All Chapters of Rise of the Switched Alpha Queen: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The sharp scent of antiseptics and burnt wolfsbane burns my throat as I slide the black leather binder beneath my wet coat. Cold rain hammers against the stained glass windows of Moonridge Medical Center, casting long, jagged shadows across the sterile tiled corridor of the Pack Healing Center. My pulse hammers against my ribs, heavy and uneven, my curves pressing tight against the damp fabric of my sweater.I step back into the recessed shadow of the concrete pillar near the consult lounge, keeping my head low. Through the narrow gap in the tinted blinds, I see everything.Hollis Crane paces the polished floor, his fingers twitching nervously against his leather briefcase. Beside him, Baylor Whitlock sits stiffly on the edge of the examination table, his shoulders locked, his face pale under the harsh overhead fluorescent lights.The specialist sets a thick, glossy medical journal onto the desk and turns it toward them. "Our local pack healers do not possess the tools or knowledge fo

"You should have spoken up sooner instead of letting me look like an idiot," Briggs Whitlock sneers, shoving his silver fork onto his plate with a sharp clatter. "If you had just talked to me more, none of this ridiculous unpleasantness would have happened in the first place."I keep my focus entirely on my food, my thick fingers holding my knife with steady precision. Being born human in the powerful Whitlock pack means my silence is always weaponized against me, but I refuse to feed his ego. My plush frame sits solid and unbothered in the dining chair while my older brother fumes across the table.The meal tastes entirely bland to him, his dominant wolf pride severely wounded because he spent weeks looking down on me. Unable to bear the crushing weight of his own mistake, Briggs snatches his pack communicator off the table the second it vibrates in his palm, using it as an immediate excuse to abandon his half-eaten lunch.Lorelei Whitlock blinks, watching her eldest son march out of

“Is that little human candidate trying to embarrass our entire bloodline on live television?” Maureen Gilbert’s sharp voice pierces through the hum of the crowd outside the main entrance of the Silverpine Education Center, her dark eyes flashing with pure disgust.I do not turn around. I keep my back straight, my heavy, plush frame leaning comfortably against the stone pillar as my foster parents step up beside me. Born as a full human in the Whitlock lineage, my senses do not catch the subtle scent of wolf anger, but I do not need a pack scent to read the bitter tension rolling off the Gilbert family.“Ignore her, Joxie,” Lorelei Whitlock whispers tightly, her fingers digging gently into my wool coat as she pulls me closer. “You walked out of that defense chamber in two minutes. Let the pack elders talk their nonsense.”“She is just mad because Tuesday took three times as long to finish her oral defense,” Sterling Whitlock says, his deep voice carrying a low rumble of amusement. He t

"If you step out of that custom transport without my clearance, Thatcher, the Hawkridge Row border patrols will rip your legal credentials to shreds," I say, leaning my weight against the reinforced leather of the front passenger seat while my fingers grip the heavy strap of my canvas bag.Thatcher Whitlock doesn't even flinch. He rubs his hand over his forehead with a slow, deliberate motion, his knuckles white against his dark coat as his rimless glasses reflect the cold sunlight cutting through the Mooncrest Pack Roads. "I am staying at Whitlock Cottage for the next two weeks, Joxie. My pack legal cases can wait. Your safety in Silverpine City comes first.""I am a plus-size human who just out-calculated every pureblood wolf in the territory," I reply, my tone flat, my gaze sweeping over the heavy iron bars of the Mooncrest Iron Gate visible through the tinted windshield. "I do not need a bodyguard. I need you to take care of your own draining pack cases before your mind snaps from

"I filled out every single bio-rune equation on that trial sheet, Josie, and my wolf instincts do not make mathematical errors," I say, leaning my weight against the heavy edge of the lab desk while my hands grip the stone surface."Where did my ten points go?"Josie Bell drops her slate on the desk with a clatter, her eyes wide with total disbelief as she stares at me. "Joxie, you are literally insane. You just destroyed every pureblood in Silverpine City, and you're spiraling over ten missing points?""It is not about the score, Josie," I say, my breath hitching as my blood runs cold with suspicion. "The High Council examiners in the Wolf Biology Wing cut ten points from my score without a written explanation. That means someone manually docked my paper."Josie shakes her head, pulling up the public Mooncrest Academy leaderboards on her tablet screen, her fingers moving in a blur. "Look at the board! Just look at it!"First place: Joxie Whitlock—200 points.Second place: Vincent Vos