All Chapters of The Alpha’s Dirty Little Secret: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

"What the hell are you looking at, Thorne?"Elodie’s voice rasped against the sterile hum of the high-security tent. She stood centered under a harsh, clinical halogen, her wrists locked in magnetized silver cuffs that bit into her skin with a freezing, numbing sting."The future of the species, Elodie. Sit." Director Thorne didn't look up from his tablet. He looked like he belonged in a boardroom, not a war zone. His tactical suit was crisp, black, and smelled of new plastic. He gestured to a cold metal chair."Let the girl go. Now." Elodie’s gaze flicked to the corner. Rhoda was slumped on the floor, mouth taped shut, a jagged bruise blooming across her cheek. She let out a muffled whimper, her eyes wide, darting toward the two soldiers standing over her with silver-shotted rifles."The girl is collateral. She stays until the first draw is successful." Thorne stood, crossing the space in two long strides. He gripped Elodie’s jaw. His fingers were cold, smelling of latex and sanitize

"Elodie, keep your head down. Don't breathe unless you have to." Victor’s whisper was a jagged edge against her ear."I'm fine, Victor. Just watch the corner." Elodie shifted her weight, her boots clicking against the damp stone of the servant’s passage. The air here tasted like wet rot and old copper."Shut it. Both of you." Zack Vale shoved past them, his hand white-knuckled on the hilt of a silver blade. "We’re twenty feet from the Great Hall. If the vents are open, they’ll smell us."Victor’s jaw tightened, the muscle jumping in his cheek. He didn't look like a King. He looked like a man who had crawled out of a grave, his clothes shredded and stained with Aegis blood. He reached back, his fingers locking onto Elodie’s hand. His grip was a vice, bruising her skin, but she didn't pull away.Inside her, the twins were screaming. Not with sound, but with a rhythmic, violent thrumming in her veins. Her stomach cramped. A cold sweat broke across her neck. They knew. They felt the fake

"Drink the damn tea, Elodie. The healer said every drop." Victor pushed the ceramic mug into her hand, his fingers lingering against hers. His touch was scorching, a sharp contrast to the drafty chill of the northern wing."I’m pregnant, Victor, not paralyzed. If I sit in this bed any longer, I’m going to start chewing the headboard." Elodie shoved a pillow behind her lower back. Her spine felt like it had been hammered with hot iron. The "threatened miscarriage" label from the healers hung in the air, a heavy, invisible suffocant."You’ll chew nothing. You nearly bled out on the marble. Sit." Victor’s jaw remained locked, a hard line of tension that hadn't eased since they buried the machine that wore his face. He paced the small perimeter of the rug, his movements predatory, restless. The silver-scars on his side were pink and puckered now, but his eyes stayed dark, fixed on the door as if the clone might reassemble itself at any second."The Council is gone, Victor. Zack and Camille

"What the hell is that smell?" Elodie gripped the rough limestone wall, her boots slipping on the wet floor."Salt. Deep salt. It masks the heat signatures. Government thermal won't see a thing through three hundred feet of mineralized rock." Victor didn't turn back. He hauled a heavy wooden supply crate further into the cavern, his triceps straining against the fabric of his sweat-stained shirt."It’s a grave, Victor. It feels like a goddamn grave." Elodie wiped a smudge of damp grit from her cheek. The air was thick, heavy with the scent of ancient brine and the cold, metallic tang of the iron lanterns Victor was hanging from the jagged ceiling."It’s a fortress. For now. Sit down, Elodie. You’re shaking." Victor dropped the crate. The sound echoed, a hollow boom that bounced off the salt-slicked walls."I’m fine. I just... I need to move. This place is too quiet." She paced the small circle of orange light cast by the lantern. Her shadow stretched long and distorted against the whi

"Where’s Zack? Where the hell is everyone?"Victor’s voice cracked over the sound of wet, tearing meat. The courtyard of the Blackwood estate was a slaughterhouse of purple shadows. The air tasted like rotted ozone and copper."Victor, look out!" Elodie shoved him toward the stone pillar.A warrior—it used to be Ben, the pack’s youngest scout—lunged from the roof of the infirmary. His fur was a matted, oily violet. He didn't howl. He let out a high-pitched, electronic screech that rattled the glass in the window frames. He hit the ground and scrambled on all fours, his jaw unhinged, black bile dripping from his teeth. He snapped at Victor’s throat, eyes completely hollowed out by the Dark Moon essence.Victor’s fist connected with the side of the boy’s head. A sickening crunch followed. He didn't kill him. He couldn't. He pinned the thrashing, violet body to the dirt with his boot, his own claws digging into the stone floor."Get inside! Move!" Victor roared."They’re everywhere, Vict