Share

25

Author: Elle Bass
last update publish date: 2026-07-07 00:59:50

Josephine

I realised something was terribly wrong — not that an actual wild animal on the loose isn’t already bad — the moment we turned into the drive. The mansion, usually so controlled and almost unnervingly calm, like an overpriced wellness retreat where silence is mandatory, had transformed into something that looked as though someone had lifted it straight out of an emergency‑response documentary.

People were everywhere, moving with a kind of urgent coordination that made my pulse quicken
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   35

    DerekCorrine stood over the bodies. Her hands were shaking, and her discarded clothes looked torn. She must have shifted into her wolf and back to her human self very quickly. It was rather impressive, but Derek knew how strong of a wolf Corrine was, despite her extremely polished human exterior. She was of Beta origin herself, and if need be, that heritage came through. And by the looks of it, there had been plenty of need.Her face looked nothing like the flawless and perfectly put‑together woman Derek knew. The make‑up was smudged in a way Corrine would hate to know had been seen by others. Her cheeks were deeply streaked with sweat and blood — not all of it hers, Derek could tell.“Goddess!” Declan exhaled, mirroring the exact thought Derek had, though the words from him came out sounding slightly less unholy.Corrine whimpered, exhausted, as she looked up at Derek and then at Declan, eyes wide, frantic, and shining with something between guilt, fear, and desperation. It was so

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   34

    DerekAlpha Derek Blackwell never felt betrayal quite like this before. Maybe when his mate didn’t get better despite his pleas to the Goddess, he did feel betrayed by the Moon then, but it was different.Although he did not have all the details of what the hell was Corrine mixed up in, it did not look good.“Should we follow her?” Declan hissed, his voice sharp enough to cut through the fog of Derek’s spiraling thoughts.The question snapped Derek back into full, brutal awareness.His head jerked toward his Beta. “Yeah,” he muttered, jaw tightening. “I think that’s a good idea. We can try following her. Fuck, I have a bad feeling about this.”Bad feeling was an understatement. It was a bone‑deep certainty, a pressure behind his ribs that felt like a warning from the universe itself. Derek did not want Corrine mixed up in anything that would make her an enemy of his. Having to fight — both literal and not — his late wife’s best friend was the last thing he wished for. Yet his gut tol

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   33

    The moment Liam turned his back to close the van door, something primal and reckless surged through me. It wasn’t bravery. It wasn’t strategy. It was pure, unfiltered panic wearing the flimsy disguise of determination. His silhouette blocked the dim warehouse light for a heartbeat, and in that tiny sliver of time, I saw my chance.And I took it.I launched myself forward with the chaotic energy of someone who had absolutely no idea what they were doing but was committed to doing it loudly. My feet slapped against the concrete floor, my breath tore out of me in ragged bursts, and my arms — still zip‑tied behind me — flapped uselessly like decorative accessories.I wasn’t running with grace. I wasn’t running with silence. I wasn’t running with intelligence either, as it seems.I was positive I was running like a deranged farm animal that had just discovered existential dread. Honestly, my grace was comparable to a pig that fell out of a lorry on the way to the slaughterhouse — confuse

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   32

    Josephine I didn’t remember losing consciousness. One moment I was staring at the back doors of a speeding van, trying to decide whether I was more nauseous or terrified, and the next I was waking up like someone had slapped a reboot button on my brain. No gentle fade‑in, no dreamy transition — just a violent, jarring snap back into harsh reality.And reality was vibrating ominously.A deep, bone‑rattling hum travelled through the metal floor and straight into my skull, like the van had decided to audition as a migraine generator. It wasn’t just noise; it was a physical presence, a low mechanical growl that made every bolt and panel tremble. The smell hit me next — petrol, damp canvas, and something faintly sweet, like cough syrup spilled by someone who didn’t believe in cleaning. Then came the pain.A sharp, throbbing ache pulsed behind my eyes, beating in perfect, hateful rhythm with the engine. I groaned and tried to lift my head, only to discover that gravity had chosen violenc

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   31

    Derek didn’t remember leaving the house — not the fine details of his storming off in the dead of night, anyway. His wolf had surged forward, more in control than his human side, and Derek hadn’t fought it. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to. One moment he was staring at the monitors replaying Josephine’s last known steps, and the next he was sprinting across the back lawn, the cold night air slamming into his lungs like punishment. His boots tore through the grass, each stride longer, harder, more desperate — as if speed alone could undo the last couple of days. The shift clawed at him — vicious, demanding, primal — and Derek didn’t resist. He welcomed it. Bones cracked sharply and his muscles stretched. His skin rippled and split, everything rearranging and knitting itself back together with brutal efficiency. Soon enough the world sharpened into a thousand scents and sounds, everything so focused it was nearly painful. In seconds, Derek’s wolf burst forward — massive, dark, furio

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   30

    DerekDerek Blackwell had been awake for thirty‑five hours. He looked at his phone and groaned. Make that thirty‑six. Thirty‑six miserable waking hours where all he had accomplished was losing things. Things he lo— Things that mattered deeply to him. Well… some of them. He was too frustrated and sleep‑deprived to let that particular thought fully form.He stood in the centre of his home office, the lights off, the curtains drawn, the only light coming from the faint glow of the monitors with the footage of Josephine that his team had pulled, now paused. The room felt like a tomb — cold, airless, suffocating — and Derek stood in the middle of it like a man carved out of stone.His jaw was locked so tightly it ached, but he welcomed the pain. His hands were clenched at his sides, nails biting into his palms hard enough to leave crescents. Anything to keep himself from letting his beast out. Anything to keep himself from tearing the room apart.Josephine was gone. There was no way to

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   6

    Josephine I didn’t expect the results of the millions of tests they ran on me to come back so quickly. They poked, prodded, scanned, questioned, and siphoned off what felt like half the blood in my body — and I barely flinched. I’d been terrified of the psychological evaluation, convinced they’d d

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   5

    Derek Derek Blackwell already regretted leaving pack land. The city pressed in on him the moment he crossed the boundary — noise, fumes, too many humans packed into too little space. Cars crawled along the road like wounded animals, horns blaring, engines whining. Morning rush hour. His persona

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   4

    The blast of cold air‑conditioning hit me like a slap from God Himself. My lungs burned, my legs trembled, and I was sweating in places I didn’t know could sweat. The pantsuit was clinging to me like a damp funeral shroud.Act normal, Jo. Act. Normal.I straightened my spine, smoothed my hair (whi

  • Surrogate to the Alpha   3

    I wore my mother’s old pantsuit for the meeting at the clinic.Not because it fit. Not because it was stylish. And definitely not because it made me look like a woman who had her life together.I wore it because it was the only thing in my entire wardrobe that wasn’t jeans, a hoodie, or a diner u

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status