All Chapters of The Alphas Second Chance Mate : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Elaris's povI do not sleep after the guard tells me the night healer is dead.I continue to sit on the edge of the bed for a long time after the corridor has returned to normal.The news fundamentally changes what happens next.The attendant is alive and weakened.I see the night healer's written confession again, but the woman died before confirming everything she said.And tomorrow night the council intends to place two pregnancies before the entire pack and refer to the examination as final judgment.I turn to the door.The enemy has stopped removing evidence.In the best news, they've stopped removing people.I'm finding it almost impossible to get past the thought that a dead witness cannot be browbeaten.Cannot be convinced to retract statements.Cannot deny what has been officially recorded.Cannot appear before the shrine hall tomorrow and identify the woman who took Virelle's life.I draw my knees up and will myself not to think about it.The blood moon approaches regardless

Elaris's POVAverics has minutes until the council escorts force him to leaveHe does not waste the time arguing with themHe asks the healer for the latest numbersI watch as she tells him that my essence had dropped during the smoke attack but has since stopped its decline, and the child is showing no signs of distressAverics turns to the healer, asking her to repeat it"Mother and child are presently fit for the examination?""Yes"He turns to me"Then you will be there tonight"I nod, and he offers little comfort aside from that, and even less reassurance than the last time he snuck inA council representative reminds him that his intrusion was unauthorizedAverics does not apologize to himHe leaves, telling the guards to continue tending to me as they would the instructionsThe doors close behind himI do not feel safer, but I feel as though his presence made the room somehow less emptyThe political war, however, does not give me a moment's rest before noonA council aide arri

Elaris's POVI remained perched on the stone bench within the shrine wall.The blood moon had risen high enough to spill the crimson light nearly everywhere in the courtyard.It painted a strange shade on the rocks at my feet.I kept my hands clasped loosely and neatly in my lap.The guards had distanced me farther than at first, yet I knew well enough to remain cautious.They would not deliver food.They would not deliver water.They would not return with another report on Maevra.The last things I learned were that she lived and that Averic was at her side.I clung to the knowledge.The child remained unusually quiet.I fought my instinct to panic and pressed lightly against my stomach.Stay with me.There came a minute shifting.My shoulders loosened just slightly before I turned my head toward the road that ran back to the palace.Nothing.No Averic.No healer.No message.Just the red moonlight that hung between the treetops.Beyond the shrine grounds, Virelle remained stationed

Elaris's POVThe question hangs between usDid you touch her final cup?For several seconds I hear nothing but the sound of fabric shifting and the scratch of a scribe's pen somewhere behind meEvery person in the shrine hall is watchingNot SennikNot VirelleMeAveric stands several steps away and I can't read what is behind his eyesI remember another version of this manThe one who once stood between me and CaedmonThe one who told me I did not bow beneath his roofThe one who broke council orders to reach me when smoke filled my chamberThat man is standing in front of me nowBut grief has altered the space around himI lift my chinIf he wants the truth I will give him nothing else"No."My voice cuts through the hall"I did not touch her final cup."I force myself to say more before anyone can object"I was not in the private wing. I was already here under council guard when Lady Maevra collapsed."The scribe is taking every word downSennik is watching meAveric says nothingI

Elaris’s POVI stood up from the cot and the child shifted beneath my hands.The soft movement reminded me to steady myself before turning to meet Averic’s gaze.The council observer remained just beside the waiting doorway.He said nothing because there was no need to.He was there because this conversation was officially occurring behind closed doors.Averic had crossed the threshold of the room, but stopped short of coming closer.There was the space between us for another person to stand comfortably.I noted the distance without thinking.He would have crossed it before, if he chose to.And now he has stopped, perhaps for the first time in his life.I met his eyes.“You wanted to hear me.”He kept his expression carefully guarded.“I did.”“Then ask.”Averic studied me for several seconds.The tired lines around his mouth made me feel almost sorry for him.Almost.I was tired too.I was so very tired of justifying myself to people who already knew what they wanted me to be.I woul