Semua Bab His to Claim: Alpha: Bab 31 - Bab 40

LAYLA'S POVCameron squirmed in his seat while looking to me for guidance, but I couldn't help him without making things worse. "Uncle Robert," he finally said, his voice getting quieter. "He said it's a secret though, and I'm not supposed to tell."The name hit me like a freight train, and I felt all the blood drain from my face. Robert was supposed to be three states away keeping his mouth shut, but apparently he'd been visiting my son behind my back, which meant everything was about to fall apart.Zeke's eyes moved from Cameron to me while his expression promised consequences I couldn't even imagine. "Layla," he said quietly while everyone else at the table pretended to be very interested in their food. "Who is Robert?"My mouth opened, but no sound came out because what could I possibly say that wouldn't expose everything? Robert was Cameron's biological father, who I'd paid to disappear, but instead he'd been sneaking around seeing our son, which meant he'd broken our agreement a

ZEKE'S POVThe surveillance footage from Theseus's territory showed nothing useful while I watched the grainy video for the tenth time that morning. The underground location we'd been so sure about had turned out to be an old storage facility that Theseus used for pack supplies, which explained the multiple heat signatures, including the smaller one that turned out to be boxes stacked in a way that mimicked a child's shape on thermal imaging."Another dead end," Marcus said from beside me, rubbing his tired eyes. "The team searched every inch of that facility and found nothing but old furniture and storage containers."I slammed my fist on the desk hard enough to make the coffee cups rattle because we'd been so close, or at least we thought we had been. "What about Brock? Any sign of him?""He's completely off the grid," Marcus replied while pulling up tracking reports on his tablet. "We've monitored every known associate, checked surveillance at border crossings, even had teams watch

ZEKE'S POVThe words hit me like physical blows while guilt crashed over me in waves. "Cecelia," I started, but she cut me off."I was pregnant, Zeke," she continued while I felt her pain through the bond. "I found out the day before you ended things. I was going to tell you that night at dinner, but then you said you'd made a mistake choosing me and that you wanted to dissolve our marriage, and I just couldn't tell you about the baby after that."My breath caught while my mind struggled to process what she'd just admitted. "You were pregnant when you faked your death?""Three months along," she confirmed while her voice broke. "I spent those three months falling in love with you and planning our future and imagining telling you about the baby, then it all fell apart because you still loved someone else more than you could ever love me."I moved without thinking while pulling her against my chest and holding her tight while she shook with silent sobs. "I'm so sorry," I whispered into

Cecelia's pov"You can't blame yourself for decisions I made," I protested while turning to face him. "I chose to fake my death, I chose to raise Golden alone, I chose to stay hidden instead of coming back which makes this just as much my fault as anyone's."We stood there in the dim light from the window while both of us carried guilt for choices that had led to this moment. The bond between us ached with shared pain that neither of us knew how to fix."I'm scared," I admitted while the confession felt like weakness. "I'm terrified that we won't find him in time or that when we do find him he'll be hurt beyond what we can fix or that he'll hate me for not protecting him better.""He could never hate you," Zeke said while pulling me into his arms. "You're his whole world Cecelia, everything he knows about love and safety and being cared for comes from you.""Then where is that love now when he needs it most?" I sobbed against his chest while my hands fisted in his shirt. "Where is his

Zeke's POVThe command center was loud and busy while my team got ready for what might finally help us find Golden. Marcus put maps on the big table while showing everyone the place we needed to go sixty miles north where old logging buildings sat empty. Warriors checked their guns and radios while everyone felt tense because this might actually work."We have three main buildings," Marcus said while pointing at pictures from above. "Two storage buildings and one big processing building, all empty for at least fifteen years. The woods are thick which helps us hide but also makes it hard to see."I looked at the pictures while my wolf moved around inside me restless and angry because I felt like Golden was there waiting. The dirt test had been too exact to be wrong while the special minerals on his shoe only came from this one spot."How do we get in?" I asked while thinking about the best way to go inside."Each building has lots of doors and windows but most are probably broken from