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chapter 36
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 37
After Ryan and Hannah leave, I snoop through the residence and find a study. As one would expect, the king’s bookshelves are filled with volumes on pack law, including the intimidating twenty-volume pack charter.Research is way less fun when you’re not doing it with two equally motivated individuals. And when your entire future hangs by a thread. But what it lacks in fun, it makes up for in not getting any results. It’s dark out by the time I give up.I glance out the window of the study and spot the moon. We’re two days from Lupercalia. Two days from knowing what my life is going to be like.By ten o’clock, Nathan still hasn’t returned to the residence.“Amanda?” I ask through the intercom in my sitting room. “Has the King left word of when he’ll be back?”There’s a click and Amanda answers, “His Majesty isn’t planning to return tonight. Do you have a message you’d like me to pass along to his secretary?”He’s not coming home. “Do you know where he’s gone?”Click. “By pack law, His
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 38
Lupercalia. The challenge is here.I’m taken from Aconitum Hall to the ceremony grounds in a chauffeured car. I sit by myself, across from two unsmiling, armed royal thralls. I get the feeling that they’re protecting a piece of disputed property. I’m not the future queen tonight.Not that I wasn’t pampered like royalty. Before I left there were manicures and waxes, a makeup artist, a hairstylist, all of them sent to prepare me for my mating ceremony. There had also been a tailor, who nipped and tucked an off-the-rack suit for my testimony before the council; black pencil trousers and a single breasted jacket over a light blue silk chemise, all of it making me look much older than I am. My hair is in a careful twist, knotted at the nape of my neck, and it will, the stylist assured me, look as good down as up.Because after my testimony, I’ll be taken straight to the ceremonial chambers and prepared for whoever wins the challenge.Unfortunately, the robe for my mating right is the one m
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 39
The chamber is as cold and dark as I imagine. My arms ache. I’ve been waiting, chained, for what feels like hours, but through the grate overhead, I can tell the moon isn’t directly above us yet.This isn’t how Tara said it would go. She’d mentioned a ceremony, other people being here with us.I’m all alone, in a cell that smells of earth and is oppressive in its chill humidity. The acolytes did anoint me, that part was true, but they didn’t wait for my mate to arrive. Now, with my back to the door, chained to a damp wooden post, there’s no way for me to tell who will come in. And if I change my mind…It’s too late to change my mind.I stifle a sob of fear. I can do this. I gave my testimony. Sure, I messed up by playing that recording and by entrapping Ashton. I thought I was doing the right thing but apparently, I wasn’t. Whatever happens, whoever comes through the door, I’ll face the consequences of my actions and I’ll do it without becoming a sniveling crybaby.I really want to cr
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 40
Nathan carries me down the path, to the ritual grounds. The other members of the pack have already transformed; I hear their calls from the dark woods.I twirl some of his fur in my fingers, my head cradled in the dip of his shoulder. “I didn’t expect it to be like that. I don’t know what I expected it to be like, but not that.”He makes a noise like the snorting of a bull and his claws tighten around me.I slap his chest. “Control yourself. I’ve still got to transform. I wonder what I’ll look like.”My hair is blonde, and I’ve seen blonde werewolves that turn out white or gold. People with darker or ginger hair take on varying shades of brown or black or even the deep silver of Nathan’s fur. And I’m interested to see how my face ends up. Just like with people, every werewolf looks different. I reach up to touch Nathan’s muzzle, and his lip pulls back to bare his teeth in warning.I’m not worried he’s going to bite me or eat me. I’m more worried that he won’t make it to the ritual gro
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 41
Two days after my first transformation, I’m still ravenous. At first, I was exhausted. I didn’t mourn the fact that my mating ceremony reception didn’t happen; I would have slept through it, anyway. I spent twenty-four hours sleeping, waking up only to pee and scarf down whatever the thralls left in my bedroom, regardless of its temperature. When one’s body has completely transformed into a totally different creature and back again, even rubbery, cold eggs are delicious.“Maybe I got a parasite from that rabbit,” I muse aloud. I finally woke up enough to come down to breakfast with my mate, who watches with amusement as I demolish plate after plate of pancakes, ham, bacon, fried potatoes, and more apple juice than my body should be capable of holding.“A parasite wouldn’t affect you like this so soon.” He chuckles to himself. “From the rabbit or from me.”It takes me a minute—and another spoonful of oatmeal—to get what he’s talking about. “I wouldn’t refer to a baby as a parasite. But
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 42
When I was a little girl, I sometimes wondered what life was like for Cinderella after she married the prince and her wicked stepmother was punished. The story ended after all the exciting parts; did that mean nothing ever happened to her again? It’s starting to feel like that was the case.Aconitum Hall has no shortage of diversions. Televisions in nearly every room, a glorious, multi-room pool in the basement, a library with more books than we had at the academy, and of course, internet access.Werewolves are feudal, but not completely stone aged.There are only so many episodes of syndicated television I can watch, though, and only so many social media sites I can scroll before I’m intensely bored in a too-quiet house. I call Hannah, and she answers on the first ring.“Is everything okay? You never call me,” she says in lieu of hello.“Sorry, I know.” I can count on one hand the number of times Hannah and I have spoken on the phone since I returned. “I didn’t mean to alarm you, I j
