Marked Twice by the Alpha King novel Chapter 53

Ava’s POV

The carriage jolted to a stop by the moonstone path leading to Silverpeak Elite Academy. I tugged Blake’s cape tighter around my shoulders, fighting the urge to bolt. Silver gates loomed ahead, tribal flags snapping in the breeze like they were laughing at my stupid plan.

“You can do this,” I muttered to myself, fingers tracing the expensive silver embroidery on the cape’s edge. Just channel your inner Alpha’s wife.”

My fingers drifted to my neck, where Jackson’s mark sat. It felt unusually warm today, pulsing slightly as if warning me this was a terrible idea. But Lucas’s desperate face flashed in my mind, and I squared my shoulders. The kid needed someone in his corner.

I’d never set foot in here before – Lucas and I always stuck to Blackwood’s grounds. Taking a deep breath, I pushed through the massive doors into a hall where dead Alpha eyes tracked me from gold–framed portraits, plush silver–fur rugs cushioning each hesitant step. Everything about the place screamed old power and older money.

A group of

young wolves in training gear passed by, their steps faltering as they caught Blake’s scent on me. They exchanged confused glances, some instinctively lowering their eyes before hurrying away, whispering furiously.

A tight–faced receptionist looked up, her nostrils flaring slightly as she caught the mixture of scents – mine and Blake’s intertwined. “Can I help you?” The words might as well have been “what are you doing here?”

I squared my shoulders. “I’m here for Instructor Silver. About Lucas Morgan.”

The Morgan name worked like a mini spell. Her face didn’t saften, but her eyes sharpened with caution.

“And you are?”

My heart hammered against my ribs. “Ava Morgan Lucas’s stepmother.

The name felt

strange on

on my tongue – foreign yet oddly right, which disturbed me even more.

Her eyebrows shot up as she stood, giving me a once–over that made me feel like week–old roadkill. “Stepmother? That’s news to everyone at this academy”

“We’re keeping it quiet,” I said, amazed my voice wasn’t shaking. Thank god Sophia had loaned me this blue dress instead of my showing up in battle–worn leather. “Pack politics. You know how it is.”

Her eyes dropped to the cape, widening slightly. “That’s the Alpha King’s personal cape.”

I nodded, trying to look like I borrowed my husband’s clothes all the time.

“Wait here,” she said, skepticism dripping from every syllable. She disappeared through a side door, probably to report the crazy

y woman claiming to be married to the most powerful wolf in three territories

Minutes stretched like torture. Just as I was considering a strategic retreat, a stocky wolf with a mean scar slicing through his left eye appeared. He carried himself like someone who’d seen a hundred battles and expected a hundred more.

“Mrs. Morgan?” He managed to pack a ton of disbelief into two words. “Im Instructor Silver. Lucas’s combat teacher.”

“Nice to meet you,‘ I smiled, trying to mimic Sophia’s polished tone. I’m here about what happened yesterday.”

Silver’s gaze lingered on the cape, his eyes calculating. I could practically hear him thinking: This doesn’t add up.

“This way,” he finally grunted, “Headmaster’s waiting.”

As we walked, I got perks into training rooms where little wolves some barely older than toddlers – were

ere already leaming to fight. I caught myself wondering if Lucas felt as alone among these privileged cubs as I did walking these halls,

Silver kept glancing sideways at me.

“Funny thing,” he said casually, “Alpha King’s never mentioned having a new mate. Especially one who looks barely out of training herself.”

That’s the point of keeping it quiet,” I replied, fighting the urge to fidget. “Sometimes the best moves are the ones nobody sees coming.”

He grunted noncommittally as we stopped at a massive door carved with snarling wolves. He knocked twice before pushing it open. “Headmaster, Morgan’s…

Chapter 53 The Cape Doesnt Lie:

I stepped into what could only be described as a trophy room for wolf–kind. Ancient weapons hung on walls alongside battle flags. A white–haired man with shoulders like small mountains stood by the window, his back to us. The air in the room felt heavy with authority, sending my wolf into an instinctive

When he turned, the Beta power rolling off him hit me like a physical wave. His eyes weren’t just old – they carried the weight of decades of judgment and decision–making. The kind of eyes that had sentenced wolves to death and watched the sentences carried out.

Headmaster Moonshadow,” Silver said, “this is the woman saying she’s Mrs. Morgan.”

“Mrs. Morgan?” The headmaster’s voice carried weight as his eyes dissected me piece by piece. His nostrils flared slightly, taking in my scent and the much stronger Alpha scent surrounding me. “Strange. Tve attended every tribal council for thirty years. Never heard the Alpha King mention remarrying.”

My palms were sweating beneath Blake’s cape. I smoothed down Sophia’s borrowed dress nervously. “We’re keeping it private until the right moment.”

chin. “Some of us grow up faster than others.”

“True enough,” he conceded, but his eyes never lost their suspicion. “That cape, though….interesting choice. An Alpha’s cape carries their most concentrated scent.” He leaned closer, sniffing subtly, making my wolf bristle with discomfort. They generally only loan it to mark their mates with their scent, warding off other wolves. His eyes narrowed. “But a true mate wouldn’t need such obvious marking unless…

The air in the room suddenly felt too thin as understanding dawned in his eyes.

-Unless you’re not his mate at all,” he said, voice dropping dangerously low. “Just a thief stupid enough to steal from the Alpha King himself. Do you know what the punishment is for that?”

My stomach bottomed out, Game over. Loras would never forgive me, and Blake… I didn’t even want to imagine his reaction.