Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Alpha who was never mine: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Elena Elena’s phone vibrated against her nightstand at seven in the morning. She grabbed it without looking, her brain still foggy from sleep and the lingering effects of last night’s pill. Harper’s name flashed on the screen. “Hello?” “Elena.” Harper’s voice sounded wrong. Rough and thin like someone had scraped it raw. “I’m sorry to call so early but I…I need help.” Elena sat up fast, her heart kicking into overdrive. “What’s wrong?” “I’m sick. Really sick. I can’t get out of bed and my roommate went home for the weekend and I don’t know who else to call.” Harper’s breath hitched. “I’m burning up and everything hurts and I’m scared.” “I’m coming right now. Don’t move.” “Thank you. God, thank you.” Elena hung up and threw off her covers. Her hands were already reaching for clothes before her brain fully processed what she was doing. Jeans, sweater, shoes. She grabbed her bag and shoved random things inside water bottle, her phone charger, some granola bars from he

Elena Elena pushed through the front door just as the sun dropped behind the hills. Her body ached from sitting in Harper’s cramped dorm chair for hours, her neck stiff, her back protesting every movement. The house was empty. Mrs. Parker’s car was gone from the driveway. Dr. Alex’s study door was closed, a thin line of light underneath. Elena climbed the stairs and went straight for the pill bottle on her nightstand. Her skull felt like someone was taking a hammer to it from the inside. She shook out two pills and dry-swallowed them, gagging slightly as they scraped down her throat. Then she sat on the edge of her bed and waited. Twenty minutes. That’s how long it took for the fog to creep in. First the pounding in her head dulled to a manageable throb. Then the sounds bleeding through the walls a car passing outside, the hum of the refrigerator downstairs faded to background noise. Finally that restless, crawling feeling under her skin eased enough that she could breathe withou

Alexander Hale Alexander hadn’t set foot in Hale Industries in eleven years. The building looked the same forty-two stories of steel and glass stabbing into the Ravenwood skyline, the company logo etched across the entrance in letters taller than a man. His father had built this from nothing. Turned a small construction firm into an empire that shaped city skylines across three continents.He had walked away from all of it. He pushed through the glass doors. The lobby sprawled out before him marble floors polished to a mirror shine, chrome fixtures catching afternoon sunlight, walls lined with photographs of buildings his father’s company had erected. Tokyo. Dubai. New York. London. Legacy, his father called it but Alex grew hating it and saw it as prison “Alexander.” He turned. Richard Hale stood in the doorway to the executive chamber, older than Alexander remembered. Thinner. His shoulders slightly hunched under his tailored suit. But when he smiled, his whole face lit up. “

Elena Arms wrapped around Elena from behind Harper and Lila both grabbing, pulling, their fingers digging into her arms and waist. “Elena, stop!” Harper’s voice cracked. “Please!” The she froze. Her vision cleared. The red haze lifted. She looked down at her hands still reaching, almost clawed. The horror slammed into her chest. What the fuck had she just done? Ethan was pressed against the elevator doors, blood trickling from his temple where he’d hit the metal. His eyes were huge, terrified of her. Elena stumbled back into Harper and Lila’s arms. Her whole body started shaking. “I…” Her voice came out broken. “I didn’t…” People crowded the hallway now, phones out, recording. Lila was saying something but Elena couldn’t hear past the roaring in her ears. She ripped free from their grip and ran. Down the hallway through the stairs. Her feet hammered against concrete, her breath tearing through her throat. She burst out into the parking lot and fumbled for her keys, her hand

Elena Alex came back an hour later . Elena was already contemplating what kept him in there so long but dismissed it when she thought he might have had work calls. “We start in an hour.” Alexander’s voice was firm. “Meet me at the back of the property. There’s a clearing past the pool.” Elena nodded, her throat too tight to speak. He turned and left quickly. She noticed his hands curled into fists at his sides, shaking slightly. She sat there staring at her half-eaten eggs, her chest tight with something she couldn’t name. An hour later, Elena stood at the edge of the woods behind the estate. The clearing Alexander mentioned stretched out before her—flat grass surrounded by trees, private and isolated. Alexander was already there, his back to her, staring into the tree line. He’d changed into a plain black t-shirt and jeans. The morning sun caught the silver in his hair. “You came,” he said without turning. “You told me to.” He faced her. His expression was unreadab