All Chapters of The Alphas Second Chance Mate : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Elaris’s POVAveric refuses to accept any but himself carrying the small pouch after his guards discover it beneath Elaris’s door. He takes the evidence himself, bundled in a clean cloth — and strides toward the senior healer’s chamber, with four warriors surrounding him.I remained locked in the inner chamber as the evidence disappeared down the corridor.“Is it really wolfsbane?” I ask as he pauses, but does not fully turn in my direction.“We don’t know yet,” he says“But you told me that the substance was real.”“There is a real threat,” Averic amends. “We just aren’t sure what the name of it is.”There is a difference. Averic does not treat the pouch as another note pretending to be a threat.He orders the guards not to allow anyone into my chamber until the healer brings him his findings.Before he goes, his gaze lingers on the swell of my stomach.“No one touches you tonight.”I nearly ask whether that means those currently inside his household. Instead, I say, “Then find out w

Elaris’ POVI remain at the inner chamber while the palace life goes on around my door.The guards have been ordered not to allow entry to anyone without Averic’s permission.Not even Neryss is permitted.So now I am without sight and I can only hear.Boots passing on the other side of the main corridor.A door opening.Several voices elsewhere, but then one loud voice rises above the others before trailing away.I move closer to the door.One of the guards shifts position.“You can’t go back.”“I want to hear.”“Neither can we.”I am regarding him.“What are they discussing?”“Our orders are to not speak of the council’s affairs.”So his answer is what I would have expected.I return to the window.Beyond these walls, in that open hall, are people making decisions that will affect my future without asking for my opinion.I place a hand against my stomach.The child stirs.I whisper, “We’re still here.”Outside, voices rise again before fading into silence.Whatever took place in the

Elaris's POVThe secure room is sealed within an hour after Averic allows the unconscious attendant to be moved.He tells me to wait in the corridor while healers gather around the fallen woman.The first healer confirms that her breathing is still steady.The next examines the woman's eyes, then her pulse, then the wolf essence at the base of her neck.The third ransacks the room in search of an answer as to how the sedative got into her bloodstream in the first place.There is no wound.No shattered bottle.Nothing overturned.The soldiers who stood watch said no one passed through.Averic chooses to question them individually rather than allow them to bolster one another's statements.'Did you leave your post?''No, Alpha.''Did anyone ask to be permitted entry?''No.''Did you see a servant arrive with medicine?''No.'Averic would be reassured by their agreement.The fact that my stomach has chosen this moment to knot itself into tight, hard masses of discomfort is not.Someone m

Elaris's POVI awaken to the sound of an empty corridor just before sunrise and realize Averic never returned to his chamber. The palace seems unusually busy for this time of the day with guards taking up new posts and servants bringing reports to the council chamber. Neryss informed me that the Alpha has been with Maevra since before dawn.I find myself wondering if he is attempting to convince his mother to refuse or simply sitting beside her due to realizing what she intends to do.When Averic finally returns he looks as though he has spent the entire night fighting a battle that no warrior could see. He informs me that Maevra is awake and lucid but her strength has failed her again."She asked for water three times before she asked what hour the hearing begins," he tells me.I ask what he told her."The truth."His response is enough for me to understand his thoughts and feelings on what Maeva intends to do.Averic has already been informed that Maevra refused every effort to keep

Elaris’s POVThe healer’s statement sends Averic to stare blankly through the doors Maevra could never be wheeled out through.He turns to Sennik."I need to see her."The healer reminds him the council is in session."My mother nearly suffocated."There is no arguing with that.Sennik allows for a brief intermission but insists that once his services are no longer needed Averic is to return.Two council warriors escort him to Maevra's chamber while I stay put with the guards my personal security is provided with.Averic steps out of view and I feel impossibly distanced from him for the first time since the hearing begun.There are no longer any strategies we have devised between sessions.No evidence laid out on a table to be examined.Only a son and a mother who would not return with only one son.Virelle stays seated.She lowers her head and mops her lips with a handkerchief while putting on an act of concern any bystanders observing the session would think suitable.I refuse to re