Unmatched Wife: Not His To Claim Anymore novel Chapter 137

Chapter 137

Chapter 137

BIANCA

“Which means he wanted me here. Within reach.” The implications were assembling themselves with horrible clarity. “He didn’t approve my entry out of bureaucratic routine or because Klaus vouched for me. He approved it because Voss wanted me accessible. Because they’d lost me once when I survived the ritual, and having me working in a city under the Alpha King’s nominal protection meant I was contained, observable, and available when they were ready to move.”

“Bianca-”

“And Matthew inviting Lockwood to the assembly-“I stopped, working through it. “Lockwood called Matthew directly. Positioned himself as the helpful official who’d made Theo’s treatment possible. Used that goodwill to get himself an invitation to a pack event where Theo will be present and Matthew will be distracted.” I was on my feet without realizing I’d stood.” Lucian, Lockwood is going to use the assembly to take Theo. That’s the plan. That’s what the assembly was always for in Voss’s timeline.”

“I know.” Rivera’s voice was taut. “Klaus is already coordinating with his security team. He’s trying to reach Matthew to warn him before-”

“Matthew doesn’t know any of this context. He’s going to hear from the Alpha King’s office that there’s a threat, but he has no framework for understanding what curse–breakers are, what the ritual involves, why his son specifically is a target.” I was pacing now, the small office suddenly inadequate for what I was feeling. “He needs to understand what’s at stake. He needs the full picture.”

“Klaus can provide that.”

“Klaus can provide intelligence,” I said. “But Lucian, Matthew lost his wife recently. His son has been in therapy for months. He’s going through a leadership crisis in his pack. And now a stranger is calling to tell him his son is being targeted by a dark coven for blood rituals.” I paused. “He needs someone who can make him understand why Theo specifically matters. Why the bloodline is significant. Why Theo might have inherited abilities neither of them knew to look for.”

The silence that followed was very specific.

“Bianca,” Rivera said. “What are you saying?”

I stopped pacing.

What was I saying?

I was saying that Theo needed to be warned. That Matthew needed context no one else could give him. That the person best positioned to explain why Theo was a target was the person whose bloodline Theo had inherited.

I was saying that I might need to stop being a ghost.

“I’m saying we’re running out of time,” I said carefully. “I’m saying the assembly is in six days. Lockwood is going to be there. Voss has everything she needs to complete the ritual if she can get Theo. And the only thing standing between that and happening is whether Matthew understands the threat well enough to protect his son from someone he currently thinks is a benefactor.”

“There has to be another way-

“Maybe. Tell me what it is.” I sat back down, pressing my free hand against the desk to anchor myself. “Tell me how to get Matthew to understand, specifically enough to act, without telling him the truth about what Theo might be. Without someone who can explain curse–breaking inheritance, what the bloodline means, why his son’s blood specifically is what Voss needs.”

Rivera was quiet for a long time.

Chapter 137

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“I need to think,” he said finally. “Give me an hour. Let me talk to Klaus, find out what contact has already been made, figure out what Matthew has been told and what he’s actually understood.” A pause. “And Bianca–don’t make any decisions yet. Please.”

“I’m not making decisions,” I said. “I’m thinking.”

“I know what it looks like when you’re thinking,” he said, and there was something in his voice that was almost a smile despite everything. “It looks exactly like someone who’s already made a decision and is figuring out how to implement it.”

He wasn’t wrong, and we both knew it.

“One hour,” I said.

After I ended the call, I sat for a moment in the quiet of the secured office, looking at my notes.

Eleven days until the ritual. Six days until the assembly. Lockwood already embedded, already positioned, already moving toward the moment when Matthew would be at the podium addressing his pack and Theo would be in a childcare room three floors away with people who had no idea what to watch for.

I thought about Vera’s voice: *You cannot save your son by sacrificing yourself back to a man who tried to kill you.*

I thought about it seriously, because it deserved serious consideration. Vera wasn’t wrong about the risks. The mate bond complications were real. Pack law was real. Matthew’s legal claim, if the bond remained partially intact, was real.

But Vera had also said those words before we’d known about Lockwood. Before we’d understood that the threat to Theo wasn’t abstract or distant but was walking into a pack assembly in six days with an invitation Matthew had personally extended.

The calculus had shifted.

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