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 43
“Good morning, Your Majesty.” Hannah glides into my sitting room with baby Jo on her hip. They’re wearing matching pantsuits, compliments of Hannah’s new boss.I spent thousands of dollars on them.“Good morning, gal Friday,” I giggle back. “Wait, is that what gal Friday means? My dad always used that phrase, but he’s like, a hundred and thirty.”“Yeah, my dad is actually cool, so... I wouldn’t know.” Hannah sits Jo in the playpen I bought to keep in the residence, with the toys I bought to go with it. “What are you going to spend your husband’s money on today?”“I don’t know. How does one buy international real estate?” I tap my lips. I don’t want a vacation home in Negril, but maybe somewhere less sunny. “I’m sure Nathan would love a cozy little cottage in Siberia. That’s a place, right?”“As your secretary, I must advise you to hire a tutor.” Hannah sighs. “And as your friend, who wants to keep her new, very high-paying job, I must advise you to not piss your mate off too much.”“I
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 44
“Stop!”My shout alarms Nathan, but he does, at least, stop taking his clothes off.“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demand.“It’s the twenty-third.” He gives me a moment to realize my error, which I obviously don’t, and then goes on, “My secretary said—”“Who the fuck was that?” I jab my index finger toward the window, but Nathan’s gaze falls on the playpen and he looks over his shoulder, in the direction Hannah has just gone.“I assumed she was someone you knew—”“Not Hannah!” I press my fingers into my temples. “The woman you were kissing outside!”He doesn’t react the way a man who’s been caught cheating on his wife should react. That is, with any remorse at all. He blinks. “You saw that?”“Yes, I saw!” I pace furiously in front of the fireplace. I wish he gave me a wedding ring, so I could throw it into the flames. “Who is she?”“Amber Rogers.” He doesn’t try to deny it at all.“The former queen?” I hate the way my voice accelerates upward with my anger.“The deposed
Last Updated : 2024-10-29
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Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 100
We plan furiously, and fast. Xiao secures a location, a tiny cabin that’s way off the grid in Manitoba. We’ll be isolated from the world, but most importantly, from the pack; they don’t know that our thralls have hideouts all over Canada.Even though she only has to make a few calls, we decide not to chance letting anyone know that we’re leaving. Yet again, we’re bugging out. We’re leaving our kingdom because our subjects want us dead.It’s almost midnight when Nathan and I go to my bedroom, and I start hauling out all my luggage.“You don’t have to pack tonight,” he says gently.I don’t look at him. “I don’t have to. But I’m going to.”“You’ll tire yourself out. We’ll have a long drive tomorrow.”I shake my head. “Then I can sleep on the drive.”Nathan comes to my side and puts his hand on my arm. “Bailey… don’t do this to yourself.”“Don’t do what?” I snap. “Take anything with me to fucking Manitoba? Just resign myself to dying in the wilderness, ripped apart by polar bears?”He doe
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 99
“Bailey and I won’t change. We’ll remain here, under guard, at Aconitum Hall,” Nathan declares, and my heart sinks. I’ve gotten to be in my werewolf form once. Just one time. I was looking forward to transforming again.But Nathan’s right and I can pout about it later. We will be more vulnerable in a dark forest with potential traitors.“That will keep the two of you safe, but what about the rest of the pack?” Hannah argues. “Two werewolves have failed in their attempts to kill you, the objects of the thralls’ spells. The thralls know about it. So, who’s to say that they’ll even allow us to turn? We’re interfering in something they thought they’d kept secret. They could easily poison us, trap us, do anything to us when we set foot on that ceremonial ground.”“If all of us stayed home, they’d get suspicious,” Ryan says. “Maybe they’d believe we were against them.”“Aren’t we?” I ask. “They’re working magic on us against our will, without our knowledge or consent. They’re working agains
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 98
The thralls want to exterminate werewolves? “That doesn’t make any sense. They need us—”“Needed us.” Tara stresses the past tense. “They have all the arcane knowledge they need now, except for one thing.”“Dominion over life and death.” Nathan stands and paces the length of the room.The earlier sense of proactive hope sucks from the room.“They basically forced you two to breed,” Hannah says. “Dominion over life.”“There’s more.” Tara steers us back toward her research. “After the gods fall and the earth is submerged in water, life begins again. Two humans survive Ragnarök: Lifthrasir and Lif.”“How do they survive the end of the world,” I ask, silently tacking on and who would want to?“They hide. They run away to the woods and hide until everything is over,” Tara says with a shrug. “And when they come out, they repopulate the world.”“That would be dominion over death, wouldn’t it?” Nathan suggests. “Rebuilding anew on top of that destruction?”“Are the thralls acting out Ragnarök
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 97
