involves before you go anywhere near that circle.”Mara came to stand beside me. “The seal was designed to restrain both inheritances through separate bindings. Your mother's magic holds one part, while the wolf binding was constructed using older suppression methods. Your wolf has been trying to reach you for years.”“Can I release it without going through Matthias?”“You can refuse the command that keeps it contained. The difficulty is recognizing which command belongs to the seal when other blood authority is being used against you.”I looked at Mom. “Will you help me recognize it?”She took a moment before answering. “I can show you what my part of the binding feels like.

COLE “I want the names of every person who authorized that second binding.” My father spoke to the council officers outside the ceremonial chamber while they escorted the last of the Chase loyalists into custody. “The evidence recovered from the warehouse is being transferred to enforcement, and nobody involved is leaving under family protection.” I stayed beside Vanessa as Rose checked her pulse and examined the marks on her hands. The ceremony had ended before the renewal was completed. Delegates were being moved into the reception hall, where council officers were taking statements instead of allowing the families to disperse. “How is she?” I asked. “She has a rapid pulse and a mild fever,” Rose said. “I want her observed tonight. A seal that has been in place for fifteen years has just released, and we don't yet know how her body will respond.” Vanessa held out her other hand. “You can examine that one too, although I'd prefer you didn't announce every measurement to the enti

COLE “The council has agreed to an emergency evidentiary hearing,” my father told me as he closed the office door. “It has not agreed to repeal the blood laws, and I don't want anyone leaving here under the impression that a single vote will settle this.” “I understand. Vanessa asked whether the prohibited-bloodline order had been issued in writing.” “It has. Enforcement against her and Lillian is suspended pending review, and the order will be delivered to both families this afternoon.” I took the copy he offered and read it carefully. The wording was narrower than I wanted, but it gave the officers no authority to detain either girl merely because of her inheritance. I had seen enough of the Covenant's methods to know that a written restriction mattered more than a promise made in a private room. “Are you going to challenge the existing agreements?” I asked. “I'm going to ask the council to examine their authority and suspend any use of inherited command that violates consent

VANESSA’S POV “If our classmate gives the graduation speech, I’m leaving before he gets to the part about school spirit,” Cole said as we returned to the house from the garden. “You’re only saying that because he mentioned your terrible attendance at debate club,” I told him. “He still thinks you owe him an apology.” “I attended three meetings, and at two of them he tried to make us argue about cafeteria prices.” “That sounds like a useful subject for a debate.” Cole held the door while I stepped inside. Rose was waiting in the sitting room with a folder on her lap, and the sight of it reminded me that my afternoon outside had been an exception to the rest schedule she had given me. “I was about to send someone to look for you,” she said. “I need to check how you’ve been managing the longer walks before we decide what comes next.” “I haven't been dizzy, and the pain in my chest is much better. The fountain was loud, but I could concentrate on Cole without listening to every con

LILLIAN’S POV“I don't want to spend the entire afternoon talking about the Covenant,” I told Mara as we sat in the Rollands' dining room. “I'd like to know what you were like before any of this happened.”Mara smiled and placed a photograph on the table. In it, she was standing beside a much younger Julian outside a small house, both of them holding gardening tools and looking as though they'd been interrupted in the middle of an argument.“He insisted the vegetables needed more sunlight,” she said. “I told him he had planted them in the wrong season, but he refused to believe me until they died.”Julian pulled out the chair beside her. “They didn't all die. We had three perfectly respectable tomatoes.”“Two,” Mara replied. “You counted the one the birds ate.”I laughed and picked up the photograph. Helen was in the kitchen preparing tea, and my adoptive dad had offered to collect the albums he'd kept from my childhood. We had agreed to spend the afternoon together without treating e