All Chapters of Promised to the Wrong Alpha: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Julian“Oh, Annie,” I whispered, tipping my face toward the hazy sky as though I might find some guidance there.Witnessing what had happened with Louisa the night before, and now this disturbing encounter with Kaelen, threw my decision to name him as my successor into a harsh, unforgiving light. The weight of it was as unbearable as the searing sun I was trying to escape. I had serious doubts now—yet I kept clinging to hope. Hope that he would mature. I told myself a strong fighting force was good for the pack, that his goals were worthy even if his methods were cruel.That was what I told myself as I slipped in through the back door and turned down the east wing toward the infirmary.Ours was a small pack. We didn’t have a full hospital—just a clinic with a full-time nurse and a doctor on call. Luckily, Dr. Ramirez was in. She had the boy, Freddy, stretched out on a bed with a drip in his arm and ice packs pressed to his head, neck, and groin. He was shivering, still looking a littl

ElaraI had a bad feeling I couldn’t explain. All I knew for certain was that it had something to do with Louisa.I’d blown up her phone with text messages and called her a dozen times, but she hadn’t answered any of them. With each passing hour my anxiety climbed, and I began imagining all sorts of terrible scenarios. What if she’d been attacked? What if she was lying somewhere, hurt or worse?I paced and fretted around the Silvercrest pack house for an entire day before I finally made up my mind to go and see for myself. I grabbed the keys to my father’s Lincoln and slipped out right under his nose.I did have a driver’s license, thanks to Louisa — she had bullied our father into letting me take a Driver’s Ed course the year I turned sixteen. Left to his own devices, Daddy would have had me chauffeured around by a pack driver my whole life. I told the gate guards I was going shopping, then zoomed off with my phone’s GPS pointed toward Night Rising.Honestly? It felt exhilarating to

KaelenI flipped through the report on my desk without really reading it. I’d skimmed enough to get the gist. “Mr. Wesley,” I growled, looking up to fix the man across from me with a hard stare. “Care to explain why revenue at the Simon House is down thirteen percent?”Lawrence Wesley had the gall to look surprised. He was in his late sixties, with a shiny bald head and a neat fringe of gray hair, dressed in a pink shirt with a mauve tie. What kind of man wore a pink shirt? He sat with a ramrod spine, hands folded in his lap like a deacon at Sunday service. Just the look of him set my teeth on edge.“This is a normal seasonal fluctuation,” he said, in a calm tone that grated on my nerves. “Schools open next week — travelers are few. It’s low season until the foliage starts.”I slapped my hand down on the desk. Wesley merely raised an eyebrow. “We can’t afford low seasons, Mr. Wesley.” I shoved the papers aside. “We need to grow. We need to innovate.”I was gratified to see the tips of

JulianFor the first time in months, I had shifted. I let my wolf go for a run—or rather, a trot. My wolf was weak, but I was gratified to know he was still with me. Shifting back was difficult, and I was tempted to stay in the forest to avoid my empty bedroom. However, I felt compelled to return to the pack house. Something was niggling in my gut, a vague, uneasy sense that something was wrong.I forced myself back into human form and yanked on the boxers and trousers I’d stashed in an old maple. I didn't have the energy for a shirt, so I balled it up and tucked it under my arm as I made my way back.My body had responded surprisingly fast to the high-protein shakes. The pain in my joints had receded to a dull ache. I no longer shuffled; I had the strength to stand straight. I still avoided the dining room, but I’d been slipping into the kitchen for cold leftovers at night. It was strange to feel actual hunger after so many months of apathy. I felt almost guilty, as though by sustain

MandiEvery time Kaelen called for me, I died a little inside.My mother always said that if I kept my head down and did what I was told, bad things wouldn’t happen to me. If I got bullied or taken advantage of, it was my own fault for not being careful enough. I tried my best to stay small and invisible, but that kind of person always found me anyway. People who despised weakness the way a predator despises a limping animal.People like Kaelen.It started when we were children — hair-pulling and pinching in the corridors, name-calling, shoves against the wall. Then one day he cornered me in the bathroom and told me to take off my shirt. I didn’t fight back. I had learned by then that fighting back only made things worse. I gave him what he wanted and told myself he would get bored eventually.Eight years later, he was still taking what he wanted.I learned to let my mind go somewhere else. I made mental to-do lists — cleaning the refrigerator, scrubbing mildew from the shower grout —