All Chapters of The Alpha’s Second Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

FIVE YEARS LATER----"Scalpel."Joshua’s voice didn’t wobble. It was a flat, surgical blade of sound that cut through the rhythmic beep-hiss of the ventilator. The overhead lights bounced off the chrome, stabbing at his retinas. Under the blue drape, the patient—Alpha Silas of the Red River—was a mountain of sliced meat and broken ribs."Dr. J, his BP is tanking. Eighty over forty," the anesthesiologist barked."I know. Shut up and keep him under." Joshua jammed two fingers into the Alpha’s chest cavity, searching for the nicked artery. Hot, metallic-smelling blood flooded over his latex gloves, soaking into his sleeves. "Clamps. Now!"The nurse scrambled. The metal clicked. The geyser of blood died down to a sluggish ooze. Joshua worked with a frantic, rhythmic precision, his hands weaving through the gore. He didn't think about the fact that this man could snap his neck with one hand. He didn't think about the scent of Alpha pheromones filling the room, trying to trigger a submissio

"Who are you? Seriously. Put the chart down."Helen Harrington stood in the center of the sterilized hallway, her fingers trembling against the silk of her pearls. She looked older. Gray hair streaked through the chestnut waves that used to be her pride. Her eyes, wet and wide, scanned Joshua’s face like she was trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.Joshua didn't flinch. He adjusted the stethoscope around his neck, the metal cold against his skin. "I'm the surgeon you hired, Mrs. Harrington. Dr. J. Now, if you’ll move, I have a schedule to keep.""No." She stepped closer, her breath hitching. "The way you tilt your head... your eyes. You look just like him. My Joshua. My son."Joshua’s stomach did a slow, nauseating roll. He remembered the last time he’d seen this woman. She’d turned her back on him while Richard dragged Bianca away, her silence a sharp blade that helped carve out his heart."Your son is dead, Mrs. Harrington. I’m from a distant lineage out of the northern ter

"Hold still. If you twitch, I’ll nick the femoral artery and you’ll bleed out on my boots."Joshua leaned over the sentry, the sterile LED overheads reflecting in his safety goggles. The wolf, a massive brute named Kael, gripped the edges of the metal exam table until the steel groaned and buckled under his claws. A jagged shard of silver-tipped rebar was buried four inches into his thigh. The wound hissed, the flesh around it bubbling and black."Doc, it stings like a bitch," Kael wheezed, sweat matting his hairline.Joshua didn't answer. He didn't waste breath on comfort. He centered himself. He reached deep into the place where his wolf used to howl and pulled at the warmth buried in his marrow. His palms began to glow. It wasn't a flare; it was a soft, steady pulse of pale gold light that seeped through his latex gloves.The sentry’s breathing hitched. The blackened skin around the silver shivered. As Joshua’s fingers brushed the wound, the metal shard slid out as if the flesh wer

"Dr. J! Where the hell are you going? We have the evening rounds!"Joshua didn’t stop. He shoved past the head nurse, his shoulder clipping the doorframe of the scrub room. His phone was a dead weight in his pocket, the screen still glowing with the frantic text from the nanny. Henry’s burning up. He’s growling, Josh. The room smells like ozone and fur."Family emergency," Joshua barked over his shoulder. He didn't look back to see the confusion on the staff’s faces. He ripped the surgical mask from his face, the elastic snapping against his ear.Outside, the sky had collapsed into a torrential downpour. Thunder rattled the windows of the Harrington medical wing. Joshua sprinted for his SUV, his boots splashing through deep puddles that soaked his hemlines. He ignored the sting of the cold rain. His mind was a chaotic loop of heart rates and fever dreams. A First Shift fever at five years old was a death sentence without a stabilizer.Behind the tinted glass of the executive entrance,

"What the hell was that, Doctor?"Richard’s voice scraped against the sterile walls of the clinic. He didn't move from the doorway. His shadow stretched across the floor, thick and suffocating. The air in the room shifted, turning heavy with the scent of pine and predatory intent.Joshua didn't look up from the tray of surgical instruments. He picked up a hemostat, the metal cold and biting against his palm. "It was a physiological response to a localized irritant, Harrington. Get out of my light.""A skip," Richard snarled. He took a step forward, the floorboards groaning under his weight. "Your heart tripped. I felt it under my palm. You don't get to lie about that.""I’m not lying." Joshua finally turned, his face a sheet of polished ice. He adjusted the high collar of his suit, the fabric stiff against the skin Richard had just been hunting. "Your pheromones are offensive. They’re aggressive, unrefined, and frankly, they smell like a desperate animal. My body is reacting to a biol