All Chapters of The Prince's Mistake, The Alpha King's Heir: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Effie's povThe smell reached me before I'd even made it fully down the stairs, something rich and buttery and faintly sweet, warm in a way that pulled me the rest of the way down without any real decision on my part.I expected the kitchen staff. What I found instead, rounding the doorway into the kitchen, were both alpha kings standing at the long worktable in their shirtsleeves, flour dusted pale across the front of alpha Knox's dark shirt and alpha Tobias hunched intently over a pan on the stove like the fate of the kingdom rested on whatever was browning in it.I stopped dead in the doorway."You both are cooking," I said, in case either of them needed the observation confirmed."We are," alpha Knox said, not looking up from whatever he was folding into the bowl in front of him."Why?""Because we wanted to," alpha Tobias said, glancing over his shoulder with a faint, satisfied smirk before turning back to the pan.I leaned against the doorframe, watching them a moment longer, so

Effie's Pov The knock came while I was still curled up with the book I hadn't managed to focus on for the better part of an hour, and I crossed the room without much thought, half expecting one of the maids come to collect the supper tray. I opened the door to find Seraphine standing there instead, a plate balanced in one hand, and the surprise on her face when she saw me looked, for one brief second, almost as genuine as my own. "You're in here?" She glanced past me into the room, something sharp flickering behind the surprise. "This is my room," I told her. She didn't wait for an invitation. She stepped past me without so much as a care, eyes sweeping the space with open with assessing interest, that same fixed, pleasant smile sliding back into place like she'd simply misplaced it for a moment. "How strange. I could have sworn one of the kings kept quarters on this floor." She trailed a finger along the edge of the writing desk, unbothered. "My mistake, I suppose." I said no

Effie's Pov Seraphine had the dining hall arranged by the time the three of us arrived, candles lit along the length of the table, some elaborate spread of roasted meats and glazed vegetables laid out that spoke of hours spent fussing over it rather than minutes."I hope you don't mind," she said, rising to greet us with a smile that looked, for once, almost nervous beneath the polish. "I thought I'd put something together myself. I wanted you both to see I'm capable of more than council politics and pretty dresses.""You did all this yourself?" Alpha Tobias asked, surveying the table with open surprise."Every bit of it." Something proud flickered across her face for just a moment before the usual composure slid back into place.I took my seat slower than either of them, the memory of my own nightmare still sitting uneasy and close beneath my skin, Seraphine's smiling face hovering over me in the dark, that soft; good riddance. I told myself it was only a dream. I didn't entirely be

Effie's Pov I woke to find alpha Knox already awake beside me, propped on one elbow, watching me with an expression I hadn't quite seen on him before, something softer than the usual simmering heat, something that looked almost like wonder if I squinted at it right."S... stop staring," I stupidly stuttered, pulling the blanket higher despite the warmth already banked between us."I'll stop when I feel like it," he said, entirely unrepentant, and pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder instead of arguing further.I blushed, feeling somewhat like the luckiest wolf in the world.The door opened a moment later without so much as a knock, and alpha Tobias came through carrying a tray filled with considerably more food than two people could reasonably expect one woman to eat, setting it down across my lap with the careful care of a man handling something fragile."What is all this," I asked, eyeing the spread. Soft bread. A small dish of honeyed fruit. A plain broth that smelled faintly of gin

Third party povThe cottage sat at the very edge of Thornwick's southern woods, half swallowed by briar and ivy, so far from any path that most of the pack had forgotten it existed. Smoke curled from its crooked chimney anyway. Ava had seen it on her first night at Thornwick, long before she'd had any reason to wonder who lit that fire.She had a reason now.She went on foot, well past midnight, a dark cloak pulled over her hair and her breath fogging white in the cold. Twice she stopped to listen for footsteps behind her. Twice she heard nothing but the wind combing through the bare branches, and she made herself keep walking. Every part of her still ached from the way Jasper's hand had closed around her throat three days ago. The bruises had darkened to black and purple beneath the high collar of her dress, and every time she swallowed, she remembered.She didn't knock. The door opened before her hand reached the wood."You took your time," said the woman standing in the doorway.S