All Chapters of Mated To My Captor: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

 Sleep had been elusive at best.I'd finally drifted off sometime after midnight, only to wake before dawn with Sage's words reverberating through my mind like a persistent echo I couldn't silence.You politicize everything like your father.The comparison had stung when she'd said it. Now, lying in the dark staring at my ceiling, I was forced to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth beneath the accusation.She was right.Every interaction with Kira since the mate bond had snapped into place, I'd been calculating. Strategizing. Treating our relationship like a political problem that required careful management rather than just... being honest. Feeling what I felt without filtering everything through the lens of pack hierarchy and my father's potential reaction.Exactly like Dominic would.The realization sat heavy in my chest, making the pre-dawn silence feel oppressive.I gave up on sleep entirely, showering and dre

 I walked as fast as I could without running, my footsteps echoing too loudly in the empty hallway.Dominic had... what? Changed his mind? Lifted the restrictions he'd threatened me with?It didn't make sense.Alphas didn't just reverse decisions because their sons asked. Especially not decisions about rogues who'd overstepped. Dominic had been crystal clear about my place, about what would happen if I forgot again.And now he was saying I could drop the act?My hands shook as I fumbled with my door keycard. It took three tries to get it to scan properly.Inside my quarters, I closed the door and leaned heavily against it, trying to force air into lungs that felt too tight.Nothing inappropriate.The words I'd said in Dominic's office echoed in my head. The lie I'd told. The complete denial of everything Dante and I had been to each other.But what else could I have said? Admitted the mate bond in front of h

 The alarm pierced through sleep at five AM, dragging me back to consciousness with the kind of jarring insistence that made coherent thought nearly impossible.I slapped at my phone until the noise stopped, then lay there staring at the ceiling in the pre-dawn darkness.Today was the day.My stomach churned with anxiety so intense it bordered on nausea. I forced myself to sit up, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, planting my feet firmly on the floor.The photo caught my eye immediately; Kira and me, propped against the lamp on my nightstand where I'd left it. Four years ago, both of us squinting against summer sun, my arm slung over her shoulders, her rare genuine smile.I picked it up, tracing the edge with my thumb."I'm coming, sis," I whispered to the image. "Just hold on."She'd told me she was fine. That everything was okay. But I knew better. I'd heard the strain in her voice, the careful control that mea

 I move between the cars slowly, hands in my pockets, trying to look like someone who belongs here, which is exactly what Sarah said. Don't search. Browse. Like you're killing time, not committing a felony.Easy for her to say.The vehicles down here are obscene. A Mercedes so polished I can see my own terrified face in the door panel. A slate-grey Tesla that probably costs more than every foster home I ever lived in combined. I keep walking, eyes tracking without my head moving, the way Elias showed me.Not just any car. Something high-ranking. Something used.That rules out half of them immediately, dust on the hoods, that particular stillness that says parked here for weeks. I need something driven recently. Something that matters to someone important.Then I see it.Sleek black SUV, third row from the back. No dust. Tires slightly warm-looking, the way rubber gets after a real drive. The kind of vehicle that gets washed ever

 Randy doesn't say anything until we're back at the elevator.Then, "Who was that?"I grab the edge of the empty dolly and keep wheeling. "Old friend.""Old friend." He repeats it the way people repeat things when they're deciding whether to push. "Grabbed your arm like that.""We have history." I shrug, and the shrug costs me more effort than it should. "She was surprised to see me. It's fine."Randy looks at me for another beat, then makes the particular sound older men make when they've decided something isn't worth the headache and turns his attention back to the elevator button.We finish without incident. Loading the empty dolly. Signing out at the service desk. Walking back through the underground level to the truck, past the security gate where the guard barely glances at us, out into air that smells like exhaust and cold concrete.I climb into the passenger seat and stare through the windshield.Randy talk