Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE ALPHA'S SURROGATE MATE: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

CHAPTER 30 I could have lied.Instead, with my wolf rising inside me like a tide, I whispered the only honest thing I had."Yes."Roman closed his eyes.It lasted half a second. When he opened them, something in his expression had changed."Yes," he repeated."Yes.""You're certain?""I'm certain about what I felt." My voice shook. "I don't understand it. But I felt it."He released a long, unsteady breath."I thought I was losing my mind.""You were standing in a garden at two in the morning without a coat.""I noticed that, too."A laugh escaped me, but it caught in my throat."How long?""Since this evening. Since Sable gave us the results." He rubbed his jaw. "I told myself it was stress. Everything we've discovered, Edric disappearing, the possibility that someone deliberately brought you here.""So did I.""And?""It didn't work.""No." A faint smile touched his mouth. "It wouldn't."I watched him carefully.He was holding himself with the same restraint I'd seen when he wanted

CHAPTER 32 "The Alpha's personal feelings," Elder Wren declared, her voice carrying to every corner of the chamber, "cannot be allowed to compromise Blackthorn's security. Whatever is happening between you and the surrogate needs to end."Roman didn't raise his voice."I was presenting a security report.""You were presenting excuses.""I was presenting evidence. An unidentified wolf crossed our northern boundary and withdrew before our patrol reached him. My trackers are following the trail.""Following it where?""Northeast, beyond the creek.""And you have no name.""Not yet.""No pack. No motive. No explanation." Wren turned toward the council. "Yet we have a woman living under the Alpha's roof whose position was never fully explained to this body, and an intruder who appeared just as her situation became the subject of gossip among neighboring packs."A murmur traveled down the long table."That's speculation," Roman said."Is it?""Do you have evidence connecting Mira to the in

CHAPTER 34"I wasn't there when Lyra died," Roman said, staring at nothing. "I was three rooms away, and I still didn't get there in time. That's what I'm afraid of, Mira. Not losing someone. Failing to save them."I didn't move. I didn't reach for him. He had only just started talking, and something told me that touching him now might make him retreat behind the walls he had spent years building."Where were you?" I asked quietly."My study.""What were you doing?""Signing off on a boundary report." He let out a short, humorless breath. "She said she'd be in the garden. I told her I'd join her in ten minutes.""And then?""I thought I had ten minutes."The words hung between us. Somewhere in the hedges, a night bird shifted."What happened next?""I was at my desk when I heard something.""What kind of sound?""Breaking." His brow furrowed. "Glass, maybe. Or ceramic. Something shattering.""Was it loud?""Not loud enough to alarm me. It sounded like someone had dropped a dish. I alm

CHAPTER 36We agreed to be careful.We lasted exactly one day before Roman found an excuse to walk me to breakfast, then lunch, then dinner, his hand finding mine each time as though he'd forgotten the meaning of the word discreet entirely."You're sitting next to me," I said."The other chair was drafty.""The other chair is where you've sat for two years.""It was always drafty."He slid the butter dish toward my plate without looking at me."You haven't eaten enough.""I've had toast.""One piece.""Roman." I lowered my voice. "A man who personally escorts a woman to breakfast, rearranges her food, and keeps brushing her hand is not being discreet.""I'm being attentive.""You're being obvious.""I'm an Alpha. Attentiveness is part of my job.""Is holding my hand under the table part of your job, too?"He paused, his fork halfway to his mouth."Is that what's happening?""Roman.""I thought that was the tablecloth."I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. Down th

CHAPTER 38 "What exactly did he say to you when you were alone? Without me there?"Roman's voice was tight, controlled in the way that meant staying calm was costing him everything.I realized then that his jealousy wasn't entirely about distrusting me. It was about the fear of losing something he'd only just allowed himself to want."I told you in the hall.""You told me the outline.""Because you went quiet and changed the subject.""I'm asking for his exact words.""Why?""Because he waited until I wasn't there.""He waited until I was alone, Roman. I didn't send him an invitation.""You went out to the terrace.""I went out for air. He was already there.""And you stayed.""For two minutes.""Long enough."I stared at him."Long enough for what?"His jaw flexed, but he didn't answer."Say it.""I'm not accusing you.""You sound like you are.""I'm trying to understand what he wanted.""I told you. He asked about my family. He warned me that other people might come looking, and th