The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 120

POV: Elias

She was lying.

I knew it the moment she started speaking about the Mating.

Her story was too neat, too clean. It was a carefully curated narrative, designed to protect herself and to paint Selene as a fragile, passive victim.

But I had seen Selene. I had seen her fight off two trained rogues to protect her son. I had seen her take command of a room full of panicked shifters to save Zane’s life. She was many things, but fragile was not one of them.

I watched her now, her witch’s composure beginning to crumble under my steady, silent gaze. Her hands were fidgeting with a bundle of dried herbs, her eyes refusing to meet mine.

I was a doctor. I knew the signs of a family member hiding a crucial piece of a patient’s history out of shame or fear.

And Cora, for all her magic and power, was exhibiting all the classic symptoms.

That night, I found her again in the apothecary, long after the rest of the manor had gone to sleep.

She was poring over an ancient-looking book, a worried frown on her face.

She looked up as I entered, a flash of panic in her eyes.

I closed the door behind me, the soft click echoing in the quiet room.

“We need to talk,” I said, my voice calm but firm.

“We have already talked, doctor,” she replied, her voice a little too sharp.

“No,” I said, walking closer. “You talked. I listened. And I heard what you didn't say.”

I stopped in front of her workbench. “I am a doctor, Cora. I can recognize the symptoms of a patient’s family hiding part of the story. And you are hiding something about what happened to Zane. Something important.”

She stared at me, her face pale.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t you?” I pressed, my voice still gentle, but unyielding. “You are a healer. I am a healer. Our first duty is to our patient. Not to ourselves. Not to our own safety.”

Her composure finally broke. A single tear traced a path down her cheek.

“You don’t understand,” she whispered, her voice full of a desperate, weary fear. “They are hunting me. My old coven. They want me dead. His protection is the only thing keeping me alive.”

“And you think a protection bought with a lie is strong enough to save you?” I asked.

Her face crumpled, and the full confession came pouring out of her.

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