Chapter 251
Chapter 252
ALEXANDER
I knew the moment Helen was settled into her room that I wouldn’t be able to rest.
Sleep had abandoned me anyway, chased away by too many thoughts and too much fear pressed tight against my chest. Helen was back–alive, unharmed, breathing–and that alone should have brought relief. Instead, it only opened the door to more questions, heavier ones, the kind that sat in your bones and refused to be ignored… the kind that were bound to cause misunderstanding
between me and my mate.
I knew where he would be.
There was no way he was going back to bed. Not after everything. He would definitely be even more restless now… restless and mad, of course.
I headed straight for the office.
As I approached, I could hear low voices inside. By the time I stepped fully into the doorway, they were already wrapping up whatever conversation they’d been having. I hadn’t caught enough to piece anything together.
Cole was the first to notice me.
“Luna,” he greeted politely, giving a short nod.
Kyle followed suit. “Good morning.”
They both looked tense and alert, like men who knew they were standing in the eye of something that hadn’t finished forming yet.
Alexander didn’t say anything when our eyes met.
He was leaning back against his desk, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze fixed on me from the moment I walked in. Just watching.
Waiting for me to speak first.
Cole and Kyle exchanged a look and took that as their cue to leave. The door closed behind them, and suddenly the room felt too quiet, too tight.
I swallowed.
I didn’t need him to say it out loud. I could feel it.
He was angry… at me.
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Chapter 252
$26 Pants
I took a few steps forward anyway, refusing to let that stop me. “I know you’re mad at me, ” I said, breaking the silence before it could harden any further. “I could see it outside.”
His jaw flexed, but he didn’t interrupt.
“But I still don’t understand why you thought it was a good idea to keep your own mother standing out there in the early morning cold, Alexander,” I continued, my voice steady even though my chest felt anything but. “Interrogating her like she was a criminal.”
His eyes darkened slightly.
“There’s nothing wrong with asking questions,” I added quickly. “Given everything, I get that. I do. But there are better ways to handle that situation.”
He uncrossed his arms slowly, pushing himself off the desk. “I need you to understand something. Helen might be my mother,” he said, his voice low and controlled, “but I’m not just her son.”
I stilled.
“I’m an alpha,” he went on. “And that comes before everything else.”
The words landed with weight.
“I have responsibilities that go beyond being the perfect son–or the comforting one,” he said. “And right now, too many things don’t add up… which means a lot is at stake.”
I frowned slightly. “I get that part.”
He took a step closer, closing the distance enough that I couldn’t pretend this was just a casual disagreement.
“There’s no way she came directly from Shadow Fang territory,” he said. “Not from the northern mountains. Not that fast. The terrain alone makes that impossible unless you know the paths intimately–and even then, not in a few hours.”
I hesitated. I couldn’t comment on that because he knew better in that aspect.
I wasn’t familiar with Shadow Fang territory the way he was. I knew it was dangerous, hostile, treacherous by design, and far from here–but I didn’t know the details. Still, the way he said it told me everything.
“And Atlas called me only hours ago, ” Alexander continued. “Made his demands. Ready to provoke me into war. You expect me to believe that between then and now, they decided to release my mother and escort her close enough to walk back into our territory alone?”
When he put it like that, it did sound worse.
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*Chapter 252
“… I get why that would raise questions,” I admitted softly. “And I’ve been wondering too–why they’d let her go when their demands haven’t been met.”
“Exactly,” he said. “That alone should have bought me time to verify everything before she stepped foot back inside this house.”
I exhaled slowly. “Alexander, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be careful. I’m saying she should have rested first. She just got back. Whatever happened–wherever she was–she deserved at least that.
His gaze sharpened. “Rested?” he echoed. “Did she look like someone who’s been held captive for
hours?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.
“No,” I admitted. “She didn’t.”
“She looked calm,” he said. “Put together. Like someone who walked out of a meeting, not a prison.
I hated how much sense he was making.
“Alexander,” I said quietly, “I just thought we could’ve talked to her inside.”
“And that’s where you crossed a line,” he replied, his voice tightening. “You undermined my
authority.”
I didn’t think he was going to take it this seriously.
“Faye,” he continued, “in that moment, Helen wasn’t just my mother. She was a member of my pack. And she wouldn’t have dared to step past me and into the pack house without permission when security is in question.”
I looked down briefly, guilt blooming in my
chest.
“I had every right to want answers before letting her in,” he said. “And you didn’t respect that.”
I swallowed. “I wasn’t trying to-”
“I know,” he cut in, softer now. “You acted on emotion. Not logic.”
He was right.
I had.
Because it was Helen. Because I loved her. Because a part of me still believed–no matter how irrational–that if not for me, she wouldn’t have been taken in the first place.
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Chapter 252
“I just…” My voice wavered despite my effort to steady it. “I couldn’t stand seeing her out there like
that.”
He watched me for a long moment, something conflicted passing through his eyes.
Then he sighed.
“It’s fine. I need to be alone,” he said finally. “I need to think.”
It wasn’t just a statement.
It was a dismissal.
The way he said it made that clear… the conversation was over.
I pressed my lips together, nodding once. I didn’t trust myself to say anything else without letting my frustration bleed through. I turned on my heel and walked out of the office.
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