The Alpha's Hidden Heir - The heir

ction had a par

expected

ise and laughter every morning. The way her assigned duties waited for her exactly where she'd left them - the library books to be catalo

id th

through th

er stomach in public because she was learning, very quickly, that th

as ma

re

mana

-

l enough that she hop

worst, the nausea cresting before she'd fully woken, and she couldn't risk

rackers i

under her door two days after the annex vis

her loose

ved ca

now. Still nothing visible

elling her

ost bel

-

ning hall she

. Not even for t

uiet woman easier to overlook. Her absence, she was beginning

iced she w

she heard them

verlooked. She was not

e, and she was learni

-

ced on the

the moment

ing the mental calculations she ran constantly now: who was watching, which routes were emptiest

up at the w

he main building, talking to Mira and Liss. She was m

er eyes fo

ghter c

's eyes di

sharp

gnize as the opposite of careless - the look of a woman who had built

and something shift

wasn't quite

hing

ios

-

ooked aw

ept w

teps until she wa

she e

told herself. *She can't. There's

ide - not her stomach, never her s

heard Selene's

of those eyes on her back long

-

n to normal patter

smells were more manageable and she could eat enough to lo

lf walk the re

which wasn't often, but often enough tha

erforming

orming ordinary

very goo

had this much

-

rd them on

ndence files to the administrative annex off the main corridor - routine work, the

n she heard Selene's voice from the

ed. Not

had the particular skill of making q

a sto

e should ke

di

-

cise and unhurried. "Four days now. She leaves the main areas

ed." Mira's voice. "After t

did when she was working something through. "Embarrassed women mope. They cry in front of witnesses becaus

le

le has been calculating something since the

iss, this time. Dismissive.

er woman's cleanly. "More than once. The Solstice gathering. There were others.

self flat against

r ribs so hard she was c

't move. Don't b

ou saying?"

ng p

lower, more deliberate, the tone she used when she want

tecting something." Another pause. "She keeps her hand at her side - always

le

s voice, v

hink s

king calculations that had nothing to do with emotion. "And if I'm right, it changes everything. A r

e enga

Enough to complicate the succession. Enough to give Kael's father a reason to question the engagement.

to her stomach befor

ught h

d it

e body w

want us to do

nded simply. Wi

n who moved from *what do you think* to *what do you wan

quiet for

mo

w

I need you to watch where she goes, when she goes, who she spe

ga

blood w

new about the

a asked. "If she's a

e came back f

ing his child,

-

r was compl

and her heart in her throat and every rational thought she had diss

rid o

the

e

here for fi

e

movement inside the room - a different

ra m

e still murmuring instructions she could no longer make out because she was already turning the corner

self against th

brea

- grey, overcast, a winte

rid o

th hands again

en's voice: *This chi

e voice in the dark:

ainty and the two women in that room who would do exactly w

bout how much

mu

hat she was going t

ealized, was sud

-

go back to t

nt to h

osed th

th her hands in her lap and her mi

one prior

ving the r

aging th

pack that had never seen her as

prior

t o

ers confirmed what Sel

opped being a future plan

er hands again

you out," sh

ssible, world-chang

prom