All Chapters of The Kingslayer’s Forbidden Mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

DYLANThe guilt got smaller every day. That was what I told myself, at least.It had to. That was how it worked. A man couldn’t spend his whole life thinking about one dead person. Aurora was gone, and dwelling on her helped nobody, least of all me. I had a pack to prepare to lead and a wedding to plan. I had a future to look forward to.Most days I even believed it.I believed it on the morning I sat through a three-hour meeting about trade routes and didn’t think about her even once. I believed it when Ivy laughed at something across the table and I laughed back. I believed it even on the night I walked past the old oak tree behind the pack house and had to grip the fence to keep going.Then a servant ruined it.It was a Tuesday. I was in the study, going through a stack of border reports, when the boy came in with my tea. His name was Hollis. He was a young, nervous type who talked too much when he was afraid.“Set it there,” I said without looking up.“Yes, Alpha Heir.” He put the

ROMANI read the letter twice before I let myself feel anything.The first time, I read it in the courtyard, with Gideon watching my face like he was waiting for a storm. The second time, I read it alone in my study, with the door shut and just one lamp burning.It didn't get any better.The handwriting was neat and confident. It was the handwriting of a man who had never been told no in his life.“Alpha Thornfield,It has come to my attention that my mate, Aurora Hale, is living within your borders. She was believed dead, and her loss has caused my family great grief. As her rightful mate, I demand her immediate return to Silverlake Pack. Any delay will be seen as theft. I trust you understand how serious it is to keep another man's mate from him.Dylan Carter, Heir of Silverlake Pack”"Rightful mate," I said out loud, and it tasted awful."That's the part you're stuck on?" Gideon asked. He was sitting on the edge of my desk with his arms crossed. He never left when he thought I was

ROMANI stood in that study for maybe ten seconds, staring at the door.Then my wolf said one word, loud and clear in my head. Go.I didn't argue. I grabbed her coat off the hook and went after her.She wasn't on the stairs. A wide-eyed maid pointed toward the back of the palace without a word. I followed the cold air to the doors, which were standing open as snow blew in across the floor.She was out there in the dark, in a thin dress, at the edge of the stone path. Her arms were wrapped around herself. Her breath came out in short white clouds. I could tell she was counting under her breath. I heard it as I got closer. She was trying so hard to hold herself together."You'll freeze," I called out.She didn't turn around. "Go away, Roman.""No.""That's what I thought you'd say." Her voice shook. "You're very good with that word."I held out the coat. She looked at it, then at me. The cold won. She took it and pulled it on, and it immediately swallowed her whole."I'm not here to a

AURORAThe rumors got to Ravenwood in three days.By the time they reached me, they were so twisted I almost didn’t know if I was the one being talked about or someone else.Josie brought the first version in with my breakfast. She set the tray down too carefully, and Josie never did anything carefully. She usually bumped the door open with her hip and started talking before she was even in the room.“Okay,” she began. “Don’t be mad.”I put down my toast. “That’s such a terrible way to start.”“I know, and I’m sorry. People are saying things. Bad things about you and Alpha Roman.”“What things?”“That he stole you from your true mate.” She winced. “That you’re a prisoner here.”I stared at her. Then I laughed, because it was either that or cry. “Josie, my door doesn’t even lock from the outside.”“I know that. You know that. But the story came up from Silverlake Pack, and it’s spreading quickly. Now he’s scary and a kidnapper.”I pushed the tray away. My stomach suddenly felt too tigh

ROMANI didn’t let Gideon say another word until Aurora was out of the room.That wasn’t fair to her. I knew it even as I did it. But the look on Gideon’s face told me this was big, and I wasn’t about to give her half-formed information. Not after the day she’d had.“You look tired,” I told her. “Go rest. I’ll have Josie bring you tea.”She gave me a long look. For a second, I thought she’d argue. Then she nodded, caressed her stomach, and left. The door hadn’t even finished closing before Gideon slapped the papers down across my desk. “Okay. You know the payment trail? The one that kept vanishing?”“Every time you brought it to me, it was a dead end.”“Right. Because I kept chasing the big transfers. The ones that were easy to see.” He tapped a page. “So I stopped. I went back and looked at the small ones. Three payments, all before the shipment left. Nothing that would make a bank blink. But add them up.”I added them up, then looked at him as the realization dawned on me. He tapp