All Chapters of Alpha, Let's End This Bond!: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

AriaI stared at the crab leg Luca had placed in my bowl like it was a live grenade.Everyone else at the table was enjoying their food, but my entire brain was screaming nope.Luca nudged the bowl toward me. “You should eat.”“I can’t,” I said flatly, sliding the crab leg right back into his bowl.His brows pulled together. “You don’t like crab anymore?”“It’s not about liking it.” I kept my voice casual, but there was a sting underneath. “Our daughter’s severely allergic, remember? And I’m breastfeeding. I can’t risk eating shellfish.”The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them—not because they weren’t true, but because of the way they hit him.His whole expression changed like he’d been slapped with his own failures.“Oh,” he said quietly. “Right.”Silence spread across the table.Ivy suddenly found her water glass fascinating. Rowan stared at her so hard it was basically a telepathic threat.I got busy stirring my soup, like it held the secrets of the universe.Luca didn

AriaI crashed into the master bedroom like someone escaping a crime scene.Yeah, it was dramatic, but after everything with the crab leg fiasco the night before, I just wanted silence. Not Luca’s brooding face. Not his thoughtful-but-too-late flowers. Definitely not his sudden oh-I’m-trying-now energy.So, like always, I camped out on the far side of the bed with a pillow barrier between us, like I was setting territorial boundaries. Honestly, it felt appropriate. Wolves usually do that.I slid under the blanket and angled my body away from him. New-moon level dark.Then the bed dipped behind me.Luca’s voice came low, like he was trying not to wake a sleeping volcano.“Aria… about last night. The crab thing. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t know—”I turned my head just enough for him to see the dead stare I’d perfected since giving birth.“Exactly. You didn’t know. That’s the point.”He inhaled sharply. I could feel the frustration rolling off him, hot and restless like a wolf pacing beh

LucaKenia stared at me like I’d just admitted I didn’t know how many kids I had.“Alpha, you’ve been married for two years,” she said slowly, “and you don’t know whether your wife has allergies?”I dragged a hand down my face. “Kenia—”“No. No, don’t ‘Kenia’ me.” She tapped her pen against her desk like a tiny slap to my ego. “How do you not know something that basic? You’re the Alpha. You memorize patrol schedules, rogue sightings, border shifts—but not your own wife’s health info?”I frowned at the floor because somehow it was easier to stare at than her disappointed face.“It wasn’t… like that,” I muttered.“Then what was it like?” she snapped. “Because right now it sounds like you never paid attention.”Her words hit harder than I expected, probably because they were true.Aria and I lived under the same roof, shared the same family, raised the identical twins, but half the time… it felt like we were on different planets.Not because she didn’t try.Because I didn’t look closely

AriaMorning in this house always feels like walking across thin ice. One wrong step and someone plunges into freezing water. Usually me.But after the storm last night? After Luca actually took my side against his mother?Yeah… today felt different.I found him in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up, half-buttoned shirt like he was in a rush, sipping coffee while scrolling something on his phone.That was classic Luca: smooth on the outside, a storm raging within.I cleared my throat.“Hey,” I said awkwardly. “About last night… thanks. For stepping in.”He didn’t even look up.“Don’t thank me.”I frowned. “Okay, well—”“Aria,” he snapped quietly, “I don’t need appreciation. I need you to stop provoking my mother.”I blinked. “Provoking? She followed me home.”“She wouldn’t have followed you if you hadn’t spoken to her the way you did.”My jaw dropped. “Wow. Impressive. And here I thought I hallucinated her yelling at me in public.”He set his mug down a little too hard.“You could’ve hand

AriaBy the time Luca hung up, my chest felt tight in that stupid way I hated—like someone had wrapped invisible fingers around my ribs and squeezed.Alder staying behind…Sure. It sounded sweet and concerned, but I knew the truth: it was likely just monitoring.I wasn’t naive. Luca didn’t do things out of pure kindness.And the fact I even had to guess his motives? That said enough.I stood outside Old Magnus’s ward for a minute, fingers curled into fists, trying to swallow the complicated mess sitting in my chest.It wasn't anger or sadness. It was the vague, aching in-between, where you feel pain but can't pinpoint the source.Wolves were supposed to have instincts that cut through lies, but mine?Mine just sighed and said, Yeah, girl, he doesn’t trust you. Figure that out.I left the hospital when the sun started tilting low, slipping into the evening traffic back home.The farther I drove, the more that phone call replayed in my mind. His calm voice, like he hadn’t just caught hi