《The Alpha's Broken Pet》全部章節：第 31 章 - 第 40 章

Author’s POVMaya’s heart was a cage of silk and bitterness. She paced the length of her bedroom, needing something to soften the hard, ugly feeling churning in her gut.She needed to teach Nina a lesson. The Gamma’s wife moved through the palace with an unearned grace that grated on Maya’s nerves.Nina acted as if she were above everyone else, her polite smiles a thin veil for a condescending superiority that Maya found insulting.Upon her arrival as the Alpha’s chosen, Maya had expected women like Nina and Isabella to naturally form a triad of power with her at its center. They would be the top three, the envy of the pack.But Nina had shown no interest in their circle. Her polite refusals felt like judgment. It was as if she found them repulsive. Considering Maya and Isabella held higher ranks by birth, Nina’s dismissiveness was an insult.She was going to show Nina. She had to. This cold war with Alec, and his infuriating distance, had to be Nina’s fault.He didn’t touch her. Hell,

AlecI arrived home to pandemonium. A wave of shouting crashed down the hallway, a grating sound that made the muscles in my shoulders tighten.“For the love of the ancestors—what fresh nonsense is this now?”I recognized Maya and Nina’s voices instantly. I closed my eyes for a brief moment and let out a weary breath.I was tired. I had spent the entire day settling a tense border dispute between our outer patrols and a clan of rogue wolves. The negotiation had required threats, promises, and a great deal of patience. I had come home seeking silence, a glass of brandy, and five minutes where I didn’t have to be the Alpha. Now, this. When was this madness going to stop?I marched forward. The noise was coming from the west lounge. I saw Gary first, holding Nina back by the arm, which meant she was about to beat Maya to a pulp.“Stay away from him, you homewrecker!” Maya’s voice shrieked, high-pitched and sharp. “He’s mine!”“You’d have to be worth stealing first, dear,” Nina shot back,

VanessaI felt cornered. The walls of Nina’s quarters seemed to close in on me.My raw emotions tore through the barriers I had built around my heart.I broke. The silent tears I had been holding back streamed down my cheeks. I wiped them away with the back of my hand, but the gesture was pointless. More came to replace them.Nina’s face was open, filled with a sympathy I didn’t deserve. She saw past the anger and defiance. She saw the insecurity and pain I had tried so hard to hide. It all poured out of me in shuddering breaths.In that moment of clarity, something shifted inside me.My perception of Alec, the man I had sworn to hate, was changing. He was no longer just the boy whose father had killed mine. He wasn’t just the ruthless young Alpha who had taken everything from me.The jealousy I had felt toward Nina, that hot, bitter feeling, had faded. In its place, a grudging respect took root. Respect for them both.Nina had told me how Alec had honored her fated bond with Gary. He

Vanessa My body felt cornered. Nina’s suggestion made me feel worse, knowing that Alec wouldn't jeopardize his mantle by marking me.“You can’t fight your biology forever, Vanessa. You need to let him touch you.”Touch?This was beyond a mere touch. This inferno needed something more. Something potent to quell its rage.“i didn't sign up for this.”I wiped the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand. “This isn’t a contract. It’s a cycle. You’re in heat, Vanessa. Your body’s made the choice your mouth keeps dodging.”“My body doesn’t speak for me.”“Maybe not. But it screams.”Nina looked at me, her face full of a sympathy that felt both comforting and infuriating. She saw the storm inside me, the insecurity and the pain that I tried so hard to lock away. It came pouring out of me, not in words, but in the shudder that racked my body.“That’s impossible,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I’m not some soft-bellied she-wolf sniffing after my fated mate. I’ve trained myself better than t

Vanessa Watching Alec leave sent a wave of envy through me. An envy I neither liked nor appreciated. I didn’t want to think about him. I shouldn’t have been thinking about him. But it was almost impossible to push the image of him and Maya out of my mind. He stayed there, stubborn and unmoving.I didn’t get off the couch. I couldn’t stop thinking about Alec and Maya’s future. Once the baby came, things would get even more complicated. He would be obligated to take care of his family. I would be nothing more than a side piece, an afterthought.I kept wondering about the baby’s gender. My mind drifted to the laws of our world. We lived in a deeply patriarchal society. Females could not become ruling alphas, even if they were born with the title by right. They could only rule through marriage, and their husbands had to carry alpha blood or an equally high rank to hold real power and ensure the continuation of the bloodline.There were few distractions, but thankfully, Nina and Gary were