All Chapters of The Alpha's Fated Encounter: Chapter 221 - Chapter 230

“No matter what,” Sinthy shouted over the wind, “do not let go. Never let go. Same for you, Nico. Hold her, don’t let her release Gabriella’s hands.”We both nodded. My hair whipped around my face, making it hard to see Sinthy, but I kept doing my best to concentrate on holding my mother’s hands. Sinthy stood behind Gabriella, her hands an inch above the other woman’s head, and began to chant. The words were incomprehensible, but I could sense the power in them. Each word, every syllable, seemed to slam into me. The wind rose to a fever pitch. Pillows on the couch started to lift away and spin around the room, as did dozens of stray pieces of paper and magnets from the fridge.Gabriella began, almost imperceptibly, to shake. The bones jostled in her hands. Soon, she was convulsing in the chair. It was all I could do to hold her hands together to keep the bones in place. Nico pushed against my shoulders, trying to keep me close to her, even as the wind tried to force us apart. “Don’t l

Maddy and I took it down to Gabriella. When we walked in with the tray of coffee, multiple sugars, cream, milk, and vanilla syrup, she shook her head at us. “Maddy, please. This is too much. I’m fine. Really. You have to stop treating me like I’m on my deathbed or something. I appreciate it, but you’re running yourself to death. Sit down with me.” She patted the futon.Maddy’s cheeks went red. “Sorry. I was trying to take care of you. I still feel like everything that’s happened is all my fault.”Maddy still struggled to deal with the fact that everything was not her fault. I wondered if she’d ever stop believing it. It had to be weighing on her.Gabriella waved her off. “Don’t apologize for caring. But please, stop killing yourself to take care of me.”One thing had been gnawing at my mind since we’d gotten Gabriella back. A question that I needed answered. The more information we had, the better. Now that she was safe and seemed to be back to herself, I felt like the time was right

MADDYWhen Nico got back home, he was in a shit mood. I could see it as soon as he walked in. “What happened?”He gave a frustrated huff of breath and said, “A bunch of people from town got a deputy to come up here and tell us we needed to get out. Trying to force us to turn ourselves in.”“Are you serious?” My eyes went wide in shock. I’d known there’d be some issues, but I hadn’t anticipated a mob to come knocking at our gates.“Yeah. I got rid of them, but they’ll be back. They want us gone, so they’ll keep trying to scare us off.”“Well, they’ll have to hurt you with nothing but their voices,” Sinthy said.“What?” Nico looked confused.“They can’t physically pass beyond the ward you asked me to put up. Only members of your pack and your acknowledged guests can enter. Those assholes are stuck outside unless I lift it.”Nico chuckled. “Sorry, I almost forgot about that. Probably good. If I’d remembered, I would have, more than likely, been a bigger dick to them than I already was.”

Dad looked up and gave a weary shrug before glancing at Mom. “She’s right, you know. Wouldn’t we have done the same thing for Maddy? If you had to give her away, wouldn’t you have done anything to be around her? Even if it was only once or twice?”Mom turned and looked at Dad, first giving him a withering look like he’d betrayed her, but then her face softened. As the idea sank in, she looked a little ashamed. Finally, she nodded. “I suppose you all are right.”Gabriella sat forward. “You have to know that nothing was done with ill intent. Everything was done to keep Maddy safe. I falsified records and blood tests, all to keep the royals off her tail. I never meant to hurt anyone. I hope you can understand that.”The conversation bounced back and forth between the three of them. The tension that had filled the room when we started slowly filtered out until they all seemed at ease with each other. It wasn’t long before Mom and Dad were telling embarrassing stories about my childhood to

Maddy walked in the back door, her eyes wide in surprise. She’d probably heard the commotion. “What the hell is going on?” she asked as she took in the scene.Sebastian looked at Maddy, and it was like someone had put a needle into a balloon. Sebastian visibly sank into himself. His shoulders fell, and the heat that had been in his voice faded. He took another backward step toward the door. He gave Luis and Abi a dejected and defeated look. “You know what, Luis? You can have her. I’m done trying. Abi? You can hate me if you want. I’ll stay out of your life.”Without another word, he stomped away and slammed the front door as he left. Luis put his hands to his forehead. “Fuck. I’ll go and talk to him,” he said and made to go after him.“No. Not alone, you won’t,” I said. “If you go by yourself, he’s liable to start swinging fists before he’ll hear you out. I’m going.” I looked at Abi again, doing nothing to disguise my irritation with her. “I told you this would happen. I told you.”Lu