All Chapters of My Alpha, My Ruin: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

“Amara?” Dad crossed to me in two strides, hands gripping my shoulders. “Baby girl, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt?”“They know.” The words ripped out of me between ragged sobs. “Dad, they know.”Mom appeared at the top of the stairs in her silk robe, hair loose around her shoulders, face already creasing with worry. “Sweetheart? What’s wrong?”I couldn’t breathe properly. My lungs felt like they were filled with broken glass. The words kept coming anyway, clawing their way out between gasps and tears.“The hunters know the Emerald Wolf is here. In this city. They know she’s waking up and they’ve sent someone to kill her before she comes into her full power.” My voice cracked, broke completely. “They sent Zayne Vale. Alpha of the Silverfang Pack. I overheard him talking to Gabriel in the office. They’re meeting tonight—tonight—to plan how to track her down and execute her. Dad, they’re coming for me. They’re going to find me and they’re going to kill me.”Mom made a broken,

I walked into the office the next morning feeling like a death-row inmate taking her final walk to the execution chamber.Gabriel was already there—of course he was—his door half-open as he spoke into the phone in a tense, clipped tone.Perfect. That meant I had an excuse to avoid him for a while.I walked to his desk with a neutral expression, slid his usual black coffee onto the table, murmured a soft “good morning, sir” that he probably didn’t even hear, and vanished back into my own office before he could look up and see the terror I was barely keeping contained.I needed the wall between us. Needed every physical barrier I could put between myself and the man who was actively hunting me.I buried myself in spreadsheets, emails, and vendor contracts—anything that required my eyes to stay glued to the screen and my brain to stop screaming that I was going to die.It lasted exactly seventeen minutes.My door swung open without warning, without a knock, and before I even looked up, I

"Wait. You invited Gabriel and Marcus? Here? Tonight? Both of them? Are you completely insane?"Mom looked up from arranging fresh flowers in a crystal vase, her expression utterly serene. "It was somewhat impromptu, yes. Your father reached out to them this afternoon. Last minute, I know, but they were both available.""Mom." I descended two more steps, lowering my voice even though we were alone. "Gabriel is literally working with Zayne right now to hunt me down. He's helping plan my execution and you want me to serve him dinner?"Dad appeared in the hallway from his study, loosening his tie with practiced movements. "That's exactly why we need to keep everything feeling normal, sweetheart. Gabriel has been eating at this table since he was sixteen years old. If we suddenly start canceling plans or acting strange around him, if we show any sign of fear or suspicion, he'll smell it immediately. Wolves always do." He met my eyes steadily. "We smile. We laugh. We share a meal like we'v

I woke up slowly, my body deliciously sore in places I'd only ever imagined feeling. A lazy, blissful smile spread across my face before my eyes even opened. Every muscle felt used, stretched, and thoroughly claimed. The sheets beneath me smelled like Gabriel—cedar and smoke and that cologne that has me obsessed. Mine, I thought dreamily. He's mine now. I rolled over languidly, hand reaching instinctively for the warm body that should have been beside me, already imagining how I'd wake him. Maybe with kisses trailing down his chest. Maybe with my hand wrapped around—But all I felt was cold sheets.My fingers met nothing but empty, cool fabric. My eyes snapped open, the pleasant haze evaporating instantly. The bed was empty. There was still an indentation where he'd slept, the pillow still holding the shape of his head, but no Gabriel. No warmth. No man watching me wake with that intense look he'd had last night when he'd made me fall apart three times before finally taking me.He

I gasped in horror as Gabriel hit Zayne with a second punch, and before he could throw a third one in, Zayne caught his wrist and kicked him in the belly with his knee…hard.Before I could even process what was going on, the two men were throwing punches at each other in my office.Oh dear goddess…"THAT IS ENOUGH!"I shoved myself between them with desperate force, heart pounding so violently I thought it would burst straight through my ribs. My back pressed against Zayne's solid chest, palms flat against Gabriel's heaving torso to keep him from lunging forward again.Gabriel's eyes locked on mine—wild, furious, blazing with rage—then something raw and aching flickered beneath the anger. Hurt. Real, devastating hurt that made my breath catch. For one suspended heartbeat I saw it all laid bare across his face: pain, betrayal, jealousy so sharp and vicious it could draw blood.He cares. Oh God, he actually cares.Then it vanished, shuttered behind cold steel like a vault door slamming