All Chapters of The Alpha Forgets : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

82 Hale was always going to be the easiest one to break. Decker had known it from the moment Jared dragged him out of that hidden room. Hale was not a warrior. Not really. He knew the movement of servants, meals, linens, doors, keys, and schedules. He understood access. He understood quietly. He understood how to stand in the background while powerful wolves destroyed each other in the foreground. But he did not understand the pain. Not real pain. Not the kind that came when an Alpha looked at you and made you realize every shadow you had hidden inside had already been found. And Theron was going to watch all of it. That was the point. The observation room was cold. Deliberately so. Hale sat in the center chair, wrists bound to the iron arms, ankles locked at the base. His hair was damp with sweat, his face pale, his eyes darting from Decker to Tony to Jared and back again. Behind the reinforced glass, Theron sat in another room. He could see everything. Hear everything. But Hale

84 Lotty came back from the hospital smiling. That alone made Decker’s entire chest loosen. She stepped into their room with Kara and Elin trailing behind her, both female warriors looking far too pleased for wolves who were supposed to have spent the day on guard duty. “There were so many pups,” Elin said before anyone asked. Kara nodded solemnly. “Several attempted escape.” Lotty laughed as she set her bag down. “One shifted under the exam table and refused to come out unless I promised no shots.” Decker stood near the window, already dressed in a dark suit jacket and pressed shirt, watching the light in her face. “You enjoyed it.” “I really did.” Lotty turned toward him, then paused. Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you dressed like that?” Elin looked him over and smirked. Kara wisely looked away. Decker’s mouth curved faintly. “We’re going out.” Lotty blinked. “Out?” “Yes.” “I was expecting dinner here. Maybe a bath. Maybe pretending the world isn’t on fire for one night.”

86 The western ridge was already a war zone when Decker and Tony arrived. They didn’t enter the fight. They hit it. Hard. Fast. Like a storm breaking through a fragile line. Decker had shifted before the trees even thickened, his massive black wolf tearing through the underbrush with Tony pacing him stride for stride. The sounds reached them before the sight did snarls, the wet crack of bone, a warrior’s grunt cut short. Too many voices. Too controlled. Not chaos. A fight with intention. That was the first thing Decker recognized. The second His wolves were holding, but barely. They were being tested. Pressed. Not overwhelmed. Not yet. Decker exploded into the clearing. The impact alone changed the fight. One rogue had a Dark Mountain warrior pinned, jaws closing in on his throat. Decker hit him from the side with bone-crushing force, sending both wolves skidding across the dirt. He didn’t give the rogue time to recover. His jaws closed around the wolf’s neck and crushed down. A

88 By dawn, Decker was done being studied. Done being tested. one letting other Alphas, old allies, hidden advisers, and borrowed rogues circle his pack like they were waiting to see what kind of wound he would bleed from first. They had tested his mate. His temper. His borders. His restraint. They had sent knives into his hospital, rogues to his western ridge, and traitors into his own halls. Enough. Decker stood in the strategy room with the rogue’s words still burning in his mind. They’re studying you. Testing him. They want to shape him. No. Not anymore. Tony stood at the far side of the table, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the map spread between them. Jared stood near the door, silent and immovable. Garrick, Tomas, Kara, and Elin had been called in too, along with two of Jarek’s most trusted commanders. Lotty stood at Decker’s side. Not behind him. Not outside the room. Beside him. Exactly where she belonged. Decker’s hand rested on the table, fingers spread over the marked t

90 Tony left Kellan’s interrogation room with one thought burning through his mind. Lotty was no longer leverage. She was becoming an obstacle. That changed everything. He moved fast through the lower corridor, file tucked under one arm, blood still drying along his knuckles from where Kellan had forced him to stop being polite. A guard straightened as he passed. “Where’s the Alpha?” The guard nodded toward the far end. “With Theron.” Tony didn’t slow. Of course he was. Theron looked worse than he had an hour ago. Not broken. Not yet. But thinner somehow, as if the knowledge that Hale and Kellan had both started talking had peeled away some of the arrogance holding him together. He sat restrained in the chair, one side of his mouth swollen, dried blood marking his collar. Decker stood in front of him, calm and cold. Too calm. Tony entered without knocking. Decker didn’t turn. “You found something.” Tony closed the door behind him. “Yes.” Theron’s eyes flicked to him. There