“In which case, why would the thralls give her the magic she would need to throw a wrench into their plans?” Nathan grimaces and curses under his breath.“I’m going to write this…” Hannah says, uncapping a new marker and turning back to the whiteboard. “…in blue… so we know… it’s unsubstantiated…”When she turns back, the “moonstone” entry has a color-coded bullet point that reads: “humans”.“Fantastic,” Ryan exclaims. “This gives us a direction to move in.”He reaches across the table and grabs a notebook and pen. “Make fun of Hannah all you want, Bailey, but look. She brought paper.”“Paper can be destroyed,” Nathan muses. “Good idea, Hannah.”She gives me a playful little smirk.I laugh and gesture at the board. “Okay. Now, let’s talk about this Tyr and Fenrir thing. I admit, I’m not the expert in mythology here, but they never boned down, that I can recall. What’s the point of symbolically making them have a baby?”“Good point.” Hannah writes, “Not literal symbolism” as a bullet po
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 96
Two days later, we have a secret meeting in the conference room at Aconitum Hall. Just Nathan, me, Hannah, and Ryan, and of course, Xiao, who stands by, guarding the door.Hannah has us all set up, with a white board and different colored markers— “to stay organized!”—as well as notebooks, pens, highlighters, all types of stuff we don’t need.“You just wanted to take a trip to the office supply store,” I accuse her.“I can neither confirm nor deny,” she answers, contentedly stroking a pack of gel pens.“While the abundance of stationary is impressive,” Nathan begins, “Let’s start with what we know so far.”He turns to the white board and writes “wwksf” in the upper left corner.All of us, even Xiao, make alarmed noises at the chaotic shape of the letters.“How about someone with better handwriting?” Ryan suggests, tacking on a hasty, “no offense, Your Majesty.”“He doesn’t get to take offense in here,” I remind Ryan. “Remember, this is informal.”“Well, who has better handwriting?” Na
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 95
The doctor tilts her head. “It’s still very early. How did you know?”“I could tell,” Nathan answers while I try to figure out how to phrase, “He tasted it in my pussy juice.” He’s much more tactful about it. “She smelled different.”A smile touches the corner of the doctor’s mouth. “A lot of males know first, if they’re especially in-tune with their mates.”I’m not sure we can describe Nathan as being “in-tune” with me, but I smile back weakly, anyway.The doctor runs me through a barrage of questions: am I experiencing morning sickness? have I noticed weight gain? what about swollen feet, dizziness, fainting?Every time I answer, I wonder if it means something, if my answers will reveal that surprise, I’m not really pregnant at all.I must not be the first person to worry about that in this office, because Dr. Campbell says, “Relax. This is just a thorough record of your symptoms. We’re establishing a history for you and baby.”“Oh. Good.” I feel a little silly. “I know it’s weird,
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 94
Somehow, in all the ugliness of pack politics and multiple attempts on my life, I totally forgot about pre-natal care.I’m just not sure how to get it, at first. Thralls are in charge of all of our medical care, and I don’t know how much we want them to know. But Nathan and I decide that we can’t take a chance with the baby’s life.As we wait in the exam room, looking at all the posters of werewolf fetal development and the plastic anatomical model of the baby’s head in the birth canal—no thank you—I find the situation becoming more real by the second.“Did you ever think you’d have kids?” I ask Nathan, who’s looking over a pamphlet about the first trimester.He lifts his eyebrows and folds the pamphlet before neatly tucking it into his inside jacket pocket. “I assumed I would. In a hypothetical, detached kind of way. There’s so much pressure to find a mate and breed right away. That’s never appealed to me.”“It’s not so appealing to me, but here I am. In a paper gown.” I laugh nervou
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 93
“They’re not thralls?” She’s just as bewildered by the information as I was. “Like, thralls that ran away from the pack or—”“Just humans who use magic.” Since I don’t know the details of how that all works, and since that’s not really the point of the conversation, I go on. “We needed someone outside of any pack, who could examine the spell objectively and tell us what we needed to know, without any investment in the outcome.”“What did he find?” The fact that Tara is talking to me now, not just looking for ways to snipe at me, feels like a cheap thing to be happy about. It doesn’t mean anything other than that she’s interested in this particular conversation.But I’ll take it. “I’m bound with runes from Tyr’s aett.” I don’t have to explain what those are; Tara’s always been a bit of a mythology nerd. “And Nathan is bound with etheric chains.”“Like Fenrir,” she says, referencing the wolf held captive by the gods. She glances down at my stump. “Wait. Nathan didn’t—”“No, Nathan isn’t
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 92
Tara is dressed all in black, seated on the sofa in the parlor adjoining her room and Clare’s. That door is closed, draped with black bunting.I sit in the chair perpendicular to the sofa and silently will my sister to look at me, to speak to me beyond the mumbled, “Your Majesty,” I got when she curtseyed formally at my entrance, or the offer of a beverage, which I refused.“How are you?” I ask finally.“It’s very lonely here,” she says flatly. “It was different, with Clare. More like when we lived at home, before we were mated. We didn’t see each other much when you were away.”“Because you were newly wed?”She nods.“I understand that,” I try, hating myself for even attempting to link my experience with hers. “Getting caught up in your mate’s life and drifting away from your own.”“It’s a bit different for you. You’re also caught up in being queen.” She finally makes eye contact with me. “Do you think that maybe you got too caught up in it? And that’s why…”She doesn’t finish her se
