Owned By The Possessive Alpha, Bounded To My Mate novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Kieran POV

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She was at the counter when I came home.

She had three textbooks opened in front of her and annotated list sat beside them. Her tablet was propped against the fruit bowl.

She didn’t look up when I came in. She was totally absorbed in her books. Before the wedding she was always conscious of the space around her but now she read like someone who had decided the room was safe enough to fully enter.

I removed my jacket and opened the refrigerator.

“How was the council meeting?” She asked without looking up.

“Herne asked if you were coming for the classification review?”

I asked. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him I’d ask.”

She made a sound that felt like an acknowledgement.

We fell into a pattern without meaning to.

She remained at the counter while I rolled my sleeves and began to make dinner.

I moved a textbook away and she moved the tablet to make room for the cutting board.

She liked a cup of tea before dinner so I started the kettle.

“The professor gave me an assignment.”

“First day.”

“She’s a straight shooter. She wants me to think about who currently lacks standing to challenge the interpretation of a charitable endowment and why.”

“When is it due?”

“Next week.”

“And?”

She turned a page. “I have been sitting on it for four hours and I’m no closer to figuring it out. Either I’ve lost my touch or she asked a really good question.”

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Chapter 136

poured her a cup of tea. “Probably the second one.”

She nodded her thanks and drank.

We ate at the table rather than the counter, which was the other half of the pattern.

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She told me her professor argued that financial structures were designed around risk, access, and control rather than money itself.

I listened attentively which was totally different from the way I listened to council arguments as she described the case study they were given in class.

I took a slice. “She’s challenging your assumptions about how you’ve been reading the documents.”

“Yes. I’ve been reading them as answers. She’s suggesting they’re arguments.”

“Apply that to the foundation.”

She looked up.

“Whose interpretation of the donor intent does the restricted capital structure currently serve?”

She was quiet for a moment as she thought about the answer. “The institution. The boards can create and enact the programs but the beneficiaries of these programs have no channel to challenge or make the charity accountable.”

“There’s your essay.”

She looked at me, then her textbook with a newfound realization that rearranged everything she already knew.

“I never thought of it that way.”

I gave her a slight nod. “You would have gotten there eventually.”

“I would have gotten there more slowly.”

“better late than never.”

She nodded her agreement and asked about the council.

I explained how the dialogue began from the position she had opened.

“You solved something they had been discussing for three sessions.”

She dropped her fork. “All I did was ask a question.”

“It was the right question.”

She regarded me for a moment with eyes that were seeking for confirmation of something known only to

her.

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Chapter 136

“Herne didn’t seem pleased.”

“That’s his default nature.”

She smiled slightly and dropped her gaze to a textbook beside her.

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We cleared the table after dinner and started reviewing a document I brought home and our hands touched without us realizing it.

The conversation died a natural death as we both stared at our fingers touching.

The bond was quiet the way it was when there was no external threat and that amplified what the proximity between us created. Denise was close enough for me to see an ink stain on her left forefinger that she didn’t notice.

We stared at each other and none of us looked away.

I leaned across the counter and kissed her. She returned the kiss without hesitation and I found that interesting.

She didn’t move away when we stopped.

“Kieran.”

“Yes.”

I could still feel the taste of her lips. “Your mother called today.”

I recognized the shift immediately, her tone became lighter: slightly amused.

I raised my eyebrow. “What did she want?”

“The same thing she has always wanted.”

“She’s escalating,” I said.

“When has she not?” There was a wild twinkle in her eye.

“She operates at one speed.”

Denise made a sound that was half-laughter, half resignation. “She has been thinking about the timing apparently

“What idea did she have in this time?”

“She proposed a timeline.”

“A what now?”

“Yup. You heard me.”

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