Unmatched Wife: Not His To Claim Anymore novel Chapter 95

Chapter 95

BIANCA

“Go see your patient,” I said, waving him away before the emotion in his expression could transfer to me.

He disappeared around the corner, and I stood in the corridor for a moment, thinking about a child running through a park chasing ghosts.

I hoped they found peace. I hoped they found someone to help them navigate the impossible grief of losing a parent young.

Children needed someone steady. Someone who showed up, who stayed, who made them feel like the world wasn’t going to keep collapsing.

I was doing that for Louis now.

And maybe, back in her previous pack, Mia was doing that for Theo.

I pushed the thought firmly away before it could take root and headed back toward my office to prepare for afternoon rounds.

The afternoon passed quickly–a curse–related skin condition that had been misdiagnosed for months, a teenage girl with magical exhaustion from overextending her abilities, a standard trauma case that required more surgical coordination than curse–breaking expertise.

By four o’clock I was sitting at my desk, working through documentation with a cup of tea going cold beside my keyboard, when my phone rang.

Rivera’s name lit up the screen, and I felt the familiar warmth that came with it. Three months of this man calling just to check in, just to hear my voice, and it still made my pulse quicken.

I answered immediately. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His voice was warm, slightly distracted. “How’s your shift?”

“Good. Productive, James had a vomit incident but survived it.” I leaned back in my chair. “How’s your day?”

“Meetings.” The word carried the weight of someone who’d sat through too many of them. “I’m heading over to council hall now for another one. I wanted to call before I went in–these things tend to run longer than scheduled.”

“What’s it about?”

“Territory boundary disputes. The kind of bureaucratic argument that somehow takes six hours and resolves nothing.” I could hear him moving, the sound of a car door opening. “Don’t wait up. I’ll try to be home for dinner but it might be late.”

“I’ll keep something warm for you,” I said. “Louis and I are making pasta tonight. His choice, which means there will be entirely too much cheese,”

“There’s no such thing as too much cheese.”

“That’s what he said when he tried to put cheese on his chocolate pudding, last Tuesday,”

A pause. “Did it work?”

“Surprisingly, not terrible.” I smiled at the memory of Louis’s vindicated expression. “Though I’m not recommending it as a general dessert approach.”

Rivera laughed, the sound low and genuine, and I felt it settle in my chest like warmth.

Chapter 95

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“Lucian,” I said, because something had been nagging at me since a comment Margaret had made at the hospital the previous week. “I have a question.”

“Okay.”

“About the Alpha King.

”

A brief pause. “What about him?”

“I’ve been in BloodMoon City for some time now,” I said, keeping my tone light but genuinely curious. “I work at his city’s hospital. I’m living in his city under his protection. My entry papers were approved by his office.” I paused for effect. “And I’ve never once been called in for even a basic introduction. Most Alpha Kings maintain some connection to the major institutions in their territory. Why is this one so completely absent?”

“He’s private,” Rivera said, his voice carefully even. “You know that. His wife died five years ago and he withdrew from public

life.”

“Right, but even private Alphas usually have some formal relationship with their key institutions. Our hospital director, Dr. Zhao, meets with the Alpha King’s office quarterly for resource allocations. I’ve seen the meeting notes. But it’s always handled through a chief of staff.” I spun slowly in my chair. “Who, as we both know, is Thorne Lockwood. Which means every formal interaction between the Alpha King and the institutions he’s supposed to govern goes through the man who cursed your son.”

A longer pause this time. “That’s an astute observation.”

“I’m an astute person.” I smiled despite myself. “My point is that the Alpha King could really stand to be more directly involved. If he interacted with his own institutions rather than delegating everything to Thorne, he’d have a much better picture of what’s actually happening in his territory. And frankly, he could have met me by now and evaluated whether I’m actually a safe addition to his city or just taking up space.”

“I think he’d find you’re an excellent addition,” Rivera said, and there was something odd in his voice. Something careful.

“You say that like you know him.”

“I know of him. By reputation.”

“Mm.” I wasn’t entirely convinced by that deflection, but I let it go for now. “I’m just saying. For a man with that much influence over my current situation–he let me into his city, remember–it would be nice to actually meet him someday. Put a face to the authority figure. Maybe thank him properly for the entry clearance.”

“Maybe someday,” Rivera said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Very mysterious. Very unhelpful.” I could hear his smile through the phone. “Are you sure this council meeting is actually about territory boundaries? Because you sound like you’re going somewhere more interesting than a bureaucratic dispute.”

“It’s genuinely about territory boundaries,” he said. “Though I admit it would be more interesting it it were something else.”

“Tell the Alpha King, I said hello,” I said, mostly joking. “Since you seem to be in the vicinity.”

“I’ll pass that along ” A beat, weighted with something I couldn’t identify. “Blanca.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

The words landed simply, without wasting time, the way he said them these days–naturally, like breathing.

“I love you too,” I said. “Come home before Louis cats all the cheese.”

“I’ll try.” He paused. “And Blanca? Don’t stay at the hospital too late. You had a twelve–hour shift yesterday.”

“I’m aware. I’m the doctor.”

Chapter 95

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“You’re also the person who forgot to eat lunch twice this week.”

“Once. Possibly once and a half.”

“I left a snack in your office bag. Eat it.”

I glanced at my bag and found, tucked in the front pocket, a small container of mixed nuts and dried fruit that I definitely hadn’t put there this morning.

“You packed my bag,” I said, somewhere between touched and exasperated.

“Louis helped. He wanted to put dinosaur crackers in, but I convinced him the nuts were more sustaining.” A pause. “Eat something, Bianca. Please.”

“Fine. Yes. I’ll eat the nuts.” I opened the container, suddenly realizing I was genuinely hungry. “Go to your meeting.”

“Heading in now. I’ll see you tonight.”

The call ended, and I sat for a moment with my phone in my hand and a small smile on my face.

This was my life now. A man who packed my bag and called to check in and said I love you like it was the simplest truth he knew.

I reached for a handful of nuts and returned to my documentation, feeling more settled than I had all day.

The voice at the park–the one that had sounded like Theo–had been fading from my mind all afternoon. Just a misheard sound, a child calling for their parent in a crowded park. Nothing more.

I was good at pushing the past back where it belonged. Getting better at it every day.

My present was Rivera, and Louis, and the hospital where I was building something real.

I ate my nuts, finished my documentation, and headed out to finish afternoon rounds.

The text came through at 6:47 PM, just as I was finishing up my last chart and contemplating whether to grab dinner at the hospital cafeteria or head straight home to help Louis with his promised pasta extravaganza.

*Unknown Number: Need to see you. Urgent. Room 247, Riverside Motel. Come alone. -V*

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