All Chapters of Alpha, Let's End This Bond!: Chapter 201 - Chapter 210

- BRANDONI was waiting in the hallway when they emerged, having arrived too late to sit in on the hearing itself, Andrew beside me scrolling through something on his phone with the slightly anxious energy of a lawyer who hadn't yet heard how his own filing had gone."Well?" I asked, searching Aria's face before either of them said anything."Continuance," she said. "Six months. The settlement stands regardless." She glanced briefly at Luca, who'd stepped a respectful distance away to give us room, talking quietly with Andrew near the elevators. "I asked for it. He didn't push for it. I want that part understood."I was quiet a long moment, processing it through several things in quick succession — surprise, something that looked almost like disappointment before I visibly set it aside, and finally something steadier, settling into place."Can we talk?" I asked. "Somewhere that isn't a courthouse hallway."We found a small café two blocks away, mismatched chairs, a barista who clearly

- LUCAThe pack's Founding Day gathering was the one event neither of us could avoid without raising questions neither was ready to answer publicly. Six weeks into the continuance, with the twins old enough to notice the absence of a tradition they'd always known, Aria had agreed to attend — separately arriving, separately leaving, but present in the same room for the first time since the hearing.She arrived in deep green, her hair done simply, looking exactly like a woman who didn't need anyone's permission to be there. I kept my distance deliberately, greeting council members, fielding the usual mix of curious glances and careful silence from people who clearly didn't know what to make of the arrangement and weren't bold enough to ask directly.I was three conversations deep with a northern territory delegate when I noticed Marcus Voss — a young lieutenant, recently promoted, the kind of confident that comes from not yet having been humbled by anything — approach Aria near the refr

- ARIAThe studio's first major campaign launch fell on a Thursday in late autumn, three months into the continuance, and I'd spent the better part of two weeks half-convinced something would go wrong simply because nothing important in my life lately had managed to go entirely right without complication.Nothing went wrong. The launch — a full visual campaign for an emerging fashion label, the first client we'd landed entirely on our own merit, no introductions from Tasha's old contacts, no quiet favor called in by anyone with the Stormbourne name attached — went better than any of us had dared plan for.I stood near the gallery windows afterward, champagne untouched in my hand, watching the last of the guests filter out, and let myself feel, for one unguarded moment, genuinely, uncomplicatedly proud of something that belonged entirely to me."You did it," Tasha said, appearing at my elbow, already slightly buzzed on champagne and adrenaline. "We did it. No safety net. No favors. Jus

- ARIAThe six months ended on a Sunday, technically, though I'd stopped counting weeks somewhere around month five, once I'd realized the countdown itself had quietly become irrelevant to whatever I was actually waiting to feel certain about.I found him at the old manor, in the eastern garden, on the last Saturday before the deadline — not because I'd planned the location, but because Camilla had mentioned, in passing, that he'd taken to walking there most evenings lately, the same path Magnus used to walk, before the cancer made walking anywhere difficult.He looked up when he heard me on the gravel path, surprise crossing his face before he caught it and smoothed into something more careful."I didn't know you were coming by." His voice carried the caution it still held sometimes, the lingering habit of a man who'd learned, slowly and at real cost, not to assume anything about my presence meant what he might once have assumed it meant."I didn't tell anyone I was coming," I said.

- ARIAHelena arrived without calling ahead, which I noted immediately, given that every prior visit from her had been announced days in advance, scheduled, formal, designed to give both of us time to prepare our armor.She stood on the doorstep in a plain coat, no driver waiting at the curb, no assistant trailing a step behind with a folder of talking points. Just Helena, alone, looking smaller than I'd ever seen her look in six years of knowing her."I'd like ten minutes," she said. "I won't take more than that if you'd rather I didn't."I considered, briefly, the dozen reasons I might have had to close the door — six years of careful cruelty, of being called insufficient in a hundred polished, deniable ways, of watching this woman make Ivy's presence in every family gathering feel like a quiet, ongoing referendum on my own worth.I opened the door instead.We sat in the living room, the twins occupied in the next room with a tablet and Camilla's borrowed patience, and for a long mo