All Chapters of Unexpected Mate: The Cruel Alpha’s Little Wolf: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

I barely slept. Not because I was afraid. At least, that was what I kept telling myself. The truth was far less flattering. I was anxious. Anxious about seeing Vera. Anxious about seeing Manda. Anxious about walking back into a house that had never truly felt like home. By the time morning arrived, I had already given up on sleep. I got dressed quietly and headed downstairs. The estate was already awake. Servants moved through the halls carrying trays and documents. Some greeted me as I passed. I returned their greetings automatically. My mind was elsewhere. Today's visit occupied every corner of it. When I reached the dining room, Kael was already there. Of course he was. The man seemed incapable of sleeping late. He glanced up from his coffee as I entered. His gaze lingered on me for a moment. Long enough to make me wonder what he saw. "Good morning." "Good morning." I took my seat. Only then did I notice the empty chair across from me. Aurelia. For a mome

The look on her face. Shock. For a brief moment, Manda forgot to hide it. Her gaze darted from me to Kael. Then back to me. As though trying to convince herself she wasn't seeing things. I couldn't blame her. A few weeks ago, I had stood in front of the pack while Lucas rejected me. Now I was sitting beside Alpha Kael Blackwood. Life was strange that way. The shock vanished quickly. Manda had always been good at recovering. By the time she entered the room fully, a pleasant smile had appeared on her face. The kind she reserved for an audience. "Manda," Vera said. My stepsister's eyes immediately shifted toward Kael. "Alpha Kael." She greeted him politely. Anyone watching would have thought she was completely composed. I knew better. I had spent years living with her. I knew when her smile was genuine. This wasn't. For a second, our eyes met. And suddenly I was back there. Back in the crowded hall. Back beneath the bright lights. Ba

"Aria, you still have belongings here, don't you?" "Yes, I do," I replied. I had almost forgotten about them. The tension in the room and Lucas's unexpected appearance had pushed the thought from my mind. Vera nodded. "Then you should collect them. There's no need to leave anything behind." As though I intended to. The thought was almost bitter. I wanted to sever every remaining tie to this place as quickly as possible. The fewer reasons I had to return, the better. After Vera had forbidden me from coming back on the day of the rejection ceremony, I had stopped thinking of this house as home. Not that it had ever truly felt like one. "I'll do that now," I said, rising from my seat. "Will you need any help?" Kael asked. The question caught me off guard, because he had asked. A small thing. A simple courtesy. Yet I couldn't remember the last time someone had offered without making me feel like a burden. "No, Alpha. I won't. Thank you." He gave a sin

I stood alone in the room for several moments after Manda left. The silence she left behind felt almost as heavy as her words. Slowly, I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Then I looked around the room one last time. The bed. The desk. The wardrobe. For years, this room had been my sanctuary, now it was just a room, nothing more. The realization was strangely liberating. I picked up my suitcase. Then headed downstairs. Everyone was still in the sitting room. Vera looked up first. Her gaze briefly landed on the suitcase before returning to my face. "I take it you found everything?" "Yes." She nodded. "Good." That was it. No emotion, nothing. A small part of me had expected something. A larger part was relieved. Some goodbyes were easier when nobody pretended they were sad. Alpha Kael rose to his feet. "We should be leaving." The statement immediately brought everyone else to their feet as well. Vera offered a polite sm

The silence stretched between us. Neither of us looked away from the staircase. As though Aurelia might somehow reappear and solve the problem for us. Unfortunately, life rarely worked that way. "We should have told her sooner." The words slipped out before I could stop them. Kael didn't disagree. That alone told me enough. I leaned back in my chair. "She's going to be upset." "Possibly." I stared at him. "Possibly?" Kael folded the papers in front of him. With the same calm precision he seemed to apply to everything else in life. "She's six." His tone remained perfectly reasonable. "As I said. Possibly." I couldn't help it. A laugh escaped me. The sound surprised both of us. For a brief second, I thought I saw amusement flicker across his face. Then it disappeared. "You're impossible." "So I've been told." The response came so quickly that I suspected he had heard it more than once. The thought made me smile. Only briefly. Becau