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Chapter 41

Author: Aurora
last update publish date: 2025-12-04 14:59:43

"Petra?"

I pushed through the celebrating crowd, not quite believing my eyes. But it was her. Really her. Thinner than I remembered. Haunted looking. But alive and here.

She saw me coming and tensed, like she was ready to bolt.

"Wait!" I called out. "Please, don't run."

She stopped but didn't move toward me. We stood five feet apart, the distance between us feeling like miles.

"You came back," I said stupidly.

"I heard about Helena Blackwood. About The Architect being caught." Her voice was rou
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  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 130

    Edward laid out the list on the table the next morning: every member of our inner circle whose name began with E. It was a short list, mercifully short, which made the implications heavier rather than lighter.Edward Hale. Himself.Then nobody else."That's it," Morrison said, checking the file again like the answer might change if he looked hard enough. "Unless the Steward uses an alias, or the letter belongs to a first name we don't have on record, Edward's the only match in your immediate circle."The room went quiet in a way that felt dangerous. Edward stood very still, his face carefully blank in the way I'd learned meant he was holding something back."You think it's me," he said finally."I don't think anything yet," I said, though the words felt thinner than I wanted them to. Three weeks ago, I'd falsely imprisoned this man on evidence that turned out to be planted. I'd apologized. I'd trusted him again, mostly, in the way you trust anyone after that kind of rupture."Then wha

  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 129

    Jude's condition worsened the day after we brought Kessler in. I hadn't visited his cell in nearly a week, too consumed by the hunt to spare thought for the ghost we'd locked away, but Margaret's message pulled me back to the holding facility with an urgency I couldn't ignore."He's asking for you specifically," Margaret said, meeting me at the door. Her eyes were tired in a way that had nothing to do with sleep. "Says it's happening. Says he doesn't have much time left as himself."I found Jude curled against the far wall of his cell, chains rattling with a tremor that ran through his whole body. When he lifted his head, his eyes had a glassy quality that hadn't been there before, something distant and unfocused, like he was looking at me from very far away."Hailey," he said, and his voice came out cracked, barely holding together. "It's close now. I can feel it. Whatever they built into me, it's almost ready.""Tell me something useful before it takes you," I said. I kept my voice

  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 128

    We regrouped at a safehouse two hours outside the city, one Morrison's federal contacts had arranged on short notice. Nobody spoke much on the drive. Edward sat in the front seat with a bandage wrapped tight around his forearm, staring out the window like the passing dark held some answer he was trying to read."The name Callahan gave us," Morrison said once we were inside, spreading a laptop open on the kitchen table. "Warren Kessler. Real estate developer. Donates to a dozen legitimate charities, sits on two city councils. Model citizen, on paper.""And underneath the paper?" I asked."Underneath, he's funded three of the properties we've raided in the last two months," Morrison said. "Shell companies, but the money trail's there if you know where to dig. He's not the top of the conspiracy. But he's close enough to it that he might know how to reach the top.""Then we go to him next," I said."Hailey." Edward's voice carried a weight I hadn't heard from him before, something between

  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 127

    Callahan's compound sat behind a ring of motion-sensor lights and a fence that had been reinforced sometime in the last week, judging by the fresh concrete around the posts. Edward had counted six visible guards from our position in the treeline, and Morrison suspected at least four more inside based on heat signatures."Last chance to back out," I told the warriors gathered around me in the dark. My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Nobody who leaves now owes an explanation. Nobody who leaves gets judged for it."Nobody moved. A few nodded. One young warrior named Callum, barely twenty, gripped his weapon so tightly his knuckles had gone pale, but he stayed in line."Then let's move," I said.We went in fast, the way we'd planned. Edward's team took the east fence line while Lucian and I led the direct approach through the front gate, using the chaos of the first breach to cover our advance. Gunfire started almost immediately, and within ninety seconds the quiet night had turned

  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 126

    By the third target, word had spread. The conspiracy knew we were coming, and they knew what we had become. Mercy had died somewhere in the ashes of the pack house, and something harder had taken its place."They're panicking," Edward said, dropping a folder on the table in front of me. Three days of this campaign had aged him. There were new lines around his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Low-level members are going dark. Cutting contact. Disappearing. The network's fracturing because nobody wants to be the next example.""Good," I said. I didn't feel the satisfaction the word implied. I just felt tired in a way sleep wouldn't fix. "That's the point. Fear works better than any weapon we have."Lucian stood near the window, arms crossed, watching me with an expression I'd stopped trying to read days ago. He hadn't left my side once through any of it, not the first house, not the second. He hadn't argued either, not really. Just followed, and watched, and occasionally reached for

  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 125

    "I don't accept that," I said, my voice rising with emotion. "I don't accept that you're gone. That love died. That the woman I mated was destroyed so completely nothing remains. You're still in there. Buried. Hidden. Protected behind walls of ice and necessity. But still there. Still capable of feeling. Still—""Stop," she interrupted, her voice sharp and final. "Stop hoping. Stop believing. Stop expecting redemption or return or healing. What happened tonight isn't temporary insanity. Isn't breakdown I'll recover from. Isn't trauma I'll process and overcome. This is permanent. This is who I am now. This is what the conspiracy created when they pushed too far. Mourn the person I was if you need to. Grieve for Hailey. Miss her. Remember her. But don't expect her back. Because she's not coming. Ever. All that returns is Hope or revenge. Daughter or destruction. Victory or death. Nothing else matters. Nothing else exists. Just mission. Just purpose. Just ending the conspiracy regardless

  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 78

    Hailey "They moved the hearing to today. Right now."I stared at Agent Chen standing in my doorway at 6 AM. Behind her, the sun was barely rising. I'd gotten maybe two hours of sleep after the raid."What do you mean right now?""Congress is in emergency session. They want you there in three hours

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-28
  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 73

    "The council wants you removed."Senator Morrison stood in my office, his expression sympathetic but firm. Two weeks had passed since Montana. Two weeks of fallout."On what grounds?""Abuse of power. Unauthorized military action. Violation of due process. Take your pick. The human representatives

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-28
  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 75

    Hailey moved before I could stop her. She shifted mid-stride, her white wolf lunging at Derek.He shifted too, his brown wolf meeting her attack. They collided with brutal force, teeth and claws flashing."Stand down!" I commanded, using Alpha voice on both of them.Hailey's wolf resisted. She want

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-28
  • The Alpha’s Forbidden Obsession    Chapter 77

    Lucian"She what?"I gripped the phone so hard it cracked. Edward had just told me what Hailey did. Charged into Derek's compound. Alone. Against an army."Edward, get every available warrior to Derek's territory. Now!""Already on it. We're mobilizing everyone. But Lucian, it'll take thirty minute

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-28
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