Todos os capítulos de The Alpha's Lost Mate.: Capítulo 171 - Capítulo 180

Sophie was resting on the porch swing, considerably slower on her feet these days than she used to be, when Helena's car pulled up the drive. She found herself watching her mother climb out with a bag in each hand, genuinely curious what she had brought this time."You didn't need to bring anything," Sophie said as Helena approached the porch steps."I know I didn't need to," Helena said, setting the bags down gently before settling into the chair beside the swing. "I wanted to. One bag's for Ethan, the other's for the baby, since apparently I've decided grandmotherly indulgence doesn't discriminate by birth order."Sophie laughed, accepting the smaller bag, and found inside a soft, hand-knitted blanket in pale yellow, considerably more delicate than anything Sophie would have expected her mother to have made herself."You knitted this?""I took it up again, actually," Helena said, something quietly pleased in her voice. "I used to, years ago, before everything between us fell apart.

Sophie stood at the kitchen doorway, the baby settled against her shoulder, watching Miriam move through her usual morning routine with the same brisk, unhurried competence she had brought to this family for nearly a decade now. Not for the first time, Sophie found herself struck by how easily this woman had simply woven herself into the permanent fabric of their lives."You're up early for someone awake half the night," Miriam observed, not looking up from the bread she was kneading."She likes the early hours, apparently," Sophie said, glancing down at the baby, who had finally settled after a particularly fussy night. "I thought I'd let you sleep in this morning.""I don't sleep in," Miriam said, as though the very concept were foreign to her. "Never have.""I know," Sophie said, a warm smile gracing her lips. "Which is precisely why we're doing something about it today."Miriam looked up properly then, suspicion evident in her expression. "What have you all planned?""You'll see,"

The soft glow of the nightstand lamp cast long, quiet shadows across the bedroom wall as Lena Marsh stared down at the illuminated screen of her phone. Beside her, Rowan Ashby leaned in close, his shoulder pressing against hers, his sharp eyes moving methodically over the lines of text. The room was thick with the heavy stillness of midnight, a quiet that usually meant peace, but to two people trained in constant threat assessment, it felt like the breath before a storm.Lena read Caius's message twice before she let herself fully relax. Her finger hovered over the glass surface as she took a deep, steadying breath, waiting for Rowan to finish reading over her shoulder before she said anything at all. The initial spike of adrenaline that had sent her heart racing began to slow down, replacing sharp panic with careful logic."It sounds worse than it is," Lena said finally, her voice low in the quiet room. She looked up at Rowan, seeing the tight line of his mouth relax just a fraction.

Dominic and Sophie excused themselves from the last stretch of the festival's wind-down and took Rowan's call in the quiet of the study. They sat together behind the heavy wooden desk, both of them bracing without quite saying so. The old instinct was still alive and kicking, even after years of genuine peace, making their shoulders feel tight as the line connected."Caius," Dominic said, putting the phone on speaker and leaning closer to the desk. "Rowan says something's come up that concerns us directly.""It does," Caius said, his voice coming through crisp and clear over the speaker. "Though I want to say immediately, before either of you spend the evening worrying, that it isn't a threat. I should have led with that in my message to Rowan. My apologies for the alarm."Sophie exhaled audibly, dropping her hands into her lap as a heavy weight lifted off her chest. "Then what is it, Caius?""Torsten's territory has submitted a formal petition," Caius explained, the sound of papers r

The morning sun filtered through the high arched windows of the council hall, casting long, geometric shadows across the polished stone floor. Dominic Steele stood at the side of the heavy oak table, his fingers lightly resting on the smooth grain of the wood. Caius's warning from the night before still sat heavily in his chest, a subtle weight that kept his senses sharp and his posture rigid. Yet as the session opened and he scanned the room, observing the calm, unhurried demeanor of the assembled leaders, he found the looming objection carried none of the hostile political weight he had half braced himself for in the dark hours of the morning.The ambient chatter of the room subsided as Caius took his place at the head of the chamber, his voice cutting clearly through the quiet space."I want to address the petition directly," Caius said, once the necessary formalities had settled and the official ledger was laid flat. "Elder Margit has raised a concern regarding the proposal to for