MasukALPHA JAKEThe next day, I went to the healing center earlier than planned.My original intention was simple—to speak with Alpha George face to face. No guards. No messengers. Just two Alphas standing on equal ground. There were things I needed to ask him, and things I needed to see with my own eyes.What I did not expect… was to see the boy again.Gary.He was standing near the garden path just outside the main entrance, dressed neatly, hands tucked into the pockets of his small jacket. He wasn’t running like the other children nearby. He wasn’t loud. He wasn’t distracted.He was observing.Like a man twice his age.I stopped walking without even realizing it.Liam stirred softly inside me, alert but calm. There.I watched the boy for a second longer than necessary. The way he stood. The way he tilted his head slightly, as if measuring the world around him. It was familiar in a way that made my chest feel tight.Before I could overthink it, I walked toward him.“Good morning,” I said
ALPHA JAKEI did not become Alpha by trusting my feelings.If I had, I would have died long ago.That was why I sat in my study, fingers steepled, eyes fixed on the fire that burned low in the hearth, forcing myself to think clearly—coldly—despite the way Alyanna Hendricks had shaken something deep inside me.She was beautiful. Calm. Confident. Sharp in both mind and presence.And that alone told me one thing clearly.She could not be Ashley.I had known Alpha George’s daughter years ago. Everyone had. Ashley had been… different. Awkward. Overweight. Quiet to the point of invisibility. She followed behind others, eyes always lowered, shoulders hunched as if she wanted to disappear from the world.Alyanna Hendricks was the opposite.She walked like she owned the ground beneath her feet. She spoke with authority. She carried herself like a woman who knew her worth—and knew how to defend it.No amount of time could change a person that much.So no.I never once thought Alyanna was Ashley
ALYANNAI was still holding a cup of untouched tea when Dad—Alpha George—told me about Amy.For a moment, the world felt like it tilted.“What?” I asked, my voice low, careful, as if speaking louder would shatter something fragile between us.Dad stood near the window of his study, arms crossed, his face hard in a way I rarely saw anymore. The morning light brushed his silver-streaked hair, but there was no warmth in his expression.“She came to the healing center last night,” he said. “Barely conscious. Weak. Bleeding. Terrified.”My fingers tightened around the cup. “Amy?” I repeated. “Marian’s Amy?”He nodded once.My heart sank, not with sympathy first—but with caution.“Dad,” I said slowly, setting the cup down, “we need to be careful.”He turned to look at me, eyes sharp. “Careful?”“Yes,” I said, standing. “Amy is one of Marian’s friends.”The words tasted bitter in my mouth.Silence stretched between us. I could feel my wolf shifting under my skin, uneasy, pacing like it sense
Alpha GeorgeI stood outside the hospital room long after the door closed behind me, my hand resting against the cold wall, my brows drawn tight in thought. The scent of fear still lingered in the air—sharp, raw, unmistakable. Amy’s fear.That alone troubled me.Fear like that didn’t come from simple threats or imagination. It came from experience. From knowing someone was capable of destroying you without remorse.And she was afraid of Barney.I exhaled slowly, my wolf stirring beneath my skin, uneasy, alert. Amy was not just any woman who wandered into my territory half-dead and desperate. She was Marian’s closest friend. A woman who had been around power, politics, secrets, and dangerous men long enough to know when to run.And she ran.That meant something.I walked down the corridor, my steps measured, controlled. Alphas did not act on impulse—not when the stakes were this high. The healing center was quiet now, staff moving carefully, unaware that one frightened woman might shif
AmyI woke up slowly, my body heavy, my head aching like I had been drowning and only just reached the surface. The smell of medicine filled my nose. Clean sheets brushed my skin. Soft light pressed through my eyelids.Hospital.The moment the word formed in my mind, panic rushed through me like cold water.“No—” My voice came out weak, broken. My hand flew to my stomach on instinct, and the emptiness there made my breath hitch. Pain followed. Not sharp, but deep. Hollow.I remembered everything then.Running. Blood. Fear. Barney’s voice in my head like a curse I could not escape.My heart began to race.I tried to sit up, but dizziness slammed into me. “Please… someone…” My throat felt dry, raw.The door opened quietly.I froze.For one terrifying second, I thought it was him.But it wasn’t.Alpha George stepped inside, tall and solid, his presence filling the room with something steady and powerful. His scent hit me next—strong, calm, dominant, like earth and fire mixed together. An
BARNEYI slammed my fist on the desk, the sound echoing through the office. My mind was a storm, dark and violent, every nerve in my body screaming. How could she slip through my hands like this? Amy. My control. My rules. She was supposed to obey, to stay where she belonged. And now… now she was gone.I grabbed my phone, slamming it open. “Silas,” I barked into the line, my voice sharp enough to crack stone. “Where is she?”There was a pause, a hesitant silence, and then his voice came, calm but uncertain. “Sir… she… seems to have escaped. We can’t find her.”My teeth clenched. My wolf growled low in my chest, coiling tight like a spring, ready to strike. Escape? Escape? How dare she? How dare anyone defy me?“Escape?” I roared, pacing the room, my fingers curling into fists so tight my nails dug into my palms. “Do you hear me, Silas? Escape? Do you know who I am? Do you understand the consequences of her running from me?”“Yes, sir,” Silas said, his tone measured, trying to keep cal







