All Chapters of The Kingslayer’s Forbidden Mate: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

ROMANShe fell asleep sometime before dawn.I didn't. I lay on my side and watched her, and I couldn't think of a single reason to stop.Her hair was spread across my pillow. One hand was under her chin, and her lips were parted slightly. Every few seconds, her nose wrinkled like she was dreaming about something annoying. Maybe me.A strange feeling sat in my chest. It wasn't pain. It was heavy and soft at the same time, like a warm blanket that weighed a hundred pounds. I didn't know what to do with it.I'd never let anyone this close. I'd had company before, of course, but I always left before morning and kept my doors closed and my heart locked. I always told myself that was strength.Now I was lying here, wide awake, and I'd rather fight ten Alphas than get out of this bed.'Mine,' my wolf said, so calm and sure it almost made me laugh.'Quiet.''Mine. Keep her.'I brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. She sighed and leaned into my hand without waking up, and my whole chest ache

ROMANI was in the middle of a meeting with two border captains when Josie ran into the room without knocking.She was out of breath. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were red. I'd never seen her break a rule in her life, so I knew before she said a word that something was wrong.“It's Aurora,” she said. “Dr. Bryn wants you at the hospital right now.”I didn't ask questions. I was out of my chair before she finished the sentence, and the captains were still standing there with their mouths open when I left.I don't remember the walk. I think I ran most of the way. My wolf paced under my skin the whole way, snarling at me to go faster. All I could think was that something had happened to her. Or the baby. Or both.When I got to the door of the exam room, I stopped, then made myself take a deep breath. If I stormed in there looking like that, I'd scare her even more.Then I pushed the door open.Aurora was sitting on the edge of the table with her arms wrapped around her stomach. Her fa

ROMAN I read the page many times before I let myself look up. Gideon had left an hour ago, after I'd told him to go to bed. Now the study was quiet, and the only light came from the lamp and the fire dying in the corner. I spread everything across my desk. The vow book. My mother's journal. The old leather folder I'd found two nights before. I lined them up like pieces of a puzzle. Thornfield. Hale. True mates. About a hundred years ago, someone had written those words down and sealed the box. Someone had cared enough to hide it, and that bothered me a lot. People didn’t bury things unless they were afraid of someone finding them. I opened the folder again and reread the part about the sealed promise. This time, I read it with the vow book next to it, and then all the pieces started to fit. It talked about two bloodlines meant to be joined. It said the line was split on purpose, so the binding would sleep until the right time. It said the people who sealed it did it to protec

ROMANI didn't sleep for three days. Gideon didn't either, and he complained about it every single hour."I'm just saying," he said, dropping another stack of old books on my desk, "I'm a handsome man, and handsome men need rest. Look at my eyes. They're ruined.""They looked the same before.""Wow." He flopped into the chair across from me. "That hurts. Right here." He tapped his chest. "Pass me the coffee."I passed it. He drank all of it in one gulp.It was past midnight again. My study smelled like dust and coffee. Maps were pinned to the wall. Pages were spread across the floor. Somewhere upstairs, Aurora was finally asleep. I'd checked on her twice already, standing at her door like a creep, just to hear her breathing. Her wolf was quiet. The baby's heartbeat had been strong that afternoon. I held onto that."Okay," Gideon said, rubbing his face. "Let's go over it again. Who can mess with a mate bond?""Nobody," I said. "That's the problem. It's not supposed to be possible.""Bu

AURORA For the next few days, Ravenwood felt like a house where everyone was whispering because someone was sick upstairs. Nobody told me what was happening, but I could tell. The pack was getting ready for something. Cooks were making double the usual food. The large hall was cleaned until the marble floors shone. Banners I'd never seen before came out of storage. Guards moved around in pairs, and they checked the gates twice as often. "It's the Council gathering," Josie told me when I finally asked. She was folding towels in my room. "It happens every few years. All the Alphas have to show up in person, or it looks like they're hiding something." "Is Roman hiding something?" She gave me a flat look. "Alpha Roman is hiding everything." I laughed, but it wasn't a real laugh. She was right. He'd gotten quieter. That was the thing that scared me most. Roman was never loud, but he used to talk to me. He'd tell me stories about Gideon doing something stupid, or he'd argue wit