Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Alpha's Prisoner : Kabanata 121 - Kabanata 130

Maya POV Dade was quiet for a long moment, evident internal conflict visible in his weathered, exhausted expression. "What do you want to know?" he asked finally, his voice carrying genuine resignation."Marcus's current location," I said immediately, unable to fully suppress the urgency building within me despite my understanding of the necessity for careful, methodical questioning."I don't know," Dade admitted, and something in his tone convinced me this represented genuine truth rather than continued calculated resistance. "He's been careful, deliberately careful, about revealing his precise location even to those of us who remain loyal.""But you've had contact with him," Owen pressed, his voice carrying continued careful authority. "Recently.""Yes," Dade confirmed. "He contacted me three weeks ago, after the facility was compromised. He's been moving frequently, never remaining in any single location for more than a few days.""Why were you observing Maya's routine specificall

Ryker POV I considered that assessment carefully, understanding both its genuine reassurance and its equally genuine, troubling implication. "Desperate people can be considerably more dangerous than sophisticated ones," I said finally. "Particularly when they believe they have nothing remaining to protect, nothing left to lose through whatever violence they're willing to pursue."Dade nodded slowly, his expression carrying genuine acknowledgment of that troubling assessment. "I understand," he said quietly. "I've watched Marcus's own psychological state deteriorate considerably throughout these past several weeks, watched him grow increasingly willing to consider actions I never would have imagined him pursuing during our earlier years of more calculated, patient planning."---I brought this new intelligence to Owen immediately following the conclusion of Dade's continued interrogation, understanding the genuine strategic significance this expanded threat assessment represented for

Maya POV I felt genuine horror at that admission, understanding immediately the necessity of addressing this misplaced guilt directly and firmly. "Leo, look at me," I said, waiting until his eyes met mine fully. "None of this is your fault. Marcus made every choice that led to this moment—the poisoning, my torture, his continued obsession with reclaiming whatever power he believes he once held. Your choice to reject his influence, to choose genuine love and family instead of whatever twisted legacy he intended, was the single bravest, most important decision of your entire life. It saved you, Leo. It doesn't bear any responsibility for his continued cruelty."Leo's expression carried genuine emotion at my words, tears building visibly despite his evident effort at maintaining composure. "I'm frightened," he admitted quietly. "Not just for you, Maya, though that fear consumes most of my waking thoughts these days. I'm frightened of what it means about my own future, understanding that

Maya POV — "Not Yet"I woke before dawn on the morning of the operation, the particular stillness of pre-sunrise silence settling over Shadowpeak's protected grounds with a weight that felt almost sacred given everything this day was meant to accomplish. Ryker lay beside me, though I understood immediately from the tension in his posture that he'd been awake for some time already, his own sleep likely as fractured and difficult as my own throughout this final night before our carefully constructed operation."You're awake," he said quietly, turning to face me in the gray, pre-dawn light."Couldn't sleep," I admitted, though the admission carried less anxiety than I might have expected given everything this day represented. Instead, I felt a strange, focused calm settling over me, the particular clarity that sometimes arrived after weeks of accumulated fear and uncertainty finally crystallized into decisive, purposeful action.Ryker's hand found mine beneath the blankets, his grip carr

Maya POV: "Two Heartbeats"The equipment came in through the service entrance, packed in three padded crates that Rodriguez's people had driven up under a tarp at four in the morning. Owen had insisted on that. Nothing about this day was to be announced, scheduled, or predictable."It's older than I'd like," Zara said, unlatching the second crate and lifting out a squat gray machine with a folded arm and a screen the size of a dinner plate. "But it's reliable, and it doesn't require me to send you anywhere. That was the deciding factor."Shadowpeak's small infirmary had been a storage room once. Someone had scrubbed it and hung a pale curtain across the window. Now it held a narrow examination bed, a rolling stool, and the machine, which Zara connected to a portable power cell with the quick efficiency of someone who had done this in worse places.I lay back on the bed. Ryker stood at my shoulder. He had not sat down since we walked in, and I had stopped suggesting it."Cold," Zara w