All Chapters of Promised to the Wrong Alpha: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

MandiI had always thought Louisa was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen — a warrior queen in human form. But that was before I laid eyes on her sister. Elara was smaller, younger, more delicate, and yet I sensed that same steel core underneath, the thing that made both of them so formidable.Like a princess, I thought. I couldn’t stop looking at her.Twice I nearly walked into other servers while carrying full trays, until the kitchen manager finally ordered me back behind the swinging door before I caused a disaster and brought Kaelen’s wrath down on the entire staff.He was such an idiot — standing up there, making his grand announcement in front of the whole pack, without the faintest idea the joke was entirely on him.Once the soup was out and there was a brief window before the next course, I crept to the doorway and watched the room from behind the doorjamb. Mostly I was watching Elara. From where I stood, half hidden, I had a perfect view of her profile.And a ful

JulianLouisa was the last person I expected to run into in the basement. Quite literally.Harrison and I, with a couple of the younger pack members, had made good progress gutting the old gym — wall demolished, fixtures pulled, everything stripped back to the bones. Kaelen wanted new everything, so even the lighting had to go. I had been managing, more or less, to set aside any opinion I had about Kaelen’s decisions and treat this as what it was: a job. A way to keep my hands occupied. Nothing personal.I was doing reasonably well at that until I came around the corner and Louisa walked straight into my chest.Her scent hit me almost before her body did. I reached out to steady her when she stumbled back — but it was just as much to steady myself, her floral fragrance hitting my senses like something physical. And that was a mistake, because where my fingers found her bare skin, I felt it. That unmistakable tingle running from my fingertips up my arm and straight into my chest.Holy

MandiI let myself into the small, cramped apartment I shared with my mother.It wasn’t often that I actually slept in my own bed — Kaelen called for me too regularly for that. My mother worked the morning shift at the hotel, cleaning rooms and maintaining the corridors, which meant she was up at four and usually asleep long before I finished at the pack house. I was surprised to find her sitting at the little folding card table we used as a kitchen table, both hands wrapped around a coffee cup, still awake.She looked tired in the particular way she always looked tired — as though life had been steadily withdrawing something from her for years and hadn’t finished yet. Her hair was more salt than pepper now. Her eyes were dull and bleary as they moved over me when I dropped my bag and bent to unlace my shoes.“Hi Mom. What are you doing up?”She kept looking at me. I knew what she was seeing — fresh bruises layered over old ones that hadn’t quite faded. If I had known she would be awa

ElaraI pulled into the diner parking lot and found a space between a rusted Chevy pickup and a shiny Prius. Louisa and I had agreed on neutral ground — one of the nearby human towns, away from both packs, away from anyone who might be paying attention. I pocketed the keys and pushed through the screen door, which announced my arrival with a bang on its spring hinge. Inside, the place looked like it hadn’t changed much since the 1950s.At two in the afternoon it was past the lunch rush but still doing steady business. I scanned the room and spotted Louisa’s dark hair in a back corner booth. From across the diner she appeared to be alone, but as I got closer I saw that two women were tucked into the seat across from her.I recognized Mandi from my visit a few days earlier. The older woman beside her had to be her mother — they shared the same fine, pin-straight hair and similar features, one going grey, the other still a soft light brown. I smiled at both of them and noticed the way Ma

KaelenShe screamed.In all the years I had known Mandi — given her a place in my room, let her sleep in my bed — not once had she fought back. Not once had she screamed.I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the fighting back. It made the end result more satisfying. But the screaming was a different thing entirely.And then f**king Louisa broke down my door and put her fist in my face. She caught me with my pants down — literally — because otherwise there is no way she could have landed a clean shot without me flattening her first.I could not believe that woman broke my nose. And then instead of going after Mandi the way any reasonable person would have, she helped the girl up and walked her out like they were old friends or something.Dr. Ramirez wasn’t around, but I found Shawn. He stuffed a tampon up my nostril and pushed the bridge back into place. I could only hope he got it straight — the last thing I needed was to spend the rest of my life walking around with a crooked nose.Once th