Semua Bab Alpha, Let's End This Bond!: Bab 111 - Bab 120

ARIAI stood by the door, my knuckles white as I gripped the strap of my laptop bag.On the floor, Luca was hunched over, rubbing Aurora’s back while she let out another weak, wet sob. Adrian was slumped against the pillow, the color draining from his face."I can't stay, Luca," I said, the words feeling like shards of glass in my throat.Luca’s head snapped up. His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw set in that hard, Alpha line. "You’re joking. Look at them, Aria. They can’t even hold down milk.""I have the presentation," I whispered, glancing at my watch. "The board is meeting today. If I miss this, the project vanishes. My career ends.""To hell with the project!" Luca stood up, towering over me while the smell of his stress filled the air. "Your children are sick. That’s the only priority.""I know they’re sick! Do you think I don't feel it?" I tugged the silk scarf tighter around my neck, the fabric scratching the bruises he’d left there just hours ago. "But the hospital is ten minute

ARIAThe "slap" didn't just ring through the white walls of the hospital suite; it vibrated up my arm, a stinging shock that made my palm throb.Luca’s head snapped to the side. For a heartbeat, the only sound was the rhythmic hiss-click of the heart monitor and the ragged, shallow breathing of our children.I didn't back down and even blink. My wolf was dead silent inside me, tucked away in a dark corner of my mind, leaving only the woman—the mother—to face the monster.Luca slowly turned his face back to mine. My handprint was turning bright red on his jaw, making him look a lot less like a calm Alpha and more like a man I’d just hit. I expected him to roar. I expected the floorboards to shake with his command.Instead, he just looked at me. His eyes were dark, swirling with an emotion I couldn't name. Or maybe just the cold calculation of a man who realized he’d pushed too far."Fine," he said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous gravel that raised the tiny hairs on my arms. "It

ARIAThe water was the only thing keeping me upright. It hammered against my shoulders, hot enough to turn my skin a blotchy pink, but I didn't care. I wanted the smell of the hospital, the sour scent of the car ride, and the lingering, heavy musk of Luca’s presence off me.But he wouldn't leave.He was still standing there, just on the other side of the glass, holding Aurora. The crying had stopped the second she caught sight of me, but now the silence was a hundred times worse. It was heavy. It was thick with everything we weren't saying. I kept my back turned to the door, staring at the white subway tiles until the grout blurred."Is she okay?" I asked, my voice bouncing hollowly off the shower walls."She’s staring at you like you’re the only thing left in the world," Luca’s voice drifted through the steam. It was low, lacking the usual Alpha bite. It sounded... tired. Human."I’ll be out in a second. Just... give me a minute.""Take your time," he said.He didn't move. I could he

LUCAI tossed Aria’s phone back onto the vanity, the plastic clattering against the marble. My pulse was still thrumming with a jagged, restless energy.Serge.The name tasted like bitter ash. Some middle-manager with a god complex thought he could demand my mate’s time while our pups were recovering from a poisoning.I left the nursery and walked to the window of my study, watching the gray dawn bleed over the tree line. I pulled my own phone from my pocket and dialed."Alder.""Alpha," my Beta answered, his voice instantly alert."The man Aria works for—Serge. I want his life on a spreadsheet by noon. Finances, legal history, every skeletons in his closet. He’s got an attitude problem that needs adjusting.""Consider it done. Anything else?""Not yet."I hung up and returned to the nursery. Aria was curled around Aurora, her hair a messy against the pillows. She looked soft and vulnerable. It made the anger in my chest tighten into a knot. I wanted to protect her, but she fought me

-LUCAThe front door of the manor felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. I pushed it open, and the freezing air seemed to cling to my clothes.The house was silent—that heavy, ringing silence that usually meant Aria was either asleep or simmering in a quiet rage.I headed straight for the nursery. I didn't care how tired I was; I needed to see the pups. I needed to know they were breathing.Aria was there, slumped in the rocking chair with a book she clearly wasn't reading. She looked up as I entered, her eyes red-rimmed and hard. No "Welcome home." No "Are you okay?" Just a cold, expectant stare."She’s found," I said, my voice sounding like it had been dragged through gravel. I tossed my keys onto the side table. "Ivy’s back at the hospital. Rowan caught up with her near the old docks. She’s... she’s a mess. She needs surgery first thing in the morning to stop the internal bleeding."Aria didn't even flinch. She just closed her book with a loud thud. "And you’re going back there, a