Semua Bab Bonded to the Bastard: My Rejection, His Obsession: Bab 91 - Bab 100

Luciano’s POV"I have to go back to the Crystal Lake territory, Alanza," I said, the words feeling like lead in my mouth.The silence in the hospital room was heavy. I stood by the door, watching her through the gap. She looked so small in that bed, swallowed by white sheets and the scent of antiseptic. My wolf was pacing in the back of my skull, claws digging into my subconscious because I was standing three feet away instead of touching her. Her scent had shifted again. It was sweeter now, like ripening fruit, but there was an undertone of something sharp that I couldn't identify. It worried me.I shouldn't have been out in the hall. I should have been in there, guarding her. She had been through hell, dragged away by her own blood and then hunted like prey. Now she was stuck with me, a man she barely knew, who kept hovering over her like a shadow. I knew I was pushing it. I touched her too much. I lingered too long when I kissed her forehead. I was obse

Alanza’s POV"I was in heat and I couldn't stop it, so I slept with the alpha there," I say, the words tumbling out of my mouth in a rush. "He took care of me. Then Pascual grabbed me while I was out with his sister. We aren't mated, but we aren't strangers either."There. I said it. The truth is finally hanging in the air between us.I hold my breath and sneak a look at Luciano. He sits perfectly still. His eyes are fixed on a spot on the wall, looking like he is staring through the wood and into another world. He needs a minute to chew on what I just dropped on him. I look down at where our fingers are laced together. Part of me wants to pull my hand away before he has a chance to reject me, but my muscles won't move."Huh," he finally grunts.He doesn't let go. Instead, he gives my hand a firm squeeze. It is the last thing I expected him to do."Luciano?" I whisper.A small, crooked smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "I n

Alanza’s POV"Do you think he actually misses me, or is it just the bond talking?" I asked the empty room, my voice cracking against the quiet.The hospital ceiling was a flat, clinical white. I had memorized every tiny crack in the plaster over the last three nights. The only thing that broke the silence was the vibration of my phone when Luciano called. He rang every evening to check on my vitals and the pack status. I hated how my heart hammered against my ribs the second I saw his name on the screen. I hated that I counted the minutes until I could hear that low, steady rumble of his voice again. It felt like a crutch I didn't want to need.Being stuck here without Sombra was its own kind of torture. Usually, she was the one who helped me sort through the mess in my head. She could tell me where my own feelings ended and where the fated mate pull began. Plus, she would have had something sarcastic to say about the terrible hospital jello.Earlier toda

Alanza’s POV"You don't need to check in every hour, Luciano," I said into the phone, my thumb hovering over the end-call button.He sighed on the other end, a sound full of that protective weight he always carried. I didn't wait for his rebuttal before hanging up. Following Lucia’s advice, I had switched to texting him yesterday. It was easier to ask for space through a screen than to hear the hurt in his voice, even if that hurt was wrapped in layers of Alpha authority. He was still in the city, but his presence felt like a physical shadow. I knew his men were reporting my every move to him, but the silence on the line was a small mercy. I was tired of being grateful. I was tired of the debt I owed him for my life."Finally, some air," Lucia shouted, throwing the double doors open to her new place.I stepped inside and froze. I had pictured a standard apartment—maybe a nice one, considering Luciano was the one signing the lease—b

Alanza’s POV"Hit the dirt again, recruit," London says, his voice as dry as the gravel under my cheek.I don't move. My face is pressed into the grit, and the copper taste of a split lip fills my mouth. Every breath feels like swallowing hot glass. Beside me, Lucia is a heap of tangled limbs and damp hair. She makes a small, pathetic sound that might be a sob or a cough. I can't tell. My own heart is drumming against my ribs so hard I think it might actually break through the bone.London stands over us. He doesn't look tired. He doesn't even look like he has broken a sweat. His shadow stretches over my shivering body, cold and dark."Pathetic," he says. He nudges my shoulder with the toe of his boot. "A stray wolf would have your throat out before you even realized you were in a fight. Is this the best the Alpha could find?"I want to snap at him. I want to tell him that normal people don't spend their Tuesday mornings getting tossed onto t