Chapter 156 Chapter 156

Chapter 156 Chapter 156
Taylor's POV

I noticed someone the moment I stepped out of the coffee shop, standing across the street, watching me with an intensity that made my skin crawl instantly.

He was tall, unfamiliar, dressed plainly in a way that gave nothing away.

I had learned this past year to trust that particular prickle at the back of my neck, and every instinct in me screamed that this man wasn't simply passing through.

I kept walking, forcing my pace steady, my hand tightening around my phone in my pocket.

He crossed the street behind me.

"Taylor Whitman," he called out, his voice smooth and almost pleasant.

"I've wanted to meet you properly for a while now."

I turned slowly, Doran already stirring beneath my ribs, steadier now than she used to be, controlled instead of exploding wildly.

"Who are you?"

"A friend of Corbin's," he said, stepping closer. "Though I imagine he's already given you my name by now, one way or another."

"He hasn't told us anything useful," I said, which wasn't entirely true, but I wasn't about to hand this man confirmation of what we did or didn't know.

"He will," the man said, unbothered.

"Everyone eventually breaks under the right pressure. I've learned that lesson well, watching every predecessor before me make the same mistakes."

"You're studying Kessler," I observed. "Yvaine too."

Something moved across his face, brief but confirming.

"Their failures taught me a great deal," he said. "Mostly, that patience and subtlety accomplish far more than brute force or manipulation ever did. I don't need Doran's power completed or corrupted, Taylor. I simply need this family destabilized long enough to seize control of what remains once the dust settles."

"Why," I asked, stalling, my eyes scanning the empty street for any sign of help.

"Because power abhors a vacuum," he said simply.

"The Alpha King incapacitated and succession uncertain. Two heirs still finishing their education. A pack still healing from the wounds Kessler and Yvaine left behind. This territory has never been more vulnerable, and vulnerability is simply opportunity wearing an unfamiliar face."

He took another step closer, and I braced myself, Doran surging hot and ready beneath my skin.

"I don't want to hurt you," he continued, something almost gentle in his tone despite the threat underlying every word.

"I only need you to understand that whatever happens next, resistance simply prolongs the inevitable."

"You're wrong," I said, my voice steady despite my racing heart.

"Every single person who had underestimated how much I'm willing to fight for the people I love has ended up regretting it."

He smiled thinly. "We'll see."

He lunged.

I barely had time to react before a shadow moved fast from the alley beside us, colliding hard into the man from behind, driving him sharply to the ground before he ever reached me.

Asher.

"Don't move," Asher snarled, pinning the man's arm hard against his back, his knee driving into the pavement to hold him steady.

"Asher!" I gasped, relief flooding through me so fast my legs nearly buckled. "How did you…."

"I've been shadowing you since Hunter's message last night," Asher said and was not looking away from the man struggling weakly beneath him.

"I had a feeling whoever sent Corbin wouldn't stay hidden much longer."

The man laughed, breathless despite being pinned. "Clever," he said. "Though it changes nothing in the end."

Guards arrived within minutes, Maria close behind them, and the man was secured fast, still smiling faintly despite the restraints, unnervingly calm for someone who'd just been caught red handed threatening the Alpha King's future daughter in law.

"Who is he?" I asked Maria, my whole body still shaking with leftover adrenaline.

"We'll find out," Maria said grimly.

"Whatever name he gives us, I doubt it's the whole truth. Not with how carefully he's clearly studied everyone who came before him."

””

My phone buzzed the second the chaos began settling, and my stomach dropped seeing Mom's name flash across the screen with a message that wasn't from her at all.

This is Reeve. Your mother collapsed at home. We're taking her to the palace medical wing now. She's breathing, conscious, but weak. Come as soon as you can.

"Mom," I said, my voice breaking, showing the message to Asher fast.

"Go," he said immediately. "I'll finish here with Maria and meet you there."

I ran the entire way to my car, guards scrambling to keep pace, my mind spinning through every worst possibility as I drove faster than I probably should have toward the palace.



I found Mom in a small medical room, pale against white sheets, an IV line taped carefully into her arm, her eyes fluttering open weakly when I rushed to her side.

"Taylor," she whispered, managing a small, tired smile.

"What happened," I asked, taking her hand, tears already spilling over.

"Exhaustion, mostly," the healer said gently, checking the monitor beside her bed.

"Her body has been running on stress and adrenaline for far longer than anyone should. It finally caught up to her."

"I should have noticed," I said, guilt crashing hard over the relief of finding her stable.

"I've been so focused on everything else this year, I didn't realize how much she's been carrying quietly the entire time."

"Don't," Mom said weakly, squeezing my hand.

"You've had your own battles to fight, Taylor. I didn't want to add mine on top of everything else you were already facing."

"You matter too," I said fiercely.

"You always have and I should have paid closer attention."

She smiled faintly, exhaustion evident in every line of her face.

"You're here now," she said. "That's what matters."

I sat with her a long while, holding her hand while she drifted in and out of sleep, the healer assuring me repeatedly that with rest and proper care, she'd recover fully.

Asher arrived an hour later, quietly slipping into the room, his hand finding my shoulder gently.

"How is she?" he asked softly.

"Stable," I said. "Exhausted, but stable and the healer says she'll be okay."

He pulled me into a careful hug, and I let myself finally break down a little, the weight of everything, the stalker, Mom's collapse, the endless uncertainty still hanging over this entire family, crashing over me all at once.

"This year was supposed to be easier," I whispered against his chest.

"I know," he said quietly.

"But you're still standing, Taylor and every single time this year has tried to break you, you've found a way to keep standing anyway."

I held onto that thought as tightly as I held onto him, grateful beyond words that whatever else this endless, exhausting year decided to throw at us next, I wasn't facing any of it alone.