All Chapters of The Alpha’s Second Life: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

"Open the gates, or I’ll drive this through the wall."Richard didn't wait for an answer. He floored it. The black SUV lurched forward, tires screaming against the gravel of the High Council’s mountain retreat. The heavy iron gates swung open just as our bumper brushed the metal."They're waiting for us." Richard’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He looked at me. "Joshua, you don't have to do this. I can take Henry. I can tell them—""You’ll tell them exactly what I told you to tell them." I tightened the knot of my tie. It felt like a noose. I didn't care. "I’m not walking in there as your plus-one. I’m not the 'runaway mate' coming home for a scolding.""The Blood Audit is for the Harrington line. You're a Scott.""And I'm the one who birthed the frequency they're terrified of." I grabbed my medical case from the floorboard. "If they want to audit his blood, they deal with the doctor who knows how to keep it inside his body."We stepped out of the car. The air was thin up

"Where did this come from?"I pointed at the heavy, leather-bound book sitting on the center of my mahogany desk. The air in the study felt thick, smelling of old vellum and a sharp, metallic musk that didn't belong to any of my patients."A courier delivered it an hour ago." Richard stood by the window, his arms crossed over his chest. His shoulders were a solid wall of tension. "The seal on the wax belongs to the Steele Pack. Marcus sent it.""Marcus Steele?" I stepped closer to the desk. I didn't touch the book. Not yet. "Why would the Alpha of the Northern Ridge send me a sixteenth-century medical manuscript on lunar cycles?""It’s not a gift, Joshua. It’s a claim." Richard walked toward me. He didn't just walk; he prowled. He stopped so close I could feel the heat radiating off his skin. He reached out and snagged the corner of the book, spinning it toward him. "He’s pissing on your desk without being in the room. His scent is all over the binding. He wants me to know he’s thinki

"Step one more foot into this room and I’ll put a hole in your throat."Marcus Steele froze. His hand was already on the heavy oak doorframe of the master suite. He didn't look at me. He looked at the bed, where Richard lay tangled in sweat-soaked sheets, the IV bag dripping rhythmically beside him. Marcus’s lip curled. A slow, predatory grin spread across his face, exposing teeth that were already beginning to lengthen."The mighty Richard Harrington," Marcus said. His voice was a low, vibrating rumble that made the glass of water on the nightstand ripple. "Look at you. Shaking like a newborn pup. I expected a fight, Richard. I expected to have to tear the throat out of the Great Alpha myself. But this? This is almost pathetic.""He’s sick, Marcus." I stepped out from the shadows of the walk-in closet. The heavy weight of the tranquilizer rifle felt solid in my hands. "He has a fever. And you’re trespassing."Marcus turned his head. He didn't move his body, just his neck, like a wolf

"Who is Amelia?"I didn't turn around. I didn't have to. The way the floorboards groaned under Richard’s boots told me he was holding the faded manila folder I’d hidden beneath the false bottom of the mahogany desk. My fingers tightened around the glass of scotch. The ice rattled."Put that back, Richard.""A birth certificate, Joshua. Same hospital as Henry. Same date." Richard’s voice was a low, dangerous vibration. He walked around the desk until he was in my space. He held the yellowing paper up. "You told me there was only one. You said Henry was the only thing that survived that night. So why am I looking at a name I've never heard?""It doesn't concern you.""Doesn't concern—" He slammed his hand onto the desk. The scotch splashed over the rim, soaking into the wood. "I’m the Alpha of this line. Every heartbeat in this house is my business. Did you hide a daughter from me? Is there another child out there living in the shadows because you couldn't trust me?""Trust you?" I laug

"Don't move."Richard’s voice was a rough scrape against the silence of the ceremonial hall. I stood on the raised dais, the cold stone biting through my socks. The entire Harrington pack waited below. Hundreds of eyes. Most of them hungry. They wanted a show. They wanted to see their Alpha reclaim his runaway mate."I'm not going anywhere, Richard." My hands shook. I curled them into fists to hide it. "Just get it over with.""You’re trembling." He stepped closer. The scent of rain and old wood hit me, thick enough to choke on. He didn't touch me. Not yet. "If you want to back out, tell me now. Once I break the skin, the Council can't touch you. But you’ll be tied to me.""It’s a temporary mark. We both know the science. Six months, then the enzymes dissolve." I looked past his shoulder at the High Council members sitting in the front row. Thorne was watching me like a hawk. "Do it. Before I change my mind.""Six months." Richard’s eyes flashed gold. A low, vibrating hum started in h