All Chapters of The Alpha's Fated Encounter: Chapter 191 - Chapter 200

Zeke gestured for the man inside to open the gate. “No problem, Nico. Glad to have you back.”“We’ve been gone less than four days, and they look strung out,” Felipe said from the back. “This is not good. The stress is gonna start eating at people. And then they’ll make mistakes.”“They’re doing all they can,” Nico said. I could hear the strain in his voice. He’d noticed it, too but didn’t want to vocalize it and give weight to the thought.A few minutes later, we were out of the van and walking up the path to Nico’s house. I walked beside Nico while the other three unloaded our bags. Inside, we found Luis and Carlos sitting at a table, poring over a map. Luis saw us first, and a relieved smile spread across his face. Carlos jumped up and ran over to hug Nico, pulling me into the embrace as well. “My boy. Welcome home, son.”It was so strange. Like Felipe had said, we’d been gone a total of about three-and-a-half days, but it felt like we’d been gone a year or more. The whole reunion

Sighing, I stood and walked toward the door. “Come on. We need to check in with everyone. I want to go look at what kind of supplies Luis was able to pack away while we were gone.It seemed Donatello hadn’t been blowing smoke up our asses. He must have had some really good, really high-level contacts. The forty-eight-hour deadline came and went with a notification from the government that since shifters were turning themselves in at such a high rate, the deadline would be extended until most had come in voluntarily. Once this happened, the interviews with Viola became a little more forced. You could tell she was irritated that the final crackdown had been delayed, but she was doing her best to act the part of the worried philanthropist.The news still had stories almost every day about feral shifter attacks throughout the world. Historians were brought in to discuss shifter history and if there were any reports of similar occurrences in the past. For the time being, the state of emerg

He shook his head. “Honestly, I’m exhausted. I’m gonna grab a snack and then take a nap. Is that cool with you?”I nodded and smiled. “Want me to make you something?”“Nah, I’ll grab an apple or something. Don’t worry about me.”That was difficult. I worried about everyone I cared for. Each of them was in danger. It was like a sniper scope was focused on our little community here, and any day now, someone might pull the trigger and end everything.“Is it okay if I go for a run?” I asked.Nico only hesitated for a moment. “Uh… yeah, sure. Can you make sure to stay far enough away from the fences? Best to keep out of sight of anyone who might be spying on us.”“Of course. I was going to head out to the creek.”“Okay. If I’m still asleep when you get back, just wake me up. Otherwise, I’ll never get to sleep tonight.”“Sounds good. See you in a little while. Love you.”“Love you too.”I stepped out onto the front porch and looked out over the pack lands. I hoped Nico’s plan worked. If we

I leaned forward to take my own cup of tea. “What do you mean by that? ‘It was time?’ Time for what?”She smiled at me. It was thin but good-natured. “Do you really think that little cave-in didn’t send a message?” She cocked an eyebrow. “A message three hundred years in the making? It did. As soon as you crossed that magical barrier, my mother knew the long-awaited heir of Edemas had finally found the cave. Once the note was taken and the cave collapsed, we knew. We understood that we’d finally found what we’d been waiting for.”A quick glance at Maddy showed me the fear and excitement in her eyes. I sipped at my tea before speaking again. “How did you know where to find us?”Sinthy shrugged. “Simple. We cast a spell to find you.”Maddy frowned. “If all you had to do was cast a spell to locate me, why didn’t you do that years ago? Find the descendant and protect them, guide them to the vial?” She looked annoyed.Sinthy rolled her eyes. “That would have been much easier, I’ll admit. E

She blinked as though she was coming out of a dream. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. I’ll work on things with Sebastian. I promise.” She got up to go, but I grabbed her and wrapped her in a hug first.The sound of a throat clearing came from the door. I glanced up to see Nico standing there. He looked like a kicked puppy. Abi disentangled herself from my arms and left, giving Nico an awkward shrug as she passed him. Nico, still not meeting my eyes, gave a cursory knock on the door frame. “Is it safe for me to come in?”I groaned. “Don’t be an idiot. Yes, it’s safe.”Without another word, he strode across the room, took my hand, and pulled me into a hug. The feel of his muscled body pressing into mine, the smell of him, and the way his hand moved up and down my back tore all the tension out of me. I sank into the hug, feeling all my anger give way. I was both deflated and relieved.“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I’m a stupid asshole. I can’t do anything right and… I don’t know. What else? I h